PUBG parent may join hands with a local partner to reverse the ban in India

PUBG Corporation will retain the publishing rights for the game.

What you need to know

• A new report claims PUBG Corporation is looking for an Indian partner to handle the distribution of PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite in the country.
• A licensing agreement with an Indian company should allow the ban imposed on the franchise in the country to be lifted.
• The hugely popular mobile game was banned in India last week, along with 117 other Chinese apps.

Yesterday, PUBG Corporation announced that it is cutting ties with Tencent Games in India to provide its own PUBG experience to fans in India. According to a new report from Mint, PUBG Corporation is keen on joining hands with an Indian gaming firm to relaunch PUBG Mobile in the country.

As per the report, PUBG Corporation is working on a new licensing agreement with an Indian gaming firm to pass on the distribution rights for PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite in the country. The Indian distributor will have to develop India-specific content, handle PUBG tournaments, and localize data from users.

However, it is still not clear if a potential partnership with an Indian gaming firm will be enough to reverse the ban on the franchise imposed by the government. Speaking to the Mint, a senior government official said:

Ownership is only one of the concerns. But there are several other issues, based on which the ban has been ordered. The concerns are related to data privacy security, activity inside the phone, etc.

Industry experts believe only a few firms in India are capable of operating a game as popular as PUBG Mobile. While it was recently rumored that PUBG Corporation was in talks with Reliance Jio to take over the license for the franchise in India, nothing has been confirmed so far. Another likely candidate is Paytm First Games, which has a partnership with Garena Freefire, a rival to PUBG Mobile.

PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite were banned by the Indian government last week, along with 116 other apps with ties to China.

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