PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is back in the spotlight after Nepal - yes, the country - has banned the game with full government authority.
In a recent story published by the Nepal-based news outfit The Kathmandu Post, the ban on PUBG began when the Nepal Metropolitan Crime Division officially filed a Public Interest Litigation requesting to ban PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds completely. Apparently, the request was approved and shortly after, the Nepal Telecommunications Authority issued a cease-and-desist to the country’s internet service providers and telecommunications companies. Any company that failed to comply with the order to block the game and its mobile variant will face government action. According to Dhiraj Pratap Singh, Nepal’s Police Superintendant, anyone caught playing the game will be arrested on the spot.
While the measures that Nepal has taken have been perceived to be extreme, authorities have expressed that it is with their people’s best interest at heart. The main concern that sparked the events leading to the ban was the underlying risk of addiction and violence. Although there are just as many studies that say video games are not to blame for certain dangerous behavior as there are studies that they say they are, Nepal decided to take action anyway. Fearing for its youth, Nepal has banned PUBG to protect children and teenagers from gaming addiction.
Of course, there are hundreds of questions that need to be asked, and as of yet there are either no answers or nobody willing to ask them. What about other video games, like Fortnite, League of Legends, and Apex Legends? Certainly these games are also played heavily by the Nepalese youth? What about other freedoms, and the Nepalese adults who play PUBG? This decision has affected them and their freedoms as much as it has the youth.
While Nepal is the first country to officially ban PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (and on a national scale, too) it’s all too reminiscent of the recent hoax surrounding PUBG Mobile being banned all across India. Although sources have indeed confirmed that the the story of PUBG being banned in Nepal is all too real, it could signal that other countries may be next.
