Singapore-based gaming firm Garena announced the launch of an India-specific version of Free Fire on Thursday. The popular battle royale video game was banned in February 2022 as part of the electronics and information technology ministry’s crackdown on 54 Chinese apps that were suspected to be sending data outside India. The game will be available for download from 5 September.
Vaibhav Mundhra, general manager for game operations at Garena India, said the game is being relaunched after consultation with the government officials. Several changes were made to the title, he added.
“Changes to the title include limits to playing time, spending and age of registration, and visual changes in the gameplay that were required for the title here. We have also partnered with Yotta for data centre services, to localize and store data between India and Singapore.”
To follow regulatory guidelines after the ministry-driven approvals, the changes to the title “amount to the sum total of what we understand to be important”, Mundhra added.
“The idea is to implement what we’ve learned without going into too many specifics of what happened in the past. This is how we believe we’ll be in compliance with the various requirements.”
Reuters reported in February 2022 that Singapore had sought a diplomatic intervention on the ban of Free Fire in India, as the game was being clubbed with apps having direct links to China. However, the intervention did not seek any direct response.
Garena India will also focus on organizing e-sports tournaments in India for the title, with an international tournament by the end of 2023.
“We signed a memorandum of understanding with Uttar Pradesh government, which included esports under the ambit of its sports policy. We will host Free Fire India championship for gamers in India, the winners will be representing India at Free Fire’s global tournaments. We will also host an international tournament in Uttar Pradesh before the end of this year,” he said.
The India championship for the game will start in September, and the winners will feature in the ‘World Series’ tournament in November in Thailand.
The international event slated to be hosted in India will follow suit. The game’s return was welcomed by stakeholders across the esports industry.
Akshat Rathee, co-founder and managing director of Nazara-owned esports platform Nodwin Gaming, said that the tournaments featuring the title could garner “phenomenal reach” among viewers. On 4 August, Nodwin’s own esports event featuring rival Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) by Krafton started streaming on the mainstream Star Sports television channel, showcasing increasing interest among India’s e-sports enthusiasts.
The Battlegrounds Mobile India Master Series, offered a total prize of ₹2.1 crore.
“We have seen record viewership for BGMS 2023 tournament. There is significant positive sentiment in esports—between Free Fire and BGMI, over the next one year, the two games can cumulatively account for 150-200 million daily active users. This will be one-third of the total gamer base in India, which is at 500-600 million users,” said Piyush Kumar, chief executive officer, Rooter.
“After the ban, a vast section of Free Fire players continued to play it on the simulated versions, and via VPNs. This suggests that there is continued demand for Free Fire,” said Rohit Agarwal, chief executive of gaming-focused influencer marketing firm, Alpha Zegus.
Esports group Godlike is one such, with its founder, Chetan Chandgude, stating that it will consider setting up “a new Free Fire team.”
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