Recently, India has officially cut hands with Free Fire when banning all of this game and the Free Fire MAX version on both Android and iOS platforms, specifically the Google Play and App Store download stores. So after about two years since PUBG Mobile was banned, it’s Free Fire’s turn to “go to the island”.
The reason is said to be because Free Fire also originated from a Chinese developer, like Tencent’s PUBG Mobile. But the fact is that Free Fire belongs to Garena’s distribution copyright on a global scale. However, Free Fire is still mercilessly banned, despite the fact that this game has an extremely large number of players in this country, bringing a significant source of revenue for Garena.
Looking back at the Indian market, we see that many mobile blockbusters of the world game village have a fate. From PUBG Mobile, Lien Quan Mobile, Free Fire or in the recent list there is also “Onmyoji MOBA”. All were “purged” or unable to compete with other games (like Lien Quan being a prime example).
In September 2020, PUBG Mobile was officially banned in the Indian market along with 117 other applications of Chinese origin. Among these, there is no shortage of games and applications developed by Tencent. By mid-February, it was the turn of Free Fire and dozens of other applications that suffered the same fate. Banned apps include famous names like Badlander, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade or even blockbuster MOBA Onmyoji Arena.
It must be said that the Indian market is a very potential market that any game developer wants to participate in. In particular, PUBG Mobile and Free Fire have an extremely large number of players, to the point of contributing to the revenue of Tencent (formerly) and Garena (now).
But as mentioned, the case of Free Fire is probably extremely unjust when thinking that this game originated from a Chinese developer. The truth is that every Vietnamese gamer is clear, Free Fire was developed by a Vietnamese studio 111dots Studio and has been released globally by Garena for many years now. Losing the Indian market would be a heavy blow to Garena’s ambitions and revenue. However, it is not known if this game will return soon if Garena proves the origin of Free Fire, let’s wait and see.