Recently there is a new official statement coming from the maker of PUBG Mobile responding to the reports about the banning of the battle royale in India. There have been many arrests in various Gujarat cities because people keep on playing the game.
PUBG addiction in India
There is no denying that PUBG Mobile is massive. Just one year from its release, the game has become a total phenomenon globally with some pretty big tournaments with millions of viewers on stream. On the other hand, because of this huge popularity, the game has received some backslash and negative effects.
Since the game follows the free-2-play model, players could easily access it on either iOS or Android smartphone. It has become a new kind of addiction for young people in many countries, to the degree that we have been receiving reports about students ignoring school and study which lead to poor score on exams then lead to drop out because of this game. More severe cases have even involved self-harm and suicide. Many ministers and state authorities have been trying to restrict the access of under-age kid to the game. They also have been trying to market the game as "demon" and a very bad type of addiction to reduce the number of younger players.
Just in a recent case, a PUBG playing teen withdrawn money from the bank account of his father to purchase weapons in PUBG and also a game controller. The police discovered this whole affair after the father filed a report to the police on the 20th of January. saying that there was unusual withdraw activity in his bank report.
The ban in some Gujarat cities
And just earlier this month, the ban of PUBG Mobile has become effective in some cities in Gujarat (including Rajkot, Surat and some other districts). The local police officers in the region were quite strict on the application of this new ban. Moreover, they have issued many statements to the public about this ban. They also sent a circular letter to some primary schools to inform the teachers and students about the ban. the Chairperson of Gujarat Child rights too has sent a letter to the NCPCR ( National Commission for Protection of Child Rights ) to talk about this issue. All of that is a join-hand effort to reduce the number of unfortunate incidents related to game addiction.
They have officially put the ban of PUBG Mobile into effect since the 9th of March with no detail on if it will be permanent or temporary. But still, we have some side sources saying that it will end on the 30th of April. Like the notice has said, this ban includes a rule that you could go to the police station to inform and complaint about any case of playing the game. The offender will then face repercussion according to Section 188 of the Central Government Act.
In the course of this ban, we have seen many cases in different cities where the police have taken into custody more than 20 people because of playing PUBG Mobile. All of these individuals have later been released on bail. but the idea of being arrested just because you play a certain video game is certainly scary.
Statement from PUBG Mobile
Follow up on all these events of arrests and bans, PUBG Mobile developers have issued an official statement. In this statement, they want to reconfirm that PUBG Mobile is just a game. The objective and usage of it are for entertainment purposes, and people should enjoy it in a responsible and healthy way. They agreed that game addiction is bad and the player should play the game in a more regulated and healthy way. That is also why they keep on promoting a balanced and responsible gaming experience. This ban on PUBG mobile in some cities was quite a surprise for them. They promise to keep on studying on the legality of these bans and working on with the local authorities to find another solution.
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