Fnatic has parted ways with its Indian PUBG Mobile roster, the organization announced today. The lineup consisted of Mohammed Owais Lakhani, Ashish “Ash” Bhatnagar, Gaurav “Franky” Rawat, Akash “MaxKasH” Anandani, and head coach Pratik “Aurum” Mehra.
Fnatic’s PUBG Mobile roster has been stagnant since the game was banned in September 2020 by India’s ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) due to data privacy concerns. The organization has also released its India lead, Nimish Raut, according to AFK Gaming.
Fnatic won’t be leaving India, however, and has said that it’ll be seeking ways to expand its presence in the country through other titles and partnerships.
Krafton’s head of corporate development, Sean Sohn, said earlier this month that the company was still trying to bring PUBG Mobile back to India. If that’s the case, Fnatic has said that it’ll be back with a roster in the mobile battle royale game.
In an interview with AFK Gaming, Fnatic’s chief gaming officer, Patrik “cArn” Sättermon, said that its investment in India was “permanent” and that it’s “hoping” to be in PUBG Mobile. He added that if this wouldn’t be possible, the European organization will explore other esports titles. Until then, the organization’s operations in India have been put on hold.
“This is not us unrooting and disappearing,” Sättermon said. “We are keeping our eyes on the market on a day-to-day basis, and we are having a lot of interesting conversations about future players, staff members, titles, game developers, etc.”
