Krafton confirms Battlegrounds Mobile India return

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), the revamped version of PUBG Mobile specifically for the Indian market, is returning to the country soon. Its developer and South Korea-based Krafton said the company is "very grateful to the Indian authorities for allowing us to resume operations." BGMI was removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store last year for security reasons. Its previous version, PUBG Mobile, is still banned in India due to the same security issues and links to China.

Krafton confirmed BGMI's return just days after a report noted the company's ongoing negotiations with Indian authorities. The new report states that Krafton has to meet certain conditions set by the government for a full-time return to BGMI. The company has reportedly been asked to offer the game with a daily time limit of 90 days (three months). This is likely to prevent gambling addiction, especially among children. Last year, authorities were concerned for the mental well-being of children after a teenager killed her mother after she prevented him from playing BGMI.

Authorities have also asked Krafton to modify the animations so they don't show blood. In the earlier iteration of BGMI, Krafton changed the blood colour to green to appear less violent. Krafton still needs to clarify whether BGMI would be available to players for a limited time each day. The statement indicates that the battle royale-style game will be available to download soon. Like PUBG, BGMI also enjoyed massive popularity in India, despite its limited-time availability. The title registered 100 million users shortly after a year of its release. Krafton banknotes, "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."

Despite BGMI's earlier ban, Krafton continued his efforts to expand the company's presence in India. In April, Krafton's indie studio RisingWings released Defense Derby in India, which is bit different from the battle royale-style BGMI. Before that, the company released Road to Valor Empires, developed by Dreamotion and Callisto Protocol for PC.