PUBG Mobile has been banned in India for the last two months but recent developments suggest that the game is on its way to make a comeback in India. The last few days have been exciting for PUBG Mobile fans in India as many major collaborations have been announced and some hints paved a path for PUBG Mobile to get back in the country.
This is a brief summary on the series of events that took place since the PUBG Mobile ban in India and the road that will potentially lead to PUBG Mobile unban in India.
Starting with the ban itself, PUBG Mobile was banned by the IT ministry of India alongside hundreds of other apps under the pretext of being “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order.” These are the events that followed the banishment:
Tencent Holdings stocks fall
Tencent faced a severe impact of this ban as their share value dropped drastically after the ban was announced. According to Reuters, “Shares of Chinese gaming and social media powerhouse Tencent fell more than 2% on Thursday after India banned 118 mobile apps, including the firm’s popular videogame PUBG.
This reportedly led Tencent to lose over $14 billion. The Chinese conglomerate faced a heavy financial backlash due to India’s decision to ban this game.
PUBG Corp – Tencent breakup for the region
One week after the ban was stated, PUBG Corporation issued a statement where they made some major changes that could be seen as the first step towards lifting this ban. PUBG Corp. severed their ties with Tencent Holdings and assumed complete control over publishing and distribution rights of PUBG Mobile in India.
They also gave assurances that pointed towards localized content and tournaments for the region. This can be compared to Game for Peace; the Chinese variant of PUBG Mobile; or PUBG Mobile Korea, which has its own local variant separated from the global version. This meant that India could get their own separate game with PUBG Corporation as the publishers.
Jio and PUBG Corp. partnership rumours
When the publishing rights were back to PUBG Corp, many rumours started spreading that linked Jio with PUBG Corp. These leads suggested that PUBG Corporation were in talks with Indian telecommunication titan Jio for discussing a potential partnership.
The distribution and publishing rights were on the table for this partnership but later, these rumors faded away and no further reports were published talking about the developments of this arrangement.
PUBG CORP. MERGER WITH KRAFTON
PUBG Corporation recently announced a merger with Krafton Inc. This merger took the entirety of PUBG Corp. under the umbrella of Krafton alongside all the distribution and development operations of the company’s famous battle-royale title PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds.
This is not linked to PUBG Mobile ban or unban in India but can change a few things in the future. As mentioned above, PUBG Corp assumed full control over PUBG Mobile IP in India and now as the company itself has merged with Krafton; its parent company; there may be few changes that can take place with the PUBG Mobile publishing rights in India.
TENCENT SHUTS DOWN OPERATIONS IN INDIA:
Tencent recently shut down their operations in the country which rendered PUBG Mobile inaccessible in the country. Despite the ban, most of the casual players were still enjoying the game with various third-party stores but with this announcement, PUBG Mobile servers in India have been shut down and hence, the PUBG Mobile chapter in India is entirely closed for now.
PUBG Mobile Coming Back To India?
Introduction of Microsoft in the race:
As we reported earlier, Microsoft is leading the race to acquire the rights for Indian region and this lead has been fortified since Krafton announced a global collaboration with Microsoft Azure to ensure user privacy and data handling for all the PUBG Corporation’s titles, including PUBG Mobile.
Furthermore, this collaboration specifically focuses on the concerns of user privacy and if we connect the dots, the major reason for which this ban was imposed gets resolved with Microsoft in picture.
Several Indian PUBGM pros have already hinted at a “good news” and all of these implications suggest that PUBG Mobile is on the verge of getting unbanned in India. These are all the developments that took place concerning the PUBG Mobile ban in India. the introduction of Microsoft in this case has added a lot of potential of the game getting unbanned in India.
Also Read: PUBG Mobile japan League announced with $2.8M prize pool.
