“I really fear for the Free Fire athletes and the community”: Orangutan Esports' founder calls out Garena  for lack of clarity about the game in India

In the latest turn of events, Orangutan Esports Founder directly called out Garena for their lack of clear-sightedness over the Indian region, with no access to Free Fire, which has left several Esports athletes and the Free Fire enthusiasts stranded. Yash also mentioned that Krafton, the publishers of BGMI, have handled a ban situation similar to the predicament of Free Fire in a better way, much to the satisfaction of the BGMI community.

In his recent tweet, Yash Bhanushali expressed his bitterness over Garena India’s lack of action regarding their game's future in India.

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Yash Bhanushali was more optimistic about Free Fire

Exactly a month ago, Yash Bhanushali, the founder of Orangutan Esports, was optimistic about the possibility of BGMI and Garena coming back by March 2023.

In this regard, Yash Bhanushali tweeted optimistically, stating that either March or April will be a tentative date for both battle royale titles to come back into the Indian market.

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Both BGMI and Free Fire are currently banned from Google and Apple Play Stores in India

Well, the Indian Government has been on a banning spree ever since the Coronavirus lashed out. The banning spree began around September 2020, when PUBG was abruptly restricted in India.

Due to PUBG’s association with Chinese companies, the Indian Government was compelled to ban such games permanently. Mobile Legends Bang Bang also suffered a similar fate.

Soon, Krafton re-branded PUBG and developed a battle-royale title called BGMI. Although BGMI enjoyed tremendous success for more than a year, it soon came under the Indian Government’s radar. BGMI was dealt the same fate as PUBG and was banned last year on July 28.

After the PUBG ban, Krafton quickly cut-tie with Tencent for BGMI. The same was true with Call of Duty: Mobile, which also cut ties with Tencent. However, last year’s BGMI ban was to be the beginning of yet another ban spree by the Indian Government.

By the end of August 2022, Garena had become the next victim. The ban on the battle-royale title was peculiar, as the game was handled by Garena – a Singapore-based company, which doesn’t entirely align with the Government’s decision to ban Chinese apps. But it didn’t stop the Government from banning the game anyway.

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Why was Garena Free Fire banned in India?

By the end of August 2022, the Indian Government had banned Garena alongside 53 other apps due to security concerns. While the standard narrative is that the Indian Government was primarily banning Chinese apps, the real reason behind banning some games across the Google Play Store and Apple Store in India was due to data breaches and security concerns.

When Garena's battle royale title was banned, it had already garnered a massive community in India. Understandably, an intense backlash was imminent. However, to the surprise of many, Free Fire MAX survived the Indian Government’s jibe.

Only time will tell whether BGMI and Garena will return to the Indian market soon enough.