Cover-Credits:
Garena's popular battle royale title Free Fire was prohibited by the government of India in February 2022, citing privacy concerns. Following this ruling, the Google Play Store and App Store withdrew the game from their platforms in accordance with the Indian government’s requirements. Free Fire Max, an upgraded version of Free Fire, on the other hand, was not restricted and may be played in India.
The Free Fire India application was available for pre registrations from 5th September till the end of November, but is now missing from the play store. The fans are now worried about Free Fire India's launch date and are wondering when will the game return to the store.
The Indian version of Free Fire i.e. Free Fire India, was announced in September. Players were pleased to see the game return after a long absence. However, the question arises as to what is Free Fire India release date and when will the APK file be available for download?
Free Fire India launch date postponed
Last year, Garena's famous Battle Royale title was banned in India, affecting millions of players and esports athletes. With the return of BGMI on 29th May 2023, rumors of a possible reappearance of Free Fire began to circulate.
On 31st August, Garena held a press conference and announced the big news of its battle royale title returning to the Indian markets as Free Fire India. This would have been an India-exclusive application, with the Free Fire India APK file becoming available for download in the digital storefronts starting 5th September 2023.
A post made by Garena Free Fire India’s Instagram account read that, “We are delighted by the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from our Indian community to the announcement of the launch of Free Fire India. To ensure we can offer the best possible experience to all of our Free Fire India fans from the start, we will postpone the launch by a few more weeks. In addition to refining the gameplay, we are taking some time to fully complete our localisation of the Free Fire India experience. We would like to thank our Free Fire India community for your support, and hope that you will bear with us while we work on bringing you the ultimate battle royale experience”.
Garena's much anticipated announcement of the 5th September 2023 release date for Free Fire India had fans marking their calendars. However, they are now faced with uncertainty as Garena attributes the delay to the desire to refine its gameplay and work on localizing content for Indian players.
Free Fire India was available for pre registrations for over three months but did not meet google's guidelines which states, “After you make an app or game available for pre-registration in a country, you need to launch it in production there within 90 days.” which can be the reason the game has dissappeared from the play store.
While the news of the postponement was first disappointing to the community, many gamers now appreciate Garena's dedication to quality. The company's transparency and regular updates on the relaunch have been reassuring, with players encouraged to stay connected for the most up-to-date information.
Notably, Free Fire India not only has localized content but will also be supported by Yotta's cloud hosting infrastructure in India. Yotta promises to protect Indian user data through Indian servers and network connectivity services. This step demonstrates Garena's commitment to offering the greatest possible user experience while prioritizing data security.
