PUBG Mobile: Why the game has not been banned in India

The government of India on 29th June 2020, banned 59 applications that had a Chinese origin. A list of all the applications that have been banned was released by the government. This list included popular applications like TikTok, WeChat, Shareit, and popular games like Mobile Legends and Clash of Kings.

Some people are wondering why the popular battle royale game PUBG Mobile wasn’t banned.

Origin of PUBG Mobile

It is quite evident that PUBG and PUBG Mobile are developed and distributed by two different companies. PUBG for PC is developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Bluehole Corporation.

After the success of the PC version of the game, Tencent and PUBG Corporation announced that they would-be releasing the mobile version of PUBG. PUBG Mobile, the mobile version of the game is developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio, an internal division of Tencent Games.

Tencent Games is the video game publishing division of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, which, in turn, is the division of Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings.

In a report by VG247, it was stated that PUBG Corporation earned only $65 million from the mobile version of the game in the form of license fee and royalty. The total revenue was way more than that (Source: SensorTower)

Hence PUBG is from South Korea, whereas the origin of PUBG Mobile can be traced back to China.

Probable reason for PUBG Mobile not getting banned

The official press release stated:

The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.”

This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace(2/2)#59ChineseRead here: https://t.co/aKgmnAglOs

— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 29, 2020

Government Bans 59 mobile appsThere has been a strong chorus in the public space to take strict action against Apps that harm India’s sovereignty as well as the privacy of our citizens.(4/4)Read: https://t.co/aKgmnAglOs

— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 29, 2020

The ministry also added The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. On the basis of these and upon receiving of recent credible inputs that such Apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the Government of India has decided to disallow the usage of certain Apps, used in both mobile and non-mobile Internet enabled devices.

Click here to read the complete press release.

According to the official statement, the apps that were banned posed a security threat to the nation. It can be assumed that the game might have been scanned but not put in the list due to various reasons.

The exact reason why the game wasn’t on the list and whether it posed a security risk or not cannot be pinpointed. The game hasn't been banned as of now, and can be played on all mobile devices.