Wednesday afternoon came as a shock for gamers who had breathed a sigh of relief when the Indian government banned Chinese applications in June. This was a part of the government’s response in the wake of growing India-China tensions at the border. In the second wave of blocking Chinese apps, the popular game PUBG has been shown door among other 116 Chinese apps.
The game’s exit from the India will be hard to reel from for many gamers simply due to the immense popularity it enjoys. However, the larger consensus that this was well on its way, makes it comes as news less shocking for some whereas, for others this is a welcome move. But taking the lockdown into consideration, excluding the game - something of an entity among the youth - suddenly out of one’s lives will be difficult. “The game became very popular among people of my generation. It was so addictive that I used to lose track of time,” says a 17-year-old Aashay Kolhe who now is a bit disappointed with the game being banned.
The government’s directive cites the banned apps as being “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity… defence of India, security of state and public order”, as the reason for this move. It added that “The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India… is a matter of very deep and immediate concern…”
{{/usCountry}}The government’s directive cites the banned apps as being “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity… defence of India, security of state and public order”, as the reason for this move. It added that “The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India… is a matter of very deep and immediate concern…”
{{/usCountry}}However, many remain indifferent, and have let the internet do its thing. Of those people, the topmost remain the memers. Just as the move was announced, the issue of the game being banned took precedence over everything that was trending on the internet. The internet was flooded with memes that’ve been shared and re-tweeted numerous times.
Krishna Kumar, a 25-year-old professional, is of the opinion that “ it is doubtful that these measures can be considered as a severe blow”. He adds, “Moreover, the game has been popular for years. How does it suddenly become dangerous?” Suraj Pillai, who is an avid PUBG player himself, feels if not PUBG, it’ll be something else. “Those who’re rejoicing the ban will have to understand that there are many other games one might switch to and it will only be a matter of time before they get addicted to something else.”
But the fact that the game requires access to personal data remained a question mark for some. “It is a great game,” says gaming enthusiast Siddhanth Unnikrishnan, before adding that “it cannot be trusted with personal data and information. I, myself have enjoyed playing the game but I’ve noticed it requires access to the phone gallery and contact numbers. This is completely unnecessary as it has nothing to with the gameplay.”