Nepal – MMO Fallout

You may have read the news that PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds had been banned in Nepal and thought “this makes no sense,” and you would have the backing of the Nepal Supreme Court on your side. The South Asian country took the banhammer to the popular battle royale shooter just two weeks ago and directed all internet service providers and mobile data centers to block access to the game.

Justice Ishwar Prasad Khatiwada demanded an explanation for the ban and asked the government to provide justification beyond the vague excuse that the game was distracting children from schoolwork and chores, as well as unsubstantiated claim of violent behavior coming from addicted gamers.

Unlike India where more than a dozen people were arrested for violating its own ban, it doesn’t appear that anyone has actually been punished in the two weeks that the law was in effect. As of right now, PUBG is once again playable. Whether the government will be able to come up with a convincing excuse to put access back on the kibosh will have to be seen.

Source: Gamasutra

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is addictive and dangerous to teenagers, at least that is the justification that Sandip Adhikari, deputy director at Nepal Telecommunications Authority gave to Reuters this week in justifying the total country-wide ban of the game. The ban went into effect on Thursday, meaning it is now in place, and directs all internet and mobile service providers to block access to the game.

It should be noted that there haven’t been any incidents related to PUBG, however the ban is due to parental concerns over children being distracted from studies and other duties. The ban comes nearly one month after Indian authorities arrested more than a dozen for violating a ban on the title in Gujarat. The Reuters article does not discuss possible sanctions for those who bypass the ban.

Source: Reuters