Why PUBG Ruled them All: What Happened to the Indian Gaming Industry


Why PUBG Ruled them All: What Happened to the Indian Gaming Industry

One of the most popular battle-royale games PUBG Mobile had taken Indian gaming market by a storm. As there are many players in Indian gaming industry, but none came with any games which match the gaming experience of PUBG mobile. PUBG with its mobile-first approach, clean user interface and ease of using the platform ensured adoption which in turn helped the company monetise through in-app purchases and pay to play model.

Why it is so hard to match PUBG is because, it has truly been a game which offered the best of graphics, and the gameplay experience. And till now, if we look at the Indian Gaming market, there hasn't been one game which can match its level. Although there are alternatives to PUBG such as Call of Duty and Cross Fire.

The rumor had been spreading over a couple of months about PUBG being banned from India. Especially due to lockdown, PUBG has seen millions of users joining in. But however, as boycott China is getting more stringent, the rumor became a reality when the Government decided to ban PUBG across the country. Many of the experts in the gaming industry strongly believe that PUBG will not be easily replaced by the players from Indian gaming industry.

However, with the growing border tension between the two nations ( India and China), PUBG has been banned in the country this Wednesday. Hence, Indian gaming platforms are looking forward to pushing their products to follow the ban of  popular  Chinese esports app PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite by the Ministry of Electronics and INformation technology which dominated and have been dominating the Indian market.

PUBG is among the most popular games with about 50 million active players in India. This ban will seriously hit the game developer and publisher PUBG Corporation, which is a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole. As with the ban of PUBG on Wednesday, there were also 117 other applications that we banned from the country.

Taking advantage of the Situation

Roland Landers, Chief Executive of all India Gaming Federation said, “The ban would safeguard the interests of Indian mobile and internet users while presenting a great opportunity for indegenous homegrown game development studios.”

We are confident that games like Rogue Heist, a multi-player online shooter game which is designed and developed entirely in India and many others similar to this will fill the gap,” he added.

“Some of the games which are expected to take advantage of this opportunity would be HitWitcket, World Cricket Championship (WCC) or mythology-based games like Raji. Hence, it is needed  that the government recognise and promote such segments in India,” said Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India (ESFI).

If we look at the current market statistics, with a total revenue of 8,000 crore. India ranks 16th in the world among the eSports industry with a total revenue of 8,000 crore. Akshat Rathee, managing director and co-founder of e-sportsfirm NODWIN Gaming has also highlighted, “The closet replacement for PUBG fans would be international games such as Call of Duty mobile when it comes to high-end smartphone users and Free Fire for those who have low-end smartphones.”

“India has created good cricket  with global gaming companies in the multiplayer online shooting game genre,” he added.

Advertising spends on gaming as a genre will be halted as PUBG was the biggest mobile gaming app in India. However, gamers and streamers are likely to move to other gaming apps and brands which will return to advertise on Indian gaming platforms in the next three to six months,” Shradha Agarwal, CO-founder and COO at digital marketing agency Grapes Digital.

Multiplayer action Game FAU-G

In the wake of borderline tension between India and China, this heated cold war has led to the banning of the popular game called PUBG Mobile and is being taken down from the official Google Play Store. Hence, seizing the perfect opportunity, multiplayer action game, FAU-G, developed by Bengaluru-headquartered nCORE Games is set to be launched in the country soon.

“Supporting PM @narendramodi’s AtmaNirbhar movement, proud to present an action game, Fearless and United-Guards FAU-G. Besides entertainment, players will also learn about the sacrifices of our soldiers. 20% of the net revenue generated will be donated to @BharatKeVeer Trust #FAUG," Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar tweeted on Friday.