Will ban on PUBG be extended? PTA to decide today

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) will decide on Thursday whether to extend or remove the ban on online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).

On July 1, the online game was temporarily suspended. In a statement, PTA said said it had received several complaints about the game being addictive and its potential negative impact on children's physical and psychological health.

A teenage boy in Hanjarwal, Punjab committed suicide after his parents stopped him from playing the game. Another case emerged in Lahore where a 20-year-old boy took his own life in Saddar Bazaar neighbourhood in North Cantonment.

PUBG is a survival game in which players are dropped onto an island to battle it out against others. Players from all over the world compete against each other or in teams. They attack and kill each other in the game and the more you win, the higher you rank. It has garnered 34.2 million downloads worldwide so far.