Battlegrounds Mobile India: YouTubers resort to racism as a MLA calls for ban, one arrested

As game publisher Krafton prepares for the launch of its most anticipated smartphone game “Battlegrounds Mobile India”, a politician has called for the ban of the unreleased game. Looking at the details, Arunachal Pradesh MLA, Ninong Ering sent a letter to Prime Minister Modi asking for the ban. Ering stated that the launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India is just a “relaunch of PUBG Mobile”. He shared the letter on his Twitter account outlining several aspects justifying his request for the ban. Several PUBG Mobile streamers resorted to racism to respond to the ban request just hours after the letter. Let's check everything we know about Battlegrounds Mobile India ban request and the shameful response from YouTubers here.

Battlegrounds Mobile India ban request ignites a new conversation

The request regarding the ban comes just days after Krafton opened pre-registration for the game on Google Play Store. Inspecting the letter, Ering claims that Krafton, PUBG India, and Tencent are trying to “sidestep” Indian law. He stated that these companies are trying to “deceive the government” with the launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India. The letter notes that the Google Play Store URL and package name for Battlegrounds Mobile India include “pubg.imobile” in the URL. Ering also outlined the investment that Krafton recently made in Nodwin Gaming and how it hired ex-Tencent employees for its Indian subsidiary.

Ering also raised concerns around user data privacy including collection, sharing, and storage. The letter went on to state that the launch of the game could “lead others” to return to India including WeChat and TikTok. Checking some of the claims from the letter, Ering is not wrong that Battlegrounds Mobile India is just a renamed version of PUBG Mobile with certain changes. However, we can’t check the validity of claims around data collection, sharing, and more. Following the letter that Ering shared, another Parliament member, Abhishek Singhvi doubled down on the re-entry of Tencent in the Indian market.

PUBG Mobile streamers and players disappoint with their response

Hours after the letter surfaced online, several PUBG Mobile steamers on YouTube responded extremely disappointingly. According to a report from IGN India, steamers like Paras Singh from “Paras Official”, Inder Preet from “GTX Preet”, and Shivamm Raghav from “420 Gaming” used derogatory, racially charged comments against Ering. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared an update noting that Punjab Police arrested Paras after registering a case. After facing criticism, Inder Preet and Shivamm Raghav uploaded apology videos on their channels regarding their comments.

Krafton has not shared any statement around such comments from the PUBG Mobile community. Besides, we are not sure if this letter and the racially charged comments will impact the upcoming launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India. For the time being, we will have to wait and watch about any further developments.