The 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou will be a historic event for the esports community as esports debuts on the global stage for the first time as a medal tournament, including games like PUBG Mobile, Arena of Valor and more. A new report from Korea’s Money Today seems to suggest that the Asian Games version of the games will actually prevent players from shooting each other.
As players can expect, shooting other players is a major part of what every player does in a battle royale game like PUBG Mobile. How exactly will this work at the Asian Games? According to Money Today, in this version of the game, players will compete in skills such as driving and target shooting rather than shooting each other.
This decision appears to have been taken after it was divided, as it would “complicate the harmony between the countries”.
PUBG Mobile Asian Games to drop Battle Royale mode?
Earlier this year, Crafton confirmed that an Asian Games-only version of PUBG Mobile is currently in development, but exact details about it remain scarce. The inclusion of esports in high-profile global sporting events such as the Asian Games and the Olympics has always been a hot topic purely because of the optics it brings.
The IOC representatives’ comments seem to reflect the view that video games such as PUBG Mobile, PUBG or any other shooting game are not in line with the basic principles of the Olympic Games.
It will be interesting to see what the PUBG Mobile version of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games will turn out to be. The development of the game is apparently not yet complete, and it looks like we’ll have to wait a while before we can confirm if the games really won’t have P2P shooting.