The Swadesi Rival to PUBG
In the latest reaction towards the India-China border dispute, the governing body of India has prohibited 118 new Chinese applications. India blocked more Chinese applications from its considerable neighbourhood market as a strike back against China. The new list announced on September 2, 2020, contained popular apps like PUBG Mobile. It is a game that claims a tremendous fan base in India with more than 50 million regular players. Despite the support towards the government’s decision, many were deeply upset about the loss of their favourite battlefield game. However, within two days of this news, nCore games came up with the Indian alternative to PUBG named FAU-G.
As soon as the Indian government announced the boycott of PUBG Mobile, we have seen many Indian game designers working to develop a replacement. They strived to create a new battle royale game like the original. During this scenario, nCore Games (1) declared their Indian rendition of PUBG Mobile called FAU-G or Fearless And United: Guards. During the announcement on Friday, Vishal Gondal, the CEO of GOQii, said it would soon be out in the market. He also noted that nCore would uncover the delivery date and different insights regarding the game in the days to come.
In an official tweet, Vishal Gondal said that the game is in acknowledgement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar App campaigner. The company made the declaration only two days after the ban on apps. Gondal later revealed that the group had been energetically developing FAU-G since May 2020. Regarding the game, Gondal said that FAU-G, as the name indicates, will inform players about the penances of Indian fighters. He likewise noted that the company would provide 20 per cent of the net income to BharatKeVeer trust.
Coincidental with the ban
The co-founder of nCore Games and CEO of GOQII, Vishal Gondal, said that the company had been developing FAU-G for a long time. They were planning to enter the market by October 2020. He also added that the prohibition of PUBG Mobile was a coincidence. However, the company does not intend to contend with PUBG with this new game. Gondal along with Dayanadhi MG and Ganesh Hegde, the other co-founders of nCore Games were developing three games. The first is the battle game known as FAU-G, second is a cricket contest, and the third is a music game.
Several Indian game developers started using the PUBG Mobile ban as an opportunity to bring desi alternatives to the game. Something similar happened to TikTok when the country banned this short video platform. There are apps like Chingari, Mitron, Roposo, Moj, and many more that have replaced TikTok in the country. However, nCore Games claim that their team had started on FAU-G long before the ban. Gondal declared that nCore Games hopes to carry out games that can contend with global games. He wants to tackle the conviction that Indian game engineers can’t create great quality games. nCore hopes to refute that mindset by releasing FAU-G. Their group of designers are exceptionally qualified and equipped for creating games equivalent to PUBG.
Dayanadhi MG, the co-founder of nCore Games, claimed that the team has wide experience with various sorts of games including mid-core games. The company had overseen genre-characterizing MOBA games like Vainglory of SuperEvil Megacorp for the global public. NCore Games has also worked with worldwide studios like Rovio. They have an accomplished group and is continuously growing to gather the best developers into the team.
Mentorship from Akshay Kumar for FAU-G
Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar had also tweeted on September 4, 2020, about the release of FAU-G. He had even coined the name of the game which expands to Fearless and United – Guards. It is a play on the Hindi word for trooper – fauji. Akshay Kumar confirmed Gondal’s statement that 20 per cent of the revenue goes to Bharat Ke Veer. It is a scheme by the Government of India to support the paramilitary armies after the Pulwama terrorist assault in 2019.
Talking about FAU-G, Akshay Kumar stated that gaming is turning into a significant diversion for adolescents in India. With FAU-G, he trusts that as they play the game, they will find out about the penances of our fighters. It will help add more young people to the national armies. Akshay Kumar had assisted with the idea of the game as well, as disclosed by Mr Gondal. FAU-G will be able to let the players learn about the brave stories of Indian soldiers. This aim has driven the company to portray the dedication of Indian fighters through episodes like the Galwan Valley conflict. The game depends on actual situations experienced by the Indian Security Forces to manage both domestic and unfamiliar dangers.
The later versions of the game will include shooting contests from the third-person perspective. The company expects to win 200 million clients in a year for the game. Congress leader Milind Deora also boosted the endeavour through social media. Mr Kumar stated that the game would be in cooperation with the government’s push for confidence and self-reliance. In the wake of the COVID emergency, PM Modi had declared a movement titled “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. Moreover, when young people are motivated by the real-life stories in PUBG, every single one of them will contribute to the nation.
Rumours and Gossips about FAU-G
While the people initially met the news with entertaining images and jokes, there was something fishy in the game’s banner that many were not ready to ignore. As a post from Twitter user @maximustaurean indicated, the creators of the banner utilised a stock picture to show officers occupied with a fight. It had been used before in a news story by Frantical Futurist in a post named: “US Army investigates the utilisation of shape moving robots for 2040” back in January 2020. Furthermore, another analyst expressed that the photograph had also shown up in a melody called “Today We Rise” by the band Collision Of Innocence.
Meanwhile, others have asserted that the company stole this game from late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He had been planning a game with his colleague, and many referred to a post from his Instagram profile, where he had conveyed his enthusiasm for coding. Nevertheless, Gondal affirmed that the company would deliver FAU-G in late October without unveiling the specific date. The music game will also come out in the not so distant future. nCore Games is waiting for the IPL season to start promoting their cricket game. With FAU-G, the point is to make players mindful about vital episodes of our nation. NCore will release the game on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
