Recently, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has been making headlines due to a ban of the game in certain areas of India. Student associations have called PUBG addiction worse than drug addiction, and governments have actually started arresting people for playing the game. The disdain for PUBG and its apparent effect on people in India has gotten so extreme that an Indian publication has now accused the game of turning kids into psychopaths.

In a recent article published by the Navbharat Times, the publication said, "There are dangerous consequences to this game. Many children have lost their mental balance." The Navbharat Times then went on to say that kids are becoming "manorogi," which is the Hindi word for "psychopath."

Saying that kids are psychopaths because of PUBG seems like a bit of a stretch, but it's true that there has been some bizarre behavior associated with the game. For example, there was a viral Facebook post that claimed a man left his pregnant wife due to PUBG addiction, and there was also a reported incident where a Chinese child was killed jumping off a building in an attempt to mimic PUBG. There are less specific incidents in India itself, or at least very few that have been publicized, but regardless, 16 people have now been arrested for playing the game.

Video game addiction in general is a growing concern, though outside of India, much of the anxiety surrounding the issue is not aimed at PUBG. While PUBG seems to be the dominant battle royale game in India, Fortnite is much more popular elsewhere in the world, and has had its fair share of strange addiction stories tied to it as well. One of the more extreme examples saw a young girl admitted to rehab for Fortnite addiction.

pubg accused of turning kids into psychopaths

Video game addiction isn't a new phenomenon, but reports of it seem to be increasing. It's unclear if the nature of battle royale games just make them more addicting than other titles, or if game addiction just wasn't as reported on as much in the past. After all, the gaming industry continues to grow and seems to get bigger every year, meaning more people are playing games than ever before, so there are more opportunities for people to become "addicted" to games than in the past.

Whatever the case may be, it's clear that more studies need to be done on game addiction to determine the proper way to diagnose the disorder as well as treat it. So far, it seems as though psychiatrists are treating game addiction the same as drug addiction, and it's unclear if that is the best way to handle it or not. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if other governments react in the way India did to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and just start banning certain games outright.

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is out now for iOS, Android, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Source: Navbharat Times (via SegmentNext)