BGMI banned: After  Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), one of the most popular mobile game, removed from Apple and Google app stores in India, the game developer Krafton said on Friday that it is clarifying why BGMI app is removed from Apple and Google app stores.

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"We are clarifying how BGMI was removed from Google Play store and the App store and will let you know once we get specific information,"  the company said in a statement to Zee Business."

According to a report from Reuters, a government circular said the ban came as a result of action over concerns that BGMI was sharing data with China. The government blocked public access to 118 apps initially in 2020 using Section 69A of the Indian IT laws. It has used the same laws to ban Battlegrounds Mobile India,. However, the government has not publicly commented on the confidential 69A section.

Google confirmed the takedown of the app was implemented following an order. “On receipt of the order, following established process, we have notified the affected developer and have blocked access to the app that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson was as quoted as saying by BGR India..

Google and Apple on Thursday pulled popular battle royale game BGMI from their respective app stores, following a government order. 

BGMI is the Indian version of PUBG Mobile, exclusively for players in the country developed and published by Krafton. The game was released on July 2, 2021 for Android devices, and on August 18, 2021 for iOS devices, after the government had banned PUBG along with several other Chinese apps over national security concerns.

Apple also removed the app from its App Store after receiving the government order. Earlier this month, the game developer announced that its BGMI had surpassed 100 million registered users. It also said that BGMI has completed one year of being the most loved game in India. In the last year, the game developer invested nearly $100 million to improve India's local video game, e-sports, and entertainment startups to build a healthy gaming start-up ecosystem.

BGMI is the biggest eSports title in the country and India has grand plans in this arena. It is still not clear if the game has been banned indefinitely or if this is just a temporary takedown.

Earlier, BGMI introduced some new elements in gameplay in order to address the violent aspects of the game. For instance, the red blood splatter, while shooting an enemy was changed to green, and the word ‘Kills’ was replaced with ‘Finishes’. While these were some minor changes, for the most part, the game continued to offer a similar experience.

(With inputs from IANS)