'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrouds' Publisher Tencent Pulls The Game In China

It appears that “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” could be losing out on one of the largest markets in the world today.

Since the battle royale began testing in China, publisher Tencent has faced plenty of regulatory challenges from the Chinese government. And after months of back and forth, it appears that Tencent has pulled “PUBG” entirely from the Chinese market.

Tencent’s challenges first started in 2017, when the government felt the game was too violent for the country’s audiences. Tencent ended up agreeing, scaling back some of the graphic content of the game to be more in line with China’s censorship laws.

But even after the changes, Tencent was never able to properly monetize the game the way it had in other countries. China has been on a regulatory crackdown on games like “PUBG” in an effort to control the number of new online games and limit children’s time in front of a screen. It’s just one of a larger effort to fight nearsightedness in children.

After pulling the game, Tencent replaced it with “Game for Peace,” a similarly designed game to “PUBG.” However, “Game for Peace” also serves as a means of promoting and celebrating China’s air force. The game was approved for monetization in April, and is decidedly less gore-y than “PUBG.”

But Tencent didn’t want to leave “PUBG” players behind, and have assured fans that jump into “Game for Peace” that an update will bring their profile up to their “PUBG” level.