In what could be a major blow to Tencent Games, the IT Ministry has banned PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite games in India. Including the two popular games, the IT Ministry also banned 116 other apps. In recent times, we have seen the Indian government banning 59 apps, including TikTok. Some other apps included in the list are APUS Launcher Pro, ShareSave by Xiaomi, Baidu, Ludo World, AppLock and so on. It will be interesting to see how Tencent Games reacts to this ban from the Indian government.
Tencent Games Faces Major Blow as PUBG Gets Banned in India
The press release from IT Ministry states the 118 apps which were banned today are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of State and Public Order.” PUBG Mobile has been on the rise in recent times and the company was even preparing for the launch its most significant update yet with Erangel 2.0 map on September 8. The ban on PUBG Mobile will have a major impact on Indian Esports growth.
In the coming days, we might see Tencent Games appealing the ban of PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite apps in the country. However, as of filing this article, Tencent Games is yet to respond to the ban from the government. With PUBG Mobile getting banned in India, we might see Call of Duty Mobile and Free Fire gaining some momentum, and it will also be interesting to see how esports move forward without PUBG Mobile.
Some other popular apps banned by the government are ShareSave by Xiaomi, CamCard, Tencent Weiyun, Arena of Valour, Baidu, Cut Cut, Rise of Kingdoms. Another Xiaomi apps- ShareSave by Xiaomi has also been banned by the government. In the past, we have seen a couple of Xiaomi apps like the Mi Browser, Mi Browser Pro, Mi Community and Mi Video Call getting banned in India. ShareSave by Xiaomi allows users to purchase products from the Chinese market at affordable prices.
