A week ago all those ardent Indian Esports fan who had developed a knack of playing Garena Free Fire game was left dejected as Indian government decided to ban 54 Chinese apps including the popular “ Garena Free Fire” as these games were breaching the security of India.
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has banned a new batch of apps, including popular battle royale game Garena Free Fire.
Free Fire was the #1 mobile battle royale game in India by downloads and revenue in 2021, so this is a huge blow. https://t.co/4oyi5JMDMU
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 14, 2022
Let’s analyse the repercussions of Free Fire gaming ban in India and how it has impacted the livelihood of many Esports player who used to earn bulk amount by playing Free fire sport on a regular basis.
“I’m a YouTuber and my whole family is dependent on income that comes to me from streaming Free Fire,” Dhanu Dino who is a professional Free Fire content creator and youtuber said these words while taking to Moneycontrol. “Now, we have no income source because this game is banned.”
Ajay who is a very popular content creator and known for streaming games on his channel known as “Total Gaming” which has currently 31.2 million subscribers stated that most gamers earn 2-3 lakh on average through brand collaboration and live streaming those games.
He added that only few will go on to earn 8-9 Lakh on average through brand collaboration and livestream but those numbers are pretty marginal in India.
Taking about other players, PVS Gaming aka “Hariraman” said he is actually feeling discouraged after Government of India decided to put ban on Free Fire.
“As a Free Fire e-sports player, I had plans and strategies in mind that would enable me and my team to increase ability. The plan my team and I were putting together for the next world cup series has now fallen through,” he said.
Now let’s put some numbers in front of you in case you are unaware with the popularity of Free Fire Esport in India and these facts will blow your mind.
Pre ban on free fire e sports in India, they were the top market in terms of downloads. In 2021, they generated close to 55 million downloads in India on google app and app store combined. Their other game “Free Fire max” was downloaded close to 13 million till September 2021.
“Garena, the publisher of Free Fire, had a roadmap for the whole year and getting banned has a huge impact on the industry. Indian players who were winning in the Indian circuit were also getting opportunities in the international circuit. The content creators will also be impacted because of the ban,” said Anurag Khurana, founder of Penta Esports, an online gaming platform that organises leagues and tournaments in the country.
“I play Free Fire to make entertaining content for my YouTube channel. I play for more than seven hours a day. I can’t find any alternatives to play. Free Fire is the biggest online mobile game in India,” the gamer added.
Dino also suggested the only alternative to Free fire is Battle Ground Mobile India but it would not be easy for any professional player of free fire to make an immediate switch towards a new battle ground game all together.
However, Hariraman said that the ban on mobile games may damage the reputation of Indian online gaming industry as mobile games developers from all around the world will think twice to launch their games in India due to continuous ban on mobile based esports games.
“Indians are more into mobile gaming than PC gaming. Due to government restrictions, mobile games are no longer trusted,” he added
