Here finally is the moment that PUBG fans in India have been dreading all along, the company has finally let it know they will be shutting down its India operations on October 30. This comes on the back of an earlier order dated September 2, 2020, that imposed a ban on the popular mobile game along with dozens of other Chinese apps such as TikTok, WeChat, CamScanner and such.
While all the banned apps ceased to be available from the Google Play Store and Apple Play Store within days, if not hours post the ban, those who already had the game installed on their devices could continue playing the same. That was until now as the company announced it is shutting down its Indian servers.
PUBG Mobile will terminate all its services in India on October 30th. pic.twitter.com/OQ6n8iAFOd
— Call of Duty Mobile News (@codmINTEL) October 29, 2020
This will prevent Indian users from having access to PUBG MOBILE Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG MOBILE Lite. Both of the versions together come to be referred to as PUBG Mobile. With this development, Tencent Games will no longer have the rights to publish the game in India. The company stated in a Facebook post the rights for the same will henceforth lie on the owner of the PUBG intellectual property.
This development comes on the back of earlier rumors which kept alive hopes of hardcore PUBG fans in India of the game making a comeback in the country. We first had rumors of the company being in talks with Reliance Jio to re-launch the game. Subsequently, we also heard of the PUBG exploring its options with Airtel as well for a possible re-entry in India which used to be one of the largest markets for the company in the world.
All of this comes in the midst of another announcement from PUBG Mobile that had earlier stated they have parted ways with a Chinese firm, Tencent in its bid to re-enter India. However, as things stand at the moment, PUBG Mobile remains banned in India with there being no official confirmation of when, if at all, it will again be available in the country.
