Following an order from New Delhi, Google has removed the battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India, or BGMI, from the Play Store in India.
A year after the app's release, developer Krafton saw PUBG banned in South Asia. Apple has also removed the BGMI game from its local App Store
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Android's maker confirmed the report shortly afterward. Upon receiving the order, we notified the developer and blocked the app
The company that makes Androids confirmed the news soon after the story came out. "As soon as we got the order, we notified the affected developer and blocked access to the app, which was still available on the Play Store in India."
Google removed the app from the Play Store, and Krafton removed it from the App Store on Thursday evening.
An inquiry for comment was ignored right away by the iPhone manufacturer. Despite acknowledging the delisting, a Krafton spokesperson stated that the company was looking into it.
Tensions between India and China have been growing, especially since the deadly border skirmishes in 2020. The latest development follows this trend, with the two nuclear-armed nations becoming increasingly at odd
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India responded to China's move by banning hundreds of apps with ties to the country, including popular ones like PUBG and TikTok.
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After banning hundreds of apps in the country, the only one that made a return was Krafton's PUBG. However, it came back with a completely new look.
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Krafton said it was no longer working with Tencent as a publishing partner and promised to put $100 million into India's gaming industry.
Krafton, which has invested in several Indian startups over the past year and a half, including Loco, Pratilipi, Nodwin Gaming and Kuku FM, was planning to invest around $140 million in India by the end of this month.
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The company, which is based in South Korea, announced earlier this week that more than 100 million people in India have downloaded the game since it was released a year ago.
Sensor Tower reported that there were over 16.5 million monthly active users of Battlegrounds Mobile in India.