Last week, PUBG Mobile officially launched its in-game collaboration with popular Malaysian 3D-animated series BoBoiBoy, produced by local animation studio, Monsta.
PUBG Mobile likely needs no introduction, as the battle royale shooter is played by fans all over the world, and remains a classic favourite amongst Malaysian mobile gamers. It was developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio a division of Tencent Games.
Meanwhile, BoBoiBoy follows the story of a young boy who gains superpowers based on elementals, and he eventually gains the ability to control seven elements (lightning, wind, earth, fire, water, leaf, and light).
Together with his friends, Yaya, Ying, Gopal, and Fang, they form a team and fight to protect the Earth from alien threats.
The original TV series aired from March 2011 to June 2016, with its first theatrical film, BoBoiBoy: The Movie, releasing in March 2016.
In total, it’s had three seasons, two films, and a sequel of comics. Come 2025, fans can expect to see a third movie from the studio called BoBoiBoy Movie 3.
Local productions meet international audiences
Over the years, BoBoiBoy was internationally broadcasted as well, reaching Indonesia, Thailand, India, Vietnam, and even China.
According to Berita Harian, when BoBoiBoy: The Movie was showcased in Japan in 2016, Japanese animators were impressed by the quality of the local animation.
Monsta CEO Nizam Razak said at the time that this would bode well for the export of creative and multimedia content by our local animation industry, allowing companies to gain new market opportunities.
Despite a bulk of Malaysian animation being produced for locals and primarily dubbed in our national language, this has so far not deterred our ability to gain international recognition.
For example, in 2019, another popular local series called Upin & Ipin had their blockbuster film, Upin & Ipin: Keris Siamang Tunggal, nominated for Best Animated Film at the 2020 Academy Awards.
Though they didn’t end up winning, the nomination still marked a major milestone for Malaysian animation.
Then in 2020, another one of Monsta’s animated series called Fly With Yaya Tohoku was nominated in the Newcomer Award category at the 2020 Licensing International Excellence Awards in the US.
The series features Yaya, a Muslim girl who travels around the world to explore beautiful sights in Muslim-friendly destinations.
Now, BoBoiBoy’s collaboration with PUBG Mobile signifies another international win for Malaysian animators.
It just goes to show the potential of our local animation industry in meeting international quality standards, without sacrificing what makes our creations so uniquely Malaysian by pandering to the Western palate.
Marking another major milestone for Malaysian animation
The PUBG Mobile x BoBoiBoy collaboration will be split into two phases in October 2022 and January 2023.
Phase 1 which runs from October 10-31, 2022, will focus on core gameplay aesthetics and events whereas Phase 2 in January 2023 will focus more on character development and community building.
During Phase 1, PUBG Mobile players will be able to access exclusive BoBoiBoy content such as the BoBoiBoy Elemental Rush event.
Users can collect and fuse the seven core elements from the BoBoiBoy 3D-animated series to redeem exclusive in-game items including Backpack, Helmet, Parachute, Ornament, Graffiti Spray, and Avatar Frame.
For Phase 2, PUBG Mobile will release two exclusive characters inspired by the heroes BoBoiBoy and Fang.
In collaboration with Monsta, PUBG Mobile will focus on character development by organising a nationwide Voice Search contest to find the official voice within the community for the exclusive characters.
Monsta’s Head of Brand & International Sales, Mr. Faiz Zainal Aabidin, stated in a press release that the collaboration will be released in eight countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Perhaps there’s no better time for this major collaboration to come about, seeing as Monsta recently celebrated their 13th anniversary this year too.
Leveraging PUBG Mobile’s popularity will definitely expose more international audiences to BoBoiBoy, beyond the TV and movie spheres, and it’ll be interesting to see what other local-international collaborations may follow in their footsteps.
Featured Image Credit: PUBG Mobile x BoBoiBoy
