Read on Twitter
So PUBG Corp will look into publishing PUBG Mobile instead of Tencent to get around India’s ban of the game. I wonder how this move will pan out because Tencent did more than just publish here. A quick thread on #pubgban #pubgindia with this new development.
Hopefully PUBG Corp thought about:
1. Who is going to run the official PUBG Mobile leagues here?
2. Who is going to run the game’s many marketing initiatives?
3. Who is going to liaison with esports teams, communities, and other business stakeholders?
1. Who is going to run the official PUBG Mobile leagues here?
2. Who is going to run the game’s many marketing initiatives?
3. Who is going to liaison with esports teams, communities, and other business stakeholders?
They could offload all of these aspects to Tencent yet again, but that won’t really help their cause. Perhaps they decide to set up shop here similar to Garena? We’ll have to see.
The last time PUBG Corp did anything in India was granting local tournament organisers their blessing to run PUBG PC tournaments with their blessing. At the time PUBG PC had 150K daily active users from India alone. https://gadgets.ndtv.com/games/features/pubg-india-tournaments-esports-csgo-gamingmonk-1799613
That said, the move is probably pretty indicative of how important India is to PUBG Corp in terms of the revenue/visibility/brand equity. But unless they’re able to bring the game back within the next few months, the lost momentum will be hard to regain.
It’s something @purisahab brought up on the @gamingrep0rter panel yesterday: how much time is enough for the game to come back if it does in any shape or form? https://www.thegamingreporter.com/pubg-ban-expert-opinion/
And while publishing duties could go to PUBG Corp, will Tencent still handle development of the game? If so, wouldn’t that still be in violation of the way data privacy laws here in India work? This move appears to be a bandaid solution if Tencent still develops the game.
