BGMI ban in India: Timeline, latest developments, and more

July 28 became a dark day in the history of BGMI as the game was removed from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store in India following government orders. The government restricted the game following the rules laid down under Section 69A of The Information Technology Act, 2000.

It has been a week since then, and both Indian government officials and Krafton have remarked on the game's potential ban.

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Recent developments around BGMI's ban that fans should be aware of

The sudden removal of BGMI created a huge buzz amongst fans in the Indian gaming community. In response, a senior official from MEITY, recently spoke to News 18 and mentioned how several agencies analyzed the game before sending the report to the Indian government.

Based on the reports, the government ordered Google and Apple to delist the game from their virtual stores.

The official stated that Battlegrounds Mobile India contained harmful code and required several critical permissions to run on a user's device. These codes could tamper with stored user data and use it for surveillance via microphones, cameras, location tracking, and malicious network activity.

He further mentioned that BGMI was detrimental to India's sovereignty, and the government undertook the necessary actions when the feedback was received.

A senior official also discussed the matter of rebranding as he pointed out that several Chinese apps were rebranded and acted as "old wine in a new bottle" in India. However, these apps failed to create servers in the country.

The official said that BGMI was a rehashed version of the already banned PUBG Mobile.

Skyesports' CEO and Founder, Shiva Nandy, shared insights regarding the lead-up to the game's removal. He mentioned that it was a five-month process. An interim notice was sent to Krafton HQ a week before the game was removed. Two days before the incident, the government hinted at a potential ban, and Skyesports put a hold on the upcoming BGMI tournaments because of it.

He also clarified that the delisting was not a ban but an interim order.

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Official statement from Krafton

Krafton is working incessantly to make the popular BR title available to Indian gamers. The South Korean company, renowned for making great games, also incurred great losses in the stock market due to the Indian government's decision.

Krafton India's CEO, Sean Hyunil Sohn, recently released a statement commenting on the company's commitment to helping the growth of esports and gaming in India.

Based on this statement, Krafton has always been concerned about protecting the security and privacy of its users' data. He insisted that the company has abided by all the rules in India (including data protection laws and regulations) and would continue to abide by them in the future.

He thanked gamers for their continuous support since BGMI's release and assured them that Krafton was looking forward to participating in India's gaming ecosystem. Sohn also mentioned that Krafton was working tirelessly to establish communication with concerned authorities and settle the matter regarding the game's removal.

Sohn requested that players remain patient and mentioned that the company would inform them about further updates on the matter. It remains to be seen when the crowd-favorite game makes its return to both the Google Play Store and App Store. Players are hoping for the best and waiting to see how the situation gets resolved.