The Battlegrounds Mobile India announcement was met with a lot of excitement in the country as gamers had been waiting for PUBG Mobile to return for a while. Now that we're quite close to the launch, it might be worth pondering about why the name was changed in the first place — and get an insight into how the entity plans on functioning.
Before diving in, it’s important to understand why PUBG Mobile was banned in the first place. On September 2, 2020, the government’s Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY) blocked 118 phone apps with ties to China, over improper data handling that was “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of state and public order.”
Government Blocks 118 Mobile Apps Which are Prejudicial to Sovereignty and Integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order.Press Release issued by @GoI_MeitY regarding blocking of 118 mobile apps https://t.co/VyahsHR5f0September 2, 2020
In response, PUBG Corporation announced that it will develop a new game for the market keeping all those points in consideration. It would simply be called PUBG Mobile India. It was developed without the help of China’s Tencent game studio. Further, it was also supposed to bring a higher degree of localization with outfits, maps and lesser violence.
In a surprise turn of events, the new game was officially called Battlegrounds Mobile India instead. It became increasingly clear that Krafton was trying to avoid the ‘PUBG’ branding entirely — presumably to do away with all the previous notions and sentiment around the banned game. A report states that the company even went on to tell its partners (streamers, influencers, etc.) to avoid using the older name in any of the coverage.
Based on the information currently available, it seems that Battlegrounds Mobile India will be quite similar to PUBG Mobile in most ways.
Is there more than what meets the eye?
Unlike what many believe, Krafton does not need permissions or approvals to launch a new game in India. As long as the Google Play Store and Apple App Store are fine with it, developers can go ahead and make new applications available. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT will step in only when an app is found guilty of flouting rules.
So, for now, Battlegrounds Mobile India should have a safe and smooth launch, unless Krafton didn’t plan its steps properly.
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