Tencent’s PUBG Mobile was having a seamless ride in India as of early last year with the gaming emerging as the most popular title in its category then the government struck. The game was caught up in the simmering conflict between the Indian and Chinese governments as it was among the apps banned by New Delhi. Thus, Tencent’s franchise to publish the game in India was revoked by PUBG Corporation.  Since then, there have been plans to relaunch the game in India but that has not materialized. Well, looks like the launch is about to happen.

A six-second video teaser was briefly shared on YouTube today after which it was taken down. The teaser, which projects the game as “coming soon”, is an indication that the launch is imminent.

PUBG Studio first announced in November that it would relaunch the game in India. Since then, fans have been anticipating the relaunch but nothing happened until now. A dedicated website even went live and teaser videos were released in that regard.

The India-centric PUBG Mobile will feature content targeted at the domestic market. The games will be set in a virtual simulation training ground. The new characters will also automatically come with clothes on. PUBG will also include green hit effects that’ll reflect the virtual nature of the game. Finally, there will be a feature to restrict the game time in order to promote healthy gaming habits among younger players.

India has before now been hit with several incidences including deaths related to addiction to PUBG Mobile. Last year, a 16-year-old Indian boy died after he played PUBG Mobile continuously for several days. A 25-year-old Pune man also died due to prolong PUBG Mobile gameplay.

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(via)

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With an estimated 600 million players worldwide, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is the most-played battle royale game in the world, beating Fortnite Battle Royale, NetEase’s mobile game Knives Out, and others. With its popularity comes a big challenge – cheating. hackers have continued to devise new ways to exploit bugs in order to create cheats. However, Tencent continues to clamp down on cheaters.

In its latest Anti-Cheating report for January 8 to January 14, 2021, the tech giant hinted that a total of 1,217,342 accounts were permanently suspended within the period for using hacks and cheats.

About 48 percent of these hackers were banned for using auto-aim hacks or changing their character models. Twenty-two percent of the hackers were banned for using X-ray vision, 12 percent for speed hacks, and seven percent for modifying the area damage.

The report also shows the ranks the hackers were in when they were banned. This distribution is as follows: Bronze: 38 percent, Silver: 11 percent, Gold: Nine percent, Platinum: 11 percent, Diamond: 12 percent, Crown: 10 percent, Ace: Six percent, and Conqueror: Three percent.

Last week, Tencent also released PUBG Mobile’s patch 1.2 which featured a new mode, weapon, and much more. The new mode is called Runic Power, which gives players certain abilities to use for getting the chicken dinner.

PUBG Mobile’s 17th season is also around the corner. It is called Runic Power and will kick-off on Jan. 19. As usual, a new Royale Pass will also be coming with the season which will have new skins, emotes, and more.

Meanwhile, there is still no word yet on when PUBG mobile will make its much-anticipated return to India after PUBG Corporation revoked the license granted Tencent to distribute the game in India.

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PUBG Mobile India is the talk of the town lately. Ever since PUBG Corporation officially announced the comeback, expectations are rife regarding the game in India. After a round of teasers, the latest report says that PUBG users can most likely migrate the data from the global version.

A post on Instagram by Liquipediamemphiz(via Sportskeeda) says that users will likely be able to migrate their skins, in-app purchases to the Indian version. This is great news for the users who have spent a bucket load of money on the earlier version. If we recall, PUBG Corp.,‘s parent company KRAFTON Inc., recently partnered with Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Platform to host the game on PC/Console/Mobile.

Hence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it migrates the data of Indian users to local servers. Besides, do note that as per official news, the new “PUBG MOBILE India” will have characters clothed up by default. Hence, don’t expect the old half-exposed characters to return to the game.

Anyway, the post has shared a video. Accordingly, on searching a user named “user41264” using Advanced search In-game, the profile link inside displays a message. It says, “The Player you are viewing has migrated to PUBG MOBILE India”.

PUBG MOBILE India – What to expect?

That said, Liquipediamemphiz in one of his stories says that the user in the video could have early access to the game(beta). And hence, he was able to capture the video. While there isn’t an official confirmation regarding the migration of in-app perks, we feel that PUBG Corp. might bring this to attract the audience and further gain loyalty.

Precisely, reports say that the Indian version will carry forward the rewards, achievements, frames, Pubg Mobile India UCs(unknown cash), tier resets, skins, and more. However, the return of IDs that got banned “for 10 years” before is unlikely. Anyway, the PUBG Mobile Indian version will be specifically designed for India.

It will have features like Virtual Simulation Training Ground, Green hit effects, play-time restrictions. KRAFTON Inc. has also announced that it will hire 100 employees, invest $100 million(~₹746 crores) locally and encourage e-sports, local business, and the IT industry.

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As expected, PUBG Mobile is coming back to India. The announcement today is good news for all PUBG lovers in the country. The game is also bringing an investment of $100 million along with it to India.

PUBG Corporation, who recently acquired the Indian publishing rights from Tencent, has made the announcement(via XDADevelopers). As per the report, PUBG Mobile in India will now be called ‘PUBG MOBILE INDIA’. The company says it’s ‘specifically for the Indian market’. Accordingly, the developers say that the game will have in-game contents that “reflect local needs”.

Pubg Mobile India: Local Investment, in-game Features & more

For instance, we can expect a “Virtual Simulation Training Ground” setting, “Clothing” for Characters in-game, “Green hit” effects instead of Red while killing someone. Additionally, the game will also have “restrictions of playtime” for the young chaps. We have already come across many instances of death due to PUBG addiction in India. Hence, a restriction or cap on log-in time might help parents recover children from addiction.

Further, the game will also ensure data security by performing regular audits and verification on the storage systems. By following this, the company says it will keep the data secure. That’s not all as the PUBG Corporation, and its parent company KRAFTON Inc., are planning to invest $100 million(₹746 crores) in the country.

By doing this, the company aims to encourage the local video game, e-sports, entertainment, and IT industries. Additionally, it will set up a local office, hire 100 employees in India to improve its services. And also collaborate with local businesses.

If we recall, PUBG Mobile including 118 apps was banned in India back in September. This was in addition to an earlier ban of 59 apps including TikTok, WeChat, UC browser. The govt said the threat to data privacy and security as a reason but it was believed to be a reaction against border disputes with China.

Later, PUBG Corporation, which is the creation or PUBG, took over the Indian publishing rights from Tencent Games. While the game was rumored to come via Jio as distributor, PUBG Corp., has itself come forward to relaunch it confirming the earlier LinkedIn job listing. Having said that, there isn’t a firm launch date but considering the game has already stopped working, we can expect it soon enough.

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In September, the Indian government slammed a ban on the popular gaming app PUBG Mobile, alongside 117 other apps that are of Chinese origin. The ban affected both the PUBG Mobile and Mobile Lite but has not been effective since then as both apps still continue to accommodate gamers from India. However, that may end soon as Tencent has officially announced that it would be pulling the plug off the gaming apps for Indian gamers.

The announcement posted on the PUBG Mobile official website reads thus,

“Dear Fans,

To comply with the interim order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated September 2, 2020, Tencent Games will terminate all service and access for users in India to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite (together, “PUBG Mobile”) on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property.

Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy.

We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG MOBILE in India“.

While the announcement is a heartbreaking one, considering the popularity of the app among Indian gamers, we must take a positive statement from it. Tencent will be handing over the rights to publish the game in India to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property which is Blue Hole Studio. Recall that BlueHole recently announced the revocation of the license given to Tencent to distribute the game in India.

The South Korean company was reportedly in talks with India telecom company Reliance Jio to get the game up and running in India once again. Later on, a LinkedIn job listing also suggested the company was returning to India as PUBG corporation. Thus, it safe to conclude that the app will be relaunched soon in India with a new licensee in the driving seat.

For now, we can’t identify the company BlueHole will be granting the publishing rights to but we expect that to be made known in no distant time. We’ll keep you update as more details emerge.

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It’s been over a month since PUBG Mobile had gotten banned in India. The battle royale title was by far one of the most popular mobile games in the region but was recently banned by the local government. Although now, the game might soon be back as a new job listing on LinkedIn suggests that the game might be back with a new name, PUBG Corporation.

Over the last couple of weeks, there had been reports and rumors floating around regarding the possible return of PUBG Mobile in India. However, this was almost confirmed after PUBG Corporation put up a recruitment notice on its official LinkedIn profile for the role of a Corporate Development Division Manager for the Indian subcontinent. The job required someone who can “support the setup process of PUBG India with guidance from HQ.”

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According to a SportsKeeda report, this might be a requirement for operating PUBG Mobile in India after the ban. For those unaware, the game alongside 118 other Chinese applications were banned in India by the IT Ministry. This arrives amid growing frictions between India and China, which even led to military clashes among the Indo-China borders.

This, in turn, meant that the company lost nearly a quarter of the entire player base of the game, while even Indian content creators were suffering from losing out, monetarily, if a length suspension was put into place. Since the ban, PUBG Mobile has had its revenue from 221 million US Dollars in August 2020 to 198 million US Dollars in September 2020. This also led to a drop in player numbers overall as well.

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It is no longer news that the Indian government slammed a ban on the popular gaming app PUBG Mobile, alongside 117 other apps that are of Chinese origin. The ban has resulted in Blue Hole Studio, a South Korean company and the original owner of the app, revoking the license given to Tencent to distribute the game in India.

Apparently, Blue Hole Studio is in talks with India telecom company Reliance Jio to get the game up and running in India once again. According to sources (via), negotiations commenced after the ban and are still in the early stages. Both sides are reportedly studying various aspects of the deal.

There is no official word about the negotiations but Blue Hole Studio in a blog post confirmed that talks are ongoing to ensure the app is unbanned. Since the app was banned in India as a result of its connection with Tencent, there is every possibility that the ban could be lifted as soon as an agreement is reached with a domestic distributor.

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