Battlegrounds Mobile India, the popular battle royale commonly known as BGMI, was removed from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store on late Thursday night. A Google India spokesperson confirmed the removal, saying that the game was removed following a Government order. “On receipt of an order, following established process, we have notified the affected developer and have blocked access to the app that remained available on the Play store in India,” the spokesperson said. BGMI is a rebranded version of PUBG Mobile, which was banned in India along with 117 other Chinese apps by the Centre in 2020 as they were found to be “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” The game was eventually relaunched as Battlegrounds Mobile India by South Korea-based Krafton with some tweaks.
As Krafton reportedly plans to meet with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to help resolve the issue, the Indian eSports and gaming community has expressed its concerns if the game actually gets banned in the country. BGMI has found a dedicated base of supporters thanks to the game being featured in eSports tournaments regularly. If the popular battle royale does get banned, it might leave an adverse effect on the country’s eSports scenario.
Here’s what the eSports community in India is saying about BGMI’s removal from app stores:
Shivam Rao, co-founder of Trinity Gaming India, a marketing partner to BGMI, said, “As the marketing partners for BGMI we were pleased to notice the positive outcome in the industry with the birth of BGMI last year. But now, with this ban, the options for players and gamers reduce drastically. If the ban decision holds, we will probably see a decline in the number of gamers and their communities across India. Meanwhile, this decision has come when India is going to debut in the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham, England. It will certainly impact discussions and participation of gamers and the overall Indian eSports ecosystem.”
“While we appreciate policy and regulation and accept the govt’s decision, we hope that the sentiments of the youth, gamers, and the eSports industry overall is managed,” Rao added.
Parth Chadha, the CEO and co-founder of STAN, a blockchain-based eSports and gaming fan engagement startup said, “The recent removal of BGMI app from Play store and Apple App Store has caused a lot of uncertainty and upheaval amongst the BGMI-lovers' community in India — which is at the moment growing bigger with every passing day. This move, if it turns out to be a permanent one, affects the BGMI athletes in our country big time; hence the time is now to squad up together against this one.”
Chadha added, “We at STAN realise the immense socio-economic potential that BGMI has for our nation, and thus we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the community to help them overcome any crisis scenarios, be it now or in the future. Of course, while it is true that the esports industry is not just about one game, but then, the Government must realise that banning it is never a solution.”
Technology and gaming lawyer Jay Sayta said, “The Government has not clarified its stand but such kind of knee-jerk bans dampen investor sentiments and take India behind in its goal to become an eSports hub.”
Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India and Vice President of Asian Esports Foundation (ASEF), said, “India is paving its path to becoming a multi-sport nation where every sport is getting the right visibility, audience, and investment to grow. We have to reflect the same in eSports where we need to start giving exposure to multi Esports titles and not limited to one. With so much attention on every front including the Government, it’s also high time our Indian Video game developers speed up the process to launch world-class esports video game titles.”
Rohit Jagasia, founder and CEO of eSports talent platform Revenant Esports, said, “The BGMI ban will definitely be a setback for all major stakeholders like tournament organisations, eSports teams, coaches, support staff, and most importantly the Athletes.”
Jagasia added, “However, at Revenant Esports, we will still be supporting our BGMI Athletes and make sure they use our training facility to create content and try their hand at different games.”
Sagar Nair, co-founder and CEO of gaming-focussed networking app Qlan, said, “Looking at it from a sports lens, although we are a multi-sport nation, cricket enjoys the biggest chunk of revenue and viewership source in our country. This potential stay [of ban] will hamper the whole esports ecosystem — consumers, businesses, stakeholders, jobs, and much more. There is a large investment riding on startups, tournaments, and game streaming, it's a trickle effect waiting to happen.”
“All we know is that such occurrences are becoming more common by the year, and are happening without any foresight,” said Rohit Agarwal, founder and director of gaming-focussed marketing agency Alpha Zegus. “Not very long ago, we saw a wave of China-based apps getting banned overnight, and also saw the likes of Free Fire getting the red flag — all happening without any prior warnings. Also, with the recent incident of a boy killing his mother over a BGMI argument, the game had yet again come under the radar of the government and marked as ‘unsafe for young adults’. Similar incidents of arguments and damages due to the game have arisen in the past.”
Agarwal added, “I hope a regulatory body comes into play which monitors games over time, instead of banning them overnight.”