PUBG Game App :- 118 New Chinese Apps Banned

 There are close to 50 million active PUBG players in India, according to reports and the game clocks in some 13 million daily users.

 

PUBG MOBILE, a wildly popular online multiplayer shooting game, is among 118 Chinese apps blocked by the government Wednesday amid tension over fresh Chinese provocation in Ladakh. The move is in the interest of India's sovereignty and integrity, defence and security, the government said in a statement.

Tencent's PUBG Mobile ranks among the world's top five smartphone games with over 734 million downloads. There are close to 50 million active PUBG players in India, according to reports and the game clocks in some 13 million daily users.

According to the IT Ministry, the Apps "are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".

"This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," the statement said, adding that the move would safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users.

PUBG or PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds, features a Hunger Games-style competition in which 100 players face off with automatic weapons until there is only one left. Tencent introduced a stripped-down mobile version, which had the game skyrocketing, especially in the time of the coronavirus lockdown.

In a measure of PUBG's huge popularity in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an event on exam stress last year, had remarked to a mother complaining about her teen: "Yeh PUBG-wala hai kya (Is he a PUBG player?)". 

In June, the government banned 59 mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok, Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat, also citing security concerns. PUBG was one of the top trends on Twitter, with people expressing their feelings with with and humour.

Explaining its latest move, the ministry said it had received many complaints about the misuse of some mobile apps on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data to servers outside India.The move comes a day after the government accused Chinese troops of provocative action again in the South Bank of Ladakh's Pangong Lake. Chinese troops had made a similar attempt on August 31 but Indian soldiers were able to thwart them both times, the government said.

There have been a series of clashes and showdowns in Ladakh with China since May. In June, 20 soldiers died for the country in a clash at Galwan Valley. China also suffered casualties but has not revealed the number.