PUBG to relaunch in India as Battleground Mobile India

NEW DELHI: South Korean video game developer Krafton has announced that the India version of its popular game PUBG will be called Battlegrounds Mobile India. The game, which will be available only in India, will provide a multiplayer gaming experience on the mobile phone.

This comes after the original version of the game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile had been banned in India in September following a ban on Chinese apps. – PUBG was published by Chinese internet firm Tencent in India. Following this, PUBG Corporation had said it would no longer authorise the game to Tencent Games in India.

While the company has still not said when the game would be launched, it has revealed the new logo today. “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,” said Krafton in a press release.

In November, PUBG Corporation had announced that it will set up an Indian subsidiary and launch a new India specific version of the game. The company, along with its parent firm Krafton, would invest $100 million as it seeks to revive business in the country which is the largest market for PUBG in terms of number of users.

India is the largest market for the game with over 175 million downloads — about a quarter of the global downloads — according to SensorTower data.

The investment by Krafton, the South Korean parent company and PUBG Corporation will be the largest by a Korean firm in India outside of the manufacturing sector.

The company will have a pre-registration period before launch. “Krafton will collaborate with partners to build an esports ecosystem while bringing in-game content regularly, starting with a series of India specific in-game events at launch, to be announced later,” said the company.