Is Free Fire getting unbanned in India? Everything we know so far

After months of hiatus, there are finally glimmers of hope for the Indian Free Fire fans and esports players for the game's return. The new beacon of light has come after Garena recently signed two MOUs in the country, one with the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the other with Yotta Data Services, a Hiranandani group company for managing its Indian services.

This has given rise to a number of conjectures and discussions about the battle royale title return to the country once again. Furthermore, a series of Instagram stories from Diptanshu Saini, co-founder of Chemin Esports, one of the popular organizations in this space, has further led credence to them.

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Will Free Fire be unbanned in India?

Although there is no official answer to this question, recent developments and Instagram stories by Diptanshu Saini suggest that Free Fire's comeback might be on the horizon.

One of the stories from Chemin Esports' co-founder (Image via Instagram)

In one of the recent stories, he shared a picture of Chemin Esports' FFPL trophy while writing that wait is finally over, indicating the game's services could soon be restored. In subsequent stories, he further added:

"Glad to be the part. Some things cannot be revealed but all the best, and congratulations to Free Fire enthusiasts. Stay tuned for more updates."

This hints that Garena might have work in progress behind the scenes to get things back on track. Diptanshu Saini also exclusively told Sportskeeda that the game was returning in India with the re-release of the Free Fire MAX.

Interestingly, the initial ban hammer was only on the regular version of the battle royale title, and the enhanced version was spared. Nonetheless, despite not being on the blocked application list, Free Fire MAX version is only available on the Google Play Store as it was delisted from the App Store alongside the normal version immediately in February 2022.

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Garena announced slots for the FFWS 2023, and two of the places were not revealed. Considering the recent developments, speculations are rife in the community that these could potentially be to accommodate the Indian team post-return.

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Free Fire ban timeline

The game was banned in 2023 (Image via Garena)

The problems first began with the login issues in early February 2022, and things spiraled down as, within hours, the game and its enhanced version were pulled down from the Apple App Store. On the same day, the suit of delisting followed on the Google Play Store, but it was only limited to the regular version.

On February 14, 2023, the news of the game's ban, alongside 53 other applications, came to light. This devasted fans and esports players. Moreover, FFIC Spring 2022, as well as the other events listed for the year with a huge prize pool, were canceled. Thus, the return of Garena's title alongside the recently relaunched Krafton's IP BGMI has the potential to take esports to the next level.