India doesn't have much of a history with popular computer games, unlike the U.S. or Japan. But now one of the industry's kill-or-be-killed titles has become a smash hit — and the backlash from the country's traditionalists is ferocious.
"PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is a "Hunger Games"-style competition where 100 players face off with machine guns and assault rifles until only one is left standing. After China's Tencent Holdings Ltd. introduced a mobile version of the death match that's free to play, it has become the most popular smartphone game in the world, with enthusiasts from the U.S. to Russia to Malaysia.
Nowhere has resistance to the game been quite like India. Multiple cities have banned "PUBG," as it's known, and police in Western India arrested 10 university students for playing. The national child rights commission has recommended barring the game for its violent nature.
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