How the PUBG Mobile ban affects India

PUBG Mobile has recently been banned by the Indian government amidst escalating political tensions between China and India. But what does that mean for the Indian scene?

Following up on the prior ban waves that included TikTok earlier this year, the Indian government has also hit the gaming world on September 2.

PUBG Mobile is one of the most played Battle Royale games in India, with more than 33 million active users. Developer Tencent has been the driving force behind turning the competitive game into a budding esports industry in India. Organizing frequent tournaments they drew millions to the game.

India had been a bit of an empty canvas before Tencent came and took the market by storm, establishing Indian esports. Apart from the official PUBG Mobile leagues organized by Tencent, there also are several local organisations that organized licensed tournaments, each offering prizes that run into the thousands of Dollars.

Streamers like Mortal, Dynamo, Carry Minati, Daljitsk, Scout, among others, are celebrities in the Indian gaming world. These personalities get an insane number of views on YouTube every single day, with fans and rivals flooding the chat section.

While Mortal has 6 million subscribers on YouTube, Dynamo has over 8 million. Some of the local PUBG Mobile players who stream in regional languages also garner thousands of views as well. These players, alongside their teams, have even represented India in several global PUBG championships, where the prize goes up to thousands of dollars.

So how does the community deal with the sudden ban?

Effects on popular Streamers

Naman “MortaL” Mathur is a player and owner of the most popular Indian PUBG Mobile team – ‘Team SouL.’ He has several accolades to his name as a knowledgeable player. His team finished 1st at the PUBG Mobile Club Open – Spring Split: India 2019 and the PUBG Mobile India Series 2019. Team SouL also finished 2nd at the PUBG Mobile Club Open – Fall Split: South Asia 2019 and has been deeply involved in the PUBG Mobile scene.

Streaming on his YouTube channel right after the ban, MortaL, said that while all tournaments in India will be on hold, the ban is merely a setback and not the end of gaming.

“We will be supporting the decision. Safety of the country over everything. We’ll follow it. It’s not the end of gaming…. PUBG officials have told me that they are trying talks and figure out what to do. But it’s not the end.… It’s like we have been pulled a year behind,” he told his viewers, as the comment section was flooded with support.

Another prominent figure in India, who took the ban in stride is Tanmay “Scout” Singh. Currently under contract with Fnatic as a content creator and was among the largest streamers focused on PUBG Mobile. As the popular battle royale game is now banned in India, Scout decided to stream Free Fire to cope with the ban.

How frustrated are the players?

For the gamers beyond the well-known streamers the ban has hit differently. With PUBG Mobile being among the largest games in India the ban has left millions of players out to dry.

For some it even became an unhealty obsession as shown in a case that became public on September 6 in which a 21-year old student allegedly committed suicide. His mother claimed that her son was apparently frustrated because he was unable to play PUBG.

The decision taken by the government of India might prove to be a major setback for the developers of PUBG Mobile and will certainly affect the pro gaming scene in India as well.  While the PUBG Corporation is currently trying to salvage the situation by taking over publishing duties from Tencent, it is unclear, if and when PUBG Mobile might be accessible to Indians once more.

This is also the third time in two months that the government of India has decided to ban mobile applications that have direct links to Chinese developers and conglomerates.While the long-term impact of the ban is still unclear, the ban opens up chances for domestic Indian games or mobile developers from other countries to fill the void.

 

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Image Credit: PUBG Corporation, Naveed Ahmed via Unsplash

This article was written by our Community Writer, Samriddha Saha:

Samriddha is a gaming freak and analyst, who wants to contribute to the growth of the esports industry in India. When not busy writing articles or playing games himself, he’s probably listening to good music, taking a tour, or annoying someone.

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