'PUBG: New State' reportedly bricking smartphones; game developer Krafton responds
What's the story
The newest addition to the PUBG game franchise, called PUBG: New State, launched last week. However, gamers soon began reporting their phones were getting bricked when they tried to run the game.
Game developer Krafton has responded to this complaint and said it extensively tested the game before release. However, it didn't directly acknowledge the issue or say a fix was in the works.
Context
Why does it matter?
PUBG: New State is a battle royale game just like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) but is set in the year 2051.
The game has been released as a separate title in the franchise, so it doesn't change the original game or tarnish its reputation.
However, bricked devices are worrying because they could cause permanent, irreparable damage to the gamers' smartphones and the franchise's image.
Bricked
The game bricked some devices immediately after seeking login information
Soon after the game's release, several users said PUBG: New State bricked their smartphones after prompting them to sign in as a guest or link a social media account.
Although unconfirmed, the problem was mostly faced on devices running Android 12, said reports.
To recall, Krafton said PUBG: New State will run on any device with Android 6.0 or newer.
Twitter Post
Tipster Mukul Sharma claims 'PUBG: New State' bricked his phone
Yep. My primary, Find X2 Pro also met with the same fate. Thankfully, could revive it. But everyone won't be able to pull off the Lazarus pit stunt with their daily drivers I assume.
— Mukul Sharma (@stufflistings) November 11, 2021
Hope the devs fix this asap. pic.twitter.com/brrm3CalVb
Response
Krafton claims it tested game extensively, doesn't address issue directly
In a response shared with Gadgets360, Krafton reportedly said it had sufficiently tested PUBG: New State to run smoothly on phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and models with as little as 2GB of RAM.
However, the game developer did not say if it is investigating the aforementioned bricking issue or developing a fix for it.
Lax measures
'PUBG: New State' age verification isn't as stringent as 'BGMI'
Besides this, PUBG: New State appears to have a relatively lenient age verification system compared to BGMI.
The latter required players under the age of 18 to enter a guardian's phone number to play the game.
On the contrary, even if an underage player taps "No" on the prompt confirming age in PUBG: New State, they can continue to play the game unhindered.