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Garena Free Fire, the most downloaded and highest-earning mobile battle royale game in India, has been banned throughout the country. The ban came as a shock for many Indians who suddenly discovered that the game could no longer be played or found in their local Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, or MeitY for short, banned a total of 54 China-linked mobile apps today. However, it’s worth noting that Free Fire is published by Garena, a Singaporean company, and not a Chinese one.
For a full list of all 54 banned applications in India, you may refer to this tweet from ET Now.
Regarding the ban, the Indian government said that it has the “power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource,” according to IndiaToday. The news site also revealed that despite not being included in the list, Free Fire Max, the enhanced version of Free Fire was also banned from the Apple App Store in India. Free Fire Max is still available for download on the Indian Google Play Store at the time of writing, however.
According to industry analyst Danial Ahmad, the ban is due to increased tensions between China and India. It’s possible that more beloved Chinese mobile games may be next.
What's interesting is that even with 5 batches of bans, primarily targeting Chinese apps, games such as Genshin Impact, Lords Mobile, Top War and others continue to operate without issue.
But perhaps they are next…
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 14, 2022
Free Fire‘s popularity in India skyrocketed after PUBG Mobile was banned in the country. It filled the void left behind in the country, with Garena going as far as featuring Indian celebrities as characters in the game.
