Thursday, 19th September 2024

PUBG completely banned in Nepal

PUBG is also under attack in the Indian sub-continent. Earlier in the year, the game had received a lot of bad press in India and was even banned for a month in the state of Gujarat.

Friday, 12th April 2019

Nepal has banned the hugely popular but brutal online game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" over concerns about its impact on children, officials said Friday.

In the multiplayer game, commonly known as PUBG, players parachute onto an island and scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill others and survive. The last player or team standing wins.

PUBG is also under attack in the Indian sub-continent. Earlier in the year, the game had received a lot of bad press in India and was even banned for a month in the state of Gujarat.

Nepal's telecom regulator has ordered country's internet service providers (ISPs) to block PUBG. The reasons cited for blocking PUBG were similar to the ones quoted in India. "We have ordered the ban on PUBG because it is addictive to children and teenagers," Sandip Adhikari, deputy director at Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the nation's telecoms regulator said.

PUBG in India has become associated with violent behavior and has, according to the reports, resulted in low academic grades of the students. Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) had also issued an advisory against PUBG. Cities like Rajkot, Ahmadabad, Bhavnagar and Gir Somnath in Gujarat had also banned the game.

India and Nepal aren't the only countries worried about PUBG. China too wants to limit the time kids spend playing the game. PUBG has decided to implement digital lock for its users under 13 years of age in China to combat addiction. The digital lock system will lock out players under the age of 13 and they would have to ask their guardians or parents to open the game for them.

In China, Tencent Games has started using technologies such as facial recognition and player ID checks to identify the age of players. Earlier in 2017, PUBG Mobile had introduced restrictions for minors such as limiting access to its games for them to just one hour per day.