Asian Games 2022 Esports – India’s PUBG, Arena of Valor players in a fix: It will be for the 1st time that the ESports will be a medal sport at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. But the Indian PUBG & Arena of Valor players are in a fix. Though the games are part of the Asian Games roaster, the Indian Govermnet’s ban on the games makes their participation in doubt – Follow Esports News LIVE Updates & Asian Games 2022 LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN
Asian Games 2022 Esports: Indian PUBG, Arena of Valor players in a fix, participation uncertain due to ministry’s ban
PUBG & Arena of Valor in India: Both the games were banned by the Indian government along with other Chinese apps in Sep 2020. Asian Esports Federation has added both the games in the roster of Hangzhou Asian Games.
This development has put Indian gaming community in a fix. No one at this stage has a idea if India can compete in the Asian Games in the two games or not?
According to a report by The Indian Express, the governing body for Esports in India, the Esports Federation of India (ESFI) is now knocking on the doors of ministry for clarity.
The paper reports, officials from the ESFI are likely to meet sports secretary Sujata Chaturvedi to seek permission from the government for the participation.
Both the events are medal events at the Hangzhou Asiad.
“We have to get permission from the government to participate in these events,” ESFI president Vinod Kumar Tiwari told The Indian Express. “Can we hold a qualifier for it and go for it? We are speaking to the ministry and we will try to explain. If they give us the go-ahead, we will compete in all sports else we will compete in six.”
Asian Games 2022 Esports: NGO Asks Govt to Ban BGMI-PUBG
BGMI-PUBG Ban? Meanwhile a non-profit organisation has urged the government to block the Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) app under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The NGO has cited threat to national security and public order.
Prahar the NGO has written to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in this regard.
BGMI is published by South Korean game developer studio Krafton in India, and is an Indian version of its popular battle royale game, PlayersUnknown Battlegrounds (PUBG), which was banned in 2020 as part of a wider restriction on Chinese apps.
Prahar said in the letter that Chinese internet major Tencent has a 15% stake in Krafton, and so it should be no different from a recent ban on another popular game — Free Fire — where Tencent has an 18% stake.
“In the so-called new avatar, the BGMI-PUBG is no different from erstwhile PUBG with Tencent still controlling it in the background,” said Abhay Mishra, president, Prahar.
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