PUBG Mobile to go offline in India from October 30 as Tencent set to cut servers

PUBG Mobile and PUBG Mobile Lite will cease to work for players in India starting October 30, publisher Tencent has announced.

In a Facebook post, the company announced the closure of services, saying: "To comply with the interim order of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology dated September 2, 2020, Tencent Games will terminate all service and access for users in India to PUBG Mobile Nordic Map: Livik and PUBG Mobile Lite on October 30, 2020. The rights to publish PUBG Mobile in India will be returned to the owner of the PUBG intellectual property."

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"Protecting user data has always been a top priority and we have always complied with applicable data protection laws and regulations in India. All users' gameplay information is processed in a transparent manner as disclosed in our privacy policy. We deeply regret this outcome, and sincerely thank you for your support and love for PUBG Mobile in India," the company added.

PUBG Mobile was one of 118 Chinese apps that were banned by the Centre on September 2 owing to 'security reasons' amid the stand-off in Eastern Ladakh.

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Alongside PUBG Mobile, the banned apps included Baidu, Baidu Express Edition, Tencent Watchlist, FaceU, WeChat Reading and Tencent Weiyun.

PUBG Mobile had attempted to fight the ban by removing Tencent's publishing rights to the game in India, but to no avail.

China had opposed the ban of the 118 apps, claiming it was a violation of the rules of the World Trade Organization, but the Indian government remained steadfast on its decision on the ban.