We all know that the Indian government has recently banned PUBG Revamped Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). You’ll no longer see BGMI on both the Google Play Store and the App Store. However, the Google Play Store removed BGMI, saying that BGMI violated the country’s security boundaries. The Indian government has yet to clear it.
Following this, many BGMI enthusiasts argue, “Why is BGMI banned in India?” Nevertheless, there is no satisfactory answer as of now. So, those gamers are highly disappointed with the government’s decision. Keeping such concerns in mind, I’ve prepared a detailed guide to help you understand the different aspects of the BGMI ban.
Why did the Indian government ban BGMI?
In 2020, the Indian government banned a long queue of Chinese apps, including PUBG Mobile. After a long argument with the government, a South Korean company, Krafton, developed and published PUBG’s rebranded version, called BGMI. Since its launch, BGMI has broken all the records that PUBG set in terms of users, views, and revenue.
Because BGMI is almost inspired by Battle Royale King PUBG, many existing PUBG users have shifted to it. BGMI engaged new users and organised a blockbuster tournament some weeks ago. Everything was going well with BGMI, except that they failed to comply with server regulations. BGMI’s servers are outside the country, and Chinese tech giant Tencent owns a 13.5 per cent stake in Krafton.
Based on such facts, BGMI may be sharing its server data outside the country. Probably because of this concern, the Indian government has banned BGMI under Section 69A of India’s IT law, which restricts the app’s access to the country to maintain the sovereignty and integrity of India. Overall, BGMI is not completely a Chinese company but partly has Tencent’s stakeholding and servers.
Why are BGMI servers insecure for Indians?
As mentioned above, BGMI servers are outside the country. Also, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s (MEITY) official notification claims that BGMI has numerous violations that could be hazardous for Indian gamers. Following this, Indian gamers may face many cyberattacks in the future. Keeping all such concerns in mind, the government has decided to stop the game fully.
Moreover, the government also knows that BGMI is nothing but a new package from PUBG Mobile. It means the problems are still there. So, if Krafton wants to establish itself again in the gaming market, it must take over its complete server in India. As a result, the entire game will be secured under Indian cyber boundaries, reducing the chances of sharing user data.
Will BGMI come back to India?
BGMI had earlier incorporated itself as a company in Bengaluru. After the PUBG ban, everything was newly set up to get the game on track. However, they were not able to bring their servers to India. For this reason, the government strictly banned all such apps with servers in China. We can say BGMI will be relaunched, but not now.
BGMI officials have presented their arguments in favour of security to the Indian government. Similar to last year, it indeed took some time to get things resolved and back to normal. The government gives no exact ban duration. So, at this moment, there is no chance of getting BGMI relaunched. However, it will indeed launch in the upcoming weeks.
Can We Still Play BGMI After the Ban?
No, there is no way to bypass the government’s BGMI ban orders anytime soon. If you search for BGMI on the Google Play Store and App Store, there will be no results. It means that until the game’s relaunch, you cannot play BGMI after the ban.
Collectively, Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is one of the best battle royales that became popular in just a year. Nevertheless, due to some security concerns, the Indian government banned it and completely revoked its access to India. It would be interesting to see how the government responds to Krafton’s argument against the ban.