With over 175 million installs in India, PUBG: Mobile is easily among the most-played games in the country. With such a large player base, a thriving eSports community and ecosystem developed around the game, with many players making a living out of playing the game at a professional level.
Major tournaments like the PMPL South Asia have prize pools of over $100,000, while pro-PUBG players can make up to Rs 50 lakh a year. Understandably, this ecosystem will be affected by the ban on the popular mobile game. However, eSports players and companies alike remain optimistic for the future.
"This may seem like a loss to the Esports community since there are monthly 50 Million users of PUBG, however, in the interest of national security, the country must take whatever precautions they deem necessary. There are plenty of other games to fill the void for PUBG and the Indian Gaming League has started capitalising on the recent surge of demand for these other games as soon as the ban was announced. Games such as Call of Duty(COD) Mobile, Free Fire and Fortnite may see a surge in users in India. While we may see some players move to other platforms such as PUBG PC, the majority who prefer the mobile version will be sticking to similar games on the same platform which would be COD Mobile,” says Yash Pariani, CEO, IGL.
Pariani notes, however, that the move will affect millions of gamers and see PUBG influencers and players switch to other games to make a living. He’s hopeful that their audiences will also respond to the change.
Samir 'Kratos' Choubey of TeamIND, a professional eSports team, says they will definitely be looking out for other options. "As the co-owner of an organisation, I think this has also opened multiple opportunities for us. At the same time, three days ago, our Call of Duty team qualified for a world championship," he says.
He adds however that they are still waiting for word from PUBG: Mobile officials about the way forward. "We are looking forward with our goals as an organisation which is to achieve more wins for the country and give the best results."
With the largest player base for PUBG: Mobile in the world, it's no surprise that some of the world's best players have been Indian. In 2019, Fnatic, one of the world's most renowned professional eSports organisations, announced an all-Indian roster for their PUBG: Mobile lineup.
"The most unfortunate outcome of this sudden move is that it now leaves thousands of players, and hundreds of organizers, journalists, broadcasters etc with an uncertain future as PUBG Esports was indirectly responsible for their jobs. This is the unseen human cost of this move that most people will overlook as they jump onto jokes about PUBG Mobile getting banned," says Ishaan Arya, Co-Founder of The Esports Club.
Others hope that the ban will prove temporary.
“It's quite possible that this is just a temporary ban. And if that's not the case, we must not get disheartened. I believe it's the community that shapes the future of the industry, not the game. But, we all must agree to the fact that PUBG mobile has done a phenomenal job at introducing millions of Indians to eSports...I believe we must respect the Indian Government's decision and support all our gamers and streamers. Ewar Games is committed to building the gaming community in India,” says Parth Chadha, founder, EWar Games.
For those running skill-based gaming companies, the move spells hope for a further crackdown on Chinese companies running gambling websites. Sudhir Kamath, CEO, 9Stacks, says that while Indian companies in the gaming sector operate in accordance with regulations and pay taxes, many foreign entities operate illegally.
“In recent weeks one Chinese owned online gambling syndicate was busted and companies like Linkyun, Dokypay and Beijing Tomorrow Power were shut down, Rs 47 crore was confiscated by the government,” Kamath said, calling for a government crackdown on illegal foreign companies.
“These companies aren't paying any taxes in India or following any Indian regulations, and there is no way for customers to get their dues if they're cheated. They're not members of industry self-regulatory bodies like All India Gaming Federation or the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports. They either have direct Chinese ownership or opaque ownership structures which possibly lead back to China,” he added.
Are there alternatives to PUBG? It depends on the genre—and the platform.
While PUBG’s main rival on mobile phones is Fortnite, the game was recently taken off the Android Play Store as well as from the Apple App Store due to Epic Games differences with Google and Apple alike. However, budding players can always download the game from Epic Games own website.
As gamers shift to other titles, an opportunity opens for the budding Indian game development sector to gain some new players.
"This incident further paves a great opportunity for other amazing games to be discovered. We also are hopeful that a decent number of 'Made-in-India' games and gaming-based companies will now rise to the occasion and work cohesively to bolster and create a brighter future for the nation's e-sports ecosystem,” says Saksham Keshri, Founder & CEO-Rheo.
Varun Mahna, CEO and founder of PokerDangal, concurs.
“Abolishing Chinese applications will not only preserve our nation's security and youth development but will also allow capable Indian growing platforms like ours' to come forward and show their true potential. Honestly, we are obliged to our government and believe that Indians will now prioritize native platforms over foreign ones, which will enable us to showcase our creativity, talent, and strong motives to serve the society in a better way."
