With Fortnite and then Apex Legends eclipsing PUBG here in the west and its own original lead designer departing for greener pastures, it might surprise you to learn that PUBG is still a major force overseas – to the point that nation-states are still pursuing it as a serious threat to society.
So it goes in Nepal, where apparently the regularity telecom authority NTA has flat out banned the game as of yesterday.
“We have ordered the ban on PUBG because it is addictive to children and teenagers,” the deputy director of the Nepal Telecommunications Authority told Reuters. Apparently, ISPs and mobile companies have been directed to block all streaming of the title. While the regulatory body admits there have been exactly zero reports of “incidents” linked to the game, apparently enough “parents were concerned about their children being distracted from their studies or other normal routine work” that it needed a ban.
Nepal joins police in the Indian state Gujarat in banning the game; Indian authorities in March claimed, without apparent justification, that PUBG caused violent behavior in addition to affecting youth education. That ban was intended to be temporary, but it caused a stir in the media anyway when police actually arrested people for playing PUBG Mobile.
