Four cities in the Indian state of Gujarat have instituted a ban on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds over concern that the game causes violent behavior. The ban, which began on March 6th in the cities of Rajkot, Surat, Gir Somnath, and Bhavnagar, was instituted by local police, who claim that because of PUBG, “the education of children and youth are being affected and it affects the behaviour, manners, speech, and development of the youth and children.”
Although the ban appears to be a temporary measure in effect only until March 30th, reports indicate that police have already detained or arrested multiple people for violating the ban, including 10 players from Rajkat who were “taken into custody” for being caught playing PUBG Mobile but were “later released with a warning,” according to The Guardian. In a statement regarding the arrests, police inspector Rohit Raval claimed that PUBG is “highly addictive and the accused were so engrossed in playing [it] that they could not even notice our team approaching him.” For the record, numerous studies — including a recent one from Oxford University — have routinely shown that there is no evidence to support a link between violent video games and violent behavior in players.
