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BGMI was released as the Indian variant in 2021 during the Covid hiatus. Since then, the game has risen through the ranks in terms of popularity, crossing 100 million downloads.
However, its growth was halted by an interim suspension imposed on it by the Indian government. The government ordered both Google and Apple to remove the game from their respective virtual stores on July 28, following the rules mentioned in the Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
It has been over a month since then, and many parties have given statements on the matter. However, the title is yet to make its comeback in the Indian market.
Why was BGMI banned in India and what the response from Krafton?
While talking to a news channel, a senior official from MEITY stated that the government has acted on multiple test reports and has found that Battlegrounds Mobile India contains harmful codes that can be a threat to India's sovereignty, integrity and security.
According to him, the app requires permissions that can be used for surveillance by servers located outside India.
Meanwhile, while replying to an unstarred question raised in parliament, Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology) hinted at how BGMI was identified as one amongst the potentially detrimental apps that were responsible for sending information outside India.
Meanwhile, both Krafton India's CEO Sean Hyunil Sohn and Krafton's CFO Bae Dog-Geun have issued statements highlighting how the company has always tried to comply and follow the rules laid out by the Indian government.
The officials stressed that the company its trying its best to co-operate with MEITY and fix the problems that have arisen. Both urged users to remain positive and look forward to any further notice from Krafton.
What is BGMI's current status?
As mentioned earlier, the BR title remains blocked from the virtual stores of Google and Apple. However, the in-game servers are still functioning, and millions of gamers across the country are playing BGMI daily. Many popular YouTubers like Dynamo, Hector, Omega, and Kani Gaming are livestreaming the title daily.
However, bringing sorrow to users, the latest 2.2 update was not incorporated by Krafton India. To make matters worse, the monthly Royale Pass tab was also locked on 20 September, hinting that the latest M15 and the upcoming M16 RPs may not be added to the title. Battlegrounds Mobile India users may have no other option but to play the existing modes (added in the 2.1 update) for the next couple of months.
Meanwhile, Hrishav Bhattacharjee, CEO of War Mania, posted an Instagram story where he mentioned that there is a high chance that the game might make its comeback in December as the servers are not migrated. He even mentioned that until the game makes its return, players will be barred from making UC purchases and experiencing any new updates.
It remains to be seen when MEITY and Krafton can settle the issue and get the game back to the Indian market.
