PUBG Corporation and Krafton merger: How will it affect the development of PUBG Mobile in India?

The potentially game-changing merger between PUBG Corporation and Krafton has now officially come into effect.

This means that PUBG Studio will now be overseeing global support for PUBG and PUBG Mobile versions.

On the 29th of October, a few hours after PUBG Mobile shut down its servers and operations in India, it was formally announced that from the 2nd of December onwards, PUBG Corporation would officially be merging with Krafton Inc.

Image via PUBG Corporation

In a recent blog post on the Krafton website, the main purpose of this merger was revealed to be the development and strengthening of a "competitive independent studio system".

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The impact of the PUBG Corp. x Krafton merger on PUBG Mobile

After merging with Krafton Inc, South Korean developer PUBG Corporation is now officially PUBG Studio and will focus on expanding its business to the fields of e-sports and entertainment.

The official blog post elaborates more upon the goals that the newly formed integrated corporation seeks to achieve:

"PUBG Studio is actively developing the next product using the intellectual property rights of'PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG)' and expanding its business to the field of e-sports and entertainment."

It also highlights the key objectives that Krafton's brand new independent studios aim to achieve.

Apart from PUBG Studio, the other three new studios are Striking Distance Studio, Bluehole Studio and RisingWings Studio:

"Krafton's independent studios plan to develop their own production capabilities in their respective genres so that they can achieve sustainable growth"

The effect of the PUBG Corporation x Krafton merger on PUBG Mobile's development in India is expected to be crucial in marking the game's potential return to the Indian market.

This is due to the fact that with the recent merger, PUBG Corporation has officially denounced all previous ties it had with China-based Tencent Games.

Apart from the promise of better security and handling of user data, this merger also entails that PUBG Studio can now establish autonomous control over the development of the game in various countries, with key emphasis upon the mobile version in India.

The establishment of autonomy means that PUBG Studio can focus on tapping into the Indian market by maximising data security and catering to local preferences.

The Indian sector is an extremely vital and lucrative one, which caters to millions of players.

Hence, players will now be hoping for swift action to be taken, which could lead to the smooth relaunch of PUBG Mobile in India.

Welcome back #PUBG.PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (#PUBG) and subsidiary of South Korea’s KRAFTON, Inc., today announced that it is preparing to launch PUBG MOBILE INDIA, a new game created specifically for the Indian market. #pubgmobileindia pic.twitter.com/7KGVLzCsgI

— Munzir Ahmad (@iamhacker) November 12, 2020

While it may not have a direct impact on the game's immediate return to India, it could potentially pave the way for an understanding to be reached with the Indian Government, especially as PUBG Studio is now officially declaring itself as a non-Chinese company.