Chinese giant Tencent eyes India comeback with Undawn game launch

An image of Undawn, a free-to-play open-world survival RPG that has been developed by Tencent-owned gaming studio LightSpeed Studios

Chinese internet giant Tencent made its latest online game, Undawn, available in India on June 15 through its Singapore and Amsterdam-based global publishing arm, Level Infinite. This marks the second coming of the world's largest video game publisher into one of the fastest-growing mobile gaming markets.

The launch comes nearly three years after Tencent withdrew all of its games and mobile apps from India, including its popular messaging app WeChat. The apps were banned by the Indian government in 2020, citing national security concerns amid escalating border tensions between India and China.

Since then, India has suspended more than 300 mobile apps, including several Tencent games and apps, such as Arena of Valor, Tencent Weiyun, WeChat Work, Pitu, VooV Meeting, Tencent Watchlist, and Tencent Xriver.

South Korean gaming giant Krafton's popular battle royale game, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, was also suspended in India in September 2020. The game was published by Tencent, but Krafton has since cut ties with the company in India and taken over all publishing responsibilities within the country.

In addition to Tencent, the list of banned games also includes Garena's battle royale mobile game Free Fire and several gaming titles from Chinese gaming giant NetEase.

Hence, Undawn's India launch gains prominence since it is the first game that Tencent Games is attempting to directly launch in the country. As it happens, Undawn, a multiplayer online game, falls in the survival genre and it is set years after a global disaster.

The game is also billed as a mobile-first gaming experience, available on iOS and Android devices with a companion PC version available on Steam. This makes it more suitable for a market like India where mobile gaming is more prevalent with over 90 percent market share.

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To be sure, Tencent also owns video gaming companies such as US-based Riot Games (makers of games like League of Legends and Valorant), Finland-based Supercell (developers of Clash of Clans and Clash Royale) and Swiss casual mobile games maker Miniclip, all of which are still available for gamers in India.

It is worth noting that Level Infinite's developer page on the Google Play Store only offers the game "Undawn" in India at the time of writing this article.

"Tencent-owned enterprises like Supercell and Riot Games still have their games available in India and in Riot's case, also have ongoing esports commitments on ground. They don't seem to have issues in operating here probably due to their base of operations being Europe and the US. With this move, it seems that Tencent is borrowing a leaf out of their book" said Rishi Alwani, a gaming industry analyst.

Moneycontrol has written to Tencent and Level Infinite for more details on the development and will update once we hear back.

Level Infinite debut

Outside India, Tencent Games currently publishes PUBG Mobile and several other titles including Arena of Valor, Tower of Fantasy, Contra Returns, and Arena Breakout under the Level Infinite publishing label that was set up in December 2021.

The company said Level Infinite will be responsible for releasing and marketing games from Tencent-owned studios and other developer partners to global audiences.

Undawn is a free-to-play open-world survival role-playing game (RPG) that has been developed by Tencent-owned gaming studio LightSpeed Studios which has previously co-created PUBG Mobile. It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where players embark on an adventure with other survivors four years after a global disaster. The game started closed beta tests in April 2023.

"Survivors have split into different factions, each with their own rules of survival. As a member of the storied Raven Squad, players will face off against members of the Clowns, Eagles, Night Owls, and Reivers for territory, and make it through some of the darkest nights until the next sunrise" the company stated in a May 2023 blogpost.

India is the fastest-growing games market in Asia, both in terms of revenue and gamers, with its mobile and PC gaming revenue projected to reach $704.5 million in 2022, according to Niko Partners, a market research and consulting firm that covers video games, e-sports, and streaming in the continent.

This is set to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate of 21.1 percent to touch $1.4 billion in 2026. This does not include revenue generated by real money games. About 34 percent of gamers in India spent money on non-RMG titles in 2022, the firm said.

India's overall gaming industry revenues was at Rs 13,500 crore in 2022, as per a recent FICCI-EY report. That said, 77 percent of the sector revenues comes from the real-money gaming segment.