Tencent is bringing PUBG to mobile in partnership with developer Bluehole. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds has been a considerable sensation in the gaming world this year, and Tencent has jumped on the distribution rights to the game in China. Not much has been detailed about the game yet, but the newly launched Tencent PUBG website indicates the game will get a full reveal soon.
In an image that seems a little Last Supper-esque, the number “2” appears. Below that there is the date of December 1 and Chinese text that asks viewers to look forward to a mobile tour. In the upper right-hand corner is a link that takes you to QR codes for the WeChat social media app, and Tencent’s QQ instant messaging app that allow you to make an “appointment” for a “mobile tour.” I imagine that the reveal will take place on those two services sometime on December 1.
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As to why Tencent is publishing PUBG in China instead of Bluehole, there are a few answers. For one, consoles and gaming PCs aren’t hugely popular in that country, especially since gaming consoles were banned for sale until just recently. Most people there game via their Android phones, which is one of the reasons we’ve seen the explosion of Chinese studios into the mobile gaming market. Also, Tencent will have to ensure PUBG reflects “socialist core values, Chinese traditional culture, and moral rules.”
Tencent has said that the PUBG experience on mobile will be similar to that on PC, though I’m not sure how well that’s going to scale to a smaller screen. Also, whether or not the Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds mobile game will come to territories besides China hasn’t been announced yet either. We can expect to have some of these questions answered when Tencent reveals more details on the game soon.
