As of now, it is not clear if Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) has been completely banned in India.
Fans of the popular battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) are shocked after the game suddenly disappeared from Google Play Store and App Store on Thursday. Aneesh Thomas, 32, who plays BGMI regularly said he is extremely disheartened to see the game being removed. “While BGMI is removed from app stores, it is still accessible for me. However, the same thing happened with PUBG as well. First, it was removed and after a couple of days, we couldn’t play.”
As of now, it is not clear why the government directed the game to be taken down. “We are clarifying how BGMI was removed from Google Play store and the App store and will let you know once we get specific information,” Krafton said in a statement. However, Google, while removing the app from its store, has cited the government’s request to remove the game.
BGMI fans want the Indian government to reinstate the game in the country and are looking for a reasonable explanation for its abrupt removal. “The sudden removal is probably aiming towards a blanket ban. This decision will only hurt the gaming ecosystem,” Pranav Panpalia, founder of gaming community OpraahFX told indianexpress.com. He said both Freefire and BGMI, the top games played in the country, were removed in a similar manner. “There is a million multi-million dollar economy, which is revolving around these games, there are carriers which are associated with it. So, banning it doesn’t make sense to me.”