Rabat – Morocco’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has denied rumors that the country will ban online mobile games Free Fire and PUBG.
The ministry issued a press release today to categorically deny the fake news printed in a photoshopped statement, attributed to the Moroccan trade department.
“Promoting fake news exposes the perpetrators of these acts to legal follow-up,” the ministry warned.
Garena Free Fire and PUBG are some of today’s most popular mobile games with millions of downloads and are very common in Morocco, where fake news about a ban may have roots in a recent controversy.
Read also: PUBG Mobile’s New ‘Idol Worshipping’ Feature Angers Muslim Players
A report by App Annie reveals that Free Fire outperformed all other games in terms of downloads last year. The report shows that it was the most downloaded mobile game of 2019 for both iOS and Android devices.
A company report shows that Sea Limited, the parent company of Garena Free Fire, achieved “a new record high of over 100 million peak daily active users.”
The game was the “highest grossing mobile game in Latin America and in Southeast Asia in the second quarter,” according to the same source.
It also ranked third globally in mobile games downloads in the second quarter of 2020, according to App Annie.
“In July 2020, Garena hit a new record high in monthly adjusted revenue. Free Fire also achieved a new record in monthly paying users in July, which more than doubled year-on-year.”
PUBG mobile is also recording massive user statistics, despite recently sparking controversy in the Muslim world.
Pakistan upheld a decision on July 28 to ban the game and reports say India is also considering a PUBG ban, though Morocco has indicated no intention to follow suit with PUBG or ban Free Fire.
PUBG Mobile became the world’s highest-grossing game in June 2020 and saw a 10.8% revenue increase compared to 2019, according to Sensor Tower.
