After being recently banned in India, developer PUBG Corp has now announced that it has ended its partnership with Tencent to publish PUBG Mobile in the country. PUBG Mobile, unfortunately, happened to be among 118 Chinese apps that were banned by the Indian government due to national security reasons. The game was pulled from the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store in compliance with the order.
In the same announcement, PUBG Corp also stated that the company will "take on all publishing responsibilities within [India]" for the game. The company will now work with the Indian government to bring the game back on the market while complying with the country's laws and regulations. PUBG Corp and its parent company Krafton did not say anything about its relationship with Tencent Games in other countries.
PUBG Mobile has been a successful game in India with over 40 million active users and 175 million downloads, which is about a quarter of the game's global downloads. This is why PUBG Corp is looking to reinstate the game in such a successful market. However, it remains to be seen whether or not the Indian government will lift the ban on the product.
PUBG Mobile isn't alone as a popular Chinese app that's been banned in India. Another popular Chinese application, TikTok, was also recently banned, with the Indian government citing national security concerns. While tensions between India and China continue to rise, the banned apps will most likely never return to the Indian market. However, PUBG Mobile could rely on its new South Korean origins to reinter the Indian market.
Moreover, since PUBG Mobile has been developed by Tencent Games, a Chinese company, it's unlikely that the Indian government will lift the ban. Nevertheless, we'll find out the fate of the game soon enough.
PUBG Mobile is available on Android and iOS.
