PubG on cellphones, keeps gamers glued

PUNE: Sujata Basur was busy with her household chores when she heard son Harsh shouting in his room.



She rushed in to find her son glued to his cellphone screen, shouting a string of instructions and receiving some as well from the loudspeaker of the gadget. On prodding, she found out that Harsh was playing Player Unknown’s Battleground, or PubG for short.

“PubG mobile is a gaming sensation across the globe and millions are playing it. For me, it brings back memories of games such as Counter Strike and Call of Duty we once played on the computer or PlayStation. Having PubG on the cellphone has made it easily accessible and more people are playing it,” said Harsh, an MBA student.

Barely six months since the launch of the mobile version of the game, PubG has become a rage, engaging thousands of players from Pune and other parts of the country. A video recently shared by the official PubG page on Facebook stated that India was among the top three countries in terms of number of players.

Businessman Anand Tapadia said, “The game starts with 100 players skydiving on to an island. The player can select the area of landing. Once the player is on the land, there are houses with arms, ammunition, medicines and other such items. The player has to steal this. One can ride a bike, drive a car or even take a boat. The final motive of the game is to be the last man or the team standing. The game can be played solo, with a partner or as a team of four.”

Tapadia, an avid gamer, said PubG was the first such game on the mobile platform. “The game was earlier available on computer. But after the launch of its mobile version in mid-March, the game became popular in India. First Person Shooter (FPS) games were not available on the mobile platform. But PubG has changed this. It has become the first-of-its-kind FPS game for mobile platform.”

Explaining his experience, MBA student Prasanna Parmar said, “ One game takes about 30-35 minutes for completion. At times I feel it’s a waste of time, but I have got hooked to it.”

Psychologist Vidyadhar Bapat said though such games were flooding the market, the gaming enthusiasts to understand that it’s important not to get addicted.