Pakistan temporarily suspends PUBG game

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Pakistan on Wednesday temporarily banned the Uber-popular online battle game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, known also as PUBG. The decision has been taken as the game has been termed as addictive and detrimental to players' health, according to a notification issued by PTA, the country's telecommunications regulatory body. "PTA has received numerous complaints against PUBG wherein it is stated that the game is addictive, wastage of time and poses a serious negative impact on the physical and psychological health of the children," Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stated in a Twitter post.

The body has also stated that the decision was taken after receiving numerous complaints. PTA also said that certain media reports had as well which have attributed cases of suicide to PUBG. "Honorable Lahore High court has also directed PTA to look into the issue and decide the matter after hearing the complainants. In this regard, a hearing is being conducted on 9th of July 2020," PTA said in a statement.

On June 24, a 16-year-old boy had committed suicide in Hanjarwal area by hanging himself from a ceiling fan of his house when he "missed his mission" in PUBG, dawn.com had reported. The police had confirmed that the boy named Mohammad Zakarya took the extreme step for not completing his task while playing the online game. "We found his mobile phone on the bed with the PUBG game on at that time near his body. We immediately called the Punjab Forensic Science Agency for further investigation into the incident," Dawn.com quoted Saddar Division SP Operations Ghazanfar Syed as saying.

According to Samaa News, PUBG, developed by a South Korean company, is a 2017 survival game in which players are dropped onto an island to battle it out against others. The multiplayer game allows players from all over the world to compete against each other or in teams. Players attack and kill each other in the game and the more you win, the higher you rank. It has garnered 34.2 million downloads worldwide so far."

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