Cover-Credits:
Orangutan Gaming’s Head of Esports Vinay “Hades” Rao recently discussed Free Fire’s potential return and the organization’s future plans for Free Fire esports. He claimed that Free Fire would most likely not return to India, as the game’s developer, Garena, has not responded to their attempts to contact them. While the organization does not want to disband its Free Fire lineup, it does not see any point in continuing Free Fire esports operation in India and is considering changing the region. Hades stated that the organization has the option to move to one of two regions but did not disclose the names.
Hades claims Free Fire would not return to India
In a recent livestream, a viewer asked Hades if Orangutan Gaming would disband its Free Fire roster if the game does not return for another year. Responding to this, he claimed that Free Fire would not return to India. He stated that the organization had been trying to contact the game’s developer but had not received any response. Furthermore, the players have also tried to reach out to their contacts to get an update on the state of the game. Despite the organization and players’ efforts to reach out to various people, there have been zero updates on the situation. “As far as we can see, Garena is not trying to do anything for the game, and we are very disappointed. I don’t know what their future plans are. I think they are putting all of their interest into Free Fire MAX. I think they want to develop the game in India; I don’t think esports,” he added.
Orangutan Gaming to change the region for Free Fire
Hades stated that the organization did not see any point in continuing with Free Fire in India, and therefore, there is a high probability of them changing the region. Hades emphasized that the organization would not abandon Free Fire altogether but could pick a team and play in other regions. “But, right now, what we want is that our players go to other regions and represent us there,” he added.
Despite believing the game will not return in India, the organization did not want to discontinue its esports lineup. But given the current situation, Hades believes there was no point in keeping the lineup. As a result, he claimed that Orangutan Gaming had made the decision to change the region.
Hades revealed that the organization was considering shifting to one of two regions for continuing its Free Fire esports operations but refrained from disclosing the names of these regions. “On one of the servers, three players can play, whereas on the other, two players can play. The second server is better, but we will only get to select two players. So because of that, we are still considering,” he added.
Following this, a viewer asked him why the organization was only allowed to field two or three players. Hades replied, “Because of the region. Their country doesn’t allow it.”
Free Fire has been banned in India for over a year now. With no news from the officials regarding the game’s return, the organizations have no option other than disbanding their rosters or switching to other regions. It will be interesting to see which region Orangutan Gaming switches to and how players adapt to it.
