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India’s most loved battle royal game, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), is no longer available to download from Google Play Store and is nowhere to be found on the Apple store either, following a ban on the game by the Indian government.
The ban on the popular game comes after a discussion on the repercussions of the game on the Indian audience in the Rajya Sabha session, in the wake of the harrowing incident of a child killing his mother due to his addiction to the BGMI. Earlier, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had weighed in on the matter and had stated that the Law Enforcement Agencies will look into the reason behind the reported incident.
“There was a media report that a child has killed his mother based on PUBG that he has been playing. It is a matter of investigation by LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies) to find the reason. But, the PUBG gaming app was blocked by MeitY in the year 2020, and the PUBG game is not available in the country since the,” Chandrasekhar said in a written reply.
Following the latest prohibition on the app, a spokesperson from Google has clarified their stance on the recent development. “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.”
Meanwhile following the setback, the developer of the game, Krafton, said, “we are clarifying how BGMI was removed from Google Play and will let you know once we get specific information.”
Notably, PUBG along with 117 other mobile apps was banned in India in September 2020 after the Government sought to ban Chinese apps in the country amidst border tensions between the neighboring countries. Krafton relaunched the game under the banner of BGMI in June last year after severing its ties with Chinese Tencent Games. The game established its craze among the users and crossed 100 million registered users in India, announced by Krafton earlier this month.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the development
According to reliable source there's a probability that BGMi will not be banned. It's a matter of time,decision will be transmission soon.#eSports #BGMI#India #bgmiban
— Rohith Eshwar.S (@Rohith_Es10) July 29, 2022
India has so many problems but the government is behind an app that is making India respectable on the global stage.@GoI_MeitY @PMOIndia #BGMI #bgmiremoved pic.twitter.com/un2O1i3Jel
— Soumyadip Dutta🇮🇳💙 (@Soumyad87772934) July 29, 2022
The viewership BGMI Tournament got in TV and digital platforms is second to cricket. There is a huge potential in the ecosystem and can create big income for the Government. Banning the game is obviously not the right thing. @GoI_MeitY @MIB_India #BGMI #bgmiban #bgmiremoved pic.twitter.com/gAIbX3jgih
— Shaa (@iam_shaa1) July 29, 2022
Many kids are thinking that BGMI=Esports 😂.
Please kids understand that Esports is not just bgmi there are many other games. #bgmiban #BGMI— Tanishq Gupta (@Tanishqgupta_) July 29, 2022
#BGMI blocked or banned? Here's a quick recap since 2018 when PUBG Mobile made its way to India.#bgmibanned #bgmiban pic.twitter.com/yX53e46qZj
— mysmartprice (@mysmartprice) July 29, 2022
Time for FAU-G again😎#bgmiban #BGMI #faug pic.twitter.com/RcXOykJwTN
— Suhas Mathad (@FounderSahab) July 29, 2022
#BGMIban comes days after its first year anniversary in India. https://t.co/Fxf0YLbqDp
— BGR.in (@BGRIndia) July 29, 2022
unban bgmi😭 #PUBG #BGMI #bgmiban https://t.co/4QdBDnXm9T
— Anmol Dhuwalia (@dhuwalia_anmol) July 29, 2022