Asian Games 2022 to feature PUBG Mobile as a racing and target shooting game
PUBG Mobile will be played as a target shooting and racing event at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, later this September. Asian Esports Federation (AESF) announced this change on a new Road to Asian Games 2022 website. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) added that they will draw out the core battle royale element from PUBG Mobile at the 2022 Asian Games.
Previously, there were reports that the PUBG Mobile Asian Games version would delete the BR mode. Last September, the Olympic Council of Asia declared that PUBG Mobile at the 2022 Asian Games will be recreated as a medal eSports event along with 7 other titles. As teams began preparing for the huge Asian event, it was revealed that there will be a new version of the game for the Asian Games. With this official statement, It is now clear what is happening.
AESF published a detailed timeline of the competition. It said that the format of this popular BR game under the PUBG Mobile Asian Games section would not be the same as the one anticipated by the PUBG Mobile community.
The AESF said, “The classic gameplay mixes modern sports events such as triathlons, giving rise to an esports event that corresponds with the sportsmanship–Cross-country Shooting Competition”.
According to the official website, four teams of four players will compete in each stage. The game comprises multiple stages. Each stage has its own mission of target shooting that needs to be completed. After finishing the shooting mission, the team will have to drive the vehicle across the designated route to finish the game. Rankings will be decided according to the order of the participating teams’ arrival at the finishing line.
Players joining the game at this event will not do any battle royale combats. They ought to wholly count on their shooting skills in the target shooting mode and on their driving abilities in the track completion stage of the game.
Avoiding violent battle-royale mode
Player’s Unknown Battlegrounds Mobile or more commonly referred to as PUBG Mobile is a battle-royale game where generally 100 players are dropped on a battlefield and are left to defeat each other with the help of in-game weapons. The last one standing wins the game and claims the chicken dinner. Some critics think that this battle-royale mode induces violence, which is the reason why the game is banned in several countries.
Both OCA and AESF were adamant that they did not want to show violence at the Asian Games, hence this change was made to PUBG Mobile. According to South Korea’s Money Today last month, shooting others should not be allowed in PUBG Mobile at the 2022 Asian Games as there are concerns that it would “harm the harmony” between countries.
The changes made to PUBG Mobile at the upcoming Asian Games may affect the performance of teams practising for this event since the new format is very different from the usual mode. Thus, teams will need to adjust their regular practice to align with the new format.
