PUBG Has Been Banned in India Again

gamerant.com:

PUBG: Battlegrounds has been one of the most popular battle royale games in the world over the nearly five years since its release. The massively popular shooter was one of the major games to start the battle royale craze alongside titles like Fortnite and boasted over 3 million concurrent players at its peak in 2018 with a total count at over 75 million. Developer Krafton also made waves earlier this year when the game shifted to a free-to-play model. However, the game's history within India has been tumultuous throughout its life.

While PUBG: Battlegrounds has seen huge success worldwide, Krafton has struggled to keep the game available in India. The Indian government has previously been critical of PUBG: Battlegrounds for reasons related to national security. India banned PUBG Mobile following heightened tensions between India and China in late 2020, due to PUBG Mobile being published by Chinese gaming juggernaut Tencent. PUBG would return to the region with an India-specific version published by Krafton a few months later. Now, however, PUBG has once again been banned in India.

PUBG Drops Tencent Partnership in India

A recent report revealed Battlegrounds Mobile India has been banned by the Indian government reportedly citing «national security concerns» once again, due to Tencent's partial ownership of Krafton. While the Indian government has yet to make a direct confirmation, players in India found as early as Thursday that the game was no longer available on either Android or iOS stores. The delisting was confirmed by Krafton with the studio reportedly «seeking clarification» into the reasoning behind the ban.

PUBG's newest ban in India comes less than two years after the developer released its self-published