Underwhelming Start: BGMI Livestreams Struggle to Attract Viewers

Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), India's popular battle royale game, has made a comeback on livestreams after a 10-month ban period. While the relaunch has injected new life into viewership, it is still uncertain if the game has regained its former glory. Many renowned gaming livestreamers celebrated the re-launch by streaming classic games for their fans, attracting millions of views. However, a thorough analysis revealed differences between the two relaunches.

For those unfamiliar with the game's history, this is not the first time BGMI has faced a ban in India. After PUBG Mobile was banned in September 2020, it took Krafton 10 months to reintroduce an India specific version of the game called BGMI. In June 2021, BGMI was initially launched, generating excitement among mobile gaming enthusiasts who flocked to streamers for an early look at the game. History repeated itself, and two years later, we found ourselves in a similar situation. Nevertheless, a comparison of stream metrics highlights notable variances between the two relaunches.

BGMI Streamers‘ Subscriber Gains Post Relaunch

During the previous ban, creators experienced a loss of subscribers on their channels. Dynamo Gaming, the sole BGMI streamer on the list with 10 million subscribers, lost over 100,000 during the ban period. Except for Scout, all streamers who built their audience through BGMI faced a similar fate. However, there is hope as Dynamo and Mortal gained around 40k and 10k subscribers respectively in recent statistics.

Community Opinions on Decreased Viewership

While industry experts believe that there is still a large appetite for BGMI content in the country, some argue that a substantial portion of BGMI players have moved away from gaming during the ban period. It has also been pointed out that during the previous BGMI relaunch, creators had early access to the game , providing a strong incentive for players to join the streams and explore the new game.  This time however, the game was released to all players on the morning of 29th May.

Undoubtedly the second ban delivered a significant blow to the growth of India’s gaming industry. Players like Scout have also been vocal about the dreadful conditions of aspiring BGMI pro players, some of whom had to give up their esports careers due to the cloud of uncertainty surrounding the game’s future. Currently, the game has been granted a three month window by the Indian government to demonstrate that it can operate in compliance with regulations. There have been no official updates on BGMI’s esports roadmap, however, tournament organizers like Skyesports have expressed a keen interest to fill that void. Once tournaments are live, we will have enough data to evaluate the game’s competitive future in India.