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Pubg ban in India : is it justified ?

Player’sUnknown BattleGrounds (Pubg) launched in the year 2017 has become quite popular in India over the years. This online multiplayer royale battle game saw a rise in its popularity because of its simple features – ease of streaming, voice chatting with friends while playing, realistic graphics, design for giving user adrenaline rush. Originally the game gained fame as a  PC version, after this mobile versions were launched, which further broke records of popularity.  On 2nd of Sept, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), India has banned 118 more Chinese apps including PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile lite.Both the mobile games are developed by Tencent Games which is a chinese venture . However PUBG PC and PUBG console are not banned as they are developed by PUBG Corporation which is a Korean company. Well soon after this announcement social media was flooded with reactions. This decision was backlashed by the game lovers. Some of the players had invested money on buying some extra passes, boosters etc. and were worried what would happen to them ( The company hadn’t given a official statement on this matter yet ). But is the ban on pubg  justified?? 

This whole matter has many aspects :

1. India – China border tension :

As the  tension between China and India is escalating, there is a movement in India to boycott Chinese products.

Due to the constant tension on border of the countries, the government of India is trying to minimise dependency on Chinese products. 

2. Data Security :

All these apps were banned in the name of violating data security and privacy policies.It has always been alleged some of the apps shares or sells their user’s data to some other companies without their permission. Well in case of pubg, government  has explained that there are serious security and data privacy concerns as its servers are based out of China. It can’t be concluded  whether they share user data or not till some solid evidence presented. 

3. Promoting ” Homegrown ” apps :

Our Honourable Prime Minsiter Shri. Narendra Modi set a vision of  ” Aatmanirbhar Bharat” and ” Vocal For Local ” in his speeches. The purpose of these movements is to make, use and promote Indian products.

The banning of other countries apps’ will give more opportunities to Indian app manufacturers to set up in the market. Around 25% of all of PUBG’s global gamer base came from India (online analytics firm SensorTower numbers suggest more than 175 million installations in India )  If an Indian alternative of pubg is launched now, it can have an already set  large userbase. 

4. Controversies :

 1) A 17 yr. old boy  from Punjab spent Rs.16 Lacs  of his father’s savings on in – app purchases in pubg. 2 ) Pubg was banned by rajkot police on the grounds of it being addictive 3 ) Jammu & Kashmir Students Association had asked the governor of the state for a ban on pubg citing it the reason behind students’ poor grades 

5. Addiction leading to suicide :

1) A 13 yr. old boy in Anand district, Ahemadabad committed suicide after his father scolded him for playing pubg whole day. 2) A 14 yr. old in Chitoor committed suicide after getting scolded by mom for playing pubg and neglecting studies. 3 ) 13-year-old commits suicide following argument over PUBG  4)https://indianexpress.com/article/india/behind-shimla-womans-suicide-husbands-addiction-to-pubg6453012/ 5)https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/teenager-commits-suicide-in-rajasthan-s-kota-after-playing-pubg-game/story-o90Cwqp7ptMxV0WeB72nvM.html 6)https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/gurugram-17-year-old-commits-suicide-after-allegedly-being-stopped-from-playing-pubg-118641 7)https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/pubg-addict-girl-commits-suicide/articleshow/71301310.cms 

6. Positive aspects :
(i) Tournaments :

Pubg use to hold eSports tournaments, that help the players to play and earn cash prizes.

These helped many people to get ready for professional tournament. 

(ii) Stress Buster :

This pandemic gave a hard time to everyone. Some people were away from their family and were feeling lonely.But due to pubg they remain connected to their friends.It was a stress buster for them, to get over this corona thing. 

(iii) Unique Features in no cost :

Pubg was an unique game, it has many  special features on mobile version that otherwise only available for PC versions and millions of gamers can’t afford  expensive gaming consoles and broadband connections. After evaluating all of these points, it is inferred pubg has both cons and pros. But I would say it is justified to ban pubg ( Why so ?) This game was hell addictive, some people lost their lives because of it…and I think this one reason is enough to ban it. What’s your thoughts?

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