Noushin
Aug, 13.2022
To examine the ban placed on Battlegrounds Mobile India, Krafton has been closely
coordinating with the Indian Government. The developers of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI)
said on Thursday that they are closely coordinating with the Indian government officials in
response to the prohibition on their most popular Battle Royale game. The CFO of Krafton, Bae
Dong-Geun said that the organization acknowledges and understands the objections of the
Indian government. In India, there are more than 100 million users of BGMI, giving it a sizeable
fan base.
Bae Dong-Geun stated, “In the second quarter, we expanded the paid content offerings,
provided a battle royale experience specific to BGMI, and broadened the user base through our
own offline cooperation in the local market.”
On July 28th , the Indian government reportedly removed the battle royale game from the Google
Play Store and Apple App Store as they suspected it to be sending users information to China.
Even PUBG Mobile and a substantial number of Chinese applications were banned in the
country in the year 2020 for precisely the same purpose.
According to Section 69A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, Battlegrounds Mobile India
isn’t available in the country anymore. According to Krafton's official website, consumer data is
stored at services in Singapore and India rather than in China.
Whilst Krafton is striving to bring the battle royale game back to the country as quickly as
possible, gaming associations have applied with the Indian authorities to reverse the restriction
and be considered a legitimate game in the Indian Esports ecosystem. Numerous gaming
organizations have urged fair treatment in an official letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
order to assist the developing Esports community in the country.
Similar to PUBG Mobile, BGMI likewise achieved attention and influence in Indian ESports since
its release. In 2022, the total prize money for several of the major BGMI competitions was
between 6 to 8 crores. The yearly payout of Valorant, which is the second-largest Esports game
in India is nowhere near 15% of BGMI, as proclaimed by professional player Devdeep Dhar.
The BGMI Master Series, organized by Nodwin Gaming back in July, was the very first ESports
event to ever be televised on an Indian TV network.