Garena Free Fire banned in India, but what is Free Fire and why it is banned
India Today
A new set of Chinese apps have been banned in India. Garena Free Fire was created by a Singapore-based company, but this app too falls under the “security threat” category.
The Indian government has again issued an order to ban as many as 54 Chinese apps. While many of them might not have a big impact on users, the list includes one popular game -- Garena Free Fire -- which a lot of people might not be happy about. Free Fire originally gained massive popularity after the Indian government banned PUBG Mobile in India back in 2020. Here’s everything you need to know about this battle royale game and why it has been banned in India.
What is Garena Free Fire?
Garena Free Fire is a combat shooter game by a Singapore-based company that was designed for low-end devices. The concept is similar to PUBG game. Players land on a deserted island and compete for weapons and supplies and take down any survivors that stand in their way. To win the game, users need to survive until the end of the game.
Garena Free Fire was recently sued by Krafton
Did you know that Garena Free Fire was recently sued by Krafton? Yes, you read it right. The game is accused of copying elements from PUBG Mobile. The firm also filed a lawsuit against Google and Apple for permitting the game to be in their respective app stores. In the lawsuit, Krafton has explicitly mentioned that various aspects of the game were copied, which also includes structure as well as an airdrop feature.
"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,” the lawsuit stated.
Just yesterday, the game was removed from app stores, which was believed to be the result of this lawsuit. But, it seems that Google was complying with Indian government orders.