China bans esports for PUBG: Battlegrounds (PC): Report

Much to the shock of the battle royale community, PUBG: Battlegrounds competitions in China have been banned. PUBG: Battlegrounds, the PC version of the game, is immensely famous in China.

Asian Games 2022 is scheduled to be held in China and PUBG Mobile is one of the titles that has been included in the competition. While the esports scenario for the PC version of PUBG is banned in China, players are curious to see if there are any repercussions for the Asian Games version.

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PUBG: Battlegrounds Esports banned in China

As per the reports of Sports Business Journal, the ban on PUBG: Battlegrounds competitions was due to the Chinese government. The National Administration of Press and Publication (NAPP) of China did not give their approval when it came to hosting PUBG: Battlegrounds esports tournaments.

This ban will adversely affect all PUBG: Battlegrounds competitions that are lined up, the biggest being PUBG Champions League (PCL). PCL is one of the biggest leagues in China that has a huge prize pool.

PCL’s popularity is enormous as it is the ticket to the PUBG Global Championship. The ban signifies that Chinese teams will no longer be able to qualify for the Global Championship. Needless to say, this move is detrimental to the esports careers of professional PUBG: Battlegrounds gamers in China.

Yibo Zhang, the Vice President of 'China Culture Management Association Esports Committee', mentioned the following to Sports Business Journal:

“This ban will affect thousands of PUBG tournament organizers, teams, content creators, streamers, and professional players. It’s not clear whether PUBG will be banned on live streaming platforms. So far it’s only PUBG competitions.”

This provides some hope for PUBG: Battlegrounds streamers in China as they can still showcase their talent online. However, Penguin Esports, the live streaming platform of Tencent, has removed PUBG broadcasts.

China's streaming platforms DouYu and Huya (Image via Sportskeeda)

Streaming platforms like DouYu and Huya have taken the easy way out to avoid controversy. While DouYu has changed the Chinese name of PUBG: Battlegrounds to Chicken Game, Huya switched it to Daily Chicken Dinner.

Note: Popular battle royale titles like Apex Legends and team-based shooters like Valorant are also waiting for the Chinese government’s approval.