Battle Royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has been under the scanners for a long time now. Multiple countries have banned already. The governments of those countries argue that it has a harmful effect on the youth. Different places in India too have banned the game in the past. But it has not faced a blanket ban in the country yet. Some sections of the society are pushing to put a stop to this game and we shared our own opinion on it. But now the Centre has addressed the issue that was raised by Bombay High Court.

It has said that it is technically difficult to ban PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds(PUBG). This was in response to a query from a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Nitin Jamdar. Public interest litigation to ban the online game prompted this query. Times of India reports that the bench asked Centre to review the game and decide whether or not service providers require guidelines in April.

Advocate Rui Rodrigues, who represents the Centre, gave the ministry of electronics and information technology’s report to the state. The report stated that it is, “Technically difficult to ban all the sources (such as websites, mobiles and other communication devices) from where the game is available unless the creator or the parent company retrieves the game from circulation or administers some restrictions”.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds bans in India

According to previous reports, PUBG was banned in including Rajkot, Surat, Gir Somnath, Ahmedabad, and Bhavnagar in India. However, High Court noted that schools already prohibited the use on mobile phones in schools making the need of banning the mobile game redundant.

As previously reported, the ban was rolled back in some places after 2-3 week bank. In the meantime, more reports surfaced where some people showcased violent behaviour including, attacking family members and stealing money also revealed that police arresting students in some areas for playing the game.

The question we should ask ourselves is who is at fault here? The people’s inability to exercise self-control or the developer’s ability to create fun, competitive and addictive games?