Krafton gets approval to resume battle-royale game in India
Battlegrounds Mobile India game and logo are seen in this picture illustration, July 29, 2022.
PHOTO: Reuters
PUBLISHED ONMay 19, 2023 7:57 AM
South Korea's Krafton Inc, a company backed by China's Tencent on Friday (May 19) said it received approval from Indian authorities to resume its popular battle-royale format game in the country after being banned for nearly a year.
The government had in July blocked Krafton's title Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), citing concerns about its data-sharing and mining in China.
BGMI had more than 100 million users in India at the time of removal. Following a government directive, the app was removed from Alphabet Inc's Google Play Store and Apple Inc's App Store.
A Facebook page for the title says the game will be available for download soon.
New Delhi had, back in 2020, banned another Krafton title, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) following which the company launched BGMI.
India had ramped up scrutiny of Chinese businesses since a 2020 border clash between the neighbours that led to a ban of more than 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok. The government also intensified the scrutiny of investments by Chinese firms.
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