Over the past few months, we’ve seen several ‘Lite’ versions of popular apps make their way to the marketplace such as Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite and Instagram Lite. In an era when smartphones are getting more powerful by the year, releasing stripped-down versions of apps might seem counterproductive, but there happens to be a lot of demand for them, especially in emerging markets. Thanks for wireless penetration, the market is inundated with low-priced devices that often lack the hardware to run an app effectively.
Today, Tencent soft-launched a ‘Lite’ version of its battle royale shooter in the Philippines. PUBG Mobile Lite is based on UInreal Engine 4 and is optimized for devices with low RAM. The non-Lite version of PUBG is a known resource-hog and chews through memory fairly quickly. It claims to retain the PUBG Mobile experience, but there are some compromises to be made.
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PUBG Mobile Lite makes some compromises for low memory usage
It is impossible to offer the same experience in a Lite and non-Lite version of a an application. PUBG Mobile Lite’s maps are restricted to 2x2km (compared to 8×8 in the non-Lite version). Additionally, a match consists of only 40 players compared to the 100. Not only does this cut down on the memory usage, but also makes for quicker matches.
The release is still in beta and region-locked to the Philippines. You can still download and install it, but you won’t be able to connect to the servers. Much like the non-Lite version, it comes with its share of bugs such as unsuccessful sign-in attempts, lag and bots in the game. We can expect to see a widespread release once Tencent irons out the kinks. PUBG Lite brings the total number of PUBG apps in the Play Store up to three. A tad confusing, if you ask me.
Source: Android Police
