Real-time game PUBG may re-enter the Indian market with Indian telecom firm Airtel, Entrackr, a technology news website, has reported.
However, no official announcement has been made by any of the stakeholders.
"PUBG is in early conversations with Airtel for handing over distribution rights to the telecom giant. This desperation shows that PUBG has been trying hard to get back into the Indian market", the website quoted an anonymous source as saying.
The report also claimed that the banned app is busy constituting a "a lean team" in India and has been conducting interviews for the same for candidates with 4-6 years of experience.
PUBG was banned by the federal government due to its association with China.
While the game was originally launched by a South Korean firm, Chinese tech firm Tencent holds major shares in the multiplayer game's parent company - Bluehole. In a bid to retain its India market, the game has decided to abandon its link with China.
As tensions between India and China continue to simmer over a border standoff, PUBG remains unavailable on Google Play and the Apple App Store, resulting in a major loss of users - nearly 175 million people have downloaded PUBG in India alone this year.
— Dhananjay_Tech (@Dhananjay_Tech) September 8, 2020
Meanwhile, Indian apps, induced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to go "Vocal for Local", are trying to fill the void left by the banned game.
Indian tech firm nCore Games has announced a PUBG-like multiplayer, real-time game named Fearless and United: Guards (Fau-G).
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 4, 2020
All these developments come against the backdrop of the worst deadly clashes in decades. The latter took place between India and China on 15 June in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. A total of 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the combat.
