PUBG takes over Tencent’s publishing rights in India

PUBG Corporation said that it will cut its publishing partnership with Tencent in India, announced on Tuesday in a blog post. “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 fans.” the company said. 

Last week, the Indian government banned another 118 China-based mobile apps including the popular multiplayer battle royale game PUBG Mobile, search giant Baidu and Alipay. The ministry said “This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security, and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace.” 

PUBG Corporation said in the statement that “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. It hopes to work hand-in-hand with the Indian government to find a solution that will allow gamers to once again drop into the battlegrounds while being fully compliant with Indian laws and regulations.”

According to Sensor Tower, India was the biggest PUBG market in the world in June 2020 with 175 million downloads, 24% of the total PUBG downloads worldwide, followed by China with 16.7%  and the United States with 6.4%.

According to Reuters, seizing the opportunity, an Indian firm and a Bollywood actor are together planning to launch a locally-made tactical mobile game by the end of October.

Tencent said “Our existing cooperation with PUBG Corporation in global markets other than India is not affected.”