Following the ban of the original PUBG Mobile in India in 2020, Garena Free Fire exploded in popularity.
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Garena Free Fire, a popular battle royale mobile game that competes with PUBG, has vanished from Google Play and the Apple App Store. At this time, neither Garena International, the popular game’s distributor, nor Apple or Google have issued a remark about the absence. However, the news comes barely a month after Krafton, the company behind PUBG Mobile and PUBG Battlegrounds for PC, filed two lawsuits demanding that the game be banned. The improved version of Garena Free Fire, Free Fire Max, is still available on Google Play but not on the Apple App Store. It’s unclear whether the game’s already-downloaded version works on cellphones. Free Fire India Ban: Is the game banned after being removed from Apple, and Google Play Store
Last month, Krafton accused Garena of directly copying components from PUBG Mobile and sued Google and Apple for enabling the game to be available on their respective app stores in a separate complaint. YouTube, according to Krafton, had a part because it allowed streamers to promote Garena Free Fire on its platform. “Free Fire and Free Fire Max extensively copy numerous aspects of Battlegrounds, both individually and in combination,” according to the lawsuit, “including Battlegrounds’ copyrighted unique game-opening ‘airdrop’ feature, the game structure and play, the combination and selection of weapons, armour, and unique objects, locations, and the overall choice of colour schemes, materials, and textures.”
Garena International had been asked to “immediately discontinue” exploitation of the two games, according to Krafton. Despite collecting more income from the PUBG brand, Krafton was concerned that Garena Free Fire’s in-game revenue was constantly increasing. According to The Verge, the Garena Free Fire franchise grossed $414 million in 2021, while PUBG Mobile made $639 million, including India and China-specific editions.
Following the ban of the original PUBG Mobile in India in 2020, Garena Free Fire exploded in popularity. The game also retains its popularity among fans since it engages with users on a regular basis by providing new codes for free rewards. At the time of writing, the website was still up and running.
