PUBG Mobile India soon to return as ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India’

Yes, you read it right. Finally, after months of waiting and rumors surrounding the game’s return, PUBG Mobile, India’s most loved mobile battle royale game will soon be making a comeback as ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India’. KRAFTON today announced the game via the game’s official website.

Unsurprisingly the term PUBG isn’t mentioned anywhere in the announcement as Krafton has rebranded the game as ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India’. This move possibly could be to erase the stigma associated with the name ‘PUBG Mobile’ in India. More importantly it also offers a fresh start. A new beginning

The announcement describes ‘Battlegrounds Mobile India’ as “a world class AAA multiplayer gaming experience on mobile.” A mobile battle-royale game for India.

As the game makes a return, privacy & security are the top priorities for KRAFTON. KRAFTON with its partners will be ensuring data protection and security at each stage to ensure that privacy rights are respected. “All data collection and storage will be in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in India and for players here”, says KRAFTON in the announcement.

Several professional players & content creators shared their thoughts on the announcement.

Total Gaming shared his thoughts saying, “I am extremely excited to hear about the relaunch of PUBG. I have heard a million times in the last year that PUBG is returning, but always got disappointed. I hope this time it’s a genuine announcement and not yet another hype, otherwise it would be very disheartening. Having said that, I am here to welcome Battlegrounds Mobile India (PUBG) with open arms. Looking forward to playing it and creating some great content for my PUBG fans.”

Techno Gamerz showed his excitement saying, “Expectations are soaring high right now and we are anticipating the game to launch by June 2021. This comeback is going to benefit Indian e-sport players immensely. Looking forward to some intense tournaments. It’s going to be a lot of fun! I am super excited!”

According to the announcement, Battlegrounds Mobile India will have pre-registrations before the launch and as the name suggests will only be available to play in India. KRAFTON mentioned in the announcement that they will collaborate with partners to build an esports ecosystem with the game and will keep adding in-game content, features regularly. KRAFTON has said there will also be India specific in-game events at launch which will be announced later down the line.

Now it looks like it is a little late for the esports side of things, but better later than never. Who knows, maybe FNATIC might restart its esports operation in India once the game is out and the esports scene is settled once again.

Organizations like TSM and GXR that are exploring options to compete in tournaments like PMPL from different regions outside of India might again be interested to invest their resources here in India once the game launches.

Many industry experts shared their opinions about the announcement. Here are some of them.

Akshat Rathee, Co – Founder and MD of Nodwin Gaming expressed his happiness by saying , “The announcement of Battlegrounds Mobile India has got everyone super excited. The gaming community has waited long to hear from KRAFTON Inc. and are eager to get their hands on it. Looking forward to the future.“

Tarun Gupta, Founder, Ultimate Battle shared his views saying, “Battlegrounds India, a PUBG Mobile variant’s India launch has been highly anticipated in recent months. Krafton has been very active in the Indian market recently which was an indication that the PUBG Mobile variant may soon see the daylight in India. At Ultimate Battle, we are excited to hear about this and will be adding Battlegrounds India on the platform as soon as it launches. We forecast to see the downloads cross the 1m+ mark in the first week of the launch.“

Shivam Rao, Co-Founder & COO, Trinity Gaming said, “We are thrilled & excited, as the countdown for the launch of Battlegrounds mobile India has officially begun. We believe this time, it is not just a game it’s an opportunity for the whole gaming community to grow and increase their brand value in the industry. The game will be a huge step towards the successful future of esports in India.“

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He further added, “We believe the content creators community will get a major boost once the game will be launched and it will fuel our ambition of creating a unique ecosystem for the gaming content creators to make a serious career out of their passion.“

Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) said, “It’s good to see that Krafton has considered the Indian requirements and has modified the game and this will surely fuel the Indian esports ecosystem. Krafton has been already taking positive initiatives in the Indian market in the last few months which is very heartening to see and also highlights the capability of the esports ecosystem in India.“

He also mentioned, “However, hope Krafton has plugged all the necessary approvals to bring back this popular game. We request other game developers as well to follow a similar model and customise India specific games thereby create more value for the Indian esports community and encourage the local gamers & esports athletes to take this sport as a viable career option. As a federation, we have always supported and encouraged any initiative which has India at the core with the possibility to become a powerhouse in esports. We also urge and hope that Indian gaming developers will also follow suit and come up with more esports titles that will fuel and strengthen the esports ecosystem in India.“

The return of the popular battle royale game is a really good news for the Indian esports scene which now has been flourishing since the release of PC FPS game Valorant. It is also being speculated that Indian teams will soon be able to compete for a slot in VCT(Valorant Champions Tour) a major VALORANT esports tournament hosted by Riot Games, the company behind Valorant.

Now hopefully both the Indian mobile esports and Indian PC esports can grow together side by side.

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