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Within a year of being introduced in India, BGMI saw a steep rise in popularity, with the title crossing over 100 million downloads. The game has also played a major part in the rise of esports in the country.
However, the popular title was removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store on July 28. The incident left gamers and influencers across the country shocked and disheartened.
It has been over a month since the incident occurred, and no new updates have been introduced in the game. However, the game's global counterpart, PUBG Mobile, has seen the incorporation of the latest 2.2 update. This has created a huge buzz amongst fans and players of the Indian variant.
Are the BGMI 2.2 update OBB files surfacing on the internet reliable?
As mentioned earlier, the 2.2 version has not been made available for Battlegrounds Mobile India due to the restrictions applied to the app. There will also be no other changes to the Indian variant of the BR title unless the suspension gets revoked. Additionally, the RP section is locked, and no new M15 RP has appeared.
However, many YouTubers and third-party websites have recently offered download links to OBB files that could allegedly help Indian gamers update their game to the latest 2.2 variant.
These OBB files will eventually redirect players to PUBG Mobile and download files for the global variant, which they can later allegedly add to BGMI as per the claims.
Since there is no way to download a major update from anywhere other than the virtual stores of Google and Apple (or the game's official website), these OBB files should be considered unreliable and fake.
Using these links can lead to the user's account getting banned. Hence, Indian players should refrain from downloading Battlegrounds Mobile India updates from any unreliable sources. Additionally, gamers should abstain from using any hacks, scripts, or third-party websites and apps.
MeitY stance on the ongoing BGMI suspension
In response to an RTI filed by a gaming enthusiast, GodYamarajOP, MeitY mentioned that it acted on the orders of designated nodal officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). They blocked BGMI following the provision of Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 along with the Information Technology (Procedure and safeguards for restricting access of public information) Rules, 2009.
Based on the rules of Section 69A of IT Act, 2000 the Government of India is allowed to give directions to block any information from public access via any computer.
In the same response, MeitY affirmed that a confidential meeting took place between them and the title's developers, Krafton India. However, since Rule 16 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 obstructs the sharing of information about any requests/complaints and the actions taken in response, details of the said meeting cannot be shared.
It remains to be seen if both Krafton and MeitY are able to reach an agreement and bring BGMI back.
