PUBG has become extremely popular and rightly so, as it has all the
elements of a game that players look forward to. With its fast-paced
action, a variety of guns and ammunition, different modes to
play from and with different maps to chose from, players have a good time
enjoying the action-packed game which keeps players on their toes all
the time.
So in the early hours of the morning, when all of his family are
asleep and he should be too, 18-year-old Mustafa Majid from Iraq and his
friends are getting ready to go to war.
Like thousands of other young people in Iraq, they meet up in
the online world of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
The huge popularity of the game among young Iraqis has worried the
country’s political and religious establishment so much that the government
recently voted to ban PUBG due to its ‘negative effects on health,
culture, and security’. But who can clarify or prove its impact? Negative or
positive!
PUBG is more than just a game for many young Iraqis. The game’s
online world is one of the few places they can meet up and socialise away from
the prying eyes of their families. It is as much a social media platform as it
is a game. In a country where communities have long been atomised by war and
sectarian divides, it has brought many young people together.
The Iraqi parliament voted almost unanimously to ban a host of
similar online games in April, claiming they were detrimental to the health and
well being of Iraq’s youth. “They are trying to control people,” says
18-year-old Sarah Allami, a casual gamer. “We don’t have the freedom to choose
in a lot of ways, but this game brings young people together” she says.
When one bans something, it becomes more desirable, especially among
young people.
As it happens, the ban wasn’t very effective. Majid still plays for
about four hours a day.
“When the parliament banned it, it stopped for a few hours, and then
it came back. We all have VPNs [virtual private networks] so they can’t stop it
anyway,” he says.
PUBG has become extremely popular and rightly so, as it has all the elements of a game that players look forward to. With its fast-paced action, a variety of guns and ammunition, different modes to play from and with different maps to chose from, players have a good time enjoying the action-packed game which keeps players on their toes all the time.
So in the early hours of the morning, when all of his family are
asleep and he should be too, 18-year-old Mustafa Majid from Iraq and his
friends are getting ready to go to war.
Like thousands of other young people in Iraq, they meet up in
the online world of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
The huge popularity of the game among young Iraqis has worried the
country’s political and religious establishment so much that the government
recently voted to ban PUBG due to its ‘negative effects on health,
culture, and security’. But who can clarify or prove its impact? Negative or
positive!
PUBG is more than just a game for many young Iraqis. The game’s
online world is one of the few places they can meet up and socialise away from
the prying eyes of their families. It is as much a social media platform as it
is a game. In a country where communities have long been atomised by war and
sectarian divides, it has brought many young people together.
The Iraqi parliament voted almost unanimously to ban a host of
similar online games in April, claiming they were detrimental to the health and
well being of Iraq’s youth. “They are trying to control people,” says
18-year-old Sarah Allami, a casual gamer. “We don’t have the freedom to choose
in a lot of ways, but this game brings young people together” she says.
When one bans something, it becomes more desirable, especially among
young people.
As it happens, the ban wasn’t very effective. Majid still plays for
about four hours a day.
“When the parliament banned it, it stopped for a few hours, and then
it came back. We all have VPNs [virtual private networks] so they can’t stop it
anyway,” he says.
