The Indian Premiere League for this year concluded last night as Chennai Super Kings lifted the trophy after a gruelling match. While that may disappoint game fanatics, Krafton brings good news to people who remain engaged in playing one of the most popular battle royale games. Battlegrounds Mobile India, popularly known as BGMI, is now playable for all users on Android and iOS. This marks the expansion of the staggered rollout of the game that began a day before, i.e., May 29.
The new BGMI 2.5 Update brings a brand-new map called Nusa, in-game events, weapon upgrades, and new skins. It is available on both Android and iOS, according to the company.
The return of BGMI
After a year-long hiatus, BGMI has made a comeback. Krafton, the South Korean company that owns the publishing rights to the game, earlier this month said it has secured approval from the Indian government to release the game again on app marketplaces. The ban, which came into effect in June last year, caused Google and Apple to delist the game from their app stores, but there were no orders for Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access. Thus, the ban on BGMI was different from the ban on the original game PUBG Mobile. The relaunch is also slightly different. While the return of PUBG Mobile marked the change of the game’s name and some tweaks, the relaunch of BGMI is subject to a three-month trial.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has clarified that the final decision to allow 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 the next three months before a final decision is taken”. That means that the government will closely monitor the game and its impact on the players over the course of three months. It will also ensure that Krafton has complied with the requirement to set up local servers for the game. If Krafton manages to allay the fears, the government is likely to give permanent approval to BGMI.
Who can play BGMI in India?
As mentioned, BGMI is being brought back to India with some conditions. As a part of those conditions, the playtime for users under 18 years of age has been restricted to three hours, while for all other players, this limit has been set to six hours every day. Furthermore, minor players, that is kids who are less than 18 years of age will require parental verification to be a part of the game.