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Free Fire’s unexpected ban announced by the Indian government yesterday, 14 February, 2022, took everyone by surprise. The impact of the ban spread as far as the U.S., where shares of Garena’s parent company Sea Limited crashed.
The battle royale game was the most famous mobile game in India and accounted for around 40 million of Free Fire’s 75 million active users. Garena’s flagship title was removed from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store on 12 February, 2022, which first gave rise to ban rumors among mobile gamers.
While many players were of the opinion that it was a technical glitch, most have since lost hope after it was removed from mobile app stores. The exact cause of the ban is still a mystery.
Garena’s parent company’s stock crashes immediately after Free Fire ban
Garena is the publisher of Free Fire and its parent company is Sea Limited. Both companies are based in Singapore, which is all the more reason why many players are of the opinion on why the ban is unjustified.
Followed by the unexpected ban of the battle royale game in India, the shares of Sea Ltd (SE:NYSE), traded on the New York Stock Exchange, saw a 18.56% decline. Sea Ltd was already facing a tough time as the value of its shares fell by around 60% since November 2020.
The closing price of one share on 11 February, 2022 was $158.25. The opening price per share on 14 February, 2022, the day of the ban, was $139 and the price further plummeted to $128.76, the lowest of the day.
Garena has not yet confirmed whether the game will be un-banned in the future. Official sources from the publisher of the game gave the following statement to Sportskeeda Esports:
“We are aware that Free Fire is currently unavailable in the Google Play and iOS app stores in India and that the game is currently not operable for some users in the country. We are working to address this situation, and we apologize to our users for any inconvenience.”
For now, players can enjoy both titles as the servers are still live and they can also download Free Fire MAX from the Google Play Store.
Check out the latest Free Fire MAX redeem codes here.
