After ban, PUBG ends ties with China's Tencent Games for India franchise

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) on Tuesday announced it had ended its ties with China’s Tencent Holdings for its PUBG MOBILE franchise in India. The move comes in the wake of the recent ban imposed on the game’s mobile version, both full and light, by the Indian government citing security concerns.

“In light of recent developments, PUBG Corporation has made the decision to no longer authorise the PUBG MOBILE franchise to Tencent Games in India. Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country. As the company explores ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India in the near future, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localised and healthy gameplay environment for its fans,” PUBG Corporation said in a statement published on its web portal.

The PUBG game is an intellectual property owned and developed by PUBG Corporation, a South Korean gaming company. It is available for PC, Xbox and PlayStation. However, its mobile versions, full-fledged and light variants, are developed in partnership with China’s Tencent Games, a sister company of Tencent Holdings.

Going forward, the company said, it was actively monitoring the situation around the recent bans of PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite in India. Its statement added: “PUBG Corporation fully understands and respects the measures taken by the government as the privacy and security of player data is a top priority for the company. It hopes to work hand-in-hand with the Indian government to find a solution that will allow gamers to once again drop into the battlegrounds while being fully compliant with Indian laws and regulations.”