PUBG parent Krafton signs deal to host the game on Microsoft Azure

Krafton Inc, the South-Korean company that owns PUBG Corp., announced on November 7 that PUBG Mobile will be hosted on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.

Krafton has struck a deal with the American technology giant to host products “directly operated" by Krafton and its subsidiary companies on Microsoft’s cloud service.

This will also include PUBG Mobile, which was banned in India two months ago as PUBG Corp. holds the rights of the popular battle royale mobile game.

While reports have indicated that PUBG Mobile might return to India soon due to such cloud deals, as far as the Indian government is concerned data localization and Chinese ownership make up only part of the reason why the app was banned in the country, LiveMint reported.

While the game was removed from Google Play Store and App Store shortly after the ban, for those who had the game, they were able to use it despite the ban.

According to Krafton, it had localized its India servers and data before the ban.

However, Tencent Games shut down the India servers for PUBG Mobile on October 29, marking an end to the game’s run in India.

Citing two executives with the company, LiveMint reported that the battle royale game is not slated to return any time soon. However, Krafton is looking into rebranding the game in order to work around the government's ban.

The game has been subject to heavy criticism several times in the past. After receiving several complaints from parents and guardians, some state governments across the nation put a temporary ban on the gaming app for its addictive nature that had a psychological impact on players, especially youngsters.