PUBG Mobile could return to India riding on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service

• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile hopes to make a return in India, piggy-backing on Microsoft's cloud service Azure's goodwill.
• The new deal between PUBG's parent company Krafton and Microsoft plans to introduce a new feature that will bolster data privacy and security by adhering to local laws.
• Unlike TikTok, users who already have PUBG Mobile installed on their devices can still engage in gameplay.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) isn’t ready to give up on India just yet. After revoking the intellectual property rights for PUBG Mobile from Tencent, PUBG Corporation’s parent company Krafton Inc has now signed a new deal that will allow it to host the battle royale game on Microsoft’s Azure cloud service.

The company’s statement to bring PUBG to the cloud focuses on data privacy and security, the two tenets that India used to block the game in the country.

“The collaboration will ensure that privacy rights are respected, and relevant software will be in full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.,” it said.

The company will also be working with Microsoft’s cloud service to introduce a new verification process to ensure that personal data of PUBG players — on Mobile, PC, and Console — “follow all appropriate requirements in the territories where KRAFTON and its subsidiaries operate gaming services.”

PUBG isn't quite inaccessible in India
The Indian government announced the ban on PUBG Mobile back in September under Article 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Two months down the line, Tencent announced that it would be unable to bring the game back onto the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store in India — just ahead of Halloween.

However, those who already had the game installed before it disappeared off the shelves still have access to the gameplay.

While Tencent's valuation dipped by nearly $34 billion because of this, the ban hasn't had much of an impact on the app's revenue. Even though one-third of its customers were in India, they weren't much for loosening the purse strings.

However, the opportunity cost continues to mount with India's rapid download growth topping the charts in the third quarter, July through to September, according to Sensor Tower. Downloads hit a new record-high of 7.8 billion across the App Store and Google Play amid the pandemic.

India is responsible for nearly 30% percent of all downloads on Google Play right now.

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