India-made game FAU-G downloaded over 1 million times on day 1

India-made mobile game FAU-G: Fearless and United Guards, which got more than 5 million pre-registrations, was released for Android on Google Play Store on 26 January. Its iOS version is expected to be launched on the App Store in 3-4 months, the company said.

The game was downloaded over 1 million times on Google Play Store on day one and received an overall rating of 4.1. However, many players were disappointed with the unavailability of the battle royal mode along the lines of PUBG Mobile. Though FAU-G has 5v5 Team Deathmatch and Free for All modes, they are not accessible at the moment.

For now, the game has been released with a single player campaign mode with ‘Tales from Galwan Valley’ as the main story. It is based on the skirmishes between Indian and Chinese forces at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Galwan Valley in May-June last year, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian Army personnel. The campaign mode has voice overs and narratives in Hindi.

Announced last September by actor Akshay Kumar, the game generated a lot of buzz because of its patriotic overtones and Indian roots. It was developed by Bengaluru-based gaming startup Studio nCore. The announcement had coincided with the PUBG Mobile ban in India, which led to comparisons between the two.

FAU-G is free to download with in-app purchases and optional ads. It has an in-built store where players can buy weapons, such as clubs, axes and pipes, and recruit highly trained commandos in their teams using in-game tokens, which can be bought with real money or earned in the game as reward points.

Gaming has emerged as a major pass time for many Indians following the coronavirus outbreak. As the volume of paid users grew, so did the revenues for standalone games. In 2020, revenue generated through in-app purchases of games on the Play Store and App Store grew by 51.3% and 30.2%, respectively, over 2019, according to app analytics firm SensorTower. Estimated spending for in-app purchases in Android games in 2020 was $115 million as compared to $76 million a year ago.