PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite were banned in India on Sept. 2 by India’s ministry of electronics and information technology. The ministry alleged that the games were stealing and transmitting users’ data in an “unauthorized manner” to servers located outside of India.
Despite this ban, the game was still playable in the country. It was merely removed from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store. Players on Android could download the games from third-party sources and play them. This won’t be possible anymore, though.
Tencent announced today that it’ll be terminating all services and access for the two games in India on Oct. 30. It added that the rights to publish the games will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property, which is PUBG Corp.
“Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India,” Tencent said. “We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India.”
PUBG Mobile could come back to the country in the future, however. When the game was banned, PUBG Corp. issued a statement saying it was taking over “all publishing responsibilities” of the game within the country.
PUBG Mobile and its lite version were banned along with 116 other apps, all of which were reported to be of Chinese origin. This came amidst heightened tensions between the borders of India and China. With PUBG Corp. being a subsidiary of South Korean company Krafton, the game could be unbanned if it publishes PUBG Mobile in the country.
PUBG Corp. is already looking to set up an office in India, according to a job listing on LinkedIn for a corporate development division manager in the country.
