PUBG Mobile may be the talking point in the Indian government’s recent ban on 118 Chinese applications, but it has affected the mobile MOBA games market even more. The ban will make all major MOBA games on mobile unplayable in India. This includes Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), Arena of Valor, and Marvel Super War.
While Arena of Valor and Marvel Super War were banned today, MLBB was blocked on the initial ban wave of 59 “Chinese” apps on July 29, which included TikTok.
Delhi cited the same reasons for both ban waves. The apps were allegedly engaged in “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.” While the press release by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and iT (MeitY) doesn’t mention China, all of them have been reported to be of Chinese origin.
Both ban waves came after escalations in tensions between the borders of the two countries. The July ban wave was preceded by a violent border clash which resulted in several casualties on both sides. Today’s ban comes after more recent border tension over the past week between both countries.
MLBB and Arena of Valor were two of the most popular mobile MOBAs in the country–and the world. MLBB has been developed by Shanghai-based Moonton while Arena of Valor is Tencent’s premier mobile MOBA title. The recently released Marvel Super War, developed by Chinese tech company NetEase in a collaboration with Marvel Entertainment, has also been building a playerbase in the country.
With no popular mobile MOBA title remaining in the country, the market is now ripe for Riot’s upcoming League of Legends: Wild Rift. Riot has said that the game will be launching before the end of 2020.
