Tencent has shut down its mobile version PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), more than a year after it sought approval from the government to monetise the game. All is not lost for Tencent though; in the absence of PUBG, the company has replaced the game with another called Game for Peace.
According to sources, Game for Peace is an “anti terrorism-themed” battle royale, laced with themes of patriotism. More importantly, Tencent managed to gain monetisation approval from the Chinese government for the game just last month.
One games analyst by the name of Cui Chenyu points out that both PUBG and Game For Peace identical in almost every way. From the gameplay, background, graphic design, right down to the character design.
One particular difference between the two is the way death is handled. In Game for Peace, defeated players simply get up and wave goodbye, rather than bleed out and die after being gunned down.
The change of title had reportedly scared some gamers in China. One Weibo user said that he was “scared to death” when he heard of PUBG’s demise. However, he was relieved to find that almost all of his stats were retained after the game was updated to the “less violent” Game for Peace.
China is known for having strict laws when it comes to approving violence, gambling, and sex in video games. It has also banned video games that it believes has smeared its image in a bad light, with titles such as Battlefield 4 and Command and Conquer: Zero Hour having already received the banhammer.
For now, Krafton, the parent company of PUBG developer Bluehole, is still looking into the status of the original game in China.
