PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is being blamed for a rise in criminal activity and video game addiction in a number of countries across the globe, with some cities and even entire countries going so far as to ban the battle royale game.
Yet another country is set to join the seemingly ever-growing list, as Bhutan in South Asia pushes against PUBG.
As reported by AFK Gaming, Bhutan is looking for a ban on both PUBG and PUBG Mobile, citing the battle royale game as a cause of violence and addiction, especially in younger people.
BICMA (Bhutan’s InfoComm and Media Authority) has already waged war on the game’s servers, with a number of internet providers being told to block the game for those in Bhutan.
PUBG Mobile has already been banned in Nepal, as well as Jordan in the Middle East. Some cities in India have also banned PUBG, while Iraq and China have implemented heavy censorships.
Earlier this summer, an investigation conducted by Jordan’s Telecommunication Regulatory Commission found that PUBG was “harmful to players of all ages,” presumably because of its premise, which sees players kill each other to be the last man standing.
In India, PUBG is being blamed for a number of deaths which have taken place within the last few months. At the beginning of this year two men in their 20s lost their lives when absorbed in the mobile version of PUBG too close to railway tracks.
A 16-year-old died also reportedly by suicide after being told by his parents to stop playing PUBG in favour of his studies.
As more and more countries turn to outright bans to ensure that games aren’t reaching the masses, could we be seeing more censorship in video games in the future?
Featured Image Credit: PUBG Corp