Bengaluru, NFAPost: PUBG Corporation has cancelled its license agreement with Tencent Games in India and instead will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country, thereby strengthening its case before for the government to reconsider the ban.
In a statement on its website, South Korean gaming company PUBG Corporation said PUBG Corporation fully understands and respects the measures taken by the government as the privacy and security of player data is a top priority for the company.
“It hopes to work hand-in-hand with the Indian government to find a solution that will allow gamers to once again drop into the battlegrounds while being fully compliant with Indian laws and regulations,” states PUBG Corporation.
What this also means is that PUBG could be localised for the Indian market, something which the South Korean company does in other markets such as China.
Ban apps
“There is a strong possibility that an Indian gaming company will tie up for localising certain aspects of the game,” said a head of a gaming company.
The move comes in the backdrop of indian government banning 118 apps, which included PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite in India, the publishing rights for which were owned by Chinese technology company Tencent.
Healthy gameplay
As the company explores ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India in the near future, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localised and healthy gameplay environment for its fans, PUBG said in a statement.
India accounts for 25% of PUBG user base, according to data by Sensor Tower. India ranks No. 1 for downloads, generating about 175 million installs to date. China ranks just behind it with 16.7% of all downloads, while the US ranks No. 3 with 6.4%.
The gaming industry in India is estimated to be Rs 6,200 crore and is expected to grow four-fold to Rs 25000 crore by 2022. The number of people playing online games is set to cross 300 million and consists of approximately 55 per cent of casual gamers and 66% of heavy gamers.