The Indian government has from nowhere banned the most popular gaming application in the country -Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) and other 117 Chinese apps on Wednesday by citing that these apps were prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country. Along with PUBG, apps like WeChat work, Ludo, Baidu, and FaceU have also been banned. 

The list of the unprecedented ban includes several gaming, social, and editing applications. PUBG has attained a major audience and reception among the young population as 50 million gamers in the country had played the game in 2019. As the sudden announcement of the ban had taken the game into history, here are some of the alternative games similar to PUBG that you can now explore to replace it with PUBG. 

1) Garena Free Fire: 

Developed by 111 Dots Studio and published by Garena, which is the Singapore based company for iOS and Android, it is a battle royale game and it has also the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2019. 

Resembling as the last man standing match, the battlefield looks similar to PUBG, and in 2019, the game has also been conferred with the award for the 'Best Popular Game' by the Google Play Store and though not the Indian made, it's not Chinese made either. Garena has currently been working to release the enhanced version of Free Fire which will be called Free Fire Max. 

2) Fortnite: 
 
It is the online video game developed by the US-based Epic Games and launched in 2017. The game is available in three distinct game mode versions - Fortnite: Save the World, Fortnite Battle Royale, and Fortnite Creative. The game puts players in an open-world environment to battle among other players and characters in the same world. Epic Games released the Battle Royale version was released when PUBG was receiving the global reach and reception. 

However, in 2012, Tencent, the Chinese based maker of PUBG, had acquired a 40% stake in Epic Games in 2012. 

3) Black Survival: 

Similar battlefield and alternative for PUBG, this game features 20-minute long survival battles wherein 10 players reach the deserted island and fight against the opponent for survival. The island is divided into 22 areas and later turns into restricted areas further narrowing the battlefield. 

4) Call of Duty: Mobile

Yielded as one of the most followed games, this shooter video can be played for free in the midst of having in-game currencies that can be purchased to enhance the level of the game with upgraded characters and weapons. With one of the most played games, this has been developed by TIMI studios, which is a subsidiary of Tencent games, which partly owns PUBG. The game has multiplayer modes and battle royal mode that can feature up to 100 players. According to the reports, season ten of the 'Call of Duty: Mobile' would likely be released this month. 

By June 2020, the game had witnessed around 250 million downloads globally and generating over $327 million. 

5) Battlelands Royale:

This battlefield game can be played on Android and iOS and it has been designed with similar ingredients like other battle royales and it has a quirk. At the same time, a total of 32 players can take part in the battles, which would last for three to five minutes. 

On the banning of PUBG and 117 other applications, the government said that it is doing under section 69A of the Information Technology Act and with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Rules 2009. The government stated that the 118 apps have been banned from the country in the view of the emergent nature of threats. Wednesday's order is the second episode of the digital strike against the nuclear-armed neighbor. 

In June this year, India has banned 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, Weibo, Baidu Map, and CamScanner were banned under the same grounds of being prejudicial to the integrity and security of the country.

Must-read: India's second digital strike: Bans PUBG and other 117 Chinese apps!