Garena brings Free Fire back to India after 2022 ban — TechCrunch

Garena has launched a localized version of the Free Fire mobile game in India, which the country’s authorities banned in February 2022. The new standalone game, called Free Fire India, has become available for Android and iOS, TechCrunch reports.

Free Fire India includes country-adapted content, parental control tools, playtime restrictions and spending limits. User data will be stored on servers in India, Sea, Garena’s Singapore-based parent company, said.

Return after a delayed launch

Garena first announced Free Fire India in September 2023, but later postponed its release. Vaibhav Das Mundhra, Garena’s head of operations in India, said that while preparing for the launch, the company worked with relevant Indian government bodies and took their recommendations into account. At the same time, he did not explain why the release planned for 2023 was postponed or what exactly changed to enable the game’s launch now.

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The original Free Fire was banned in India along with another 53 apps amid national security concerns and alleged links to China. Before that, the game had been one of the country’s most popular mobile games, particularly after PUBG Mobile was banned in September 2020.

Free Fire MAX will remain available

The enhanced version of the game, Free Fire MAX, was not included in the list of banned apps and remained available in India throughout this time. It will continue operating alongside Free Fire India: players will be able to use one account for both games, play together and take part in the same events.

According to Sensor Tower, the Free Fire franchise had about 77.4 million monthly active users in India in June, while Krafton’s localized Battlegrounds Mobile India had 20.8 million. In the second quarter, mobile game downloads in India rose by 14.2% quarter-on-quarter to 2 billion, while revenue increased by 3.7% to more than $106 million.