Indian gamers can download PUBG Mobile again nine months after the ban. The game became available on Android under the new name Battlegrounds Mobile India, and its content was censored. At the same time, the return turned out to be successful — in just two weeks, the project collected over 20 million pre-registrations on Google Play.Battlegrounds Mobile India is now available for download on Google Play for all Indian users.
The gameplay of the game itself has not changed in any way, and for old players, Krafton has provided for the transfer of accounts to a new project.
However, Battlegrounds Mobile India still has a number of differences from PUBG Mobile, without which the Indian authorities would not agree to return the game to the store. The color of blood has been changed to green, and users are periodically reminded that the action takes place in a fictional world.
Also, the data of Battlegrounds Mobile India players will now be stored on Microsoft servers located in India. The version developed by Tencent used Chinese servers for this.
PUBG Mobile has been banned in India since September 2020. Along with the game, local authorities blocked another 117 Chinese applications, accusing their authors of transferring user data to foreign servers and damaging the sovereignty and integrity of the state.
Last November, PUBG Corp. announced plans to return PUBG Mobile to India. To do this, the company wanted not only to change its name, but also to invest $ 100 million in the local gaming market. Krafton also decided to operate the new project itself in order to avoid suspicion of ties with China.
The company first announced agreements with the Indian authorities and the start of preliminary registrations in May. However, soon after that, the local authorities again threatened to ban the project that had not yet been released at that time. As an argument, the fact that 15.5% of Krafton shares belong to the Chinese giant Tencent was also called.
Details of the developers’ agreements with the authorities, in addition to censorship and the transfer of servers to India, are still unknown. At the same time, PUBG Mobile is still the only one of the blocked applications that managed to return to the store.
Meanwhile, Krafton is preparing to release its new project — PUBG: New State, which should be released before the end of the year. According to the information PocketGamer.biz , the number of pre-registrations in Google Play has already exceeded 17 million iOS users will be able to register in the game in the third quarter.