Load the Game

Lionel Messi and PUBG Mobile Collaborate on the Global Chicken Cup

• Jacob Chambers
• November 10th, 2022

Leo Messi being used by Tencent to promote the PUBG Mobile 2.3 update, which will be available on Android and iOS later this month.

Lionel Messi and the PUBG Mobile crew have teamed together to promote a brand-new, soccer-themed version for the popular battle royale game. The “Football Carnival” update for PUBG Mobile 2.3 will also introduce the Global Chicken Cup, a new in-game event that Messi will lead, as well as a number of time-limited consumables, items, outfits, and other cosmetics.

Since the beginning of the month, Tencent has been hinting at this partnership with Messi. The PUBG Mobile 2.2 update, which added a complicated weather system, the Gear Front game mode, and a new map named Nusa, was released a few weeks prior to today’s announcement. It’s highly likely that the update was timed to coincide with the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

The next iteration of PUBG Mobile, which has a soccer theme, has not yet received a clear release date from Tencent, but the game’s publisher has said that it will be on sale later this month. Given its prior performance, the upgrade should be accessible worldwide by November 20, when the 2018 FIFA World Cup is slated to begin in Qatar. The update is likely to trickle out over a few days. The Global Chicken Cup will end on December 18 if it closely coincides with the actual competition. The timeline also lines up with a lot of past PUBG Mobile events.

Captain Messi has a special message for you. Gear up for the Global Chicken Cup!https://t.co/3Y5xECyEdJ#PUBGMOBILE #LIONELMESSI #PUBGMxMESSI pic.twitter.com/sWdvLtBS01

— PUBG MOBILE (@PUBGMOBILE) November 10, 2022

The Chinese entertainment behemoth Tencent has a long history of doing just that to market its popular battle royale game, and this celebrity partnership is not the first time it has done so. In May, PUBG Mobile and The Boys, an immensely popular TV show on Amazon based on the same-named superhero books, collaborated. Over the course of the year, the company also collaborated on promotional activities with supercar producer McLaren Automotive and the popular free-to-play shooter Warframe.

The list of cross-promotions for PUBG Mobile in 2021 is even more amazing, featuring everything from Spider-Man: No Way Home and League of Legends to K-pop girl group Blackpink, the blockbuster film Godzilla vs. Kong from Legendary Pictures, and the viral sensation Pinkfong Baby Shark.

One of the most played games ever is PUBG Mobile, thanks in great part to Tencent’s aggressive marketing campaigns, including the recently announced partnership with Messi. Every year, PUBG Mobile surpasses incredible download milestones in terms of players. According to Tencent’s most recent earnings report, as of this May, four years after its release, the game had generated nearly $8.42 billion in worldwide revenue.