PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for smartphones now available around the world

Tencent’s official port of hit PC game is out everywhere

PUBG

Ravi Hiranand

Published: 10:45pm, 20 Mar 2018

Why you can trust SCMP

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

One of the biggest games in the world is now available on smartphones around the world thanks to Tencent. The Chinese company’s official port of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) is now available on iOS and Android worldwide.

We tried PUBG on iPhone X when it released in China last month and came away very impressed. It successfully squeezed much of the PC and Xbox game down to a much smaller screen -- and in places looked even better than the Xbox One version of the game.

It comes a week after rival Fortnite began inviting players to test its own mobile version. Unlike PUBG, Fortnite will allow players to play across platforms -- meaning iPhone players can kill or be killed by gamers on PC or PlayStation 4.

Fortnite recently surpassed pioneer PUBG in popularity. Both games feature 100 players landing on a deserted island filled with weapons, with everyone fighting to be the last person left standing. While PUBG adopts a realistic setting, Fortnite has a more cartoon-like look -- and an emphasis on building structures sets it apart from its rival.

But Tencent may find its main competition for PUBG on mobile could come from other Chinese companies. NetEase was quick to copy PUBG and released similar games for smartphone while the original was still on PC. NetEase says just one of its clones, Knives Out, has over 100 million registered players -- far more than the 40 million playing PUBG on PC and Xbox.

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.

Post