PUBG Mobile

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PUBG Mobile
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile.webp
Developer(s)LightSpeed & Quantum Studio
Publisher(s)Tencent Games
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)Android, iOS
Release19 March 2018
Genre(s)Battle royale
Mode(s)Multiplayer

PUBG Mobile[a] is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, a division of Tencent Games. It is the mobile game port of the original PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). The game was released on 19 March 2018 for iOS and Android. It was renamed in China and Battlegrounds Mobile India in India.[1]

It was published by multiple publishers in different regions, including Krafton, Tencent, Level Infinite, VNG Game Publishing and HotCool Games.[2][3] By December, 2021, PUBG Mobile had accumulated over a billion downloads while grossing over $7.2 billion, making it one of the highest-grossing mobile games.[4][5]

Gameplay[]

PUBG Mobile features gameplay similar to that of the original PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Players parachute down to a remote island and fight to remain as the last player standing, competing alone or in teams of two or four, depending on the gamemode selected before the match. Each match lasts about 30 minutes.

The game begins with the participants flying in a plane over one of many possible maps, also selected before the match. As they cross the map, players choose where to parachute down. When the plane finishes its flight, a blue border forms around the perimeter of the island, marking the boundary between the safe zone and the exterior blue zone. The safe zone shrinks every few minutes, and anyone left in the blue zone will steadily lose health as long as they remain there, potentially to the point of death. The rate of health loss increases when the safe zone shrinks.

When players first reach the island with no supplies or weapons and must find them around their environment or from other players. In general, better weapons and equipment are found in more dangerous parts of the map.[6] In addition to the regular shrinking of the safe zone, temporary red zones may randomly appear to be barraged with bombs, and from time to time, the plane flies over the battlefield to release a package with special equipment, potentially including items that cannot be found elsewhere on the island. All of these special events, including the normal safe zone shrinking, are announced to the players before they occur to give fair warning.[7][8]

Additional features unique to the mobile version of PUBG include log-in bonuses, missions and micro-goals, crew recruiting, map and compass improvements with larger and clear markers near the teammates, and an auto loot system, as well as an increased number of bots.[9][10]

Development[]

PUBG Mobile was made in four months using Unreal Engine 4.[11][12] An abridged version of the game for lower-end Android devices, PUBG Mobile Lite, was first released in Thailand on 24 January 2019 before releasing in more Asian, Latin American, and African countries.[13][14]

Release[]

Following the Chinese publication deal for the Windows version, Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation announced plans to release two mobile versions of the game in China.[15][16] The first, PUBG: Exhilarating Battlefield, is an abridged version of the original game, and was developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, an internal division of Tencent Games.[17] The second, PUBG: Army Attack, includes more arcade-style elements, including action taking place on warships, and was developed by Tencent's Timi Studio.[18] Both versions are free-to-play, and were released for Android and iOS devices on February 9, 2018.[19][20] The games had a combined total of 75 million pre-registrations, and ranked first and second on the Chinese iOS download charts at launch.[20] Following a soft launch in Canada, an English version of Exhilarating Battlefield, localized simply as PUBG Mobile, was released worldwide on March 19, 2018.[21][22][23]

In China, PUBG Mobile had been awaiting approval by the government for an authorized release, during which the game could only be offered as a public test. However, Tencent's planned release was suspended due to the government approval freeze across most of 2018. By May 2019, Tencent announced it would no longer seek to publish PUBG Mobile in China, but instead would re-release the game under the title Game for Peace; this version of the game changed elements of the original game to meet China's content restrictions, such as eliminating blood and gore.[24]

A version meant for lower-end mobile devices, PUBG Mobile Lite, was released on July 25, 2019.[25][26] This has support for high FPS gameplay on multiple Android devices, and features a smaller map made for 60 players.[27] The Chinese version of the app was again renamed to Peacekeeper Elite in 2020.[28]

Controversy[]

On September 2, 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned PUBG Mobile in India. Following this, Tencent Games terminated all services for users in India on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India had been returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property, Krafton.[29]

On May 6, 2021, Krafton announced the relaunch of the game in India, following the ban imposed by the Government of India. Krafton directly published the game instead of Tencent as a newly named title which could be only be accessed by users in India as "Battlegrounds Mobile India".[30][31][32]

On 28 January 2022, Zain Ali, a 14-year-old boy from Pakistan, shot his entire family dead allegedly “under the PUBG Mobile influence", according to the Pakistan's Punjab province police.[33]

Esports[]

PUBG Mobile booth at Taipei International Video Game Show in 2021

The game supports several esport leagues and tournaments.[34] Each major region has a PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO) and players compete in their respective regions until later tournaments.[35] Only 32 teams can qualify out of the many teams that signed up. This phase is known as PMCO group stages where the 32 teams are divided into four groups of eight.[36] Once the group stages have elapsed, the finals are hosted where the top 16 teams play. From here, the teams compete to make it to a higher level of competition known as the PUBG Mobile Pro League (PMPL).[37][38]

Release[]

The beta test of the game began on 15th and 16 March 2018 for Android and iOS respectively. Following the positive feedback, the Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation (current PUBG Studios) announced the release of game through Google Play and Apple App Store on 19 March 2018.[39]

Reception[]

PUBG Mobile received "generally favorable reviews", IGN described the mobile version as "There’s no replacing the accuracy of a mouse and keyboard or appeal of a console in a battle royale shooter, but PUBG Mobile is a technical marvel".[46][42] Polygon says "An unexpectedly good port for iOS and Android".[47]

PUBG Mobile booth at 23rd Anniversary Bahamut Gamer Party

Downloads[]

PUBG Mobile was the second most-downloaded mobile game of 2018, with nearly 300 million downloads worldwide. The game's largest market was China, which accounted for 29% of the game's downloads, followed by India and the United States each with about 10% (30 million) of its downloads. It was the most-installed battle royale game of 2018, with about 200 million more installs than Fortnite, which received 82 million installs on mobile devices.[48] As of 2019, PUBG Mobile had reached 555 million downloads worldwide, with India accounting 116 million (21%) of the downloads, China with 108 million (19%) downloads, and the United States with 42 million (8%) downloads.[49] As of December 2019, it had crossed 600 million downloads.[50] By July 2020 it had accumulated 734 million downloads.[51] In March 2021, it was reported that PUBG Mobile has accumulated 1 billions downloads outside of China since launch.[52]

Revenue[]

PUBG Mobile grossed ¥3.58 billion ($32.42 million) in Japan during 2018.[53] PUBG Mobile grossed over $3.5 billion in revenue by August 2020.[54] PUBG Mobile grossed over $2.6 billion in 2020, making it the highest-grossing game of the year and bringing its total revenue to over $4.3 billion as of December 2020.[55] It have grossed $5.1 billion as of March 2021.[56] By August 2021, PUBG Mobile had grossed over $6.2 billion[57] and by December, 2021, It had grossed over $7.2 billion.[4][5]

Awards[]

Year Awards Category Result References
2018 Golden Joystick Awards Mobile Game of the Year Won [58]
The Game Awards 2018 Best Mobile Game Won [59]
Gamers' Choice Awards Fan Favorite Mobile Game Nominated [60]
2019 Golden Joystick Awards E-Sports Game of the Year Nominated [61]

References[]

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External links[]

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