Battlegrounds Mobile India or BGMI, the Indian alternative for the PUBG, has been removed from Google Play Store and Apple App Store following the orders of the Indian government. The popular online multiplayer battle royal game was launched in India almost an year ago after the Indian government’s crackdown on Chinese apps banned the Player Unknown BattleGrounds (PUBG) along with popular short-video platform TikTok. Since the BGMI was removed from the respective application stores of Google and Apple, tech enthusiasts, especially gamers, are quite worried about what the government may ban next. One of the games that gained the most from PUBG banned in India was the Garena Free Fire and later the government banned that game too. Just as PUBG launched the BGMI and PUBG: New State for Indian gamers, Garena also launched the Garena Free Fire Max following the ban on Garena Free Fire.
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As of now, it is not yet known why the government has asked Google Play Store and Apple App Store to remove the BGMI game. As per TechCrunch, a Google spokesperson has 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.” If the move by the government is another step towards the crackdown on Chinese apps, then Garena Free Fire Max may be next on the list as Garena Free Fire - Illuminate was one the 54 Chinese apps that were blocked by the India government.
Till now, the government has banned more than 270 apps over the suspicion of stealing data of Indian users and sharing it with companies and the government of China. A few of these apps came back in India under a new name or identity while the void left by others were captured by major players.
