Updated: September 3, 2020 10:40:05 pm
PUBG Mobile, its console-like graphics, and immersive gameplay were the reason hardcore users were drawn to gaming phones in the first place.
“Bhaiya, kya is the phone mai PUBG chalti hai?”
A teenager with a spiky hairstyle asked a local mobile phone retailer in a Delhi town. The young man and his fascination with PUBG Mobile was just a small snapshot of the impact of Tencent’s record-breaking mobile game on popular culture in India. The central government’s announcement to add “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” (PUBG) Mobile to the ever-growing list of banned apps with links to China has made the mobile gaming community cringe.
But it has also sent a chill down the spine of smartphone makers who have launched or were planning special phones intended for this segment. Asus ROG Phone 3, Nubia RedMagic, and BlackShark are among the gaming-focused phones that come with overclocked processors, high refresh rate displays, and features designed for gaming like liquid cooling or internal fans. Most of this market is for hardcore PUBG fans and the game has over 33 million active users in India by some estimates.
“PUBG Mobile is one of the most played intensive games that needs a dedicated gaming smartphone with all the amenities,” explained Navkendar Singh, Director of Research, Devices, India and South Asia, IDC. “The ban will certainly have an impact on sales of gaming-focused smartphones,” he said.
If that pricey Asus ROG Phone 3 you just acquired is no longer able to download the newest map or a new season of the Battle Royale game, then the sleek 144Hz display and AirTriggers will seem useless.
PUBG Mobile, its console-like graphics, and immersive gameplay were the reason hardcore users were drawn to gaming phones in the first place. Without access to PUBG Mobile, it would be difficult for smartphone makers to sell high-end gaming-focused phones with high refresh rate displays, lots of RAM, a built-in cooling fan, ultrasonic triggers, and aggressive designs.
Asus’ ROG Phone 3 is the world’s most powerful gaming smartphone. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
Counterpoint analyst Malhotra said that while “gaming-centric phones will suffer,” they are a “very small part of the market.”
But the effect of the ban could also be felt by chipmakers like Qualcomm and MediaTek, which have been aggressively marketing AI-powered mobile SoC chips specifically designed for gaming smartphones. Both companies have launched in recent days chips optimized for mobile games: the Snapdragon 732G and Helio G95 respectively.
Singh says that the PUBG Mobile ban will change the way smartphones are marketed in the coming months. “If the ban is extended from three to six months, this will obviously have an impact on the commercialization of phones. Vendors might think that if I’m paying a premium for a G-series chipset, I might not want to do it because G-chips can’t be used in marketing. So I think those kinds of decisions will be made by brands now. “
The suffix AG indicates a focus chipset for gaming. (Image credit: Qualcomm)
However, neither Singh nor Malhotra believe that the PUBG Mobile ban will have a drastic impact on the overall smartphone market in India. “I don’t think the ban will have an impact on the smartphone market, but it will impact the marketing messages of all brands, so they will have to find something else now,” said Singh.
An effective PUBG Mobile ban in India might not affect smartphone sales in the short term, although the long-term impact of the ban is still unclear. Think about the situation where the next iPhone or Xiaomi phone cannot install PUBG Mobile in India. And if smartphone owners can’t download PUBG Mobile, the main winner will be Activision Blizzard. Call of Duty: Mobile and Garena Free fire.
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