Although PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG, is occasionally free-to-play like it was briefly in June, PUBG Mobile has always been free except for in-game microtransactions. Unfortunately, those purchases can really add up, as two parents in Punjab, India recently found out when their son spent literally thousands of their rupees on in-game items.
While Fortnite, Warzone, and other Battle Royale games battle for the top spot, PUBG was the original. It's one of the best Battle Royale games for a reason; the game can be addictive and is a great way to connect with friends during a pandemic. However, there is a darker side to how fun and addictive games can be, as one teenager found out.
A 17-year-old PUBG player is in big trouble with his parents this week. He is being forced by his parents to take a scooter repair job to pay back the massive amount of money he spent on in-game transactions. He spent 1.6 million rupees on tournament passes, ammunition, and artillery, the equivalent of about $21,500 USD. While loads of players are looking to grab in-games items to help them dominate in PUBG, this kid took it a little far and is now in some serious hot water.
The teen was borrowing his father's cell phone, claiming he wanted it for studying. But instead he played PUBG Mobile, using the connected bank accounts on the phone to access his parents' account and grab up all that loot like the PUBG Season 3 Battle Pass. It took him about a month to spend all that dough, deleting the digital receipts and shuffling money around in different accounts as he worked to keep it as secret as possible. The parents had stashed away that money to pay for the father's medical bills and for future expenses for the teen.
Hopefully all that hard work at the repair shop will teach the thieving teen a hard lesson about wasting money, especially money that isn't his. And maybe in the future, he'll avoid buying microtransactions in Battle Royale games that are free-to-play, since they can really add up fast.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile is available for Android and iOS.
Source: IndiaToday