The conflict began at a caf near the suspects home, where a disagreement escalated between the two victims and the suspects son. A petty dispute over an online video game in Dubai, turned deadly in Yemens Hadramaut governorate, where an elderly man shot and killed two young men after they allegedly refused to play the popular game PUBG with his son.

The shocking incident occurred just before iftar in Wadi Amd district, southeastern Yemen. According to media reports and a statement by the Yemeni Ministry of Interior, the conflict began at a caf near the suspects home, where a disagreement escalated between the two victims and the suspects son.

The victims, identified as 20-year-old Ali Mohammed Basaleeb and his 18-year-old brother, Majed, reportedly declined to join the suspects son in playing PUBG a popular online multiplayer battle game. The refusal led to an argument that quickly turned physical.

Authorities say the son informed his father about the altercation. The 55-year-old man, identified by initials A.M.A.B., intervened in the dispute armed with a firearm and, without hesitation, opened fire on the two brothers, killing them instantly. He later surrendered to local police.

In a statement, the Interior Ministrys media department confirmed that the suspect was taken into custody and that the victims died at the scene despite attempts to provide emergency assistance. The districts security services have launched a full investigation to uncover the circumstances of the crime and initiate the necessary legal proceedings, the ministry said.

PUBG: Battlegrounds (previously known as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) is a 2017 battle royale video game published by Krafton, and developed by Krafton’s PUBG Studios. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film Battle Royale (2000), is based on previous mods created by Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene for other games, and expanded into a standalone game under Greene’s creative direction.

Played from either a third-person or first-person perspective, up to one hundred players parachute onto an island where they are tasked to scavenge for weapons and equipment to kill other players while avoiding getting killed themselves. The available safe area of the game’s map decreases in size over time, directing surviving players into an ever-tightening space to force encounters.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was first released for Windows via Steam’s early access beta program in March 2017, with a full release in December 2017; the same month, Microsoft Studios released it for the Xbox One via the Xbox Game Preview program, with a full release coming in September 2018.

Afterwards the game was ported to the PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles, and the Stadia streaming platform, and has also spawned a mobile version, PUBG Mobile, for Android and iOS. The game is continuously developed under the games as a service model and has been free-to-play for all platforms since January 2022.

The game received positive reviews from critics, who found that while the game had some technical flaws, it presented new types of game-play that could be easily approached by players of any skill level and was highly re-playable.

The game was credited with popularizing the battle royale genre, with a number of unofficial Chinese clones also being produced following its success. The game received several Game of the Year nominations and set seven Guinness World Records, among many other accolades.