All you need to know about Akshay Kumar's FAU-G game
Just days after the Indian government placed a fresh ban on more than 100 Chinese apps including the popular battle royale game PUBG amid escalated tension in Ladakh, a made-in-India alternative has been announced. Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, in collaboration with a Bengaluru-based game developer, has unveiled an Indian version of the game called Fearless And United: Guards or FAU-G. Here's more on this.
Akshay made the announcement on social media last evening. He said that the project is also in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for an "Atmanirbhar Bharat" or self-reliant India. Furthermore, 20% of the net revenue generated through the game shall be donated to Bharat Ke Veer Trust, that was set up after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
Supporting PM @narendramodi’s AtmaNirbhar movement, proud to present an action game,Fearless And United-Guards FAU-G. Besides entertainment, players will also learn about the sacrifices of our soldiers. 20% of the net revenue generated will be donated to @BharatKeVeer Trust #FAUG pic.twitter.com/Q1HLFB5hPt
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 4, 2020
nCore Games, a Bengaluru-based firm that was founded in 2018 and counts gaming industry veteran Vishal Gondal as an investor, is developing the upcoming game. Gondal, who had earlier created India Games in 1999 and sold it to Disney in 2011, had invested an undisclosed amount in nCore Games in March last year and serves as a strategic adviser to the start-up.
"In response to PM Narendra Modi's call of AtmaNirbhar App, nCore games is proud to announce our action game Fearless And United: Guards (FAU:G) with mentorship from Akshay Kumar. 20% of net revenues donated to Bharat Ke Veer trust for India's Bravehearts," Gondal has tweeted.
According to Gondal, the game has been in works for the past few months. "This game was in the works for some months....In fact, the first level of the game is based on Galwan Valley," Gondal said, referring to the deadly clash in Ladakh in June that led to the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers and unspecified number of casualties on the Chinese side.
Further, Gondal revealed that Akshay also helped with the concept of the game. He said the actor came up with the title of the game FAU-G, inspired by the Hindi word "fauji," that translates to soldier. He added that they are expecting to attract 200 million users in a year. FAU-G will be launched by the end of this October, reports said.
The announcement has come shortly after the Indian government banned PUBG MOBILE, developed by Chinese gaming and social media group Tencent, along with over 100 other apps. With more than 700 million downloads, PUBG ranks among the most popular smartphone apps around the world. Earlier in June, a similar ban was put on 59 apps including ByteDance's TikTok, Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat.
All the 118 banned apps were engaged in "activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had said in a statement.
