Garena brings back Free Fire with MS Dhoni as a Brand Ambassador

Garena is bringing Free Fire, its most popular Battle Royale title, back to India, and the community will be thrilled to know that MS Dhoni will be the game’s new brand ambassador. The Indian government banned many Chinese applications in February 2022, citing security and safety reasons. Popular titles like PUBG and Free Fire were also on that list, and it has been a huge setback for the Indian esports and gaming scene.

However, after BGMI’s return to the Indian market, fans of Garena's BR title were also speculating about their favorite Battle Royale title's return. The rumors grew stronger as Diptanshu Saini and Gyan Gaming, some of the big names from the esports and content creation scene, stated the comeback of the game in the country.

Finally, Garena, the Singaporean global online game development company, revealed the launch of Free Fire India, a version of the game specifically designed to meet the criteria of the Indian government and the audience. The game will be available in the country on September 5, 2023.

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Free Fire returns to India: MS Dhoni will be a brand ambassador of the game

Recently. there had been news of Garena’s meeting with the UP government and Yotta, a Hiranandani Group company, where the game-developing company signed two MOUs. This also ignited rumors of the game’s return to the country.

The Indian government banned the title, citing data security issues. Therefore, the developer team has partnered with Yotta, a new-age digital transformation service provider. They will provide the local cloud hosting and storage infrastructure for the title.

Vaibhav Das Mundhra, the Senior Manager and Game Producer from Garena, said in one of his interviews:

“Free Fire India will be an India-exclusive app. It will come with content and features that are specific to the Indian market.”

Not only that, the company has signed MS Dhoni as the brand ambassador of Free Fire India. The former Indian cricket team’s (ICT) captain’s love for Battle Royale titles is no secret. Now he will also become the first Indian sportsperson to enter a game as a playable character.

MS Dhoni’s character in the game will be called Thala. However, upon its return, the game plans to bring other Indian sportspersons and athletes to the game, like Sunil Chettri, Saina Nehwal, Leander Paes, and many more, to join the ex-ICT leader in the game.

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The game will soon make its long-awaited comeback next week. Garena announced their FFWS 2023 slot division by region, where two slots are still open. With the game’s return to the country and MS Dhoni featuring as a playable character in the game, Indian gamers should prepare to grab those slots.