Sophie Blake
Krafton’s PUBG-replacement for the Indian market ‘’Battlegrounds Mobile India’’ has returned to the App Store and Google Play Store nearly a year after being banned in the country over national security concerns.
The Indian government banned the Tencent-owned hit battle-royale title PUBG Mobile as well as 117 other China-linked apps including Alipay and Baidu in September 2020, saying that ‘’they are engaged in activities which [are] prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.”
Tencent-backed South Korean video game developer Krafton then launched Battlegrounds Mobile India in the country as PUBG Mobile’s replacement in mid-2021, but it also got banned in July 2022 over similar national security concerns.
The long-awaited game is now making a comeback with the version 2.5 update, after the Indian Ministry of Electronic and IT announced this month that it would be subject to a three-month trial for any potential disruption.
‘’We will keep a close watch on other issues of user harm, addiction etc in next 3 months before a final decision is taken,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s deputy IT minister, earlier this month.
Also Read: The 15 Best Battle Royale Games Like PUBG
To address concerns related to gaming addiction, the South Korean developer will limit playtime to three hours a day for users under 18 and six hours for adults. Meanwhile, the new update comes with a brand new map called Nusa, a new navigation mechanism, new vehicles, as well as upgraded weapons.
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