FAU-G rating falls as PUBG Mobile Indian fans Review bomb the game on Google Play Store.
Indian game FAUG developed by nCore Games was released on 26th January 2021 for Android. nCore Games has revealed that FAU-G’s Indian downloads have crossed 5 million downloads within 24 hours of the launch. The game has garnered over 41,000 reviews with 4.5 stars at the time of launch and went on to become the top free game on the Google Play Store.
The game started witnessing a drop in ratings, initially, it gained 4.5 ratings on average when it launched, it quickly dropped down to 3.0 stars. The game has been receiving a large number of 1-star ratings, which in turn dropped the ranking of FAUG. Some of the reviews carrying 1-star ratings are explicitly around the experience that the users found as substandard over their expectations. However, there are many 1-star ratings in which users compared FAU-G with PUBG Mobile game.
The Indian government banned PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite on 2nd September 2020, because the data of the users were not secured and all the details were going to the Chinese government as the Tencent Games shared partnership with PUBG Mobile. FAUG was announced just after the banned of PUBG in the country. It was initially believed as an alternative to PUBG Mobile. However, rather than offering a battle royale experience along with various weapons to browse, FAUG appeared with a simple game-play that involved hand to hand combat and melees to fight against the enemy in campaign mode.
FAUG offers three different modes: Campaign, Team Deathmatch, and Free for all. However, for now, nCore Games offer only a campaign mode that involves only a fistfight with AI players. In campaign mode there was not a single gun to fight, Initially, the game started extremely easy but as you passed the checkpoints it became more and more difficult to cross the Stages. The game is indeed so difficult that many players were struggling to complete 1st chapter.
FAUG developer and publisher nCore games are disappointed with the poor reviews on Google Play Store. The developer believes that PUBG players are behind the poor Google Play Store ratings. PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile lite fans are purportedly responsible for the review bombing as they were hoping for an alternative to PUBG Mobile in India. Earlier in an interview, Vishal Gondal denied that the game is not trying to copy or mimic the PUBG Mobile and also stated that the game will be unique.
Review Bombing has been a case multiple times in the past also. TikTok had faced a comparative response with an unexpected drop in ratings a year ago. Review bombing happens to be a common thing in the more developed gaming markets and FAU -G happens to be the first Indian games that have been a victim to review bombing. Usually, this tends to happen to draw attention to an issue of unbanning PUBG Mobile in India, with the Indian government unlikely to reverse the ban on PUBG Mobile or PUBG Mobile lite, the ratings of ‘Indian PUBG’ or FAUG has taken a hit.
Some of the one-star ratings to FAU-G on Google Play Store:
• “Every time when I convince myself and come to play again, I can hardly play 10 mins. And I couldn't stop giving the feedback again and again. I can appreciate the attempt, but when you try to replace a game like PUBG, you provide the equivalent or better quality and features. There is no autorun, no jump nor Crouch. Just keep pressing on the same button doesn't give any excitement, controls are the prime attributes that need to be rebuilt”
• “What I actually expected was that it will replace the position of PUBG, but when I played it, I realized that it is the worst game I ever played in my life. This thing is really disappointing”
• “A big let-down! Looks like nothing more than a quick cash grab attempt to fill in the void left by PUB-G. Shortcomings: 1. Lame maps 2. Lack of interactive environment 3. You cannot literally run away from a fight 4. Lacks any innovative or new idea. 5. Plain character design & limited weapon selection. Overall, this game is counting on the "patriotism" of its users rather than working on making it an actual good & usable game”
Reports suggest that the company is working with Google to rectify the issue. Earlier Google had helped ByteDance to get rid of a one-star review for their popular app Tik Tok till it was available in India, so considering the same logic, we could likely see Google step in and help India-based FAU-G gaming app.
Nevertheless, FAU-G is wanted to add 'free for all' and 5v5 'Group Deathmatch' modes as well as a battle royale mode later on. The game is limited to Android devices; however, it is relied upon to arrive at iPhone and iPad models at a later stage.
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