PUBG Mobile was banned two months ago in India in terms of cybersecurity concerns and is now planning to return in the second largest internet market of the world according to a few sources who reported to TechCrunch.
The South Korean company has engaged with global cloud service providers in the last few weeks to store the data of Indian users within the country to allay the concerns of New Delhi about the residency and security of user data.
PUBG has privately informed a few high-profile streamers in India that it might resume its service in India before the end of 2020. The sources requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press. PUBG Corporation did not respond to a request for commenting on the same.
The company might make its announcement about their future plans in India as soon as this week. It has planned to run a marketing campaign in the country during Diwali next week.
PUBG has recently also engaged with some local firms which also includes SoftBank-backed Paytm and telecom giant Airtel for exploring whether they will be interested in publishing the famous mobile game in the country as stated by an industry executive. A spokesperson from Paytm declined to comment on this.
Initially, Chinese giant Tencent published PUBG Mobile apps in India. After the ban of PUBG in New Delhi, the company cut publishing ties with Tencent in India. Before the ban, the content of PUBG Mobile was hosted at Tencent Cloud.
Last month, just 2 months after PUBG Mobile was banned in India, the company terminated their service for users in India. They said that protection of user data has always been their top priority and have always compiled with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. Gameplay information of all users is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in their privacy policy.
With around 50 million monthly active users in India, PUBG Mobile was the most popular mobile game in the country before it was banned. It helped to establish an ecosystem of esports organizations and a cottage industry of streamers who made the most of its spectator sport-friendly gameplay, as stated by Rishi Alwani who is a long time analyst of Indian gaming market and publisher of news outlet The Mako Reactor.
The return of PUBG Mobile might complicate matters for many industry players which includes a few that are currently building similar games to cash on their absence and their conversations with venture capital firms about ongoing financing rounds.
It would also recommend that more than 200 more Chinese apps that was banned in India in the last few months could hope to allay the concerns of New Delhi by making a few changes to where they store the data of users.