PUBG Animated Series Creator Adi Shankar Thinks India Could Make Great Video Games

Indian filmmaker Adi Shankar was revealed by Krafton to helm its PUBG animated series last month. An avid gamer himself, Shankar is no stranger to adapting video games to TV show formats, what with producing the Netflix Castlevania series. IGN India spoke to Shankar about a wide range of topics including his thoughts on the game development industry in India, which he believes has great potential.

“Yes I could see great games coming out of India, there’s nothing intrinsically limiting about India that would prohibit anyone from India creating a world class game the way developers in China, Spain, Japan, and Korea have,” he says. “The real question is as India ‘should we be making great games?’ and the answer is an astounding yes. From my vantage point gaming has larger implications on the future of the human species and India’s role in it.”

To him, game development is crucial for the nation’s role on the world stage.

“Furthermore, should China be surpassing India in every metric creatively in the industry of the future with games like Genshin Impact? The answer is absolutely not,” he says. “The world is transitioning into a global creative economy. If India does’t embrace this and nurture our creative cream and allow it to rise to the top we will get left behind and spend the 21st century as China’s back office. The industrialists of the future will come from this space. The question is will those industrialists be Indian?”

This makes us wonder if he ever mulled on the possibility of developing games himself.

“Yes, I have thought about making a game,” he says. “In a lot of ways I feel like I’m better suited for game development than I am for Hollywood, though perhaps this is a case of the proverbial grass being greener on the other side.”

With the likes of JJ Abrams and Shonda Rimes entering the games business with Bad Robot Games and Shondaland respectively, is this something Shankar would consider?

“I think whenever an artist transitions into being a business owner the art and the business both suffer,” he explains. “We’re entering the era of individual specialisation and while diversification can feel like low hanging fruit, it’s actually a trap and when it’s all said and done the specialists are the ones who will survive the transition into the new world order. I feel like I should stick to being an artist and allow business people to build business around me.”

Stay tuned for our complete interview with Shankar this week that includes working with Krafton, the metaverse, Netflix’s gaming ambitions, and much more.

For the latest gaming news and reviews, follow IGN India on Twitter and Facebook. For the latest gaming videos, follow us on Instagram.