Google blocks Krafton's BGMI citing gov order

Google, citing a government takedown order, has blocked Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) from its play store. The popular battle royal game is not listed on Apple’s app store as well.

"On receipt of the order, following established process, we have notified the affected developer and have blocked access to the app," said a Google spokesperson as per a Reuters report.

The reason behind this government takedown order remains unknown.

Krafton, post the government’s ban of PUBG in 2020, revamped it as BGMI to bring it back to India in 2021. The game has seen more than 100 million downloads.

The Indian government, in a retaliatory move, after border skirmishes with the Chinese armed forces, had banned a slew of China-made apps including PUBG because it held affiliations with Chinese video game publisher Tencent Games. Following the ban, Krafton cut ties with Tencent Games.