PUBG Mobile, the Tencent-published mobile version of the popular battle royale, remains incredibly popular. Its popularity stems from availability in regions including China and India, making it stand out even among mobile battle royale competition from the PUBG franchise. That also makes PUBG Mobile a unique opportunity for crossover partnerships, given the reach of its audience. That's how something like PUBG Mobile's newly announced crossover event partnership with Warframe comes together.

Running from now through April 19, PUBG Mobile players have access to an in-game collaboration with the free-to-play action game Warframe. The event will allow PUBG Mobile players to complete in-game missions themed after Warframe, which will then reward various Warframe-related items including Tenno skins. It's not just an exciting opportunity for fans of both PUBG Mobile and Warframe, but a chance to earn some free sci-fi gear.

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The event in PUBG Mobile will technically be broken down into different time periods. The initial Warframe activity lasts just two weeks, from March 10 through March 23. Those who complete the currently available challenges will unlock a skin. The two skins advertised so far are the Excalibur Warframe's Umbra variant and Wukong Prime. After March 23, the next phase of the Warframe collaboration will be revealed, as it'll be delivered alongside PUBG Mobile's 1.9 update.

It's worth questioning why Warframe, a popular free-to-play game in its own right, is collaborating with PUBG Mobile, another free-to-play game. The two don't directly compete, but it's still an odd situation. Many believe this is Warframe's effort to appeal to the Chinese market. The Excalibur Umbra and Wukong Prime skins are especially notable, as Wukong Prime was the first Prime that Warframe in China received and Excalibur Umbra was the Prime China got instead of the standard Excalibur Prime already released in the west.

While advertising Warframe to the Eastern market on its own is certainly valuable, some Warframe fans believe there could be more to the collaboration. At TennoCon 2021, Digital Extremes revealed plans to create a mobile version of Warframe. This new partnership with PUBG Mobile could mean that the Warframe mobile port is getting closer to completion.

Ignoring all the speculation, the one unignorable truth is that PUBG Mobile is published by Tencent and that Warframe developer Digital Extremes is owned by Tencent. This partnership could simply be a matter of Tencent synergizing with its brands as a way to build excitement for both games.

PUBG Mobile is available now on iOS and Android.

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