PUBG Mobile officially pulls out of India

The Ministry of Electronics & IT in India banned 118 mobile apps back in September, and the list included the popular game PUBG Mobile. After multiple attempts to get back on track and to bring the battle royale title to its fans, PUBG Corporation has finally given up and announced it is terminating all service and access to users.

Starting today, October 30, PUBG Mobile Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG Mobile Lite will stop working. The rights of the PUBG Mobile brand will be returned to the owners of the intellectual property and Tencent Games will no longer have rights to the franchise in India.

However, PUBG Corporation did not say anything about the player data - will it be deleted or it will be preserved (and in what manner).

Here’s the full statement:

Dear Fans,

To comply with the interim order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated September 2, 2020, Tencent Games will terminate all service and access for users in India to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite (together, “PUBG Mobile”) on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG MOBILE in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property.

Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users’ gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy.

We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG MOBILE in India.

The PUBG Mobile's termination is part of the second wave of bans by the Indian government. The first one back in June included popular platforms like TikTok, WeChat and even some apps related to Xiaomi like Mi Community and Mi Video Call.

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