LAHORE: A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday seeking a ban on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), a popular online multiplayer battle game, days after a young man gunned down members of his family in their sleep, apparently under the influence of the shooter game.
According to Punjab police, who arrested the 18-year-old man — Ali Zain — on Friday, the man had apparently been influenced by PUBG, and tried to “recreate” the game.
He got depressed after losing several stages of the game and being scolded by his mother for excessive indulgence.
The petitions, which nominated the federal government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as respondents, said several people have fallen prey to the violent impacts of the game.
“There is no law to regulate online games in Pakistan,” the petition observed. “The violent nature of the game has been the cause of many complaints from all quarters.”
It requested the court to ban the game.
The telecom regulator had suspended the game in June 2020 as well before revoking the ban two months later after meeting with the legal representatives of Bluehole Studio, the game developer, who assured it of “continued engagement and a comprehensive control mechanism”.
