Despite the India ban on the popular multiplayer mobile game PUBG Mobile, the game was still available for the users to play as servers were still active in India.
However, Tencent, the game’s publisher in India, has confirmed via a Facebook post that PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite will stop working in India as the servers will be terminated starting 30 October.
Recently, PUBG had put up a post on its LinkedIn account for a job opening, where hopes resurfaced that the game will be returning to India. However, the recent announcement has put all doubts to bed, and the game will cease to run completely from 30 October.
PUBG Mobile was banned in India on 4 September, where it had to comply with an the order from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to stop the game from running in India. Following the order, the game was also removed from the Google Play Store and the App Store.
Tencent in its Facebook post also said that it “deeply regrets” the outcome and would like to thank its Indian fans and community for their support.
“Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy.”Tencent Games
The statement further goes on to add that it’s returning all the rights to the developer of PUBG Mobile — PUBG Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Krafton Game Union.
The ban on the game came at a time when online mobile gaming was seeing a surge due to the lockdown and many people picking up mobile gaming as a hobby.
The ban on PUBG also acted as an opportunity for other non-Chinese multiplayer games like COD: Mobile and Garena Free Fire to push their games and capture the PUBG gamer userbase.
Meanwhile, India-made mobile multiplayer game FAU-G is being pitted as a replacement for PUBG in India and is expected to be launched in India next month. The first teaser of the game is already out, and Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has shared it on his official Twitter handle.
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