Indian gamers received the shock of a lifetime yesterday when the Indian government released another list of banned apps and games, as it included popular Battle Royale title, Free Fire.
While Free Fire was met with the banhammer, the enhanced version of Garena’s Battle Royale experience in Free Fire Max is still available to users, and players can still somewhat have a similar experience while playing it.
However, fans aren’t happy with the decision from the Union Government at all, and many of them questioned why the game was banned in India, as the it’s developed by the Singapore-based Garena while the other apps and games in the list originated from China.
In a statement issued by the Government of India, the 54 ‘Chinese’ apps and games listed in the ban wave pose a threat to national security.
This has also been the reasoning behind past ban waves issued by the Union Government, which has suspended popular creator apps and games like TikTok, PUBG and many more in India.
The developers in Garena are based out of Singapore, and the company was founded by Forrest Li, who’s currently the CEO. It’s unclear what the reasoning is behind the inclusion of the company’s top title in the list, and many speculate that the government might have found new links to China, which could put users at risk.
In a statement issued by Garena, the developers addressed the omission of Free Fire from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
“We are aware that Free Fire is currently unavailable in the Google Play and iOS app stores in India and that the game is currently not operable for some users in the country. We are working to address this situation, and we apologize to our users for any inconvenience.”
In the end, it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold in the near future, and fans hope for the best as they wait to see if Free Fire will return to their devices anytime soon.
