New Delhi: The Indian government has now blocked the PUBG-like battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) that had 100 million users in India. The move came in continuation with the government’s ban on several Chinese apps in the past two years, including Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) over national security concerns. Following Delhi’s directive, tech giants Google and Apple had blocked the BGMI gaming app from their respective online stores late last month.Also Read – Battlegrounds Mobile Ban India: Gaming Companies Write To PM Modi For Uniform, Fair Treatment
Chronology Of BGMI’s Ban In India
Although there is no official statement from the government on the BGMI ban yet, here is the chronological explanation of how and why the game was taken down from Google and Apple app stores in the country. Also Read – Will TikTok, Battlegrounds Mobile India Make Comeback to India Anytime Soon? Check What Experts Say
- In November 2020, it was revealed for the first time that PUBG Mobile would be relaunched in India under the new entity ‘PUBG Mobile India’.
- A year after the ban of PUBG, South Korean games developer Krafton launched BGMI in 2021, exclusively for gaming enthusiasts in India.
- In the same month, PUBG Studios and South Korea’s video game company Krafton registered PUBG India Private Ltd under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs in order to relaunch PUBG Mobile in the country.
- In June 2021, controversy erupted following the early beta release for Android users that data from users’ Android devices was being sent to Tencent-owned China servers.
- Following the data-sharing violation, Krafton issued an update to resolve the data sharing issue with China-based servers.
- Krafton announced the launch of the BGMI game in May 2021.
- The game was finally released on July 2 the same year for Android devices and August 18 for iOS devices.
- In a span of one year, BGMI has surpassed 100 million registered users.
- Last year, Krafton said it invested nearly $100 million to improve India’s local video game, e-sports, and entertainment startups to build a healthy gaming start-up ecosystem.
- Over the years, several experts have claimed that in the so-called new avatar, the BGMI was no different from erstwhile PUBG, with China-based Tencent still controlling it in the background.
- In February this year, non-profit organization, Prahar, wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the IT Ministry (MeitY) to block the “Chinese app BGMI” under section 69A of the Information Technology Act, as it “poses a threat to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the state, and public order”.
- Following the government’s order, the tech giants pulled the popular battle royale game from their respective app stores on July 28.
BGMI Still Accessible To Indian Users
The game can be played by users who have already installed the app. During the company’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday, Krafton CFO Bae Dong-geun said the company respects and understands the Indian government’s concern. Also Read – Battlegrounds Mobile India Banned: 3 Alternate Games You Can Play Instead On Android And iOS
“We have been directly running the service based on stringent data security standards and monitoring. We will closely cooperate with the authorities to find ways for the users in India to keep enjoying BGMI,” Dong-geun said.
After the government ordered Google and Apple to ban BGMI, some gaming companies have written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting for a ‘fair treatment’ to help foster the gaming ecosystem in the country.
(With IANS inputs)
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