During the India-China impasse at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India banned PUBG Mobile, one of the most popular games, along with 117 other Chinese apps on September 2, 2020. The Centre prohibited these apps under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000, claiming that they were involved in activities that jeopardized the country’s sovereignty, integrity, defense, and security.
The Indian government declared at the time that PUBG Mobile was blocked because it was involved in acts that were detrimental to India’s sovereignty and integrity, defense, security, and public order. India banned 47 Chinese apps in June 2020, which were clones of 59 Chinese apps. Last year, the authorities blocked 250 apps with Chinese links, including Alibaba Workbench, AliExpress, Alipay Cashier, PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE, and Cam Scanner.
Apart from India, PUBG is prohibited in China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Korea, Jordan, Nepal, Israel, and Iraq for various reasons. Meanwhile, on April 29, 2021, the battle royale game PUBG Lite will be discontinued worldwide. The creators of Krafton confirmed the news on their official website. PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite were quickly removed from the Google Play and Apple App stores following the ban. The downloaded apps were later restricted in India as well. In other words, both PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite were unavailable in India 24 hours following the ban.
In December 2020, Krafton announced the release of PUBG Mobile India, an Indian version of the game. An official teaser was also provided by the game developer. When introducing PUBG Mobile India, Krafton stated that the game will address all concerns voiced by the Indian government and will prioritize player security and privacy in India.
However, PUBG Mobile India was banned due to the existence of Tencent, a Chinese company. Tencent was removed from the list of entities when the ban was implemented, and PUBG Mobile worked hard to verify that the App had no Chinese connections. According to a report on IGN India, a source close to the Indian government indicated that the game was still being published in China in some form and that the removal was only for show. As a result, the Indian government announced that the game’s ban will not be lifted.
