India has been a hub for gaming enthusiasts and this reflects in the rapid surge in the number of downloads of one of the most popular gaming apps PUBG for which India is the top contributor.
According to Sensor Tower data, a platform that provides market intelligence and analytics for mobile apps, PUBG has received 24% or 175 million out of the total 734 million downloads till date from India. This number includes downloads of PUBG Mobile and the Chinese version of the game, Game For Peace.
The Tencent-owned gaming app has received 16.7% of the total downloads from China followed by the US with 6.4% of the overall downloads to date.
The online multiplayer battle royale game has been among top 3 gaming platforms before and during the lockdown when people confined themselves to their homes. Even after the lockdown, PUBG maintained its mojo and amassed 35.8% of the total installs of 34.2 million from India in May.
A separate report by Sensor Tower also revealed that PUBG was the most downloaded gaming app in the world in the first half of the ongoing calendar year or H1 2020. While the countrywise split figure was not provided in the report, experts believe that India was the top contributor in terms of number of downloads during the six months period.
The rapid surge in number of downloads also gave a filip to PUBG’s overall revenue. The gaming firm’s lifetime revenue had doubled to more than $3 billion in just seven months. The revenue also includes combined player spending from Game For Peace and PUBG Mobile. In 2020, the two games have accumulated $1.3 billion, with revenue peaking at a record $270 million in March.
While India is not in the chart in terms of revenue generating countries for PUBG, China’s App Store alone counts 52% of the total revenue. The US ranks No. 2 with about 14% of revenue while Japan came next with a 5.6% share.
India’s homegrown gaming app Ludo King also surfaced as the maiden app from the country in the top 10 list after the announcement of lockdown. In H1 2020, Ludo King remained the eighth rank gaming app across the world.
After the recent clash between Indian and China at the Galwan Valley, the government of India had banned 59 Chinese apps and rumours started flourishing that PUBG might get banned too as it has backing from Tencent. For the uninitiated, PUBG was developed by a Korean gaming company Bluehole while the mobile version of the game was developed by Tencent. Tencent holds around 10% stake in PUBG’s parent company.
