Many of India’s Most Popular Apps Disappear: Is PUBG Mobile Next?
TikTok, Clash of Kings, WeChat, SelfieCity, Kwai, CamScanner, UC Browser, Mobile Legends, and over 50 other apps on the Indian mobile app stores have been removed from the market. The Indian government has been carefully regulating the mobile scene, removing several apps of late. Many more apps are likely to be booted from India, causing the mobile gaming audience – which is massive in the subcontinent – to wonder if their favourite games are on their way out.
The Indian gaming market continues to grow in size and influence, with the sheer number of people getting smartphones increasing at a rapid rate. So, naturally, all gaming developers want to remain available to India, it’s just a question of which ones can make a case to stay.
Most popular mobile gaming offerings look to be safe
The primary worry for gamers of the most popular titles on the Indian app store is that massive gaming companies being looked at by the Indian government tend to have a stake in the games or their development companies. Battle royale games rule the roost right now, with the two biggest names internationally, Fortnite and Call of Duty, coming from companies that are part or majority-owned by the goliath company Tencent. WeChat, from Tencent, has already been dropped from India.
This makes many think that the overwhelmingly popular PUBG Mobile is in the crosshairs. Of course, the Indian government would only remove the mobile battle royale game if it had just cause, which may come from the game being made in collaboration with Tencent. That said, it was predominantly created by a subsidiary of Bluehole from the Korea Republic, the PUBG Corporation, with most experts saying the ties to Tencent are extremely weak, primarily as the IP is wholly owned by the Korea Republic company Krafton Game Union.
Most widely-used mobile gaming platforms are going to be safe in India, particularly if they’re based in India or established in the west. Like battle royale gaming, casino gaming has risen to the fore alongside mass mobile adoption, with the biggest now being the live casino games you can play in India. The majority of these live streaming studios are based in either India or Europe, with the likes of Crazy Time, Andar Bahar, Teen Patti, Roulette Live, and Blitz Blackjack all assured to be able to continue operating in the subcontinent.
Potential alternates should PUBG Mobile get booted
There’s no shortage of top-class mobile games available in India, with so many developers revelling in the mostly low-spec requirements of the current market. High-intensity, big-name games like Call of Duty Mobile and Fortnite aren’t as popular as the likes of PUBG Lite because they’re too heavy, which allows other games to win over the Indian audience like the live casino games have done. One of the best battle royale games in this regard is Battlelands Royale, from Finnish developers Futureplay, which encourages players to squad-up, create custom battles, and join massive online events.
Other genres of gaming are well worth exploring too, especially when it comes to first-person shooters. The type of games has long been hindered by the hardware, but now, even the entry-level Androids can run shooters well. Sitting at the peak of these mobile games is Critical Ops: Multiplayer FPS from another Finnish studio, Critical Force Ltd. It’s a 3D multiplayer FPS with many environments, customisable weapons, simple controls, and competitive gameplay which caters to squad play.
On the other hand, if you do have a more powerful smartphone which can hack high-intensity gaming, Reign of Amira: Arena from USA-based Qualcomm Game Studios is a good pick. It sees you take on waves of enemies, collecting resources to get better weapons in preparation for the next, stronger wave.
PUBG Mobile is enormous in India, but there’s no doubt that, should it leave the country, players will easily be able to jump on another top game in their droves.
Submitted by Maija P