BGMI game on 3-month trial, closely watching user harm, addiction: MoS IT

Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday clarified that the final decision to allow video game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) to return to the country will only be taken after three months of a strict trial of the game.

The minister said that the government will keep a close watch on other issues of "user harm, addiction, etc in next three months before a final decision is taken".

"This is a three-month trial approval of BGMI after it has complied with issues of server locations and data security, etc," he said in a tweet.

The South Korean company Krafton on Friday announced that it will soon resume operations of the video game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in the country.

"We are highly grateful to the Indian authorities for allowing us to resume operations of Battlegrounds Mobile India," Sean Hyunil Sohn, CEO of Krafton India, said in a statement.

"We are excited to announce that Battlegrounds Mobile India will be available for download soon and we cannot wait to welcome you back to our platform," he added.

The move came less than two years after the Indian government banned Krafton's marquee offering PUBG in the country.

Krafton later announced the launch of the BGMI game in May 2021.

The Indian government then ordered Google and Apple to block the BGMI gaming app from their respective online stores under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.