PUBG Mobile
Developer(s)LightSpeed & Quantum Studio
Publisher(s)WW: Level Infinite[1]
Composer(s)Tom Salta
Brian Tyler
Shem von Schroeck
Inon Zur
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)Android
iOS
Release18 March 2018
Genre(s)Battle royale
Mode(s)Multiplayer

PUBG Mobile[lower-alpha 1] is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, a division of Tencent Games. It is a mobile game adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds. It was initially released for Android and iOS on 19 March 2018.

It was published by multiple publishers in different regions, including Krafton, Tencent, and VNG Games.[2][3] By December 2022, PUBG Mobile had accumulated around 1.3 billion downloads while grossing over $9 billion. It is also the second most-played mobile video game of all time.[4] In 2021, the game spawned an Indian version, Battlegrounds Mobile India, and a separate game taking place in the PUBG Universe, called New State Mobile.

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 game mode selected before the match. Each match lasts about 30 minutes. It takes exactly 32 minutes and 50 seconds for the zone to close completely. After that, another 11 seconds or so until you die inside the zone, so potential max of about 33 minutes and 10 seconds if you try to heal yourself.

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 blue zone shrinks every few minutes, and anyone left in the 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, they have no supplies or weapons. Therefore, they must find guns and ammunition around abandoned houses or loot them from downed players. In general, better weapons and equipment are found in more dangerous parts of the map.[5] In addition to the regular shrinking of the safe zone, temporary red zones may randomly appear. These zones are barraged randomly with bombs for a relatively short time. Touching an exploding bomb will immediately kill or down you. From time to time, a plane flies over the battlefield to release a package with special equipment, potentially gun craft 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 a fair warning.[6][7]

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.[8][9]

Development

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile is the mobile adaption of the popular battle royale game, PUBG: Battlegrounds, developed by PUBG Studios and LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, published by Tencent Games worldwide, while Krafton and VNG Games in India, Korea and Vietnam respectively. The game was released in March 2018 and has since become one of the most popular mobile games in the world.

The development of PUBG Mobile took just 4 months to be completed, as multiple teams from around the world contributed to the project. The project began with the original PC and console version of the game, which was developed by Brendan Greene (known as PlayerUnknown) and released in 2017. Following the success of that particular game, Tencent Games began their development project with PUBG Studios for the mobile version. In doing so, they had to create an evolution of the Unreal Engine 4, which was optimized to suit the mobile platform, with a focus on smoother performance and enhanced graphics.[10][11]

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

Release

Following India international 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 9 February 2017.[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 as PUBG Mobile, was released worldwide on 19 March 2018.[21][22][23] PUBG Mobile KR, a Korean and Japanese oriented version and PUBG Mobile VN, a Vietnamese oriented version released in June 2018 and January 2019 respectively.

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] Following its release, a Taiwanese version of the game, PUBG Mobile TW was released.

A version meant for lower-end mobile devices, PUBG Mobile Lite, was released on 25 July 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]

Controversies

On 2 September 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology banned PUBG Mobile in India amid the 2020 China-India skirmish. Following this, Tencent Games terminated all services for users in India on 30 October 2020.

On 6 May 2021, Krafton announced the relaunch of the game in India, following the ban imposed by the Government of India. Krafton published the game in the country as Battlegrounds Mobile India(BGMI), which can only be accessed by users in the country. In 2022, BGMI was removed from the playstore and the apple appstore as per orders from the Indian Government due to an alleged data leak to Chinese servers, however the game could still be played and installed using an .apk file [29][30]

On 19 May 2023, Krafton publicly announced BGMI is getting relaunched for a trial period after a 10-month long dispute.[31]The game was finally re-released on May 27 for Android users and May 29 for iOS users. However, on both the platforms, it was playable only after May 29.

On 28 January 2022, a 14-year-old from Pakistan allegedly shot and killed his entire family. The Punjab police said this was "under the influence" of said game.[32]

Esports

PUBG Mobile booth at Taipei International Video Game Show in 2021

The game supports several e-sport leagues and tournaments.[33] Each major region has a PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO) and players compete in their respective regions until later tournaments.[34] Only 32 teams can qualify out of the many teams that signed up. This phase is known as the PMCO group stage, where the 32 teams are divided into four groups of eight. PMCO in India was held in 2019 for the first time, and the winner of the tournament was Naman Mathur and his team.[35] 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). Later, eSports grew a lot in various countries including India, China, Indonesia, and many more, giving opportunities to many potential players.[36][37]

Reception

PUBG Mobile received "generally favourable" reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[38]

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.[43] In March 2021, PUBG Mobile had accumulated more than a billion downloads outside of China.[44] Including Peacekeeper Elite, the Chinese version of the game, and Battlegrounds Mobile India, the game had a total player count of around 1.3 billion as of December 2022.[4][45]

Revenue

PUBG Mobile grossed ¥3.58 billion ($32.42 million) in Japan in 2018.[46] PUBG Mobile grossed over $3.5 billion in revenue by August 2020.[47] 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.[48] That figure had increased to over $9 billion as of December 2022.[4]

Awards

Year Awards Category Result References
2018 Golden Joystick Awards Mobile Game of the Year Won [49]
The Game Awards 2018 Best Mobile Game Nominated [50]
Gamers' Choice Awards Fan Favorite Mobile Game Nominated [51]
2019 Italian Video Game Awards 2019 Best Mobile Game Nominated [52]
37th Golden Joystick Awards Esports Game of the Year Nominated [53]
Google Play Users’ Choice Awards Best Competitive Game Won [54]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India Favourite Mobile Game Nominated [55]
Esports Awards Esports Breakthrough Game of The Year Nominated [56]
2020 Indonesia Gaming Awards Game of the Year Won [57]
Esports Awards Esports Mobile Game of the Year Nominated [58]
2021 Esports Awards Esports Mobile Game of the Year Nominated [59]
2022 Esports Awards Esports Mobile Game of the Year Won [60]

Note

  1. ↑ Short for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, and known in China as Game for Peace (also known as Peacekeeper Elite)

References

  1. ↑ "PUBG MOBILE". Level Infinite. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  2. ↑ "VNG Game Publishing | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com". DNA India. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Liao, Shannon (19 March 2017). "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now on mobile in the US". The Verge. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "PUBG Mobile hits $9B in lifetime consumer spending". VentureBeat. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  5. ↑ "PlayerUnknown's Battleground (PUBG) Mobile - App Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Hall, Chris (12 April 2021). "What is PUBG Mobile and why is everyone talking about PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds?". www.pocket-lint.com. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  7. ↑ Carter, Chris (9 June 2017). "Understanding Playerunknown's Battlegrounds". Polygon. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Six Things PUBG Mobile Does Better Than The Original". Kotaku. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Byford, Sam (16 March 2018). "PUBG on your phone is better than you'd expect".
  10. ↑ Kane, Alex (20 March 2020). "How PUBG Mobile was made in four months". Polygon.
  11. ↑ Krafton (19 March 2018). "PUBG MOBILE". Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "PUBG MOBILE LITE OFFICIAL SITE". www.pubgmlite.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  13. ↑ Bedford, Tom (26 January 2021). "PUBG Mobile Lite: what it is and how you can play the battle royale spin-off". TechRadar. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  14. ↑ Ullal, Rishabh (27 May 2019). "PUBG Mobile LITE. Here's What You Need To Know". IGN India. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  15. ↑ McAloon, Alissa (27 November 2017). "Tencent working to bring Battlegrounds to mobile in China". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  16. ↑ Brightman, James (27 November 2017). "PUBG going mobile with Tencent's help". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  17. ↑ Higton, Ian (17 February 2018). "Here's how PUBG on mobile phones compares to the original game". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 18 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  18. ↑ Wong, Alistair (1 December 2017). "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Gets Two Mobile Versions In China". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  19. ↑ Arif, Shabana (9 February 2018). "PUBG's Chinese Mobile Games Are Now in Early Access". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  20. 1 2 Madnani, Mikhail (9 February 2018). "Both of Tencent's 'PUBG' Mobile Games Are Now Available on the App Store in China for Free". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  21. ↑ Saed, Sherif (15 March 2018). "PUBG Mobile gets surprise release in the West". VG247. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Chalk, Andy (15 March 2018). "PUBG Mobile comes to the West with a 'soft launch' in Canada". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 16 March 2018. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  23. ↑ Knezevic, Kevin. "PUBG Mobile Out Now For Free In The US And Other Regions". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  24. ↑ Jones, Ali (8 May 2019). "PUBG Mobile re-released as bloodless 'Game of Peace' so Tencent can monetize it in China". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  25. ↑ Peters, Jay (9 August 2019). "PUBG Mobile Lite is a smaller game with big changes". The Verge. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  26. ↑ "PUBG MOBILE LITE OFFICIAL SITE". www.pubgmlite.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  27. ↑ Siddiqui, Aamir (6 August 2020). "PUBG Mobile now supports 90fps gameplay on the OnePlus 8 Pro, 8, 7T Pro, 7T, and 7 Pro as a timed exclusive". xda-developers. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  28. ↑ "Chinese PUBG Mobile called out for privacy issues". South China Morning Post. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  29. ↑ "PUBG Mobile India is Now Battlegrounds Mobile India: New Logo, Underage Usage Terms Updated". www.news18.com. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  30. ↑ Campbell, Ian Carlos (17 June 2021). "PUBG Mobile returns to India after ban with green blood and a new name". The Verge. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  31. ↑ "BGMI unbanned: Battlegrounds Mobile India will return soon, developer Krafton confirms". India Today. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  32. ↑ "Pakistani boy shoots dead mother, 3 siblings under the influence of PUBG". India Today. Press Trust of India. 29 January 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  33. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (1 January 2021). "Everything we know about the 2021 PMCO Spring Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  34. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (20 November 2020). "PUBG Mobile esports will feature more PMCOs, PMPLs, and 2 new studios in 2021". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  35. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (19 July 2020). "Everything you need to know about the PUBG Mobile Club Open fall split 2020". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  36. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (3 September 2021). "Here is the schedule for the PMPL Fall Split 2021". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  37. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (6 October 2021). "PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) 2021 will kick off on Nov. 30". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  38. 1 2 "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (IOS)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  39. ↑ "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds". GameSpot. 17 May 2023.
  40. ↑ Jagneaux, David (24 March 2018). "PUBG Mobile Review".
  41. ↑ "PUBG Mobile review". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). 23 April 2018.
  42. ↑ Slater, Harry (22 March 2018). "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile review - Winner winner, chicken dinner?". www.pocketgamer.com.
  43. ↑ "Q4 and Full Year 2018: Store Intelligence Data Digest" (PDF). Sensor Tower. 16 January 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  44. ↑ Li, Pei (25 March 2021). "PUBG Mobile reports 1 billion accumulated downloads since 2018 launch". Reuters. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  45. ↑ "Battlegrounds Mobile India clocks 100 million users, completes one year in India". The Indian Express. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  46. ↑ "2018年アプリ収益予測@Game-i". #セルラン分析/ゲーム株『Game-i』 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  47. ↑ Chapple, Craig (9 September 2020). "PUBG Mobile Generates $500 Million in Just Over Two Months as it Races Past $3.5 Billion Lifetime Revenue". Sensor Tower. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  48. ↑ Chan, Stephanie (22 December 2020). "2020 Year In Review: 10 Mobile Milestones". Sensor Tower. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  49. ↑ Sheridan, Connor (16 November 2018). "Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners: God of War wins big but Fortnite gets Victory Royale". gamesradar.
  50. ↑ Grant, Christopher (6 December 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: Here are all of the winners". Polygon.
  51. ↑ Glyer, Mike (19 November 2018). "2018 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees". File 770.
  52. ↑ "Italian Video Game Awards Nominees and Winners". Italian Video Game Awards. 11 April 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  53. ↑ Tailby, Stephen (20 September 2019). "Days Gone Rides Off with Three Nominations in This Year's Golden Joystick Awards". Push Square. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  54. ↑ Venkatesh, Aarthi (12 December 2019). "PUBG Mobile wins Best Competitive Game award for the second consecutive year". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  55. ↑ "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Video Game 2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  56. ↑ "PUBG Mobile Is Nominated As The Esports Breakthrough Game of the Year". GuruGamer.com. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  57. ↑ Rossel, John Dave (20 December 2020). "PUBG Mobile and BTR Zuxxy Won Awards at the Indonesia Gaming Award 2020". AFK Gaming. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  58. ↑ "Free Fire & PUBG Mobile Are Nominated For Esports Mobile GOTY Award". GuruGamer.com. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  59. ↑ Gametube (26 November 2021). "PUBG Mobile finishes second in Mobile Game of the Year category at Esports Awards 2021 as Free Fire claims first spot". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  60. ↑ "Esports Awards 2022: PUBG Mobile Wins Esports Mobile Game of the Year Award". AFKGAMING. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
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