India’s ban on mobile apps with a Chinese connection had spawned replicas but it was the multiplayer mobile game FAU-G (Fearless and United: Guards) that caught the maximum attention. Today, nCore Games, the company behind it, launched a teaser video that gives us a closer peek at what to expect.
The teaser video was released by Bollywood action star Akshay Kumar, who had announced his support to the game that celebrates Indian defence forces. The one-minute video provides a glimpse of the game which is based around Galwan Valley on India’s eastern border where Indian and Chinese forces had clashed in June.
The timing of the teaser video launch couldn’t have been better as it coincides with India’s Dussehra festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil.
Look! No firearms
The teaser video, which stretches for about a minute, shows soldiers from India and their enemies battling it out without the use of any firearms. None of the characters carry any guns and appear to be using clubs and any other weapon in a combat that mirrors a melee instead of a proper battle zone.
There is also a suggestion of a team-based action sequence as towards the end of the video one catches a glimpse of five soldiers standing together. However, this is no indication of FAU-G being a collaborative game, though nCore founder Vishal Gondal had already indicated that it would not contain a battle royale mode, which was the case with the banned PUBG mobile game.
There is also no launch date that appears on the teaser with only a ‘Coming Soon’ badge that suggests an announcement some time in the near future. The company had first indicated a launch in September and postponed it by a month. Now it looks like we may have to wait a few more days.
Good always triumphs over evil,the light will always conquer the darkness.May victory bless Fearless And United Guards, our FAU-G. Launching in November 2020!Happy #Dussehra@akshaykumar @BharatKeVeer @vishalgondal #AtmanirbharBharat #FAUG pic.twitter.com/dZJgiVTxeTOctober 25, 2020
FAU-G vs PUBG
Vishal Gondal had said back in September that the ban on PUBG was coincidental and that his team had been working on FAU-G since May while preparing for a launch in October. In fact, it was part of three games that they were working on, of which one is a cricket game and the other associated with music.
In fact, he had suggested that the game would launch in September alongside one with cricket as its theme that would coincide with India’s popular cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, towards end-September Gondal had confirmed that FAU-G would launch by end-October.
Gondal had said then that nCore’s decision to focus on these games began several months earlier and was based on the misplaced belief that Indian game developers cannot produce quality games. He says that the company is out to prove that this was not so and Indian games can compete with the global brands and are capable of developing games better than PUBG.
While the first title could be a hit, considering the anti-China sentiments prevailing in India due to the Galwan clashes, it remains to be seen whether nCore sticks to its idea and presents more titles built around the country’s armed forces.