Advertisement
Tencent
TechPolicy

India’s latest ban of Chinese games like PUBG Mobile opens door to home-grown alternatives, experts say

  • Almost a third of the Chinese mobile apps affected by India’s latest ban were games, such as PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor
  • This will open up opportunities for Western or Indian home-grown apps to fill the void, analysts say

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Drivers play a game on a mobile phone as they wait for customers at the prepaid taxi stand at Chennai International Airport in Chennai on March 19, 2020. Photo: AFP
Josh Ye

With many popular Chinese mobile games now banned in India, there is plenty of opportunity for Western or home-grown alternatives to replace them. And investors are taking notice, experts say.

On Wednesday, India banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, almost a third of which were games. Tencent Holdings’ hit mobile game PUBG Mobile was among the 35 games blocked in the latest move, which came after the government first banned 59 Chinese apps including video-sharing sensation TikTok and messaging app WeChat in June. The list in June only included two games.

Pontus Mähler, director of business development for video games fund GTR Accelerator, said that with the latest round of bans, India’s gaming market is now rife with opportunities for developers to launch close copies of the blocked Chinese titles.

“To capitalise on the current situation, companies would basically just try to release copycats because people aren‘t going to forget about PUBG Mobile and Arena of Valor . They want to keep playing them,” he said. “So if you have a game right now that is very similar, it’s definitely a really good time to launch it,” Mähler said.

The bans are part of a larger pushback against Chinese tech in India after a deadly border clash between the two nuclear-armed neighbours and recriminations over the Covid-19 pandemic. Local alternatives are springing up in the aftermath and venture capitalists and angel investors are moving to support them, especially since the government has been vocal about building up a home-grown games industry.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last month that India should tap the huge potential in the digital gaming arena by developing games that are inspired by its culture and folk tales, according to The Economic Times.
Advertisement