Is Mobile Legends Banned in Philippines, Or Just Fake News?
YouTube channel Civskie TV falsely claimed in a July 30 post that President Rodrigo Duterte is banning the online multiplayer game Mobile Legends (ML). To support this, it revived a report on a December 2016 speech by the chief executive where he ordered “the closure of all online gaming” in the country. So, is Mobile Legends banned in Philippines?
What is Mobile Legends: Bang Bang?
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is a MOBA (mobile multiplayer online battle arena) published by Moonton. The game was first released in 2016 and quickly became one of the most popular mobile games in Southeast Asia. It was also one of the chosen games for the esports competition at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
In the game, two teams will be fighting against each other to destroy their enemy’s base while defending their own base. There will be five players in each team, each of which will control a “hero” using joystick/analog controls. Heroes are mostly split into 6 different roles, including Assassin, Support, Tank, Fighter, Mage, and Marksman.
So, how many people play mobile legends in the Philippines? Sadly, the developer doesn’t provide a specific number for the Philippines market.
Is Mobile Legends Banned In Philippines?
No. Mobile Legends isn’t banned in the Philippines. This fake news was based on a 65-second video of Duterte’s speech on December 22, 2016 after signing the General Appropriations Act of 2017. However, in the video, the president didn’t mention anything about the Mobile Legends ban.
The video was actually uploaded with a misleading title: “BREAKING NEWS: PAGSASARA NG MOBILE LEGENDS SA PINAS | INAPROBAHAN NA (Closure of Mobile Legends in the Philippines | Approved)!” According to Eagle News, Duterte’s closure ban actually targeted online gambling, not Mobile Legends.
Civskie Tv’s video received more than 49,000 views on YouTube, but it is now removed along with the channel. The same goes for Civskie Tv’s video Facebook, but it attracted even more interactions (estimated to be over 14,200) on the platform.
A lot of groups and pages have shared the fake news, status updates, and images with text that reads: “MOBILE LEGENDS will be officially BANNED in the Philippines on September 5, 2020.” You can easily find a social media post on Face groups and pages with the keywords ”Mobile Legends”, “banned”, and “Philippines”.
Effects Of Playing Mobile Legends To Students
Positive effects of Mobile Legends
1. Improve moods
If you have ever played and won a game in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, you will certainly know the feeling of victory, especially against tough enemies and after a long match.
In addition to that, playing Mobile Legends or other games can help players eliminate anxiety and promote relaxation.
2. Improve your skills
You are required to use lots of skills in order to win a Mobile Legends match. For example, you will have to perform two or more tasks simultaneously and that will certainly help improve your multitasking skill. Your’s decision-making skill is another one that you could improve by playing Mobile Legends as you will need to make many decisions inside the game.
3. Brings people together
Gaming is a great platform on which you can comfortably communicate and interact with complete strangers in a good way, especially in games that require lots of teamwork like Mobile Legends.
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Negative effect of playing Mobile Legends
So what are the neg ative effects of mobile legends to students or other players?
1. Dangerous Distractions
The first and most notable negative effect of playing Mobile Legends or games is that it could distract players from performing more important activities, for example, driving, working, studying, and more. A regular Mobile Legends match usually lasts around 15 to 20 minutes, which might not be much. However, players tend to not want to end the gaming session with a loss or they might get excited when getting a win and want to continue playing the game.
Negative effects of mobile legends in academic performance are also worth mentioning as many students have spent more time playing games and cut down their time for studying.
2. Health Problems
As mentioned above, players are likely to spend more time playing highly competitive games like Mobile Legends. Moreover, mobile phones have also been linked to disruption in the sleep patterns of children. Playing video or mobile games can both prevent players from going to bed and getting the rest they need. With insufficient rest, your productivity during the day will certainly be lower.
Aside from disrupting sleep schedules, many gamers are willing to skip meals to continue playing and sit over a mobile phone or in front of a computer for a long period of time. There are lots of other health risks relating to excessive gaming, such as backaches, headaches, eye-strain, among others.
3. Out of Control Spending
Lots of mobile games like Mobile Legends use the free-to-play business model. Everyone can download and play the game for free, but some items within the game cost money. Many players are willing to pay a large sum of money for unnecessary items. In the case of Mobile Legends, it is skins, which are solely for cosmetic purposes and do not provide any competitive advantage over opponents.
We have heard of many cases where children use their parents’ cards and spend lots of money on in-game items, most of which are usually non-refundable.
Will Mobile Legends Ban Become Real?
So, you have now known the answer to the question “is Mobile legends banned in Philippines”, but will it be banned in the future?
In case you don’t know, Mobile Legends along with lots of other Chinese origin apps have been banned in India. However, it was mostly due to the China-India skirmishes along the Sino-Indian border.
As we have mentioned above, playing Mobile Legends can provide multiple benefits, but it also results in lots of negative effects as well. It is important that players have to balance between gaming and other activities. Hopefully, we won’t have to once again ask the question “is mobile legends banned in Philippines”.
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