According to Section 69A of the IT Act, which also covers reasons like national security, the game was prohibited. One popular notion was that it was transmitting user data from Indian users to servers in China.
A year and a half after the well-liked battle royale game was outlawed, Garena is relaunching Free Fire in India, TechCrunch reported on August 31.
According to Garena, the relaunched game, Free Fire India, will employ Yotta servers, a division of India’s Hiranandani business, for cloud and data storage. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, an Indian cricketer, will represent the company’s brand in the nation, the company said.
The Indian government banned Free Fire in February 2022 along with 53 other apps that have ties to China. At the time, India accounted for more than 40 million of the game’s active users worldwide.
Free Fire and the other apps were prohibited under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, which covers concerns including national security but for which the government did not provide any details. One notion going around was that the game was transmitting user data from Indian players to Chinese servers. The business, however, refuted this accusation. The ban was further puzzling given that Garena Free Fire MAX, an improved version of Free Fire, remained accessible on the Google Play Store.
The parent company of Garena, Sea Limited, experienced a share price decline of 18% in New York the day after the Free Fire ban, erasing more than $16 billion from the business’s market worth. Eventually, Sea Limited’s headquarters in Singapore launched a diplomatic intervention in response to this, but the outcome of that effort is still unclear.
An additional well-known online game made a comeback earlier this year. After being outlawed in July 2022, Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) made a three-month trial run in May. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s state minister for information technology, tweeted at the time, “We will keep a close watch on other issues of user harm, addiction, etc. until a decision is made definitively, over the following three months.
It is unknown whether Garena was in discussions with the Indian authorities to allay their worries and whether the relaunch is being done on a trial basis akin to BGMI.
A variety of user safety features are included with Free Fire India, including a three-hour gameplay limit (six hours for those over 18) and a daily spending cap of Rs 6,000 for those under the age of 18. The game will also allow for parental control and provide “take a break” reminders, according to Garena.
Starting on September 5, the game will be obtainable on app stores Free Fire.
Other localization features include a verification system to enable parental control, playtime restrictions, and “take a break” reminders in Free Fire India.
We are thrilled to be able to help our fans from Bharat with the launch of Free Fire India because India is home to extremely dedicated communities of esports aficionados. We’re excited to provide Indian users with a memorable and highly localized experience. According to Gang Ye, cofounder of Garena, “We think that our relationship with Yotta will ensure that our users can enjoy the greatest quality gaming experience and benefit from Yotta’s expertise in preserving and securing Indian user data.
He stated that the organization is also starting the Free Fire India Esports Championships.
After Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) made a comeback in the nation, Free Fire is now back in India.
According to a Lumikai analysis published last year, gaming revenue in India is predicted to increase to $8.6 billion by FY27, expanding at a CAGR of 27%.
In FY22, Indians played mobile games an average of 8.5 hours per week. Top mid-core games like BGMI consumed twice as much time as other top casual games.
In addition to BGMI, Free Fire India will face off against the Pune-based SuperGaming battle royale game Indus, which was also developed in India. Indus is expected to launch in closed beta during the upcoming holiday season and has reportedly surpassed 5 million pre-registrations on Google Play.