Jordan on Saturday banned the hugely popular but brutal online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, citing its “negative effects” on the kingdom’s citizens.
Often likened to the blockbuster book and film series”The Hunger Games”, PUBG pits marooned characters against eachanother in a virtual fight to the death, and has become one of the world’s mostpopular mobile games.
A source in Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authoritywarned the game “had negative effects on its users, which led to its beingofficially blocked”. The move follows similar bans in Iraq, Nepal, theIndian state of Gujarat and the Indonesian province of Aceh.
In May, Chinese tech giant Tencent ceased offering the game,instead directing users to a newly launched and nearly identical programme itcreated.
PUBG is widely popular in Jordan and institutions in thekingdom have issued warnings to employees not to play it.Psychologists in the country have repeatedlywarned the game encourages violence and contributes to bullying among youth.