Several gaming apps have been blocked in India including Free Fire and Free Fire MAX. There are 53 other apps that have also been blocked. In spite of the disheartening news and revelations that users heard today, Free Fire MAX is still available on Google Play for Android and iOS users to download. This is the only positive among the negative news and revelations that users came across.

However, after Free Fire's ban, nothing can be ruled out with certainty, since players can only access their accounts through MAX. Free Fire was among the applications that were banned by the Indian Ministry of Electronics and IT due to security reasons. The reasons and developments leading up to the ban were similar to those for the PUBG Mobile and TikTok bans.

According to a report by HT Tech, Garena released an exclusive statement regarding the whole situation by saying “We are aware that Free Fire is currently unavailable in the Google Play and iOS app stores in India and that the game is currently not operable for some users in the country. We are working to address the situation and we apologise to our users for any inconvenience”.

As of now, the 54 applications which include Garena Free Fire, have been blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  with immediate effect to preserve the nation's "security and sovereignty." The MAX variant of Free Fire has been left out of Google's list of blocked apps, so players can still find it in the Play Store. For now, Free Fire MAX is still functioning in India.

Players should download Free Fire's enhanced version to access account information and in-game data because both Free Fire and Free Fire MAX are essentially the same game with a difference in graphics and animations.

Garena Free Fire is still under development on some devices and networks. Therefore, players should wait for further official updates from Garena about, when both games (Free Fire and the MAX version) will launch in India.

Fans can only hope the MAX variant is not doomed to the same fate as Free Fire and that Garena will be successful in their discussions with the Indian Government.