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BGMI disappears from PlayStore, apk download link available on official website

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Battlegrounds Mobile India, the Indian version of the popular battle royale mobile game ‘PUBG Mobile’ has been removed from Google Play Store. The news comes at less than two months for Asian Games where PUBG is a medal event.

The reason behind the game’s removal has been unknown. However, reports indicate that Google acted upon receipt of an order from the government to block access to the popular game.

Although at the time of writing the game is available to download on the App store. The app is available for download through apk file link on the official website. The apk link appears to have been recently made available for the users. Archive snapshots analysed by Team G2G doesn’t reflect the apk download link on the website till July 1st week.

Krafton last year incorporated a local subsidiary before relaunching the Indian version of PUBG as BGMI. The game was banned in September 2020 citing security reasons, serving as a shot in the arm for the likes of FreeFire or CODM to expand its footprints in India.

Krafton launched a Indian version last year after having a data storage pact with Microsoft. Competitor FreeFire was banned earlier this year.

Neither, Google officials nor Krafton, the developers of the popular game have come up with any official statements. And there is no information about the BGMI ban from the government sources.

Earlier this month, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, addressed a media report that claimed ‘a child has killed his mother under the influence of PUBG’, adding that the law enforcement agencies are looking into the incident to see what caused it.

The minister stated that MEITY has received numerous reports and complaints alleging that restricted apps are rebranding themselves or surfacing in new avatars with the same functionality. All of these concerns, the minister added, have been referred to the home ministry for review.

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