PUBG Mobile - PMIT Pune Group C Finals players threaten walkout; issues and delays resolved as games resume

• PMIT Pune Group C Finals experienced delays and issues due to ping spikes during tournament games
• Players and teams threaten to walk out of the tournament
• Internal discussion leads to resolved issues and a changed format as matches have once again resumed

The Group C Regional Finals of the PUBG Mobile India Tour in Pune experienced delays as teams and players staged a walk-out after just two maps were played out of the total five. A delayed start was further hurt by rehosting the first map, Erangel twice before the organizers eventually decided to move onto Sanhok and then Miramar. Unfortunately, teams were displeased with ping issues and lag and they made it known once the second game was completed.

As many as 15 teams refused to come back onto the stage with many players from these teams going live on their social media handles to make their displeasures known in an attempt to garner support from their fans. However, despite a delay of over two hours, the games seem to have finally resumed after an agreement was reached between the organizers and the affected teams.

When the livestream finally resumed, Animesh '8bit Thug' Agarwal, one of the talents on the Hindi desk of the event, explained the situation to viewers. The summary of his explanation is as follows:

• Competitors experienced a ping spike that happened twice on Miramar
• As a result of this many players and teams experienced unfair deaths
• Issues at LAN tournaments are common but the affected teams were rightfully protesting against the situation
• However, an agreement was reached between the teams who have all decided to go back on the stage and play the rest of the tournament for the Pune crowd

Instead of playing each map once and Erangel twice to make a total of five maps, the format will now see Sanhok being played four times and Miramar once. Sanhok has already been played once along with Miramar meaning that only three games of Sanhok are now remaining. This seems to be the condition that teams have agreed to play under. 

There was a brief discussion of the protesting teams receiving one-year community bans on their account in addition to being disqualified from PMIT however it looks like those issues have been laid to rest.

Image Source: ghaatak_gaming on Instagram

From what we witness on preet_naruto's Instagram livestream, it seems that 8bit Thug had a major role to play with explaining the situation to the affected teams and players. In an informal gathering at the venue, Thug was seen telling the players that issues like these arise at almost every major esports tournament and that the players should re-think their decision in the interest of their careers as well as the fans and PUBG Mobile community members that have attended the event in Pune.

The new format will certainly prove more challenging especially for the teams who are heavily favoured in the bigger maps and are known for a more strategic approach. Sanhok often tends to be more luck favoured and has historically been a map where there is a lot of variance in terms of who can win. 

The story is still developing but games have resumed for now. More coverage from PMIT Pune to follow.