Starting Friday, Indian users won’t be able to access PUBG or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, the hit online game, its official Facebook page announced.
“We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India,” the company said in the post on Thursday. The move comes two months after the government banned the game along with more than 100 other apps with links to China under section 69A of the Information Technology Act 2009.
In June, the Indian government banned Chinese apps including TikTok and UC Browser. Users who have already downloaded the game on their devices could still access it, but they won’t be able to download it from Google Play Store or Apple Store anymore. The company has now terminated all services and user access in India to PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite.
The company’s India office said that all the publishing rights for PUBG Mobile will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property—PUBG Corporation.
“Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India,” PUBG Mobile India said. “All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy.”
“Dear Fans, To comply with the interim order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated September 2, 2020, Tencent Games will terminate all service and access for users in India to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite (together, “PUBG Mobile”) on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property,” PUBG India wrote on Facebook.
A made-in-India game FAU-G, being touted as PUBG’s replacement and endorsed by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, is gearing up for release.
