PUBG Mobile Returns to Bangladesh After Four-Year Ban
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- PUBG Mobile is officially unbanned in Bangladesh after a four-year ban.
- The game was banned in 2021 after a court declared it “destructive,” along with other apps like Free Fire and TikTok.
- According to reports, 108 players were arrested for participating in a PUBG Mobile LAN event in Chuadanga in 2022.
PUBG Mobile has officially been unbanned in Bangladesh, nearly four years after the country’s High Court ordered it to be blocked. As of now, players can access the game using local mobile carriers and WiFi networks without workarounds like VPNs.
Confirmation came from several top esports figures and local media outlets. Also, the news was quickly confirmed across social media by celebratory reactions from local players and fans.
The battle royale giant, developed by KRAFTON, was banned back in 2021 after a court declared it “destructive,” citing concerns about its impact on youth behavior. It wasn’t alone—other apps like Free Fire and TikTok were also blocked in the same wave of digital crackdowns.
A free-to-play battle royale mobile adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds, co-developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and PUBG Studios, was banned back in 2021 after a court declared it “destructive,” citing concerns about its impact on youth behavior along with other apps like Free Fire and TikTok.
Despite the ban, the PUBG Mobile community in Bangladesh didn’t vanish. Players turned to VPNs to keep logging in, and some continued accessing the game through unstable loopholes that occasionally bypassed the restrictions. There were even reports of 108 players being arrested for participating in a PUBG Mobile LAN event in Chuadanga in 2022.
Before the ban, PUBG Mobile played a foundational role in shaping Bangladesh’s esports scene. Teams like A1 Esports gained international attention, even qualifying for the PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) in 2020.
PUBG Mobile was released by several publishers across various regions, including Krafton, Tencent, and VNG Games. By December 2022, the game had reached a milestone of approximately 1.3 billion downloads and generated over $9 billion in revenue. Besides that, it stands as one of the most-played mobile games in history, with 300 million monthly players. In 2021, the franchise expanded with the launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India, a localized version for Indian players, as well as New State Mobile, a futuristic spin-off set within the PUBG universe.
