[Live] BGMI Banned; Battlegrounds Mobile India Removed from Play Store & iOS App Store
BGMI Banned: In an unexpected turn of events, Battlegrounds Mobile India, popularly known as BGMI, appears to have been banned in India today. The India-specific version of Krafton’s popular battle royale game, PUBG Mobile, has been pulled from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Let’s check out all the details about the alleged BGMI India ban.
Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) Got Banned?
BGMI players are complaining on social media platforms about the disappearance of BGMI from the Play Store this evening. Reports of the game’s removal from the iOS App Store have since surfaced online, fueling rumors of the game being banned in India.
We have independently verified the reports and BGMI is not available to download on our devices as well on the Play Store and iOS App Store. As you can see in the screenshot below, searching for BGMI on the Play Store brings back the options for PUBG Mobile, but the title is not taken into account here.
Note: At the current time BGMI is working fine and is available to play for those who already have the game installed on their device. The servers don’t seem to be offline, and the app doesn’t have any warning messages yet.
BGMI recently announced that it has grown over 100 million players and celebrated its first anniversary in India. Now, only a month later, the game (an India-exclusive clone of PUGB Mobile, which was banned a few years ago) has unexpectedly disappeared, begging us to question – Is BGMI (aka PUBG Mobile) once again been banned in India? Do tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
Currently, there is no official word from the government and the game’s developer Krafton. So stay tuned for more details.
Update 1 (29//07/2022 12:20 am)
In an official statement to TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson confirmed that BGMI has been removed from the Play Store in response to a government order. Check out the full statement here:
“On receipt of the 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.” Krafton is looking into the request for the game’s takedown from app stores in India, so stay tuned for more information.
Update 2 (31//07/2022 11:00 am)
Based on the reports, the Government of India has banned BGMI under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. For those unaware, this section empowers the Central Government or any of its officers to issue directions to restrict public access to any information through any computer resource.
According to the section, the applicable restrictions are generally made in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the defense of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order or to prevent the commission of any cognizable offense relating to the above.
Update 3 (31//07/2022 11:05 am)
The Indian government’s move to ban the game in India affected the share price of Krafton, which fell nearly 9% in early trading yesterday and ended the day with a -4.5% loss.
At the time of writing, the servers of the BGMI are still functioning but could be taken down very soon. Many players have started switching and trying out other games similar to that of BGMI, such as PUBG New State, Call of Duty, and more. You can check out the Top 5 BGMI alternatives that you can play right now.