(Image source from: NDTV Gadgets)

An online game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, for the most part, known by name 'PUBG' launched earlier this year took South-East Asia by storm.

According to a survey sanctioned by Quartz and conducted by Jana claimed that 62 percent of the 1,047 Indian respondents they had a conversation played PUBG.

To curb this addiction among youth, however, a renowned college in Tamil Nadu has picked a bone with players of the online game by issuing circular banning students from playing PUBG in their hostel rooms. A picture of the circular issued by the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is doing rounds on social media with gaming fanatics condemning the diktat by calling it "unnecessary" and "dictatorial".

In the circular, college authorities claimed that the game is "spoiling the entire atmosphere of the hostel". It went even further to say that "playing online games and betting for such games is totally prohibited in VIT". In addition, students have been told that those found in violation of the circular will be dealt with seriously as per the college code of conduct. The circular also asks students to concentrate on physical sports and give more importance to their career growth instead of spending all their time playing PUBG.

Social media users criticized the circular and lashed out at the college for meddling in their personal life.

Responding to the criticism, Associate Chief Warden of the boys' hostel, R Mohanasundaram told The Indian Express that the circular was issued around Friday earlier this week. He added that the game has become an 'addiction' for students.

PUBG is as an online multiplayer game for consoles earlier this year. It belongs to battle royale genre and shot into huge popularity shortly after it hit the market. In March 2018, the mobile version of the game was set up on Android and iOS devices and has been dominating the charts for the majority of the year. The phone version is known as PUBG mobile basically has 100 players dropping in on a map where they find weapons to fight. They at that time use this to do away with other players till they are the last one standing. The game reportedly even has a dedicated e-sports tournament that draws professional gamers to the platform.

The game acquired ill fame after a number of cases of PUBG addiction were reported in Bengaluru NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences). Reports also state that several schools in the city have advising youngsters of the ill-effects of playing the game for hours at a stretch.

-Sowmya Sangam