There’s no denying that India’s online gaming sector is growing by leaps and bounds. The Covid-19 pandemic has further fueled this growth by pushing people to stay home and turn to gaming for leisure. This has led to a surge of new users resulting in massive DAU and MAU numbers across online gaming. While PUBG Mobile was already a dominant force in India’s gaming market since its inception, the lockdown in March 2020 catapulted the mobile gaming brand further with player spending reaching a record $300 million. PUBG Mobile set the bar so high that popular games like Call of Duty Mobile (CODM) or even FreeFire found it hard to catch up.
In September 2020 however, the game was banned by the Narendra Modi government due to security reasons, serving as a shot in the arm for the likes of FreeFire or CODM to expand its footprints in India. In a bid to make a comeback in India, PUBG Corporation took away the Indian franchise from China’s Tencent. PUBG Corporation’s parent company Krafton then partnered with Microsoft Azure to ensure personal data protection through the latter’s platform. Despite this move, company struggled to receive a nod of approval for its game from the Indian Government.
Is BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA an Indian version of PUBG Mobile India?
In May 2021, Krafton announced that PUBG Mobile India’s in its new avatar BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA had commenced pre-registrations for android users and will remain in that phase for some time. During that announcement, it had also revealed that the game will be returning with a proper Esports roadmap that will help to revolutionize the ecosystem, with India specific tournaments among a host of other initiatives.
This announcement created quite a stir in the Indian gaming industry especially since speculation and excitement around PUBG Mobile had reached a fever pitch. However, there was much conversation and intrigue around the name of the game. Many enthusiasts have wondered why the game in its newer version is called BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA and not PUBG Mobile India?
Krafton though is yet to answer the question that is on everybody’s mid. However, there has been speculation and conspiracy theories within the community. Some believe the brand is launching an India-specific game, and distancing it from the global brand and serves to avoid any confusion. Others feel that the change in name could be due to the fact that the government will not permit a launch under the same banner it had previously banned.
BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA has similarities with PUBG Mobile?
Krafton, since the day of the announcement, has stated that “The game will be available to play only in India” and that the company will be working with partners to ensure data protection and security at every step of the way in order to allay concerns of the Indian government.
“This will ensure privacy rights are respected, and all data collection and storage will be in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in India and for players here,” the company further added.
Krafton will collaborate with partners to build an Esports ecosystem while bringing regular in-game content, starting with a series of India specific in-game events at the launch, which are likely to be announced later.
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Krafton has been continuously teasing users with elements available in the game which is similar to PUBG Mobile. Since its announcement of pre-registration, Krafton revealed in its official blog post that “There will be specific rewards available for fans to claim, only if they pre-register the game. These rewards would be specific to Indian players only. To pre-register for BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA, please visit the Google Play Store and click on the “Pre-Register” button, and your rewards will automatically be available to claim on game launch.”
These rewards, Recon Mask, the Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG, too are similar to the PUBG Mobile items. Not just that, the brand has been constantly revealing maps like PUBG Mobile’s classic map Erangel and also small map Sanhok for BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA.
Even the BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA mascot or the classic avatar is similar to PUBG Mobile, the pan, the chicken dinner, the air drop cargo, the car have similarities with PUBG Mobile. On account of this mirror effect, the game received 7.6 million pre-registrations on its opening day, and has surpassed 20 million pre-registrations in just two weeks.
Despite these similarities, the mystery of why BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA is not called PUBG Mobile is yet to be solved. We will know in time when actually Krafton breaks its silence. Until then stay tuned!