BGMI comeback in India confirmed, Krafton says official date will be announced soon

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) is all set to make a comeback in the country. After a 10-month hiatus, Krafton’s popular battle royale game is finally returning to India. The game will be available for download on the respective app stores shortly, according to Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO, Krafton Inc India.

In an official statement, Sean Hyunil Sohn said, “We are highly grateful to the Indian authorities for allowing us to resume operations of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI). We would like to extend our gratitude to our Indian gaming community for their support and patience over the past few months.”

Krafton’s White Whale is making a comeback in India

To recall, BGMI was suspended from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store following an order from the Government of India. This also makes BGMI the only app to make a comeback from the 300 or so apps banned by the Indian Government in the past couple of years.

Krafton was dealt a major blow after BGMI was banned in India as the game surpassed 100 million registered users in the country by July 2022. BGMI made history by becoming the first Esports event to be broadcasted on mainstream television attracting 24 million concurrent viewers and a total of 200 million viewers.

The game was also one of the biggest revenue-generating apps on Android in India, until its suspension. The success of BGMI also led the South Korean gaming giant Krafton to invest heavily in India’s startup ecosystem, to the tone of over $100 million over the past few years.

BGMI Comeback Date in India

As of now, there is no official comeback date for BGMI, although Krafton has confirmed that the game will be available for download soon. In its release, Krafton noted, “We are highly grateful to the Indian authorities for allowing us to resume operations of BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA (BGMI).”

The banning of BGMI also dealt a blow to the India’s e-sports industry, which had seen significant growth in the year’s preceding the ban. It will be interesting to see how BGMI competes with the ever-growing competition in the mobile gaming industry. To recall, BGMI is a popular first-person shooter and launched as a replacement for PUBG Mobile India.