PUBG Mobile, the mobile version of the popular PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, has been banned by the Indian government. Currently, India has been banning a huge list of Chinese apps and PUBG Mobile happened to be among over 100 other apps that were banned in the latest wave.
Breaking News: 118 more Chinese mobile Apps banned including PUBG by the IT Ministry
— Akhilesh Sharma (@akhileshsharma1) September 2, 2020
According to the Indian government, PUBG Mobile has been banned due to "cybersecurity concerns." India's ban on Chinese smartphone applications started as a result of growing tensions between the two countries. Things took a new turn when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Himalayas in June. Following this, the Indian government and citizens started to boycott Chinese products, including applications. India also recently banned TikTok, an extremely popular Chinese app. Even though PUBG wasn't developed in China, developer PUBG Corporation has strong ties with Chinese game publisher Tencent.
PUBG Mobile was very popular in India, with over 40 million active players. The ban could potentially have a devastating impact on the game. Things can change and if the aforementioned cybersecurity concerns get addressed, the country could lift the ban. However, it's also possible that India may permanently ban the game. PUBG Mobile fans have seen the ban coming, as the ban has been discussed multiple times in the country.
PUBG Mobile was supposed to be banned in the first wave of Chinese application bans, but it managed to get out of it safely. Prior to this ban, the Indian state of Gujrat had already banned PUBG Mobile for the negative impact it had on young people's lives. The state also arrested 10 people for playing the game in public. Even though the current ban on PUBG Mobile is due to cybersecurity reasons, the country itself has had rocky relationship with the game for years.
In the absence of PUBG Mobile, it'll be interesting to see what other game could capture the attention of 40 million users.
