The Singaporean game developer and publisher Garena’s popular FPS game Free Fire continues to be elusive in India. According to The Hindu, the developer will not release the game in India for a few more weeks. Notably, the battle royale game which gained popularity after the PUBG Mobile ban was also banned last year in February. It was spotted on the Play Store recently and was slated to be available for download from September 5. However, the launch was delayed by a few more weeks and continues to be elusive so far.
Free Fire India Comeback Not Happening Any Time Soon
As mentioned before, the game was spotted on the Play Store recently and was set to be available for download from September 5. The brand had signed up the ace cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador for the comeback after 1.5 years. It was expected to come with Dhoni as an in-game character. However, September 5 came and went without the game being available, much to the dismay of the fans.
Soon after, Garena put out a public announcement on its social media handles stating that it would take a few more weeks for the game to make a comeback. The reason given was that the developer is working extra hard to offer the best possible gaming experience ever to Indian gamers. To achieve this, the team claimed to be burning the midnight oil to fine-tune the gameplay and enhance the localization of the Free Fire India experience. Garena assured gamers that the wait would be worth it and once the game is out it will offer an ultimate battle royale experience.
Over 5 weeks later, the game is yet to make its comeback in the country. When The Hindu reached out to the developer for a statement, Garena has yet to reply. This cast a shadow on the India comeback timeline of Free Fire. It could be another few weeks or even months before Free Fire fans will get to enjoy their favourite game again.
To jog your memory, the Indian government banned Free Fire and 53 other games and apps in February last year over data security concerns. One of the conditions of Free Fire’s return is to ensure and commit to user data security. Ahead of the September 5 comeback announcement, Garena was said to have partnered with RBI-approved service provider Yotta to host the personal data of Indian users on local servers and also comply with Indian regulations. It seems that the developer is still sorting out the data security and local regulations compliance.
