(Esports news) The esports industry in India was left shell shocked when Garena Free Fire was banned by the Indian government alongside 53 other Chinese apps. Despite the game being created by a Singapore based company, it has been deemed as a “security threat” by the government and has naturally created an outrage in the esports community at large.
The game gained popularity after the Indian government had banned PUBG Mobile in 2020 with the two games being quite similar conceptually. So much so that Krafton recently sued Garena Free Fire for copying elements of PUBG Mobile in the game and also filed a lawsuit against both Google and Apple for permitting the game to be downloaded on their app store. In all fairness, the similarities are uncanny including the fact that both have an airdrop feature.
The lawsuit stated "Free Fire and Free Fire Max extensively copy numerous aspects of Battlegrounds, both individually and in combination, including Battlegrounds’ copyrighted unique game-opening ‘airdrop’ feature, the game structure and play, the combination and selection of weapons, armour, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of colour schemes, materials, and textures”.
Naturally, when the game was taken off the app stores, the common consensus was that it is a result of Krafton’s lawsuit but Google clarified that it was simply complying with the Indian government’s orders. “On receipt of the interim order passed under Section 69A of the IT Act, following established process, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson said.
Interestingly, the impact of Garena Free Fire’s ban may not be as severe as it may seem. After all, only the lite version of the game has been banned from the app stores while Garena Free Fire Max, the second version of the game which was launched in September 2021 is still available to download on the Google Play Store. The difference between the two games is that Free Fire Max includes better graphics, sound quality, animations like zone effects and weapon functions, among other things.
Speaking on this issue, Mr Lokesh Suji, Director, Esports Federation of India & Vice President of the Asian Esports Federation (AESF) said "It has come as a bolt from the blue for the Indian esports community, especially for the much popular Free Fire esports athletes who have been competing at national and international platforms and connecting with their fans through the virtual setups. However, there is no need to be disappointed, we believe this will diversify the gaming industry as new players will be introduced and will encourage homegrown video gaming developers, allowing them to curate games based on Indian ethos & culture and showcase Indian capabilities when it comes to developing world-class video games.
“We fully support this & will fully support any such decisions taken by our government, when it comes to safeguarding national integrity & security. The Indian esports industry has been in the wherewithal situation in the past but that never stopped them from growing and never will as we are not dependent on one game"
Mr Vishwalok Nath, Director, World Esports Cup and Esports Premier League (Both tournaments were played with game Free Fire) said "We hope that Garena can work with the Government of India to address the concerns raised around Free Fire. We have seen this happen in the past where titles made their way back after fixing the compliance issues. The entire creator and esports community around Free Fire is waiting for a positive and quick resolution to the move."
Mr Sagar Nair, Co-Founder & CEO, Qlan, The Gamer's Social Network said "The Free Fire community is one of the largest and fastest-growing esports communities in India. The sudden banning of the game has surely blindsided a massive number of gamers. We’ve seen this happen before with the PUB G ban and if we are to learn from it, it seems like it may as well be a long-drawn battle to bring back the game. While the community handles this setback, gamers do have an alternative in the form of Free Fire Max which is still available for download. Unfortunately, it's mostly a wait and watch game here till we learn more."
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