There is a steep rise in the anti-Chinese sentiment in India. We have seen people of India boycotting multiple Chinese applications and the most popular is TikTok. We have seen the popularity of TikTok application falling like anything in the country.
We have already seen multiple apps like Remove Chinese App that scouts for the Chinese applications present on your smartphone and delete them. Although multiple Chinese applications have been boycotted by the Indian, one particular app remains in the question? Yes, we are talking about India’s most famous battle royale game, PUBG Mobile. The game is widely popular in India and it has given birth to many stars like Mortal, Dynamo and more. However, the question still remains here: Is it just another Chinese application? Let’s take a closer look.
What is PUBG and how it originated?
In order to understand PUBG Mobile, you should first know about PUBG. The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or PUBG is a battle royale game that was launched for the PC and gaming console. The game was developed for PC by PUBG Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Korean game developer, Bluehole. The game was launched in 2017 and it became an instant hit across the world. The battle royale game allows 100 players to compete with each other and the last man standing was the winner of the game. The brain behind the popular game is Brendan Greene, who has created other games like ARMA 2, Day Z: Battle Royale and more.
Why was PUBG banned in China?
However, the popular battle royale game was banned in China. This was primarily because of the reason that the game was considered to be too violent by the government. The government banned the game because of blood and gore as they think that this will create a negative impact on the citizens and youngsters will not be able to focus on their career. The fear of people getting addicted to the game was one of the reasons why it was banned in China.
Role of Tencent in PUBG Mobile
This is where Tencent came into play. The PUBG Corporation partnered with Tencent, which is said to be the Chinese biggest gaming company. The company partnered with Tencent so that it could enter the gaming market in China. Tencent is also credited for bringing the mobile version of the popular battle royale game. The game became an instant hit in China as it got millions of pre-registrations in the Chinese market. The game was then introduced across the globe with different markets including Europe, India, America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and more.
However, in China Tencent didn’t get the approval of the Chinese government to monetize it. This forced Tencent to discard the PUBG Mobile in China and instead it introduced the clone app known as Game for Peace. The game still came with the same design and gameplay as the PUBG Mobile, however, it was toned down in terms of blood and gore. The Game For Peace game changed the whole design of the game like replacing blood with flashes and it tweaked the way players die in the battle royale by making it look like they are waving farewell. The game was projected as a patriotic game and it made sure that the Chinese government will like the app and give it a green signal.
So, is it a Chinese app?
The answer is yes, the PUBG Mobile game is developed by the Chinese company Tencent, which automatically makes it a Chinese application. However, the PUBG game does not have a Chinese origin as the game is made by the Korean gaming company, Bluehole. Interestingly, Tencent has bought a 10 per cent stake in Bluehole, which might raise some eyebrows. However, the same company has an investment in major gaming companies including Riot Games, Epic Games (Fortnite creator), Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard and more.