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On January 24, Rushindra Sinha, the CEO and co-owner of Global Esports, opined that BGMI wouldn't return to India. He claimed any purported release would have happened by now.
It has been almost six months since the game was banned in the country by the Government of India, and there is no update on the status of its return.
He posted a long thread on his Twitter account, which read:
"REALITY CHECK, PUBG Mobile launched in March 2018 and got banned in Sept 2020 (30 months). PUBG Mobile has been banned since 29 months. BGMI Launched in July 2021 and got banned in July 2022 (12 months). BGMI has been banned since 6 months. Let that reality sink in."
PUBG Mobile from Tencent was released worldwide in March 2018 and gained popularity within a few months due to its unique features. However, it was banned in India on September 2, 2020, by the government citing security concerns.
However, Krafton launched a battle-royale game called "Battlegrounds Mobile India" in the country on July 2, 2021, nine months after the PUBG Mobile ban. Unfortunately, it faced a similar fate, having been removed from Google Play and Apple Store on July 28, 2022, following the Indian government's order.
He further stated that:
"IMO the game isn’t coming back, if it was going to come back it would have by now, the silence from the publisher and the govt should be telling enough, the fact that the company that Krafton invested in is hosting a 1cr New State India LAN should be telling enough."
Rushindra Sinha says that BGMI will not come back
Following the ban, Krafton stated that the company would work with government authorities to resolve related issues and make every effort to resume BGMI services. So far, however, no other news has come from their side regarding the game's release.
ESL and Nodwin Gaming have organized a PUBG New State tournament named "Pro Series India," which has a humongous prize pool of ₹1 crore (around $123K) and will conclude on January 29.
Pointing towards the event, he mentioned that Krafton has invested ₹1 crore in its prize pool, which indicates why the company is organizing this PUBG New State competition.
He claimed that predicting BGMI's return is completely misleading and deemed it a bad business model. He stated:
"I’m all for Hopium and Copium but at this point it’s just purely misleading and detrimental to the ecosystem for everyone to just ‘wait’ for the games return. That’s literally the worlds WORST business model - and then people wonder why esports orgs aren’t sustainable."
Global Esports, despite the game being banned for more than six months, has not released its BGMI roster and is paying their salaries. He stated:
"I want the game to come back more than anyone else, I’m paying my boys salary for the past 6 months and will continue doing so as long as they are under my roof but that doesn’t mean the game is coming back. I hope it does but it ends there, with nothing but ‘HOPE’"
Fans and professional athletes have been waiting for Battlegrounds Mobile India for the past six months. Meanwhile, several Indian organizations have also entered the PUBG New State scene with their dedicated roster. It will be interesting to see further BGMI developments if Krafton can sort out the issues related to the game launch in the country.
