PUBG Corp on Thursday announced PUBG Mobile India, a "new game created specifically for the Indian market" nearly two months after revealing that it was exploring ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India following the government’s ban over privacy concerns. The announcement comes close on the heels of PUBG Corp parent firm Krafton signing a global partnership with Microsoft that allows PUBG Mobile to be hosted on Redmond’s Azure cloud platform.

PUBG Mobile India is PUBG Mobile localized for the Indian market with a virtual simulation training ground, clothed characters, and green hit effects to reflect the virtual nature of the game. In its India-focused avatar, PUBG Mobile will also try and promote healthy gameplay habits among players by placing restrictions on the amount of time they spend on it.

But even more importantly, PUBG Corp said, it "will conduct regular audits and verifications on the storage systems holding Indian users’ personally identifiable information to reinforce security and ensure that their data is safely managed."

Previously, PUBG Corp had ended all publishing ties with Shenzhen-based Tencent Games in India taking on all publishing responsibilities within the country saying it fully understood and respected the measures taken by the government as the privacy and security of player data was a top priority for it.

Alongside PUBG Mobile India, PUBG Corp has also announced a number of key initiatives to ramp up its operations in the country including investments worth $100 million to "cultivate the local video game, esports, entertainment, and IT industries" by parent firm Krafton and setting up an India subsidiary to "enhance communications and services with players." PUBG Corp will soon have an India office and it will hire over 100 employees specializing in business, esports, and game development, it said in a statement.

There is no tentative timeline for all of this just yet, even information on the launch of PUBG Mobile India will be released at a later date possibly subject to jurisdiction, but at least there’s momentum and a clear strategy in place.

Come to think of it, the PUBG Mobile India announcement brings déjà vu. PUBG Mobile was launched just so PUBG could enter China because the game was banned in the country. With PUBG Mobile India, it seems history is repeating itself, albeit under a very different set of circumstances. Whether or not PUBG Mobile will be able to make its India comeback with PUBG Mobile India is something only time will tell.

(With inputs from agencies)