After 3-Month Audit, KRAFTON Gets Full Approval To Operate BGMI In India

South Korean gaming giant KRAFTON has reportedly received full approval from the Centre to operate its battle royale game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in India. 

The nod was granted after the company passed a three-month long audit process, Moneycontrol reported citing sources. The game will now have to undergo quarterly assessments to keep the approval, the report added.

Inc42 has reached out to KRAFTON for a comment on the development. The story will be updated on receiving a response from the company.

The development is expected to provide a major relief to the company as BGMI, one of the top grossing games in the country, has been mired in multiple regulatory issues in the country.

The government’s move comes ahead of the expiration of the three-month trial period granted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to KRAFTON in May this year for the India-only game. The pilot run came nearly 10 months after the ministry issued an order which led to the delisting of the game from Google Play and Apple App Store.

In May, Minister for State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the interim approval was accorded after the game complied with government directions on issues related to server locations, data security, among others.

The nod comes close on the heels of Singaporean gaming major Garena’s re-entry into the country after its game Free Fire faced suspension in the country for more than one-and-a-half years. Taking a leaf out of KRAFTON’s playbook, Garena has introduced an India-specific version of the popular game Free Fire, which will go live on September 5. Besides, it has also partnered with Hiranandani Group-owned cloud service provider Yotta to comply with data localisation norms. 

Both PUBG, now BGMI, and Free Fire were among the top grossing Android games in the country prior to their suspension. While BGMI has seen considerable success after its relaunch in India, Garena is also expected to cash-in on the growing petite of Indians for online gaming. 

As internet and smartphone penetration soars, India has emerged as one of the hottest gaming markets globally. As a result, a host of global companies from Taiwanese gaming giant Softstar to Chinese player Tencent have made a beeline for India and launched products for Indians. 

As per a report, Indians spent 8.5 hours per week, on an average, on mobile games in FY22. It is pertinent to note that major titles such as BGMI enjoy a much higher user base, with gamers spending more time while playing popular games. 

Going forward, India’s gaming space is expected to surge to a market size of $8.6 Bn by FY27 on the back of growing adoption of online gaming.