India bans popular mobile game “PUBG Mobile” again

In September 2020, the Indian government announced the ban of 118 Chinese apps, including the “PUBG MOBILE LITE” mobile game. In July 2021, South Korea’s Krafton (Chinese name: Kuijiang Group, formerly Blue Hole Company) took over Tencent’s distribution. After the takeover, it relaunched the Indian version of “PUBG Mobile India” – “Battlegrounds Mobile India” in the Indian market. Recent statistics reveals that the number of registrations for this game now exceeds 100 million. However, the latest report regarding this game is not so pleasant. 

According to reports, the Indian government has banned “Battlegrounds Mobile India” again. As of nowm the game is no longer available in India’s Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A Google spokesperson said “After receiving the notification, we have notified the affected developers in accordance with the established process and have blocked access to the app.”

Krafton is seeking for clarification over PUBG Mobile ban

According to an insider, Google Play Store removed the app on Thursday night shortly after Krafton pulled the app from Apple’s App Store. Additionally, a Krafton spokesperson acknowledged the takedown and said the company was seeking clarification on the matter. As a result of the ban, shares in Krafton fell more than 9% on Friday.

Abhay Mishra, president of Prahar, a non-profit organisation working in the area of socioeconomic development said

“Since February this year, we have raised the fact that BGMI and the banned PUBG are one and the same. In the so-called new avatar, the BGMI was no different from erstwhile PUBG with Tencent still controlling it in the background,”

After the launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India, there were concerns about the app sending data to servers in China. However, Krafton claims that it is not breaking any law. The company said at the time

“Similar to other global mobile games and apps, Battlegrounds Mobile India also uses third-party solutions to provide unique game features. In the process of using these solutions, some game data was shared to third parties,”