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The decision by the government to suspend PUBG Mobile in India stunned the entire mobile gaming community, and regular players have been worried about its chances of returning since.
For those who don't know, PUBG Mobile and its toned-down version, PUBG Mobile Lite, were banned under Section 69A on 2nd September 2020. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology stated that 118 Chinese apps, including both these PUBG titles, were prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order.
Chances of PUBG Mobile getting unbanned
The escalating tensions between India and China led to the third wave of bans, which users are also classifying as a digital surgical strike against the Chinese. In this situation, it seemed that the Indian government would not lift the ban on PUBG Mobile, as the gigantic Chinese company, Tencent Games, was handling this title.
However, in response to both PUBG Mobile games' bans, Tencent Games stated on Thursday, 3rd September:
"The privacy and data of our users is of topmost priority, and we take their protection very seriously. The company will engage with Indian authorities to ensure the continued availability of apps in India."
And on 8th September, the latest official statement from PUBG Corporation on their official blog 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. In light of recent developments, PUBG Corporation has decided to no longer authorise the PUBG MOBILE franchise to Tencent Games in India."
"Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country. As the company explores ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India soon, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localised and healthy gameplay environment for its fans."
According to the latest decision made by PUBG Corporation, Tencent Games will no longer handle the PUBG Mobile operations in India. And like the Korean version of the game, it is expected that the company will introduce a special Indian version too.
After this verdict, many experts and content creators have claimed that chances of PUBG Mobile's unban in India have substantially increased, as the Chinese company, Tencent, has been excluded from the partnership.
Technical Guruji's opinion on PUBG Mobile unban
Gaurav Chaudhary, the owner of India's most prominent tech channel Technical Guruji, recently shared his views on PUBG Mobile's return after PUBG Corporation's statement.
In the video, he explained that PUBG Mobile was suspended in India due to security reasons, as a Chinese company was handling the entire operations. Since, Tencent is now out from the collaboration, the game might return in India.
Twitter reactions to PUBG Corporation's decision
Reason behind PUBG Mobile's ban
As per the Indian government, they had received many complaints from various sources. This included several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner to servers with locations outside India.
The Ministry also said:
"This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure the safety, security, and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace."
When it comes to security, no one wants to compromise in any way, and to overcome this situation, the Indian government took this enormous step.
Moreover, just a few days after the ban, Akshay Kumar, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative, announced a new game — 'Fearless And United: Guards', or FAU-G.
As for now, it seems that the country will be focusing on the upcoming title, FAU-G.
About FAU-G, the supposed Indian replacement for PUBG Mobile
FAU-G is an upcoming title being created by nCore Games, a Bengaluru-based game developer and publisher under the mentorship of the popular actor.
Furthermore, it was also announced that 20% of the net revenue generated by this game would be donated to the 'Bharat Ke Veer: India's Bravehearts' trust.
Players can expect FAU-G to launch next month, i.e., October 2020.
