Garena’s Free Fire has yet to make a comeback in India over six months after the initial announcement, causing concern among entrepreneurs and investors interested in Sea’s expansion plans in the South Asian market.
Garena, a subsidiary of Sea, had revealed its intent to reintroduce Free Fire in India in August of the previous year, after it had been banned more than a year and a half earlier. The company, in partnership with Yotta, a branch of the local giant Hiranandani, stated that the game would be launched in India on September 5.
However, despite more than six months passing since the announcement, the game has yet to be released. Even with the appointment of Indian cricket icon Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador, the launch remains pending.
During an earnings call this week, Yanjun Wang, the Group Chief Corporate Officer at Sea, mentioned that the Singapore-based company is still adjusting the game to align with local user preferences and has no major updates to share at the moment.
Free Fire, previously popular in India with over 40 million users, has disappointed its fan base with Garena’s lack of communication about the relaunch, causing many players to switch to Krafton’s BGMI.
Sea has declined to provide any comments on the matter.
In 2022, India banned Free Fire along with numerous other Chinese apps. Shortly after, Sea announced the closure of Shopee’s operations in India, following months of trial runs of the social commerce service.
The testing of Shopee in India drew criticism from local retailers, with the Confederation of All India Traders raising concerns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, warning about potential adverse impacts on the local retail ecosystem.
India had also initially banned PUBG by Krafton, but eventually permitted the company to introduce a similar battle royale game, which has once again gained immense popularity in India.
