Akshay Kumar Releases Game to Replace PUBG – Fauji – FAU-G
Indians do stand up on their own! It was not long ago when the Indian government announced the ban on the ever-popular mobile game PUBG as they continue to ban apps made in China. Then BAM! Not even 48 hours later the Bollywood star Akshay Kumar announces a replacement for PUBG named FAU-G (Fauji game) , short for Fearless and United Guards! The game is developed by the company nCore games based in Bengaluru! FAU-G is nothing short of a surgical strike, while the iron is Hot! Tencent, the mother company of PUBG mentioned that India was their largest market! Well, what a screw up eh? It was an amazing initiative taken by nCore games along with Akshay Kumar to fill the void left by the ban.
Marketing at its best!
Akshay Kumar notified the public of the game in a simple tweet that said a lot! The company is ready to give out 20% of its total revenue to a state-backed trust fund that supports the families of soldiers who sacrificed their lives on duty. A direct tap into Indian patriotism I would say!
The actor, son of an army officer who’s known around the country for the support he shows to the troops was key in setting up the trust and the concept of the game. Akshay is also expecting 200 million users in a year.
One might say it’s a long shot, but considering how Fair and Handsome sales sky rocketed using Sharukh Khan, how Lux sales sky rocketed using Katrina Kaif makes it seem like a bread and butter target, given the fact that all PUBG users will jump head first into this and will face no disappointments of course.
Plagiarism Issues
After an initially overwhelming response, nCore Games received a setback when allegations of plagiarism related to the game’s poster began to surface online.
Well, Indians being Indians started calling out nCore Games for the lack of originality in the cover image, as FAU-G’s poster was alleged to have been taken from artist Phet Thai’s original image on Shutterstock. I’m sure even a graphic designer on minimum wage knows better to not use Shutterstock images but who knows? The original image also features in the song ‘Today we Rise’ by Collision of Innocence.
The allegations don’t stop there!
Some rumors that are going around are claiming that FAU-G was the brainchild of the actor late Sushant Singh! We hear these only in India don’t we?
nCore Games Statement!
In an official post on Twitter, nCore Games decided to issue an official statement and address all of the recent allegations:
While addressing the claims that the game was Sushant Singh Rajput’s idea, nCore Games clarified:
“This statement is being issued to address certain conversations/ rumours on social media that FAU:G was conceptualized by late actor Shri Sushant Singh Rajput, which is completely false and baseless. Mr. Akshay Kumar has been a mentor to nCore . FAU:G is designed and developed by the team at nCore . All copyright and intellectual property related to FAU:G is owned by nCore.”
nCore Games’ Twitter handle also addressed the allegations of plagiarism, claiming that FAU-G’s poster is a licensed stock image:
“We would like to further clarify that we have officially bought the license to use the image from Shutter stock. Additionally this is just a teaser poster and we would be releasing the official game Title screen and in-game art soon.”
nCore games also went on to state that they will not hesitate in taking legal action against people or outlets who propagate such baseless rumours.
Will FAU-G (Fauji game) be any good?
It’s hard to say! But considering how Indians have managed to develop almost all the recently banned apps with local resources, Its highly unlikely the game will be a load of a dump! With millions of users signing in, I believe the path the Indians have taken to be self-reliant is brilliant and this kind of steps to promote in-house products is a step towards their future!
Watch FAU-G Official Game trailer
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