PUBG Mobile was banned on September 2 in India. This was because of the increasing tensions between India and China. New Delhi banned the popular battle royale game because of cybersecurity concerns.
Both PUBG Mobile Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG Mobile Lite were banned in the country. A 100 other apps were banned as well in this wave. Besides, these apps were banned on grounds that they had links to China. However, the PUBG Mobile ban came after the TikTok ban in India. Moreover, dozens of other Chinese apps were also banned in these massive ban waves.
According to the country’s IT Ministry, the apps were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.”
However, where most apps instantly became unavailable, PUBG Mobile stayed. Furthermore, players who already had the game installed could play it. According to a popular mobile insight firm, PUBG Mobile was still able to retain over 90% of its monthly active users in India.
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Google Play Store and the iOS App Store removed the game. However, there were several forums which talked about how one can work around these bans. This allowed users to still play the game and not lose their precious account.
PUBG Mobile had the most number of monthly active users in India at a whopping 50 million. Moreover, this was way over that of Call Of Duty Mobile, Fortnite or any other similar game in the country.
PUBG Mobile Termination: What More?
Rishi Alwani, publisher of the news outlet The Mako Reactor stated that, “PUBG Mobile kickstarted an entire ecosystem — from esports organisations to teams and even a cottage industry of streamers that made the most of its spectator sport-friendly gameplay.”
Additionally, Alwani went on to say that, “Granted Tencent did a lot of the heavy lifting in building it out, but the game’s quality itself was heads and shoulders above what most Indians were used to on smartphones. And that’s a reason many kept coming back, some eventually monetising as well.”
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PUBG Mobile stated that, “protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy.”
Furthermore, the company added that, “We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India.”
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Sadly, it does look like the game will not make a comeback in India. However, in case situations between India and China normalize in the future, there is still a possibility. Only time will tell.
Narender Kumar
Always on the quest to learn and share the knowledge. Big fan of books (but not the self help ones) specially fiction. A grammar Nazi who loves to eat, cook, travel and watching thunderstorms.