How did PUBG Mobile Ban Change The Indian Esports Scenario?

Indian eSports has always been a tumultuous terrain that has seen a number of up and downs. The struggle initially was for representation, and it slowly started making its way towards regional dominance. After the CS: GO debacle that the Indian eSports community experienced, bouncing back was always a tough thing.

PUBG Mobile brought that new opportunity for the community and everyone just pounced on it. Indian eSports community brought home a number of laurels on the regional level, and it was set to make its presence felt on the international level. The game garnered immense love and support. A number of local tournaments were also organized, and custom rooms was a common thing.

All of it changed in September 2020 when the Government of India banned PUBG Mobile along with more than 50 other apps. This brought the eSports community to a stand still once again. Other version of the game like the Global and the Korean are available and can be played by people but if the game is not available in the region, the country can not participate in tournaments. Meaning that even though players are still playing the game, the dream of global dominance is on a stand still.

This, however, made way for multiple other games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Garena Free Fire that became popular in the same genre but the PUBG community did not really switch to these games in the hopes of the game making a return to the country. India is not the only country that has seen the ban, neighbouring country Pakistan has also banned the game. These nations have popularized the game a lot through the medium of social media and YouTube. The two of the biggest untapped markets in eSports saw this ban and the wait was extended for a little longer.

Some players have tried switching to games like Call of Duty: Mobile and Garena Free Fire, but the community always saw these games to be arch rivals of PUBG Mobile, and they never accepted the streamers playing these games. The games, however, have potential of making it big in the mobile eSports scene and if the community becomes a little more accepting then the dream of making it big on the international level can come close to being achieved once again.