BGMI: Indian Esports industry reacts to BGMI blockage

Late last night, BGMI or Battlegrounds Mobile India, the Indian version of the popular PUBG mobile multiplayer game was de-listed from Android and iOS app stores following a government order.

BGMI is one of the most popular Esports titles in the country with multiple Esports tournaments featuring the game. Console and PC gaming involve high expenses with equipment while mobile gaming with games like PUBG and BGMI is within everyone's reach as these games can run on all phones, and thus, have changed the Indian gaming industry.

Recently Krafton Inc. the publisher of BGMI had announced the game had surpassed 100 million registered users in the Country. In the last year, KRAFTON, Inc. invested nearly 100 million USD to improve India’s local video game, Esports, and entertainment startups to build a healthy gaming start-up ecosystem.

Apart from the publisher's official tournaments, plenty of Indian Esports organisations were also organising multiple BGMI tournaments with massive prize pools. The game is a major revenue source for Esports organisations, teams, live streamers, Esports players, and gaming content creators in India.

With the industry waking up, to the news of BGMI being blocked, this is what the Indian Esports industry had to say about BGMI being de-listed from the app stores.

Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) feels It is too early to comment and we should wait for the official statement from the Government or the publisher to know more about this matter."India is paving its path to becoming a multi-sport nation where every sport is getting the right visibility, audience and investment to grow. We have to reflect the same in Esports where we need to start giving exposure to multi Esports titles and not limited to one."

Vishwalok Nath, Director, Esports Premier League said "This is between the publisher and the government and we hope this issue will be resolved soon. For ESPL, it's a wait-and-watch time to take further decisions."

Rohit Jagasia, Founder & CEO, Revenant Esports feels the BGMI BAN will definitely be a setback for all major stakeholders like Tournament Organizations, Esports Teams, Coaches, Support Staff and most importantly the Athletes. "However, at Revenant Esports, we will still be supporting our BGMI Athletes and make sure they use our training facility to create content and try their hand at different games. With that being said, the entire industry will take a hit but Revenant was built during the first stint of the Ban and we have always believed in diversification we still have rosters competing in Pokémon Unite which will be representing India at the World Championship in London, Call of Duty Mobile which will be playing the regional playoffs for the World Championship, Apex Legends that previously represented the SEA region in the ALGS Playoffs in Stockholm, Valorant that is currently playing a couple of regional tournaments. We have been the youngest team to represent our region over 3 times in 8 months. We have always believed in diversification and will continue to do so, we are optimistic of supporting our BGMI Athletes during these trying times."

Sagar Nair, Co-Founder & CEO, Qlan, The Gamer's Social Network feels "If this game removal will stay for some time then it will be damaging to the ever-growing Indian esports ecosystem. It's not just about one game but with the kind of popularity, player base and viewership BGMI has, it is leading the biggest esports title in India.

This potential stay will hamper the whole esports ecosystem - consumers, businesses, stakeholders, jobs and much more. There is a large investment riding on startups, tournaments and game streaming, it's a trickle effect waiting to happen."