Before it was banned PUBG Mobile was one of the most played games across all platforms in India. Similar to how BGMI or Battlegrounds Mobile India, which has been updated and is exclusive to India, was the most played battle royale game there before it was outlawed for having tangled ties to the Chinese government.
The app was simply removed the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store in July 2022. In India, the game was technically outlawed in the month of September, much later than originally planned.
Now that rumors have begun to circulate, it is believed that the game will soon be available in India once more in a completely new form, with new publishers. A rebranding and relaunch of BGMI in the nation may happen by the end of the year, according to rumors.
The game will almost certainly be relaunched under a new, India-specific arm of Krafton, the South Korean game publisher that developed PUBG Mobile before cutting all ties with Tencent. If the game is to be relaunched, the servers and data generated by it must be geographically located within India's sovereign borders. This is something Krafton agreed to earlier, when BGMI was relaunched as PUBG.
If the game was to be released by the end of the year, we would have seen some sort of official announcement or teaser announcing something similar by now. Given that we haven't seen anything of the sort, it's safe to assume that if BGMI is relaunched, it will most likely be in mid-2023.
PUBG dominated the Indian gaming industry and had a large fan base during its run. However, the strings were abruptly cut after the game was included among the 118 apps banned in the country. Despite PUBG Corporation's efforts, the union government refused to lift the game's ban. However, a recent job posting in India has led some to believe that the developers are planning a return to the country.
PUBG Corporation posted the job posting on the job search website LinkedIn a few days ago.
The job title is Corporate Development Division Manager - India, and the location is Delhi, India. The full-time associate-level job requires the candidate to work from home in India "or the city where PUBG India will be set up". The job description mentions assisting the PUBG India setup process with guidance from Krafton Inc. headquarters. The candidate must participate in corporate strategic planning processes, develop an investment strategy for gaming and related industries, and collaborate closely with internal leaders and external advisors.
At the time of writing, more than 200 people had applied for the position. When appointing personnel to manage the process, it is expected that PUBG Corporation is confident in making a return to the country.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) announced in early September that 118 applications, including the popular gaming app PUBG, would be banned in India. Since then, PUBG developers have worked hard to overturn the ban, declaring, among other things, that they have severed ties with Tencent to handle its franchise in India.
However, little has changed since the government declared the ban permanent. The ministry stated unequivocally that the ban will not be lifted simply because it is a Chinese app, but because of its violent nature.
Reports suggest that BGMI may be relaunched by the end of this year. However, there have been no signs from Krafton or anyone else from the game publishing industry that the game is being prepared for a relaunch.
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