The Indian government has requested Apple and Google to remove Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) from their app stores on July 28, a year after its launch in the country. Our investigation shows that the popular Battle Royale game, published by South Korean firm Krafton, is no longer available for download. The request comes in the wake of several allegations against the game for being a rebranded version of PUBG Mobile, which was banned in September 2020 due to national security concerns. These concerns were recently raised in the Indian Parliament, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) declaring that BGMI was a different app than PUBG Mobile, suggesting that it was not a national security concern. It is unclear what changed that caused MeitY to remove the app.
While the government has not issued a statement confirming that the game has been permanently banned, Reuters reported that the title was pulled by MeitY using section 69A of the Information Technology Act, the same act used to lift the ban on 321 mobile apps since June 2020. BGMI is the 57th competition postponed as a result of these regulations. The bans mainly targeted mobile apps from China, mainly due to national security concerns. The removal of BGMI comes just 5 months after the ban on Garena Free Fire, the most popular battle royale game in India until then.
Krafton Launched BGMI After PUBG Mobile Was Banned
MeitY originally banned PUBG Mobile in September 2020 due to national security and data privacy issues, but not necessarily due to border tensions with China. While the PUBG IP is owned by Krafton, PUBG Mobile was developed and published in India by the Chinese gaming giant Tencent. At the time of the ban, PUBG Mobile was the No. 1 game in India in terms of both revenues and downloads, and was a major driver of the growth of mobile gaming in the country. The ban had a profound impact on the battle royale segment and the wider gaming ecosystem, with the unserved demand being satisfied over time by Garena Free Fire.
Krafton announced in November 2020 that it would bring its core battle royale experience back to India, with the launch of BGMI in July 2021. Krafton is fully committed to the Indian market by self-publishing the title and using local servers. to store user data securely and in the country, and announcing that it would invest more than US$100 million in the Indian gaming, esports, entertainment and IT industries, which it has done. The game gained significant popularity at launch given the popularity of Battle Royale games in the country, with 40 million pre-launch registrations and 16 million daily active users in the first 10 days.
BGMI had over 100 million downloads in its first year
BGMI was a huge success for Krafton and the title was on track to reach the 200 million download mark that PUBG Mobile had reached prior to the September 2020 ban. The title had quickly become the No. 2 most profitable mobile game in India and revenue in 2022 would surpass that of PUBG Mobile’s peak year. BGMI has also become the leading esports title in India, with Krafton investing heavily in the space to set up the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series, an official competition for Indian teams with a prize pool of US$260,000.
According to Niko’s Asia Esports Tracker, BGMI is the #1 title by prize pool in India, with a total prize pool of 2022 accounting for 35% of total prize pool revenue for all local and regional esports tournaments. The game also gained massive approval from streamers, esports organizations, and teams with high attendance at key events. The BGMI Masters Series LAN event was also the first tournament to be broadcast live on Indian TV, reaching 12.3 million viewers.
How This Affects India’s Mobile Game Market
If BGMI does not return to app stores, we believe it could have a material impact on the near-term growth rate of the Indian mobile games market and the esports ecosystem. According to data from Sensor Tower, Battle Royale is the most popular mobile game genre according to player spending in India, accounting for more than 1/3 of total mobile game spending in 2021. BGMI and Free Fire accounted for more than 95% of the total spending on mobile battle royale games in 2021 and H1 2022, but both titles have been removed from the app stores this year. However, Niko’s research shows that Free Fire MAX, a high-end version of Free Fire from Garena, will remain available on Google Play. It is unclear how MAX still works on Google Play, but the MAX version was not specifically included in the ban list where Free Fire was banned.
There will also be a negative impact on the wider BGMI ecosystem, especially within esports and live streaming. Everyday players will now be looking for a new title to play, and we expect most will switch to Free Fire MAX assuming the title continues to work. Call of Duty: Mobile (Activision Blizzard) could also benefit given its strong position in the market as an established shooter with a battle royale mode consistently in the top ten in-game revenue charts. Apex Legends Mobile (Electronic Arts), New State (Krafton – Title was previously PUBG New State) and Farlight 84 (Lilith Games) are core battle royale games that can also benefit, but we note that these titles are not as well known as Call of Duty Mobile and Free Fire MAX.
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