Tencent shuts down PUBG Mobile in India

Following the Indian government’s ban on 118 China-based mobile apps including PUBG Mobile, Tencent announced on October 30 that it officially shut down all services and access to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite in India. 

PUBG Mobile said in an official Facebook post that, “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.”

PUBG Corporation had cut its publishing partnership with Tencent in India due to the Indian government’s decision. The company had said in a blog post that “Moving forward, PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within the country. As the company explores ways to provide its own PUBG experience for India in the near future, it is committed to doing so by sustaining a localized and healthy gameplay environment for its fans.”

In its latest statement, PUBG Mobile confirmed the taking over of publishing rights, saying that “the rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property. Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy. We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG MOBILE in India.”