As of now, we have survived days without PUBG Mobile. Everybody knows that PUBG Mobile was one of the most played games in India, but do you know how the game got so popular? This post will answer the most asked questions around this infamous gaming title.
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What is PUBG?
Short for PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds, PUBG is a multiplayer battle royale online game that requires players to eliminate all opponents and try to survive. In this game, there are 100 players competing at the same time, in teams of 4 or individually. Players will parachute onto an island, search for weapons, and attempt to kill other players while avoiding getting killed. Over time, the safe area shrinks, which forces players to encounter one another. The winner is the last one to survive.
Why is it so special?
PUBG was released in India in 2018, at a time when the cost of mobile data was dropping dramatically and the number of smartphone users was rising fast. If it hadn’t been for the low data cost, PUBG Mobile couldn’t have attracted that many players.
The file size of PUBG Mobile is 2GB, making it one of the few mobile titles to ensure the graphics quality. This, combined with affordability and reliable streaming, one just needed a decent smartphone to join this game, rather than a more costly PC.
How popular was PUBG Mobile?
Out of the total 748 million downloads, PUBG Mobile got 175 million from India, making up one-fourth of the total user base. This popularity could be because several YouTube channels streamed the game with some even drawing millions of viewers. For instance, Naman “Soul Mortal” Mathur became the first India to get nominated at the Esport Awards for the Best Streamer title.
Was it a solo or team game?
Players can choose to play solo in PUBG Mobile, but playing in teams is the key to success in this game. Besides, gamers can voice chat with one another during gameplay, making it more socially interactive.
How big was it as a professional sport?
PUBG became the biggest sport for professional gamers. According to the managing director and founder of Nodwin Gaming, PUBG tournaments made up 60% of India’s high-end professional Esports tournaments, not to mention those organizing their own tournaments.
The strongest teams in the country made hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money even when international teams had set up partnerships with Indian outfits. When Entity Gaming partnered with TSM to form TSM Entity, they earned $182,067 while Orange Rock earned $120,000.
Why was it banned?
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India classified PUBG Mobile as “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity” of the country following the recent conflict between India and China along the Himalayan border.
According to the Ministry, many complaints surfaced, saying that some Android and iOS apps were used to steal and transmit user data to servers located outside of India without authorization. The complaints surfaced after PUBG Mobile’s revised privacy policy that said all data collected from players in India would be stored on servers inside the country.
What are the substitutes for PUBG Mobile?
The game achieved success at the time when mobile battle royale games were rising too. Free Fire and Call of Duty Mobile are the two most anticipated alternatives for PUBG Mobile. Each of these games has a different advantage; while Call of Duty Mobile offers better graphics performance, Free Fire is compatible with lower-end devices.
What is FAU-G?
Just a few days after PUBG Mobile was banned, several companies in India said they would release Indian variants of this game. FAU-G, or Fearless and United-Guards, is the most popular example right now. This game was announced on a tweet by Vishal Gondal, the Investor and Advisor at Bangalore-based company nCore. Meanwhile, actor Akshay Kumar posted the FAU-G poster on his social accounts too. Gondal said in an interview that this game is Kumar’s brainchild.
According to Gondal, FAU-G could be released next month without revealing a specific date.
For now, it remains unclear if it will be a multiplayer battle royale title like PUBG Mobile. Games of this genre are challenging to develop as they require solutions to problems in packet loss, hit detection, internet lag, etc. It took Tencent almost 2 years to complete the mobile version for PUBG though they had the PC version to start with.
On the other hand, Gondal’s team has been developing FAU-G since May, so it would be huge if they are able to release the game in October with quality comparable to PUBG Mobile.
>>> All You Need To Know About FAU-G Developer - nCore Games Advised By Vishal Gondal
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