Ever since Player Unknown's Battlegrounds or PUBG was banned in India back in 2020, the ardent followers of the game had been lacking a good game that could compete with, or even match what PUBG had to offer. All this recently changed with Krafton announcing plans for Battlegrounds Mobile India, a rebranded version of PUBG with some additions for the Indian market.
In regards to the game, the company is yet to release it officially, and an official announcement is also yet to be released. However, if you had signed up for the early access version, you can try your hand at the latest battle royale game. Do note that as of today, the game crossed 5 million downloads on the Play Store within two days of its beta release.
However, despite all this, as we approach the date of the supposed launch, the Confederation of All India Traders or CAIT has demanded a ban on the game. In a letter addressed to the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology or MeitY, the CAIT Secretary-General stated that the game was a threat to the security of the country's citizens.
What Do We Know About the Letter of Intent
Mr Praveen Khandelwal, who is the Secretary-General of CAIT, wrote a letter on this matter to Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Minister of Law and Communications, Electronics and IT, with the intent of urging him to ban the release of the PUBG Mobile rebrand or alternative. The trader body further claimed that the game would endanger India’s national security and, with it, the data and privacy of millions of India's citizens.
Interestingly, this is not the first instance wherein someone has put forth a request to ban the game in India, as, prior to the CAIT, former Union Minister and current AP MLA, Mr Ninong Erin asked the Prime Minister to ban the game for the same reason. Abhishek Singhvi who is another Parliament member tweeted that the game’s release was Tencent’s re-entry within the country of India.
There have been some changes to the game to make them less gaudy or violent, with changes in terms of the colour of the blood, which is now green from red, the word kill has been replaced with finishes and, alongside this, during matches, players will be prompted to maintain things like correct posture and limited screen time.
There are also new laws and criteria for a permanent ban, with players who opt not to follow the code of conduct and community policies being either restricted or banned permanently.
