Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) got unbanned a few days ago and took the mobile gaming market by storm with reaching the top of the chart in Google Play Store in only a few days. Players are excited to get their hands on the latest BGMI gameplay, while the company is happy to have their game back in the market even though temporarily for now.

As of now, the game is under surveillance by the government and will remain that way for three months in order to ensure proper compliance is being followed after which the final decision to either unban the game permanently or banning the game again will be taken.

The servers went live on 29 May 2023 and were fully operational by the next day. With the unban, players say 2.5 update for BGMI that brought a new map, items and several gameplay changes along with some restrictions in order to promote responsible gaming.

Let’s have a quick look at some changes introduced –

New Map and Game Modes

With the latest update, comes a new map called Nusa. It is a tropical themed map with new mechanics like zipline for fast travel, elevators, huts that can catch fire, new two-person vehicles called ‘the quad’, tactical crossbow and NS2000 Shotgun.

Working around the game modes, players get all the older maps but now have even more options in arena and others. For starters, player now have Ultimate Arena which is similar to Arena mode in Apex Legends. 8v8 Team Death Match (TDM) and Arena training, Gun game, Domination, and Assault.

Other than that, the older Snipers only, War mode, and quick match is still present but a new addition of vs AI mode has been added in Beta. These modes are highly advised to player who do not have time to play the full map or just want to practice or warm up real quick.

While the game has a minimum requirement of 1.5 GB RAM with at least Android 4.3, graphics wise the BGMI gameplay feels a bit heavy and will not give an enjoyable experience on the current recommended specs. Thus, users with at least 6 GM RAM and a decent processor will be able to enjoy BGMI gameplay without much lag or stutter.

UI and Gameplay Changes

The UI also saw an overhaul since the last time with the lobby screen like the players know it along with two other sections. Swiping right will now encounter a new statistics screen with customization option while swiping right will take them to battle pass and cosmetics store.

Matches can be started from every screen but maps and mode can only be selected from the lobby. Player can also see a virtual avatar along with your character for checking your messages.

Gameplay wise, there are not many changes, but does include some quality of life changes like the map drop locations are more clear and there is new Super Recall which lets players revive their dead teammates. The revive only works if the last player from the team survives until others are revived. All in all BGMI still remains the game players love at core.

Censorship and Gameplay Limitations

Since this is a moderated unban to show that the game will not have any negative effects on players especially minors, there are some restrictions and minor censorship to overcome the violent nature of the game.

These include change in colour of blood splashes, moderated language parameters, statutory warning and BGMI’s gameplay and spending limits. Players are now greeted with message telling that BGMI is just a virtual game and not real live. Further, the game give break reminders to players every two hours.

While most of these are universal for players regardless of any age, there is a time limit of three hours for minors playing the game compare to the six-hour limit for players over the age of 18. The developers have also limited the maximum amount one can spend in a day to Rs 7,000.

Final Thoughts

The latest BGMI gameplay that players love and enjoyed with even more customization options. To celebrate the re-launch, there are also in-game events where players can get full permanent outfits.

There is just a little issue with monetization and how the game handles minors playing the game. On creating a new account, the game did ask for age verification but did not have any actual way to verify if the players just pressed the option that they are 18+.

Do note that the Google account used to log in was 18+ but if this remains the case for all new account logins, even the minors, it serves as a huge oversight by the developers and the company for proper age verification check.

Furthermore, the game is heavily monetized. While it is understandable that free games especially the live service ones do need to make money somehow as there is constant development and maintenance cost, the method used doesn’t fit quite right.

The game can absolutely played without spending a dime, but we have to keep in mind that India is one of the biggest gaming market with several young players who are easily swayed by what adults with income can afford. This was also a factor why the game was banned last time along with more concerning reason of national security.