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Game developers Krafton released BGMI as the country's own variant of the renowned battle royale mobile game PUBG Mobile. Battlegrounds Mobile India has crossed over 100 million downloads since its release last year, and it soon became one of the most popular games in the country. The game also had a massive esports scene growing around it.
However, the title was revoked from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store on July 28. The incident left players and influencers across the country appalled and disheartened.
Ever since the incident took place, the game has undergone several changes and faced various restrictions, including strict restrictions on UC purchases. Fans and players of the game should read the section below to learn more about it.
Indian government prohibits in-game UC purchases after BGMI's suspension
The removal of the game from virtual storefronts was followed by a strict restriction on the purchase of the in-game currency.
Players were prohibited from making any kind of UC purchase from the in-game store or through the officially recognized website, Codashop. To date, the restrictions on UC purchases have not been lifted.
Meanwhile, several YouTubers discovered glitches in the system that enabled users with iOS devices to purchase UC through the store. The glitch lasted for a few days before Krafton became aware of it and restricted its use. This marked the end of any UC purchases in the game.
As of now, no new updates are getting added to Battlegrounds Mobile India. The latest 2.2 update was not added to the Indian variant even though it has successfully appeared in the global variant.
On September 20, the Cycle 3 Season 7 was re-introduced and the RP section was locked, which resulted in the unavailability of the Month 15 Royale Pass. Because of this, it is safe to assume that UC purchases will be restricted for the next few weeks at the very least.
Fans are now eagerly waiting for the conclusion of the Month 15 RP, which might result in the appearance of the Month 16 RP and the UC store being made available for Indian gamers.
MeitY's stance on BGMI's suspension
In reply to an RTI filed by a gamer, GodYamarajOP, MeitY responded by saying that it acted on the request of designated nodal officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). They blocked BGMI following the rules and provisions of Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 together with the Information Technology (Procedure and safeguards for stopping access of public information) Rules, 2009.
Based on the rules of Section 69A of IT Act, 2000 the Indian government can give directions to block any information from public access via any computer.
In the same reply, MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) confirmed that a confidential meeting occurred between them and Krafton representatives. However, since Rule 16 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 prohibits the sharing of information about any complaints/requests and the measures taken in response, details of the said meeting cannot be publicly shared.
It remains to be seen if both MeitY and Krafton are able to reach an agreement and bring BGMI back.
