PUBG Mobile

Free-to-play battle royale video game

2018 video game

PUBG Mobile

Developer(s)| LightSpeed & Quantum Studio
PUBG Studios
Publisher(s)| WW: Level Infinite[1]

* KOR: Krafton
* VNM: VNG Games

Composer(s)| Jeff Broadbent
Obadiah Brown-Beach
Laurent Courbier
Mason Lieberman
Geng Li (as Reagan Li)
Thomas Parisch
Tom Salta
Brian Tyler
Inon Zur
C. May Xiao[a]
Engine| Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s)| Android
iOS
iPadOS
HarmonyOS[2]
Release| 19 March 2018
Genre(s)| Battle royale
Mode(s)| Multiplayer

PUBG Mobile[b] is a free-to-play battle royale video game co-developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and PUBG Studios. It is a mobile game adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds. It was initially released for Android and iOS on 19th of March 2018.

It was published by multiple publishers in different regions, including Krafton, Tencent, and VNG Games.[3][4] By December 2022, PUBG Mobile had accumulated around 1.3 billion downloads while grossing over $9 billion. It is also one of the most-played mobile video games of all time.[5] 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

[edit]

PUBG Mobile features gameplay similar to that of the original PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, in which up to one hundred players fight in a battle royale, a type of large-scale last man standing deathmatch where players fight to remain the last alive. Players can choose to enter the match solo, duo, or with a small team of up to four people. The last person or team alive wins the match.

Each match starts with players parachuting from a plane onto one of the several maps. The plane's flight path across the map varies with each round, requiring players to quickly determine the best time to eject and parachute to the ground. Players start with no gear beyond customized clothing selections which do not affect gameplay. Once they land, players can search buildings, ghost towns and other sites to find weapons, vehicles, armor, and other equipment. These items are procedurally distributed throughout the map at the start of a match, with certain high-risk zones typically having better equipment. Killed players can be looted to acquire their gear as well.[6] Players can opt to play either from the first-person or third-person perspective, each having their own advantages and disadvantages in combat and situational awareness.

Every few minutes, the playable area of the map begins to shrink down towards a random location, with any player caught outside the safe area taking damage incrementally, and eventually being eliminated if the safe zone is not entered in time; in game, the players see the boundary as a shimmering blue wall that contracts over time. This results in a more confined map, in turn increasing the chances of encounters. During the course of the match, random regions of the map are highlighted in red and bombed, posing a threat to players who remain in that area. In both cases, players are warned a few minutes before these events, giving them time to relocate to safety. A plane will fly over various parts of the playable map occasionally at random, or wherever a player uses a flare gun, and drop a loot package, containing items which are typically unobtainable during normal gameplay. These packages emit highly visible red smoke, drawing interested players near it and creating further confrontations.[7][8] On average, a full round takes about 30 minutes.

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

[edit]

PUBG Mobile is the mobile adaptation of the popular battle royale game, PUBG: Battlegrounds, developed by PUBG Studios and LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, and 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.[11][12]

An abridged version of the game for lower-end Android devices, PUBG Mobile Lite,[13] was first released in Thailand on 24 January 2019 before releasing in Asian, Latin American, and African countries.[14][15]

## Release

[edit]

Following an international deal for the Windows version, Tencent Games and PUBG Corporation announced plans to release two mobile versions of the game in China.[16][17] 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.[18] The second, PUBG: Army Attack, included more arcade-style elements, including action taking place on warships, and was developed by Tencent's TiMi Studio Group.[19] Both versions were free-to-play, and were released for Android and iOS devices on 9 February 2018.[20][21] The games had a combined total of 75 million pre-registrations, and ranked first and second on the Chinese iOS download charts at launch.[21] Following a soft launch in Canada, an English version of Exhilarating Battlefield, localized as PUBG Mobile, was released worldwide on 19 March 2018.[22][23][24] PUBG Mobile KR, a Korean and Japanese oriented version, and PUBG Mobile VN, a Vietnamese oriented version, were released in June 2018 and January 2019 respectively.

In China, PUBG Mobile had been awaiting approval by the government for an authorised 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.[25] 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.[26][27] This has support for high FPS gameplay on multiple Android devices and features a smaller map made for 60 players.[28] The Chinese version of the app was again renamed to Peacekeeper Elite in 2020.[29]

On 31 October 2020, the Tencent-developed version of PUBG Mobile announced that it would be ceasing operations in India.[30] On 13 November 2020, PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Krafton responsible for operating PUBG Mobile, officially announced that the Indian version of PUBG Mobile would be released soon.[31] On 6 May 2021, PUBG Studios officially announced that the Indian version of PUBG Mobile would be renamed to Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and would be released soon.[32] On 14 May 2021, PUBG Studios officially announced that pre-registrations for BGMI would be available through Google Play starting 18 May 2021.[33]

## Controversies

[edit]

### Bans

[edit]

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 Play Store and the Apple App Store 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.[34][35] On 19 May 2023, Krafton publicly announced BGMI was being relaunched for a trial period after a 10-month long dispute.[36] 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.

## Esports

[edit]

PUBG Mobile booth at Taipei International Video Game Show in 2021

The game supports several e-sport leagues and tournaments.[37] Each major region has a PUBG Mobile Club Open (PMCO) and players compete in their respective regions until later tournaments.[38] 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.[39] 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.[40][41]

## Reception

[edit]

Reception

Aggregate scoreAggregator| Score

|

Metacritic| iOS: 82/100[42]
Review scoresPublication| Score

|

GameSpot| 8/10[43]
IGN| 8.7/10[44]
Jeuxvideo.com| 16/20[46]
Pocket Gamer| [45]

PUBG Mobile received "generally favourable" reviews according to the review aggregator Metacritic.[42]

### Downloads

[edit]

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.[47] In March 2021, PUBG Mobile had accumulated more than a billion downloads outside of China.[48] 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.[5][49]

### Revenue

[edit]

PUBG Mobile grossed ¥3.58 billion ($32.42 million) in Japan in 2018.[50] PUBG Mobile grossed over $3.5 billion in revenue by August 2020.[51] 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[update].[52] That figure had increased to over $9 billion as of December 2022.[5]

### Awards

[edit]

Year  | Awards  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

2018  | Golden Joystick Awards | Mobile Game of the Year  | Won  | [53]
The Game Awards 2018 | Best Mobile Game  | Nominated  | [54]
Gamers' Choice Awards | Fan Favorite Mobile Game  | Nominated  | [55]
2019  | Italian Video Game Awards 2019  | Best Mobile Game  | Nominated  | [56]
37th Golden Joystick Awards  | Esports Game of the Year  | Nominated  | [57]
Google Play Users’ Choice Awards | Best Competitive Game  | Won  | [58]
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards India | Favourite Mobile Game  | Nominated  | [59]
Esports Awards  | Esports Breakthrough Game of The Year  | Nominated  | [60]
2020  | Indonesia Gaming Awards  | Game of the Year  | Won  | [61]
Esports Awards  | Esports Mobile Game of the Year  | Nominated  | [62]
2021  | Esports Awards  | Esports Mobile Game of the Year  | Nominated  | [63]
2022  | Esports Awards  | Esports Mobile Game of the Year  | Won  | [64]

## Note

[edit]

1. ^ Jeff Broadbent, Brian Tyler, Inon Zur & C. May Xiao composed Chinese version "Game for Peace" or "He ping jing ying" only. Mason Lieberman and Geng Li (as Reagan Li) composed on both versions.
2. ^ Short for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, and known in China as Game for Peace (also known as Peacekeeper Elite or He ping jing ying)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "PUBG MOBILE". Level Infinite. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
2. ^ "'Game for Peace' Officially Adapted to Huawei HarmonyOS NEXT System; Limited Testing Opened". AAStocks. AAStocks. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
3. ^ "VNG Game Publishing | Latest News & Updates at DNAIndia.com". DNA India. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
4. ^ Liao, Shannon (19 March 2017). "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is now on mobile in the US". The Verge. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
5. ^ a b c "PUBG Mobile hits $9B in lifetime consumer spending". VentureBeat. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
6. ^ "PlayerUnknown's Battleground (PUBG) Mobile - App Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. 31 March 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ Carter, Chris (9 June 2017). "Understanding Playerunknown's Battlegrounds". Polygon. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
9. ^ "Six Things PUBG Mobile Does Better Than The Original". Kotaku. 23 March 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
10. ^ Byford, Sam (16 March 2018). "PUBG on your phone is better than you'd expect".
11. ^ Kane, Alex (20 March 2020). "How PUBG Mobile was made in four months". Polygon.
12. ^ Krafton (19 March 2018). "PUBG MOBILE". Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
13. ^ "PUBG MOBILE LITE OFFICIAL SITE". www.pubgmlite.com. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
14. ^ 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.
15. ^ Ullal, Rishabh (27 May 2019). "PUBG Mobile LITE. Here's What You Need To Know". IGN India. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
16. ^ 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.
17. ^ 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.
18. ^ 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.
19. ^ 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.
20. ^ 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.
21. ^ a b 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.
22. ^ 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.
23. ^ 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.
24. ^ 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.
25. ^ 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.
26. ^ 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.
27. ^ "PUBG MOBILE LITE OFFICIAL SITE". www.pubgmlite.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
28. ^ 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.
29. ^ "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.
30. ^ "禁令成真！騰訊遊戲宣布終止印度《絕地求生M》營運 | 電競". Newtalk新聞 (in Chinese). 31 October 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
31. ^ "Explained: What is PUBG Mobile's Indian version?". The Indian Express. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
32. ^ "BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA". www.battlegroundsmobileindia.com. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
33. ^ "BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA". www.battlegroundsmobileindia.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
34. ^ "PUBG Mobile India is Now Battlegrounds Mobile India: New Logo, Underage Usage Terms Updated". www.news18.com. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
35. ^ 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.
36. ^ "BGMI unbanned: Battlegrounds Mobile India will return soon, developer Krafton confirms". India Today. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
37. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (1 January 2021). "Everything we know about the 2021 PMCO Spring Split". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
38. ^ 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.
39. ^ 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.
40. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (3 September 2021). "Here is the schedule for the PMPL Fall Split 2021". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
41. ^ Ahmed, Wasif (6 October 2021). "PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) 2021 will kick off on Nov. 30". Dot Esports. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
42. ^ a b "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (IOS)". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
43. ^ "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds". GameSpot. 17 May 2023.
44. ^ Jagneaux, David (24 March 2018). "PUBG Mobile Review".
45. ^ Slater, Harry (22 March 2018). "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile review - Winner winner, chicken dinner?". www.pocketgamer.com.
46. ^ "PUBG Mobile review". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). 23 April 2018.
47. ^ "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.
48. ^ Li, Pei (25 March 2021). "PUBG Mobile reports 1 billion accumulated downloads since 2018 launch". Reuters. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
49. ^ "Battlegrounds Mobile India clocks 100 million users, completes one year in India". The Indian Express. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
50. ^ "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.
51. ^ 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.
52. ^ 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.
53. ^ Sheridan, Connor (16 November 2018). "Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners: God of War wins big but Fortnite gets Victory Royale". gamesradar.
54. ^ Grant, Christopher (6 December 2018). "The Game Awards 2018: Here are all of the winners". Polygon.
55. ^ Glyer, Mike (19 November 2018). "2018 Gamers' Choice Awards Nominees". File 770.
56. ^ "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.
57. ^ 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.
58. ^ Venkatesh, Aarthi (12 December 2019). "PUBG Mobile wins Best Competitive Game award for the second consecutive year". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
59. ^ "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (Video Game 2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
60. ^ "PUBG Mobile Is Nominated As The Esports Breakthrough Game of the Year". GuruGamer.com. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
61. ^ 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.
62. ^ "Free Fire & PUBG Mobile Are Nominated For Esports Mobile GOTY Award". GuruGamer.com. 24 July 2020. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
63. ^ 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.
64. ^ "Esports Awards 2022: PUBG Mobile Wins Esports Mobile Game of the Year Award". AFKGAMING. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* PUBG Mobile keeps adding new reward events to keep players engaged for more PUBG Mobile Snowstar Sweetheart Spin

* v
* t
* e

PUBG: Battlegrounds

Games|

* PUBG: Battlegrounds
* PUBG Mobile
* Battlegrounds Mobile India
* New State Mobile

People|

* PlayerUnknown

Related|

* Krafton
* Tencent
* Battle royale game
* The Callisto Protocol
* "Going Dumb"
* "Ready for Love"

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template