PUBG Mobile Banned in China

Developer Tencent has shut down PUBG Mobile in China following a failure to receive permission to collect revenue from the game.

The company is now pushing its estimated 70 million Chinese PUBG Mobile players toward the more patriotic Heping Jinying, or Elite Force for Peace, according to reports from Reuters and the Financial Times. Heping Jingying has been described as a tribute to a part of China's national military, and the Chinese Communist party has already approved it for monetization.

PUBG Mobile's downfall in China was caused in large part by a Chinese government that expresses increasing hostility toward violent or supposedly addictive video games. It is the second game Tencent has shut down in China so far, following Everyday Texas Hold'Em in September.

Hostility between China and South Korea might also have contributed to the PUBG Mobile shutdown, according to the reports. Tencent licenses PUBG Mobile from Bluehole, a South Korean company, and trade relations between China and South Korea have been rocky in the past few years. Beijing even launched a boycott of South Korea's products and services after the country agreed to the installation of an American missile-defense system along its border with North Korea.

Tencent's troubles in China are the latest in a long line for PUBG Mobile. The game has been banned in both India and Nepal in recent months, though neither ban remains in place as of now.

(H/T The Verge)

Photo courtesy of PUBG Corp