The PUBG MOBILE x NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration launched on July 9th and is one of the biggest crossovers in the game’s history. Everything about this collaboration is designed to go beyond cosmetics, introducing iconic NARUTO locations, playable Ninjutsu abilities, encounters with The Nine-Tails and an original animated OVA made in partnership with Studio Pierrot.
IGN spoke with Rick Li, Producer of PUBG MOBILE and Deputy General Manager of Quantum Studio, LightSpeed Studios, Tencent Games and Vincent Wang, General Manager and Head of PUBG MOBILE Publishing, Tencent Games, about how they helped shape and bring this collaboration to life. We asked them how they designed this gameplay-first collaboration, what it was like seeing PUBG MOBILE and NARUTO characters together, which Ninjutsu abilities they’re excited for players to experience and more.
Interview edited for clarity
The PUBG MOBILE x NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration is one of PUBG MOBILE’s largest and most ambitious crossovers to date. What made NARUTO SHIPPUDEN the right fit for PUBG MOBILE, and how did the idea for this collaboration first come about?
VINCENT: I would say our collaboration with NARUTO is special because both worlds share similar values. PUBG MOBILE has always emphasised resilience against the odds and the trust between teammates. This aligns with the Will of Fire from NARUTO and shows that the commitment to protecting allies and never giving up naturally connects the two worlds.
There is also a strong connection between our audiences. We have seen many members of our player community express their passion for NARUTO over the years, so this natural overlap made collaboration feel like an obvious fit.
NARUTO also offers huge potential for meaningful integrations. The NARUTO world is complete, coherent and distinctive, allowing us to move beyond a traditional cosmetic crossover and create experiences across gameplay, environments and social features. So all in all, we believe that this NARUTO SHIPPUDEN and PUBG MOBILE crossover is one of the most important collaborations in the history of our game.
The PUBG MOBILE x NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration touches all parts of the game. How did you decide on what to include, and with such a massive IP and ambitious implementation, how did the team innovate at this scale? And how did the team balance staying authentic to longtime fans while ensuring the experience remained accessible and enjoyable for players new to the franchise?
RICK: During the design process, we focused on bringing together the core identities of NARUTO and PUBG MOBILE to provide a more innovative experience for the players.
At its centre, NARUTO is about courage, determination and pursuing something greater. PUBG MOBILE is about collaboration, tackling challenges and achieving victory as a team. So during our analysis of the NARUTO stories, we wanted to bring out the most memorable elements. For example, Ninjutsu, combat mechanics and unique experiences were brought into the game as fully realised gameplay features rather than just simple visual effects. Based on that theory, we have been able to bring the Hidden Leaf Village and also the characters, skills and the invasion of the Nine-Tails into the game.
Based on these integrations, we broke down iconic Ninjutsu techniques and combat styles and redesigned them around real PUBG MOBILE in-game scenarios allowing Ninjutsu to play an active role in pushing, rotating, repositioning, and team coordination to create a more strategic and collaborative combat experience.
UGC is also an important part of our game, so in the World of Wonder Mode, we have made the full set of NARUTO environments, components, ninjutsu and assets available for all players. We hope that the players can create a wide variety of experiences for all the players. We also believe different creators will have their own memories of NARUTO. And through this format that we offer to the creators, we believe it is a very fruitful aspect for IP collaboration to enable different memory points to be shared among the community as a whole.
PUBG MOBILE has become known for delivering increasingly ambitious crossovers. What lessons from previous collaborations helped shape the development of the NARUTO SHIPPUDEN partnership, and how has your approach to collaborations evolved over time?
VINCENT: Over the years, our understanding of crossovers has evolved significantly. Our early collaborations involved skins and items that introduced elements of partner IPs into the game.
But we realised that as players’ expectations grew, that approach was no longer enough. So we began to focus more on how IP collaborations could enter into our gameplay – how an IP can match PUBG MOBILE’s match structure and core values, how this world aligns with our universe and allows deep integrations of the collaboration’s content into our games.
Previous projects also helped the PUBG MOBILE team develop a more mature approach to collaboration, including how to align with partners on the boundaries of the source material, manage the strengths of special abilities, coordinate environment and system development and how to maintain a consistent tone across different gameplay modes. The NARUTO project is the culmination of everything we have learned from previous collaborations.
The introduction of Ninjutsu abilities allows players to experience life as a shinobi. How did the team approach adapting such iconic techniques into PUBG MOBILE gameplay? And of these, which are you most excited for PUBG MOBILE players to experience?
RICK: Incorporating Ninjutsu into our game was a challenging task because of gameplay balance. If Ninjutsu abilities were too strong, players would rely on them constantly, which could undermine PUBG MOBILE’s core combat experience and reduce strategic variety.
If Ninjutsu was too weak, it would become a decorative feature rather than a meaningful gameplay mechanic.
Working closely with the NARUTO team, we ensured that all Ninjutsu abilities remained authentic to the original series. This includes details such as hand signs, visual effects and sound design. We also added an innovative feature where players can cast the spells of Ninjutsu using voice commands.
The Ninjutsu we are most excited for players to experience are Rasengan, Chidori and Flying Raijin, some of the most iconic techniques from NARUTO. In the series, fans of the series will know NARUTO spent quite a long time mastering these abilities so it was important for the Ninjutsu to represent moments from NARUTO’s journey, and we hope they bring memorable experiences to players.
The collaboration introduces rogue ninja enemies, encounters with Kakashi, and the highly anticipated battles against the Nine-Tails. How did the team approach designing these PvE experiences, and how do they help bring the world of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN to life within PUBG MOBILE?
RICK: Through the PvE design, players can encounter NARUTO characters during matches through dynamic events, allowing them to experience moments from the NARUTO world rather than simply viewing them. The Rogue Ninjas also add dynamic threats during exploration. When players search for resources, they may suddenly enter combat, transforming the environment into an active Shinobi battlefield rather than a static location.
With Kakashi, we placed greater emphasis on character interaction and relationships, so players do not simply encounter him as a distant NPC. Instead, they can meet him, interact with him and fight alongside him.The battle against the Nine-Tails is the climax of the entire collaboration experience, and as one of the defining symbols of the NARUTO world, the Nine-Tails carries enormous emotional significance to all fans and players. We recreated its massive scale, fierce presence and signature effects, and especially its multi-phase attack mechanics.
Players must observe the Nine-Tails’ movements, choose when to use Ninjutsu, avoid incoming attacks and coordinate their actions to find opportunities to strike – so all the players must work together to defend the Hidden Leaf Village.
Developed under the supervision of the NARUTO Production Committee, the collaboration is being further brought to life through an exclusive original animation created by Studio Pierrot, the renowned animation studio behind NARUTO SHIPPUDEN. What was the creative process for this OVA like and how did it feel seeing anime PUBG MOBILE characters alongside NARUTO?
VINCENT: It was a creative project that truly brought both worlds together.
The most difficult part of this animation was not simply the technical challenge, but finding a way to translate between two different worlds, while also making the interaction between NARUTO and PUBG MOBILE characters work naturally within the story.
Throughout production, Studio Pierrot retained a high degree of creative leadership. From story pacing and storyboarding to key animation, character expressions and battle design – everything was developed through the established visual language of NARUTO. For the PUBG MOBILE team, the character movements, equipment and combat style needed to remain true to our game, and when characters from both forces appear side by side, players need to feel that this was not a simple cameo, but a collaboration that genuinely works. So I think what we mostly want players to take away was not simply the novelty of seeing characters from two IPs together, but the feeling that I am part of the story.
The collaboration brings major NARUTO locations into the game, such as a fully explorable Hidden Leaf Village. What are some other locations you are most excited for players to visit, and how important was environmental storytelling in recreating the NARUTO universe for fans?
RICK: Environments are one of the main ways that the worldview and emotional identity of an IP are brought to life. That is why we recreated the Hidden Leaf Village, along with many landmarks from the original series.
We are particularly excited for players to visit Hokage Rock, the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village and the Ninja Academy. These are some of the most memorable visual landmarks in the village, and every detail was carefully developed by the team to make the experience feel as immersive as possible.
Bringing the scenes into the game is not just about copying the exterior of the buildings, but we also brought in the lively quality of the village, the lighting and the sound and all those interactive details. We have also brought interaction points and story details to narrative locations so that exploration itself offers more than just photos points, helping players to gather information and stories during the process.
Beyond the game, how did you approach extending the PUBG MOBILE x NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration into offline spaces, and what role do real-world activations play in strengthening the overall player and fan experience?
VINCENT: This is also our largest scale IP collaboration offline event. We held player events across more than 15 countries, with more than 130,000 people participating globally in just the first week.
In designing the activations, we want to transform what players saw in the games into the real world that they could enter and interact with. In some key markets we’re actually building installations around landmarks based on The Nine Tails, or we create a Hidden Leaf Village environment and on-site interactions to give players an immediate sense of the collaborations and atmosphere. I think the most important role of real world activations is turning our online content into a shared offline experience.
For the NARUTO fans, these familiar characters and environments no longer exist only on the screen, but in the physical world. And for PUBG MOBILE players, the community relationship they build inside the game can continue in an offline space.
The Nine-Tails encounter transforms PUBG MOBILE from a PvP battle royale into a co-operative PvE experience, with players joining forces to defend the Hidden Leaf Village. What inspired the decision to temporarily unite all players against a common threat?
RICK: The core spirit of NARRUTO SHIPPUDEN was the main reason we chose this design approach when the Nine Tails invaded the Hidden Leaf Village. What matters is not who defeats whom, but how everyone chooses to work together to face such a crisis.
We therefore temporarily changed the relationship between players. Instead of eliminating one another, players divide responsibilities, support each other and coordinate against the same threat to defend the hidden village together.
This shift also creates a very emotional experience that is very different from a standard battle. Former opponents become temporary allies and the most important is that the Will of Fire no longer exists only in the story or dialogue, but it exists in PUBG MOBILE and in the actual action.
The collaboration extends beyond Classic Mode into both World of Wonder and Metro Royale, introducing creator tools, dedicated encounters and additional themed experiences. Why was it important for the NARUTO SHIPPUDEN partnership to exist across multiple PUBG MOBILE experiences? The collaboration extends into World of Wonder – how do you think creators will use these NARUTO-inspired gameplay assets?
RICK: NARRUTO SHIPPUDEN contains an enormous amount of content, meaning a single mode could never fully represent everything it offers.
Through Classic Mode and Metro Royale, which includes searching for resources and exploring the map and encounters, we can combine PUBG MOBILE’s existing gameplay experiences with elements from NARUTO.
World of Wonder provides a more open platform where players can create their own experiences, so it will contain all the places, the skills, the characters, all the contents that are provided by the team, we place it into the hands of creators.
To further elaborate, in World of Wonder, we have made the full set of NARUTO elements for example, the environments, the components, Ninjutsu effects and all other assets available. And you know, users can bring to light the Hidden Leaf Village, Rogue Ninjas characters like Hatake Kakashi and the Nine Tails. And it could all be used as the creation assets.
What is most exciting is that the creators can recombine these assets to produce rules and experiences that the official team never anticipated, allowing the collaboration to continue evolving beyond the update itself. And just as the spirit of NARUTO, it enables the story and the spirit to live on.
Dive into PUBG MOBILE now to play the PUBG MOBILE x NARUTO SHIPPUDEN collaboration before it ends on September 7th.
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