Almost two months after being banned by the government, PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite stop working in India from Friday, Octobetr 30, the company has announced.
The Indian government had banned PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite on September 2 under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act but the game remained accessible to players in India.
Tencent Games, that owns the mobile game, said on Facebook that it “deeply regrets this outcome” and thanked PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite fans for their support in India.
“To comply with the interim order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated September 2, 2020, Tencent Games will terminate all service and access for users in India to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite (together, “PUBG Mobile”) on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property,” the company said in a statement on Facebook.
“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. We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India,” the statement added.
Despite the government ban, PUBG continued to accessible by game players for some reasons. The reasons given was the inaction by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and talks with the government.
PUBG Corporation recently announced that they are withdrawing their partnership with Tencent, and that they will work with the Indian government to look for a quick resolution.
Launched in 2017, PUBG, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds, is a popular game which can be played on various platforms. The government in September blocked 118 more mobile applications, including PUBG, terming them “prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and defence of the nation.”
PUBG game, which has more than 600 million downloads and 50 million active players globally, has nearly 33 million users in India.
PUBG Mobile saw a global revenue gain of $1.3 billion (roughly Rs 9,731 crore) in the first half of this year, bringing its lifetime collection to $3 billion (nearly Rs 22,457 crore) with the highest number of downloads in India which ranks at the top with 175 million installs as people stayed home owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
Additionally, the Indian gaming company nCore announced indigenous multiplayer action game FAU-G to fill the void of PUBG Mobile. FAU-G is slated to launch next month.
(With IANS inputs)
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