Shanghai/ Hong Kong: Tencent Holdings Ltd said on Wednesday shut down its test version of global blockbuster “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” in China, having waited in vain for over a year to gain regulatory approval to begin sales.
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The Chinese video gaming leader has waited in vain for over a year for approval to earn money on PUBG via in-app purchases, having given the gory, South Korean-made game a socialist makeover to meet stringent government rules. "The testing phase for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds officially ends on May 8. We thank everyone for the support they have given us so far," showed a post on the game's official account on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Jefferies analysts said the earlier-than-expected launch of the tactical shooting game, which is a tribute to China's air force, boded well for Tencent's gaming growth in the second half of this year. "Despite the simultaneous shut-down of PUBG, direct migration of user data and purchases should lower churn risk," they said in a research note, referring to stemming the loss of users by shifting PUBG data to Game for Peace.
Global game distributor Steam named PUBG one of its highest-grossing titles of 2018. On Wednesday, “PUBG is gone” was one of the most viewed topics on Weibo, with over 300 million clicks and close to 90,000 posts.
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