After Free Fire ban, Garena says working to address the situation

A day after Garena's popular battle royale game Free Fire was banned in India, the gaming arm of the Singapore-based Sea Limited has said it is working to address this situation.

"We are aware that Free Fire is currently unavailable in the Google Play and iOS app stores in India and that the game is currently not operable for some users in the country. We are working to address this situation, and we apologize to our users for any inconvenience" Garena said in a statement on February 14.

Free Fire was among the 54 China-linked apps banned by the Indian government under section 69A of the Information Technology Act on February 14, citing security concerns.

The government has banned only the standard version of Free Fire called Free Fire: Illuminate, while the more premium version Free Fire Max continues to be available on Google Play at the time of writing this article. Apple, however, has removed both the versions.

Free Fire-Illuminate generated close to 55 million downloads in India across the App Store and Google Play during 2021, while Free Fire Max was installed close to 13 million times following its launch in September 2021, according to estimates shared by app intelligence firm Sensor Tower with Moneycontrol. India is Free Fire’s top market in terms of downloads.

Shares of Sea Limited, which also operates e-commerce firm Shopee and digital payments and financial services provider SeaMoney, plunged 18 percent on the New York Stock Exchange on February 14 following the ban.

Free Fire was the highest revenue generating app across Google Play and Apple's App Store in India in 2021, clocking an estimated $34.3 million in app spend last year, as per Sensor Tower. Analysts, however, say that India likely accounts for less than 10 percent of the company's gaming revenues.

Chinese internet giant Tencent is a key investor in Sea Limited, though it pared its stake to 18.7 percent from 21.3 percent by selling 14.5 million shares worth $3 billion in January, according to Reuters.

Free Fire rival PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) Mobile was also banned by the Indian government in September 2020.

Owner Krafton, however, relaunched PUBG Mobile as Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) in July 2021, with the assurance to store data locally.

It also announced plans to invest $100 million in the country's gaming ecosystem. So far, the company has backed domestic startups such as game-streaming platform Loco, esports firm Nodwin Gaming, Indian language storytelling platform Pratilipi and audio romance and friend discovery startup FRND.

Also read: Government bans SEA Group's Garena, but what about Shopee?