PUBG To Re-enter India As Battlegrounds Mobile India The game will launch as a free-to-play experience on mobile devices
By Debarghya Sil •
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Most awaited mobile game, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, aka PUBG, is relaunching in India with a new name, Battlegrounds Mobile India, after it was banned by the government of India in September last year citing security reasons. South Korean-based parent company Krafton on Thursday announced the new name of the game and said it will provide an attack all around (AAA) multiplayer gaming experience on mobile.
"Battlegrounds Mobile India will release with exclusive in-game events like outfits and features and will have its own esports ecosystem with tournaments and leagues. The game will launch as a free-to-play experience on mobile devices," the statement read.
However, the launch date of the game is not yet announced. Neither any details on whether the game be available on Playstore/App Store is made public. What remains interesting to see is whether this tailor made Indian version of the game will allow players to play with their foreign peers or not.
As per the game's privacy policy is concerned it has mentioned that players below the age of 18 will be required to provide the mobile number of parent or guardian to confirm that he/she is legally eligible to play the game. The policy further stated that if a guardian believes that their child under 18 years of age has provided the platform with personal information without the guardian's consent, then the guardian can contact the game and request to remove any child information stored on the platform.
Soon after the news broke, PUBG players took minutes to trend hashtags related to PUBG on Twitter, further showing the massive popularity the game enjoyed. Thousands of memes about the game started swarming in on Twitter.
Before getting outlawed, the game enjoyed a record 175 million downloads in India. In November, Krafton also announced that it will invest $100 million in India to cultivate the local video game, esports, entertainment, and IT industries. It is evident that from the time the platform was banned, it has been conspicuously laying its groundwork to re-enter its biggest market, by complying with the Indian government's demand. Earlier it had also severed its Chinese tie by taking over the publishing right for India from Tencent.
