The PUBG Corporation on Tuesday announced that it no longer had any involvement with Tencent Games for its PUBG mobile franchise in India. The announcement came in the light of the recently imposed ban on the game.
This news brings expectations that the game might make a comeback in India since the Chinese connections have now been broken.
The Indian government recently banned 118 Chinese apps such as Apus Launcher Pro, AppLock, WeChat Work, Baidu among others. One of the most famous games of the country, PUBG was immediately removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. However, users who still have the app installed in their phones can still use it.
The news of the comeback comes as a delight for avid players who have been upset since the ban. But the final news of its comeback rests with the government.
Here are the current developments.
The PUBG Corporation on Tuesday said in a statement that PUBG Mobile will no longer be controlled by Tencent Games in India and the South Korean-company will take full control of all the publishing responsibilities.
The company also released a statement saying, “PUBG Corporation has made the decision to no longer authorize 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 in the near future, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localized and healthy gameplay environment for its fan.”
PUBG Corporation is a South Korean COmpany and not Chinese. However, the mobile game is developed by a Chinese game development company -Tencent Games. The ban in India was only on the mobile app and not the PC console. But users who have the app installed can still use the app.
One reason why the government might not allow the comeback is that Tencent Mobile will still remain the developer of the game.
The Indian government had banned the apps because they were “prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity, defence of India, and public order.”
The government also had proof that the app transferred users data “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India. This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security, and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace,” the government had said in a statement.
