PUBG banned:: developers hail #VocalForLocal

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds phrase ‘Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner’ has become part of the vocabulary of its followers. But now, the game has been banned, alongside 116 other Chinese apps. “This phrase was a favourite of all PUBG players who used to play constantly in hope of winning a chicken dinner for their team. After the ban of this app, I’ll never be able to see it flash across my screen again,” rues Manik Gupta, a corporate executive who was an avid PUBG player.

While PUBG players are unhappy with the ban on this super popular game, Indian app developers are viewing this as an opportunity to show what they have got to counter foreign apps. Sahdev Garg, a software engineer and developer says, “Earlier, app development opportunities in India were bleak due to foreign apps dominating the market. Now, as the focus shifts to #VocalForLocal even in the technology sector it will make India self reliant, and generate employment for app makers and web developers here!”

For those anticipating if the Indian version of PUBG can ever be as good as the original, Saksham Kalra, a product manager at a mobile company, says, “Why doubt? It’s not that the software development quality or talent to do it is missing in India! A lot of foreign apps are developed by most Indian techies.”

Since 2018, PUBG had become one of the most popular apps among gaming enthusiasts. So, the ban has lead to a flood of memes on social media. Gamers have certainly been heart broken since the news of ban, but their friends, parents and partners seem delighted. “My children were glued to their mobiles playing PUBG. Now, I’ll have the entire family together for dinner after years, without any noise of this game,” says Prajakta Sharma, a homemaker and mother of two. Partners of gamers are also looking forward to spending some quality time now. “I’m so happy about the ban that I ordered a cake to cut when the news came,” laughs Kamakshi Sharma, an interior designer whose husband, Atul, used to love playing the game.

Several memes about PUBG being banned have taken over the internet NOTE TO READERS: Some of the coverage that appears on our pages is paid for by the concerned brands. No sponsored content does or shall appear in any part of HT without it being declared as such to our valued readers.