PUBG developer Krafton re-enters market with Battlegrounds Mobile India

South Korean gaming firm and PUBG developer Krafton on Thursday announced launching a battle royal game for the Indian market, Battlegrounds Mobile India. The game will be available as a free-to-play game on mobile devices. 

In an announcement, the company said that the game which would be available only to Indian users will release with exclusive in-game events such as outfits and features, apart from conducting its own esports tournaments and leagues. It will also announce in-game events with partners closer to its launch, which will be announced later. 

This marks Krafton’s second coming in India after its flagship product, Players Unknown’s Battleground or PUBG was banned by the government in September 2020 along with other Chinese origin apps for allegedly stealing unauthorised data from users and endangering national security.  

Following the ban, PUBG Corporation had revoked the publishing rights of the mobile game in India from Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings.  

“With privacy and data security being a top priority, Krafton will be working with partners, to ensure data protection and security, at each stage. This will ensure privacy rights are respected, and all data collection and storage will be in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in India and for players here,” the company said in a statement. 

Krafton had first said in November 2020 that it would launch a version called PUBG Mobile India specific to the market, with tweaks such as characters starting out fully clothed, apart from introducing a cut-off time to promote healthy habits among young players. It had also committed to investing $100 million in the country to promote local video games, esports and Information Technology (IT) and creating over 100 jobs across various roles.  

In March, Krafton announced an equity investment of $22.4 million in esports platform, NODWIN Gaming which is a subsidiary of publicly listed gaming company, Nazara Technologies.