S. Korea's Krafton Ropes in Tesla to Feature Its Cars in New PUBG-Replacement Game Made for India

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government banned over 250 Chinese apps citing national security reasons. Indian mobile gamers were left high and dry after popular mobile battle game PUBG also had to draw the curtain on its operations. Chinese tech major Tencent, which owned PUBG, had the biggest user base of the game in India.

South Korean video game brand Krafton has partnered with tech mogul Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla to let players drive and watch its cars in a new game, designed especially for India. 

Following the exit of popular mobile game PlayersUnknown Battleground (PUBG) owned by Chinese tech major Tencent from India last year, Krafton launched a PUBG-like game, especially for Indian gamers on 2 July. 

This new game is called "Battlegrounds Mobile India", which reportedly crossed the 34-million-user mark within one week of its launch in the country. 

With the Krafton-Tesla deal, Indian players will be able to access Tesla's Gigafactory in four fixed locations across the map and watch the complete production process of a Tesla Model Y car. Players will also be able to drive and experience the Tesla cars with their famous self-driving "auto-pilot" feature. 

While Krafton is aiming at luring in more Indian gamers to increase engagement on its platform, Tesla is in the process of setting up shop in India. 

The world's most valued EV company has been looking for locations in the Indian cities of Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru after registering a research and development unit earlier this year. 

Tesla chief Elon Musk had tweeted last year that his brand's high tech cars will be running on Indian roads soon.