The popular game from Tencent, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG Mobile for short, might be making a comeback to the delight of its fans throughout India. But there will be some catches; let’s take a look at them.
Why is PUBG banned in India? PUBG Mobile was banned in India, as it came under the radar of the Indian Government when it was doing a crackdown on games and apps in the play store and Appstore that went against Section 69A of the Indian IT Act. In a basic sense, PUBG Mobile was banned as player data and information was believed to be leaked by the developers to the Chinese Government. This ban of PUBG Mobile also came as a shock to the Indian fans who played this game.
Is it returning?
Most probably. Leaks suggest that PUBG Mobile may be making a return to India. As per the leaks, the game will be available to the public under a different name. The name is – Battlegrounds Mobile India.
The leaked posters also show that the gameplay in the game remains the same, meaning the core of it, but under a different mantle. This news has come to the delight of many PUBG Mobile fans in India. This rename of PUBG Mobile to Battlegrounds Mobile India is kind of like a bypass of the ban by the developers, Krafton. The Indian badge suggests that the game will be tweaked a little bit for the needs of the Indian fans, and at the same time sticking to the guidelines of the Indian Government.
Reports also suggest that players will be able to continue with their progress and purchases that they have made. But, some have speculated this report on the basis that it doesn’t have solid evidence. Will Battlegrounds Mobile India also get banned? It will be hard to say whether it gets banned or not. But, Krafton previously has said that they will partner with Microsoft for the storage of the player data. This move is seen as a ploy to gain the trust of the Government by some speculators.
But hold your horses!
To date, that is the writing of this article, there have been no official notice or announcement from Krafton, the developers. Thus, we can say that Battlegrounds Mobile India, as much as India wants it, might be far out of reach. Even if announced, there is no official fixed date of release for Battlegrounds Mobile India. How do we know about Battlegrounds Mobile India? The knowledge about Battlegrounds Mobile India comes from Gemwire. The folks at Gemwire detected an update in the source code of the official website of PUBG Mobile India.
Have hope!
The possibilities remain high. Some even speculate that the number of job openings that are available in Krafton, both on their site and their Linkedin page is due to the development of Battleground Mobile India. The existence of the poster and update in the source code gives us the hope that PUBG Mobile will return as Battlegrounds Mobile India. But all that we can do is just wait and see how the future unfolds before us.
Also Read: Battlefield Mobile to soft launch in September 2021
Update 4th May: The username and URL of PUBG Mobile India official Facebook fan page has now been changed to ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India’ – thus, it is clear that a dedicated Indian version of PUBG Mobile is coming. Furthermore, it is expected that the game will be announced in May 2021 itself.
Finally…. I have been waiting for pubg mobile india for so looong 🙂
So true! But till now no date has been said tho.