Govt of India bans 118 more Chinese apps including PUBG

New Delhi: Following the ban of 59 apps with Chinese links in June month, Ministry of Information & Technology on Wednesday banned 118 more mobile applications that include PUBG that is very popular among youngsters.

PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik, PUBG MOBILE LITE, WeChat Work &WeChat reading are among the 118 banned mobile apps.

“Government blocks 118 mobile apps which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order,” the ministry said in a statement.

In June govt of India banned apps like TikTok, UC Browser, Weibo, Baidu Map and Baidu Translate saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country, the same prompted desi version of the banned apps flooding the market. Banning of PUBG opens up loads of opportunity for local game developers to look at replicating similar gaming apps in coming days.

Regarding the “Ban on PUBG” Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India (ESFI) said, “There is no need to panic, the Indian gaming industry has enough wherewithal and can’t be termed dependent on one game. This is a great opportunity for Indian Video Game developers to build innovative online multiplayer games. Games like HitWicket, WCC or mythology-based games like Raji which are all homegrown products and now have the great opportunity to encash their presence. While the stress is to become “Atmanirbhar” I believe this is a great opportunity for the government and the Ministry of Sports to also recognise Esports as a medal-prospect sporting opportunity. The gaming community which is fragmented currently can also benefit if government recognition is given to the sport.”

Ms. Shradha Agarwal Co-founder & COO, Grapes Digital, said “The banning of more than 100 additional apps by the indian Government with any linkages to China, is certainly going to create unrest and affect the livelihoods of many. These apps, including PubG was not only a gaming platform but a subsistence. For PubG, India was its largest market with content creators in the universe of gaming. PUBG has helped the hardcore mobile gaming market in India to grow exponentially in all 3 metrics — users, usage and monetisation. For the first time in India, we were seeing sizable in-app purchase revenues from a single game and the ban of PUBG amongst all the other apps, will directly impact the business model for many, thereby affecting their livelihood. The ripple effect will also be felt by event organizers, marketing agencies and influencers who were using PUBG and game streaming to optimize and monetize their livelihood, surely had become a way of life and existence. With a quarter of lifetime PUBG installed in India and more than 40 million monthly active users in the month of July, according to one of the top mobile insight firms, will lead to immense uncertainty with the overnight ban of these apps. However, this move by the government was expected to come anytime soon, following the ban of tik tok.”

Ishaan Arya, Co-Founder of The Esports Club “The PUBG Mobile ban comes at a very critical time for Indian Esports. PUBG Mobile was one of the major driving factors behind the growth of gaming and esports in India with a large portion of investments within the space concentrated around the PUBG Mobile ecosystem of events, broadcasts & content. The most unfortunate outcome of this sudden move is that it now leaves thousands of players, and hundreds of organizers , journalists, broadcasters etc with an uncertain future as PUBG Esports was indirectly responsible for their jobs. This is the unseen Human cost of this move that most people will overlook as they jump onto jokes about PUBG Mobile getting banned. With PUBG Mobile’s uncertain future, it also paves the way for it’s competitors like Garena Free Fire & COD Mobile to step in and fill the void and rapidly acquire new players in their bid to become the number 1 mobile battle royale game in India.”