PUBG Banned by Nepal, Citing Negative Impact on Children

Nepal on Thursday banned the popular online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), saying its violent content had a negative impact on children, an official said.

"We have ordered the ban on PUBG because it is addictive to children and teenagers," Sandip Adhikari, deputy director at Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the nation's telecoms regulator, told Reuters.

The ban comes into effect from Thursday, he said.

Following a request from the Himalayan nation's federal investigation authority, the regulator directed all internet service providers, mobile operators and network service providers to block streaming of the game from Thursday onwards, Adhikari said. 

The authorities are probably referring to PUBG Mobile, the more popular and widespread version of the game that was launched in early 2018. PUBG - launched in 2017 and has a huge global following - is developed and published by the PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Krafton Game Union (formerly Bluehole). The mobile game was developed by Lightspeed and Quantum Studio, owned by Tencent Games.

PUBG is a survival-themed battle game that drops dozens of online players on an island to try and eliminate each other.

Adhikari said so far there had been no reports of any incidents linked to the game. But he said parents were concerned about their children being distracted from their studies or other normal routine work.

Written with inputs from Reuters

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