Why is Free Fire banned in India? Official statement and more

Free Fire is among the most popular battle royale games in India and has managed to accumulate a massive fan base. Content creation, streaming, and esports relevant to the title have seen steady growth in recent years, making it a popular career choice for players.

However, ever since the declaration of the ban by the Government, the game’s community has been in a state of melancholy over the future. Furthermore, as there is a lack of information, players have been looking for the reason behind the suspension.

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The reason behind Free Fire's ban in India

The Indian Government issued the ban on Free Fire a week ago, on 14 February. Due to security concerns, they have prohibited more than 200 apps, such as PUBG Mobile, Tik Tok, PUBG Mobile Lite, and more, in multiple ban waves over the last few years.

Reports have indicated that the popular title and the other 53 applications have been suspended due to the same issue as in the previous occurrences. However, to the surprise of the game’s community, Free Fire MAX was not banned and is still available on the Google Play Store.

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Official statement

Several gamers were looking forward to Garena’s official statement, and many were relieved when it was issued:

“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.”

Nonetheless, the statement doesn’t shed any light on the ban and only discloses the developer’s response to the removal from the respective App Stores.

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Reactions from community

Amitbhai stated the following while reacting to the ban being implemented on Free Fire:

“If the Government has banned it, we must abide by the rules set forth by them. Any action they take is aimed at the betterment of the general public and thus must be followed.”

Meanwhile, another popular content creator, Lokesh Gamer, mentioned that the game was blocked but not banned in one of his videos.

Apart from this, several fans expressed their concern:

It will be interesting to see whatever occurs in the upcoming days and what the future of the game in the nation will be.