PUBG Mobile rival app, FAU-G to be released on Republic Day

The most awaited app, rival to the PUBG Mobile battle royale is launching on India’s Republic Day, January 26. Closely associated with the upcoming game, Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar dropped the first trailer of FAU-G. The trailer is action packed on snowy locations in Ladakh. There is also a theme song of the game in Punjabi and Hindi. However, there is violence aplenty in the game -- something that is believed to have been one of the reasons why PUBG Mobile was banned in India.

The trailer is one minute and 38 seconds long and is available on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter which shows players draped in the Indian Army uniform, engaging in the battle with enemies. The theme of the game is massively inspired by the border clash between India and China and that is the reason why we see soldiers fighting off intruders in one of the locations where Indian borders are marked. According to the makers, FAU-G will be a third-person brawler that will have one level based on the Galwan Valley -- the place where the clashes erupted last year. There will be no battle royale mode in the beginning but makers have said it will be introduced through an update later.

To defend violence, nCore Games -- the makers of FAU-G -- have said there will be no guns in the game, which is also what we see in the trailer. However, there will be guns and other ammunition in the game depending on the level a player is at. Previous reports have suggested players will be able to choose between single-player and co-operative multiplayer modes. The listing of the game on Google Play Store says: “High up on the peaks at India’s northern border, an elite fighting group protects the nation’s pride and sovereignty. It’s a daunting task, for the most courageous: The Fearless and United Guards.” FAU-G stands for Fearless and United Guards.

FAU-G will be initially available to Android users via the Google Play Store, the pre-registrations of which began in late November last year. The makers claimed that they received more than one million registrations from the Google Play Store listing of FAU-G. At present it is not clear when or if FAU-G will be released for the iOS platform. The iOS users constitutes for about 2.69 per cent share in India’s smartphone market, according to StatCounter. This means the biggest target for the makers is to drive the Android population, previously indulging in PUBG Mobile.

The void of PUBG Mobile was vast, so much so that a deluge of homegrown apps began emerging. This was also the opportunity for Indian developers to make a mark, including nCore Games. The ban on PUBG Mobile, however, was not the end for the game. Krafton-owned PUBG Corporation announced the comeback of the game in a new form called PUBG Mobile India during the Diwali week. However excited the announcement got the Indian mobile gaming community excited, it did not last long. The company ran into dead-ends with the government not budging to allow the game to launch. PUBG Corporation was recently reported to be now deferring the launch to after March.