The Indian youth were in for a surprise on Thursday, after the Indian version of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BMGI) a multiplayer game vanished from the App stores of Google and Apple following orders by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The game was released on July 2, 2021, for Android devices exclusively for players in the country. Krafton, the developer and publisher of the App in India said – “We are clarifying how BGMI was removed from the Google Play store and the App store and will let you know once we get specific information.”
A Google spokesperson giving clarity on the de-listing said- “On receipt of the order, following the established process, we have notified the affected developer and have blocked access to the app that remained available on the Play Store in India.”
Earlier this month, the game developer announced that its BGMI had surpassed 100 million registered users. It also said that BGMI had completed one year of being one of the loved games amongst the Indian youth.
“BGMI’s first year has been a resounding success with millions of players joining to experience the game. We have brought in major tournaments, Indian-themed collaborations, and celebrated India-centric events with the community with a goal of curating gameplay unique to our Indian users,” Krafton CEO Changhan Kim had said in a statement.
The ban comes two years after PUBG, a similar multiplayer game was banned in the country after reports of stealing and surreptitiously transmission of users’ in an unauthorised manner was reported. The Govt in the same note blocked another 118 Chinese mobile apps. According to the Indian govt, these apps were prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order.