PUBG and BGMI are the same, Indian government misled by Tencent should be banned, NGO says

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (aka PUBG) and Battlegrounds Mobile India (aka BGMI) are identical and Tencent misled the Indian government, a non-profit organization called Prahar has alleged. The head of a senior NGO which has called for a ban on BGMI/PUBG has claimed that a company called Krafton India does not exist. BGMI is the Indian version of PUBG Mobile which was launched only for players in India after the government banned PUBG Mobile in the country. Battle Royale is developed by Krafton.

In a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY), Prahar Chairman Abhay Mishra wrote that according to documents available with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), the only Krafton company in India is a paper manufacturing company unrelated to Krafton. South Korea (BGMI Developers). Mishra said in the letter that Crafton had authorized Hyunil Sohn to represent the company, a person authorized to represent PUBG India – which Sohn believed to be the representative of China’s Tencent in India.

“At the meeting of the board of directors of Krafton Inc., by resolution dated November 26, 2021, Hyunil Son has been appointed as Krafton’s representative for Battlegrounds Mobile India. Meanwhile, on November 26, 2021, PUBG India Pvt. Limited has authorized the same Hyunil Son to represent PUBG India in relation to Battlegrounds Mobile India, according to a decision of the Board of Directors,” Mishra said.

Mishra asked if PUBG and BGMI were different, why did BGMI’s “so-called” publisher, Crafton India, allow Hyunil Son of PUBG India Pvt. Ltd should represent the company? “Is Hyun Sung from PUBG or BGMI or both? The answer is actually that he is the representative of the Chinese company Tencent in India,” Mishra said in a message to Gadgets 360.

The NGO called for a “ban on the BGMI/PUBG app” based on alleged claims that it was “created by the Chinese company Tencent”. We’ve reached out to Krafton to respond to the allegations and will update this space when we hear from you.

The development comes nearly two months after the government banned 54 China-related apps that threatened the country’s security. Banned apps include Garena Free Fire, Xriver by Tencent and Onmyoji Arena by NetEase. India has blocked nearly 300 apps in the country since border tensions with China began in May 2020.

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