4 min readMumbaiMay 20, 2021 06:22 PM IST
First published on: May 20, 2021 at 05:30 PM IST
Battlegrounds Mobile India is all the rage right now in the Indian mobile gaming scene, even though there’s no launch date yet. The battle royale game has been anticipated for months now by fans since PUBG Mobile was banned in India in September 2020. As the title went up for pre-registration earlier this week, developer Krafton has been silent on many queries around the game, including basic details like an expected launch date.
But the one question many players have is whether they will be able to carry over their PUBG Mobile data to Battlegrounds Mobile India? Krafton has not revealed the answer to this burning question yet, even though the game’s launch is expected within the next few weeks by many. While fans continue to be hopeful that they will be able to import their PUBG Mobile statistics, unlocked skins and other rewards to Battlegrounds Mobile India, this task will be unlikely.
Why people think a data carryover is possible
A huge reason for the belief is that Battlegrounds Mobile India is a quick rename of PUBG Mobile India, an India-specific game title that Krafton had been developing for months since the PUBG Mobile ban last year. This has left people thinking that a data carry over shouldn’t be very difficult to execute, considering PUBG Mobile India was set to be just an Indian version of the same global game.
However, Battlegrounds Mobile India is developed by Krafton, a South-Korean game developer that is completely different from Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate that made the original PUBG Mobile game. Many believe that since the two games come from different publishers, a carry-over is impossible. However, this is not the case. Here’s why.
Krafton’s PUBG Mobile does retain your data from Tencent’s PUBG Mobile
A quick look at my personal account in Krafton’s PUBG Mobile (which is still somewhat playable in India via unofficial means), revealed that all my account data accumulated over the years in Tencent’s PUBG Mobile is intact. This included rewards, statistics and other unlockables, which I had acquired since PUBG Mobile had launched in India. Everything was intact despite the switch in publishers.
Why a carry-over still remains unlikely
If Krafton’s PUBG Mobile can retain the account data acquired over years of gameplay on a version of the game developed by Tencent, it should be a piece of cake for Battlegrounds Mobile India too, right? Well, not exactly.
The whole reason Battlegrounds Mobile India was developed by Krafton is to launch the game in India without any ties to PUBG. Recent reports by many YouTube PUBG Mobile streamers have also revealed that the company has asked them to not refer to Battlegrounds Mobile India as PUBG Mobile anywhere.
With Krafton bent on ensuring that Battlegrounds Mobile India is a ‘separate new title‘ at least on the surface, carrying over data from PUBG Mobile is going to be a mammoth task, that could be another hurdle to the game’s green light in the country.
Further, recall that data privacy was the main reason Tencent’ PUBG Mobile was banned in India amongst a number of other Chinese apps last year in the first place. With that in mind, bringing in the same account data from Tencent, a Chinese company, and from a game that was banned across the country doesn’t seem like a move Krafton will want to pull off.
Battlegrounds Mobile India is expected to be an India-only version of popular mobile game PUBG Mobile, that was banned in India in 2020. (Image Source: Battlegrounds Mobile India) 
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