Update: However, Pratik ‘Aurum’ Mehra, coach of PUBGM at Fnatic on Instagram has declared the above report to be inaccurate. He further insisted to stay tuned as the Swedish Organization would be declaring the fate of their operations in India, next week.
The European esports organization Fnatic will be shutting down its operations in India. A source close to Fnatic India has disclosed this information exclusively to TalkEsport, that Fnatic will be leaving India very soon.
Fnatic ventured into mobile gaming by hiring a PUBG Mobile roster in India and since the game has been banned in the country for more than six months, they are taking an exit.
PUBG Mobile saw exponential growth in India since the game was launched. The esports scene affiliated with this game was booming in the country and new stars were emerging in the scene. Fnatic was the first international organization to act on this success and hired a star-studded team with some big names.
Fnatic is a successful esports organization with rosters competing in popular esports titles like CSGO and League of Legends. This organization made its first venture in mobile esports by hiring a PUBG Mobile team from India. This team comprised some of the best players in the country like Scout, Owais, and Ronak.
This new Fnatic PUBG Mobile roster was making a name for themselves in the start but lacked to perform at some important tournaments. After some changes, Fnatic was performing well and having steady standings in major events. Fnatic and its PUBG Mobile team were unable to make any noteworthy performances on the global stage but managed to emerge as one of the top teams in India.
The competitive scenario came to an abrupt halt when PUBG Mobile was banned by MeitY in September 2020. Since then, Krafton is trying to relaunch the game in India but the PUBG Mobile India is yet to be approved by the government. As the game has been banned for more than six months, the esports organizations needed to make some important decisions.
PUBG Mobile was banned in India in September 2020 by the IT Ministry of India alongside many other Chinese apps. These apps were banned as they were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defense of India and security of the state and public order.” This ban was imposed amid the political tensions between India and China. PUBG Corp. took many tough decisions in order to bring back the game in India but they seem to be futile as PUBG Mobile remains banned in India even after six months.
The Indian fanbase is awaiting the launch of PUBG Mobile India for about three months and still, no official announcement has been made yet.
What was the Impact of the PUBG Mobile Ban on Esports?
The Indian esports ecosystem suffered heavily after the PUBG Mobile ban. This title was the biggest esports title in India and after the ban, a thriving community faced the impact. The tournaments ran in a structured format and settled esports organizations, players, content creators, and allied field professionals faced the impact.
Many esports organizations had to stop playing the game competitively after it was banned and hence, they were not able to represent India on a global stage. India was an important region in the PUBG Mobile Esports ecosystem and had a humongous fan following. The ban has severely impacted many esports professionals as some famous names opted to focus on content creation but a majority of them had to wait for the unban notice.
Megastars was one of the big names that acted quickly on this banishment and released their roster in the next few days. The major names like Fnatic and TSM did not take an early decision but after a span of half a year, Fnatic seems to have finally decided to close down their operations in India.
