The Indian government took the decision almost overnight that banned a total of 119 Chinese apps in India. This step would not be the first one taken by the current government; this decision comes right after the second round of bans imposed on various Chinese apps including TikTok.
The announcement of the 119 Chinese apps took place on 2nd September. The most famous of the banned apps has to be the popular game PUBG. Within two days of imposing the ban, both Google and Apple have taken down PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite apps. Both apps are now unavailable for download on Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
The apps were still available in both stores until Thursday night. The government of India imposed the ban stating it a “threat to national security.” After imposing the first ban on 59 Chinese apps in June, the GoI followed this decision by banning 47 more Chinese apps; however, the 47 apps were mostly clones and Lite versions of the already banned apps.
In the latest ban, PUBG’s popularity arguably is the highest. The game is played by millions of users of this country. In fact, the player count skyrocketed when the nationwide lockdown was imposed at a time when the people were looking for various means to entertain themselves.
The ban, however, does not mean that the already downloaded game would stop working. Those who already have PUBG Mobile installed on their smartphones can still be able to play it.
PUBG Mobile’s services are still available here. Although PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite were banned, the desktop version of the game, PUBG PC is still available in the country and the players can still play the game on their desktops or gaming consoles, the only condition it adheres to is the availability of high-speed internet connection at home.
