PUBG plans new avatar for India

Gaming sensation PUBG Mobile is preparing for a second innings in India, with its South Korean maker building a new game solely for the country, minus its Chinese links.

PUBG Corp. Thursday said it will directly operate the new game called PUBG Mobile India, unlike earlier when China’s Tencent Games operated it here under a licence. The company had said that it is taking away the IP rights to operate the game in India on its own, though Tencent is still a part-owner of PUBG Corp. Directly operating the game solves the key problem of Chinese ownership, though it’s unclear whether the Indian government will indeed permit it.

PUBG Corp. said it will create an Indian arm to “enhance communications and services” with players and hire “over 100 staff” for business, e-sports and game development and establish a local office. In October, the company had posted a job opening on LinkedIn for a corporate development division manager in India.

In September, India banned PUBG Mobile and over a hundred other mobile apps with Chinese links after a deadly border clash in Ladakh.

Meanwhile, PUBG Corp.’s parent company, Krafton Inc., plans to invest $100 million in India to “cultivate local video game, e-sports, entertainment and IT industries”. It will also host e-sports tournaments here.

Further, PUBG Corp. said it will conduct regular audits and verifications of its storage systems that hold Indian user data, and make privacy and security its “top priority”. The company also said it will customize the game for Indian gamers. These include restrictions on game time “to promote healthy gameplay habits for younger players”, a new setting for the game’s arena, “green hit effects” to show the game’s virtual nature, and characters will be fully clothed from the start.

It is unclear whether the company will return players’ in-game purchases.

© 2019 All Rights Reserved. Powered by Summit