Chinese PUBG Mobile replaced with Game for Peace, where enemies wave as they die

Thinking about it, wouldn't all games be better if they had non-aggressive names? God of Ceasefire, Peaceframe, Gears of Truce. No? Well unfortunately for those in China, the country's government seems to think so, as its refusal to allow PUBG Mobile monetisation has meant Tencent has pulled the game and replaced it with a more patriotic alternative. It's called Game for Peace.

According to a report by Reuters, Tencent had been trying to get monetisation approved for PUBG Mobile for over a year in China. It's unclear whether the failure to get a green light was due to the game's violence or China's general crackdown on online gaming.

In any case, a game with no revenue stream is a dead one, and Tencent has clearly decided to simply pull the plug. The replacement, Heping Jingyping (Game for Peace), has already been approved by the Chinese government for monetisation. Tencent is apparently allowing players to transfer their characters to the new title, making the migration a little easier.

As you can see from the gameplay footage below, it's practically identical to PUBG Mobile - even though Tencent told Reuters they are "very different genres of games", with Game for Peace exploring anti-terrorism themes and "pay[ing] tribute to the blue sky warriors that guard our country's airspace".

There is at least one key difference, however. Recently the Chinese government updated its approvals process to essentially outlaw things such as gore, gambling and imperial history in video games - but Game for Peace creatively manages to stick to the new rules. Instead of blood and corpses (big no-no's), enemies in Game for Peace wave cheerfully when they die. It's equal parts charming and disturbing.

CNN reports the hashtag "PUBG is gone" has so far been read more than 550 million times on Chinese social media, with many players grieving the loss of the original title. At least they can use the new game to wave goodbye to PUBG.