After a 10-month ban, South Korean developer Krafton announced on Friday that India had approved the trial relaunch of their game Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI).
According to a Krafton Inc. representative, South Korea’s foreign and culture ministries met with their Indian counterparts to discuss lifting the ban.
Last July, Krafton’s flagship game BGMI was blocked in India due to security and privacy concerns regarding data sharing and mining in China.
Tencent, a Chinese technology company, owns 13.5 percent of Krafton.
Following a review of the game’s server locations and data security, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s deputy minister for IT, tweeted that the game would be allowed to run for a three-month trial period.
Krafton will be relatively unaffected by political squabbles with China, according to Daishin Securities analyst Jeeeun Lee.
“It will be difficult for India to impose an outright ban on companies affiliated with China over political issues when they operate through a local corporation that employs Indian workers, such as Krafton,” she said.
Krafton shares were up 1.45% at the market close on Friday, outperforming the 0.89 percent gain in the broader KOSPI index.
Before it was removed from the Android and iOS platforms, BGMI was used by over a hundred million Indians.
According to the game’s official Facebook page, it will be available very soon.
During the trial period, the government will closely monitor other issues related to user harm and addiction, according to Chandrasekhar.
The release of BGMI followed New Delhi’s 2020 ban on another Krafton game, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG).
Following a 2020 clash between the neighbors, the government increased its scrutiny of Chinese businesses, and PUBG was included in a larger ban on more than 300 Chinese apps, including short-video platform TikTok.
The government has also increased its oversight of Chinese investment in Indian companies.
