On September 2, 2020, the Government of India announced the second list of 118 Chinese apps that will be banned in the country
Follow Us
Who knew Battlegrounds Mobile India would be a matter of debate in a country that is suffering from a pandemic. India has been struggling to contain the situation. However, politicians, one after the other are trying to find ways to get a game banned. On September 2, 2020, the Government of India announced the second list of 118 Chinese apps that will be banned in the country. Mind you, India was still battling the COVID-19 and was in no way close to winning the war against the virus. However, the government resorted to banning a game rather than planning a way to procure vaccines– like the rest of the world.
On one hand, the game was banned keeping in mind the security of the nation, and on the other, thousands were dying each day. If not anything else, PUBG Mobile global version forced kids to stay inside in order to get good network quality to rank up without a lag. However, this small detail was ignored. PUBG Mobile was banned under section 69A of the IT Act. This act gives the government permission to place a ban on any app they think could be threat to the sovereignty of a country.
Battlegrounds Mobile India. Ninong Ering, MLA from Arunachal Pradesh wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging the connections of Krafton with China. In his letter, he requested the PM to ban Battlegrounds Mobile India. He wrote “big threat to security of India & privacy of our citizens and a way to circumvent & disregard our laws.”
Ninong Ering tweeted about “Chinese deception”. He said Battlegrounds Mobile India is trying to divert the mind of Indians. He also attached a three-page letter addressing several issues linked with BGMI, Krafton and Tencent.
Added in the letter was that they are trying to sidestep Indian laws and deceive Indian citizens and the government. He added it is a”mere illusion and a trick to launch same game with minor modifications. To collect user data of millions of our citizens and transfer it to foreign companies and Chinese government.”
Krafton already announced that they will be moving the servers for Battlegrounds Mobile India to Singapore. And no part of the game’s data will move to China.
There is a clear emphasis on privacy, as evident from the statement from Battlegrounds Mobile India. “Personal information is stored and processed on servers located in India and Singapore. However, we may transfer your data to other countries and/or regions to operate the game service. Only to meet legal requirements,” said the game’s new privacy policy.
The mere fear of a game, and not the pandemic is astonishing.
After Ering, Telangana MP demands investigation into Krafton & Tencent relationship.
According to Zee News, Arvind Dharampuri, MP, Nizamabad wrote to the IT Ministry & PMO. He asserted he had received a plea against the game from a local social activist, Sai Kumar. The letter sheds light on the Terms of Service and privacy policy of Battlegrounds Mobile India.
He has requested the ministry for an investigation to clear the relationship between Krafton Inc. (Developer and publisher BGMI) and Tencent (Publisher of PUBG Mobile). Telangana currently faces a COVID crisis. On Tuesday, Telangana had reported 1897 new cases of COVID-19, and 15 deaths. While these numbers wouldn’t and shouldn’t matter to people staying in, they should definitely affect the people in power. The ones who failed to provide a better healthcare system to the people.
One of the content creators in the teaser of the game, Kronten gaming said “We have been waiting for this, for quite a long time, and we are too excited to get the experience of playing Battlegrounds Mobile India really soon. With the whole community looking forward to the exclusive version, our expectations are high. It is interesting that it is not only the gamers community but even people, in general, people are curious about how big this will be in the world of esports.
Also, this game will surely fuel the content creators’ community and we will surely witness more & new influencers coming out of this game. I sincerely hope, the virtual world created by Krafton with the new elements makes gaming more adventurous and fun.”
One of India’s top assaulters, who also featured in the teaser, Jonathan Amaral a.k.a TSMentJONATHAN said. “Finally, the wait is over. We have started the pre-registrations today and I am sure that the number of registrations will exceed all the expectations.Â
The journey from becoming a gamer to an influencer has just begun. It will be exciting to see how new gamers will grab this opportunity. Content creators’ community and esports ecosystem will get the much-needed acceleration in their respective fields. We will also see many high prize pool tournaments coming after the launch of this game.”
Since the pandemic, esports athletes and content creators have taken it upon themselves to entertain the audience. Content creators have been doing longer live streams, generating more content, and asking people to stay in. One can call it money-minting on their part, but the fact of the matter is, esports sells in India. Young kids and even young adults tend to stick around for streams of their favourite content creators. Some streamers also go to the extend of streaming two to three times a day. Only to keep their audience engaged. According to the Indian Federation of Sports Gaming, Esports will see rapid growth in the country and reach a cumulative revenue of up to ₹11,900 Crore. These numbers speak for themselves.
However, during this one year, esports fraternity has maintained their stance on one thing– stay inside, stay safe.
