PUBG Has Once Again Been Banned in India

In the nearly five years after its release, PUBG: Battlegrounds has become one of the most well-known battle royale games worldwide. The wildly successful shooter, which peaked in 2018 with over 3 million concurrent players and over 75 million overall, was one of the key games to launch the battle royale craze with games like Fortnite. When the game switched to a free-to-play format earlier this year, the developer Krafton also generated a lot of buzzes. The game's history in India, though, has been turbulent all along.

Even though PUBG: Battlegrounds has seen tremendous success all around the world, Krafton has had trouble keeping the game accessible in India. In the past, the Indian government has criticized PUBG: Battlegrounds due to concerns about national security. Due to heightened tensions between India and China in late 2020 as a result of PUBG Mobile's publication by Chinese gaming titan Tencent, India banned the game. A few months later, Krafton would release an India-specific version of PUBG, bringing the game back to the area. But as of late, PUBG is once more prohibited in India.

According to a recent allegation, the Indian government has once again banned Battlegrounds Mobile due to Tencent's minority ownership of Krafton, citing "national security concerns." Players in India discovered the game was no longer accessible on either the Android or iOS stores as early as Thursday, despite the Indian government having yet to directly confirm this. Krafton confirmed the delisting and claimed that the studio was "seeking clarification" regarding the reasons for the ban.

Less than two years after the developer self-published an India-only edition of the smartphone game, PUBG has once again been banned in India. Along with the publishing move, Krafton made a number of additional improvements to PUBG's return to the Indian market. The game would have stricter censorship, with players starting battles dressed and the visual being changed to resemble a "virtual training area." Additionally, Krafton had started preparations to transfer the data from Battlegrounds Mobile India to Microsoft Azure servers, further separating itself from Tencent in the area.

For PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and mobile platforms, PUBG: Battlegrounds is now available.

India's ban on PUBG Mobile comes just after the game's most recent update added tonnes of new content. The Deston map, which features a range of locations and new gameplay dynamics, was added to PUBG with the Version 18.2 update, along with the O12 shotgun, a new weapon. Additionally, Krafton included additional graphical choices that let users of next-generation consoles enhance the game's performance and presentation. After numerous attempts to keep the game accessible in the region, Krafton will suffer a big setback with the ban of PUBG in India.