Android users can access the long-awaited app on the Google Play store, or visit BGMI’s official website to be redirected to a download page. The game is currently unavailable for iOS users, although it could be uploaded over the next few days.

According to a recent report by Krafton, gamers could experienced some server-related issues that the company is in the process of resolving.

“Currently, the closed test track for BGMI is updated. Those who opted for a public test for the game before its launch are expected to get a message which takes them to play store for downloading the game,” the developer’s statement read.

“However, the link won’t work and the game cannot be downloaded as the servers have been shut. We also understand that some other users who had not opted for the closed test are also getting this message. This is a technical error and we are working on resolving it.”

BGMI was banned from India’s Google Play Store and Apple App Store in 2022 due to security concerns. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) also banned PUBG Mobile, alongside 117 other Chinese apps.

BGMI’s return is reportedly conditional upon some specific guidelines set by the Indian government. Krafton was asked to include a time limit in the game to reduce the risk of addiction.

Krafton was also required to change its user interface to suit its Indian audiences, a change the developer made before the initial ban. It recently disclosed a partnership with Microsoft Azure to protect the data of its Indian players.

BGMI will be in circulation for three months and under strict supervision by the government. If it violates any of the government’s conditions, the game will likely be banned again.

BGMI’s return was a big hit in the Indian gaming community, with stakeholders like Loco, Revenant Esports, Global Esports, and others welcoming the development.

?More esports news

Esports will now officially be included in national multi-sport events with it set to be recognised via legislative action.

The news was broken by independent esports reporter Kuldeep Lather via his Twitter page.

The Indian esports betting industry has experienced significant growth in recent years due to the widespread availability of the internet and advancements in digital technology, particularly in PCs and handheld devices.

Indian gamers and content creators have achieved great accomplishments both nationally and globally in the esports scene. The fact that many creators are now able to create gaming content as a full-time career demonstrates impressive growth.

While esports in India has grown, it has also faced various uncertainties. One major issue has been the sudden prohibition of popular games such as PUBG, Free Fire, and BGMI, which has had a significant impact on the careers of many individuals.

In addition, the government’s blanket justification of “national security concerns” for the ban has not addressed the problems that arose from the sudden prohibition.

Despite being created with the support and guidance of the Indian government after PUBG’s ban, BGMI was shut down shortly after it began gaining popularity. At this time, there is no information available on the potential reversal of any of the bans on these titles.

Additionally, the government’s recognition of esports may bring positive prospects for regional gamers.

Esports was included as a pilot event in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham earlier this year, demonstrating the international growth of the industry. Although esports had previously made its debut at the 2021 Asian Games, the 2022 edition was scheduled to include competitive gaming as a mainstream event, but the tournament has been delayed until 2023 due to the COVID pandemic.

It is expected that the recent decision will significantly alter the competitive gaming scene in the country. By being placed in the multi-sports category, competitive gaming tournaments will now be treated with the same level of recognition and importance as other physical sporting events.

Having hosted both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games, it is possible that esports could be included as a category in the next Commonwealth Games or Asian Games to be hosted by India.

Additionally, the inclusion of esports in the multi-sports category will surely enhance the competitive gaming scene and lead to the creation of regional games that are more attuned to the preferences of both players and audiences in the region. Unlike in the West, professional gaming on handheld devices in India has seen a significant increase. This growth can be attributed to the availability of affordable devices and improved access to fast internet.

As mobile esports gaming has grown into a strong market, PC games such as FIFA 23 and Valorant have also gained popularity. These types of games are expected to increase the number of servers in India and encourage local gamers to pursue their hobbies as full-time professionals.

?More esports news

The event, which is organized by the International Esports Federation (IESF), will see India compete in multiple esports titles, including Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Tekken 7, and eFootball. The upcoming 14th World Esports Championship is scheduled to commence on December 1.

The international event will feature esports athletes from over 120 countries competing for championship titles across various esports titles. Six different esports titles will be available at the tournament, including PUBG Mobile, Dota 2, and for the first time, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The tournament has a prize pool of US$500,000.

Each esports title event will be hosted in a different venue across Bali. The PUBG Mobile event will be held at the Merusaka Hotel Nusa Dua, while the CS:GO event will take place in South Kuta.

In their CS:GO event, Team India will compete in Group C alongside Chile, Tajikistan, and Team IESF. The top two teams in the group will advance to the tournament’s playoffs.

India’s CS:GO roster will include Anshul “KiiLSwitCh” Adarkar, Shuvajyoti “Mcg1LLzZz” Chakraborty, in-game leader Ritesh “Defaulter” Sarda, Harsh “lynX” Jain, and Hrishikesh “Crazy_Gamer” Shenoy.

The team’s captain commented on India’s qualification for the 14th edition of the tournament. He expressed his excitement, describing it as “a great honor” to represent his country in the tournament.

“It��s been a great honor to represent India back-to-back in the WEC,” Defaulter said.

“We as a team are excited and prepared to play in the upcoming WEC starting next week in Bali. The world finals is going to be a huge spectacle. With the right mentality and proper grind, we have high hopes for the tournament and will try to bring the laurels to the country.”

In last year’s tournament, which was held in Eilat, Israel, Team India finished in eighth place. They will be looking to make a statement in this year’s iteration by securing a higher finish.

India’s debut match against Team Tajikistan might be their toughest matchup in the group. All matches in the group stage will be played in a best-of-one format.

Team India will be represented by Hitesh “Rcool” Khorwal at the Tekken 7 event. The tricolor team will compete in Group E alongside the Bahamas, Venezuela, and their South Asian counterparts Pakistan. Like the CS:GO event, the group stage will be played in a best-of-one format, with the top two players in the group advancing to the playoff stage.

On the eFootball front, Team India will be represented by Hemanth “Peshemak7” Kommu. He will be going up against representatives from Guinea, Armenia, and Kazakhstan in the Group P lineup.

?More esports news

The announcement of PMIS 2020 surfaced on Sunday with a short video on the official PUBG Mobile India YouTube channel that showcased some highlights from the inaugural event in 2019. The video, however, was more of a teaser than an announcement, as it did not unveil any extra information about the upcoming competition.

This year’s PMIS will feature 50 Lakh or 5,000,000 Indian Rupee (~US $65,550) in total prize money. The 2019 event saw the top 20 teams out of more than 575,000 registrations compete in the finals, but it is not yet known how many teams will make the cut in 2020.

The first edition of the PMIS ran for almost four months and was considered the biggest PUBG Mobile tournament to ever be held in India. It played a pivotal role in laying the foundation for the Indian PUBG Mobile esports scene and led to the formation of many new rosters, some of which have gone on to establish themselves among the top teams in the world.

The biggest storylines of PMIS 2019 was Team SouL, who defied the odds to claim the title with 2520 points and 46 kills. Several players from that side are now well-known members of the PUBG esports community. Mohammed “Owais” Lakhani and Harpreet Singh “RonaK” Janjuha ended up leaving for Team Xspark, who were later picked up by Fnatic, while Kanishk “Slayer” Shah left SouL to join TeamIND.

It is likely that PMIS 2020 will be a standalone competition in India, meaning it won’t be included in the global PUBG Mobile esports ecosystem alongside the Pro League, World League and Club Opens.

Mobile gaming is on the rise worldwide and especially in Asia, where games such as PUBG, Clash Royale and Arena of Valor have experienced a huge boom in popularity.

Recent reports claim there are now over 400 million mobile gamers, with 269 million from India alone, and one of the most popular games in the subcontinent is PUBG Mobile.

While PUBG Mobile tournaments come with modest prize pools that cannot compare to those of the leading esports games such as CS:GO, LoL and Dota2, it is the rapid increase in popularity of mobile gaming that has caught the attention of esports organisations everywhere.

Fnatic��s Chief Gaming Officer, Patrik S?ttermon, explained in an interview that the franchise had been looking for a way into the Indian esports market for quite some time.

“It��s been a long term dream and goal to enter India,” he said.

“We��ve been exploring the market as well as meeting with players, organisations and game developers to understand how the market is moving and where the opportunities lie.

“For the initial months, we��ll focus on the sports side and content.

“Over time, we are looking to set up a gaming facility and staff up so that all the fans and gamers in India can get the full Fnatic experience that they deserve, in terms of products, experiences and of course content.”

As a leading PUBG mobile team in India, Xspark have already made a name for themselves by finishing third in the group stage of the PUBG Mobile Club Open’s South Asia section and earning a spot in the tournament semi-finals.

The five-man roster of Tanmay “Sc0utOP” Singh, Harpreet Singh “Ronak” Janjuha, Mohammed Owais “Owais” Lakhani, Paritosh “Paritosh” SHarma and Ujwal Ashok “InYourDream” Chaudhari will officially rebrand as Fnatic in 2020.

As revealed by ESL India on Twitter on Friday, September 20, Global eSports earned their spot at ESL Clash of Nations Bangkok 2019, where they will be the only Indian team competing for the lion’s share of $50,000 prizepool and glory that comes with winning the event.

Global eSports has been announced as the representatives of India at ESL Clash of Nations Bangkok 2019 on account of their performance in the ESL India Premiership Fall season – online phase one, where Global eSports finished as rank one.

However, the decision made by ESL India to send Global eSports to ESL Clash of Nations sparked some controversy, most notably in the Entity Gaming team.

The manager of Entity Gaming, Sid Joshi released a statement on his Facebook profile, expressing his disagreement with the decision made by ESL India.

Adding a disclaimer, he has nothing against the players nor the organisation, Joshi went on to criticize ESL India’s decision by pointing out Entity are the current defending champions of the Indian Dota 2 circuit, yet it was Global eSports, who were given a spot at ESL Clash of Nations instead of them.

Joshi added that the explanation he was given, when asked for the reasoning why Global eSports were picked over Entity was that EG were rank one in phase one of the ongoing tournament (India Premiership 2019), which won’t conclude until November.

That on its own is a different approach compared to other teams competing at ESL Clash of Nations, who have been/will be awarded their slots based on winning their respective ESL and other qualifiers.

He concluded his rant by adding “This is extremely unfair to my players who’ve been working their asses off to dethrone the consistent Indian dota2 champions of last year and the year before”.

ESL Clash of Nations: Bangkok 2019 is set to kick off on Thursday, October 24 and run to Sunday, October 2019. It will be taking place as a part of the Thailand Game Show, where some of the best Dota 2 teams from the APAC region will be present.

As revealed, the tournament will be split into two stages. A play-in stage and the main event.

In the play-in stage will feature four teams. Two from ANZ (Australia/New Zealand), one from the Philippines and one from India, who will compete in a double-elimination (GSL) format playoffs, from where only two teams will proceed into the main event.

Teams competing in the play-in:

• Global eSports (Winner of phase one in ESL India Premiership 2019: Fall Season)
• Team Oracle (ANZ Championship – Season four finalists)
• Athletico Esports (ANZ Championship – Season four finalists)
• TBD (Winner of ESL Clash of Nations 2019 Philippines Closed Qualifier)

The two winners of play-in phase will then join the four teams in the main event, who will qualify via ESL tournaments, which are set to conclude by the end of next week.

As of the time of writing, Indonesian team BOOM Esports are the only confirmed team in the main event, with three more spots reserved for the ESL Championship Season 2 winners from; Thailand, Vietnam and MY&SG (Malaysia and Singapore)

Following the ESL India Summer 2019 finals, Horizon Sports India decided to part ways with Signify due to conflict of interest with COBX Gaming, resulting in both Dota 2 and CS:GO Signify teams disbanding.

Global Esports moved fast to sign the majority of Dota 2 roster. That allowed them to create a new, talented team that went on to finish second in phase one of ESL India Premiership 2019 Fall.

SEE ALSO: INDIAN ESPORTS BETTING SITES

The CS: GO team reportedly received very generous individual offers but instead opted to stick together and seek out a new home where they could continue playing together.

With no such offer on the table, the close-knit roster began playing under the Orgless5 banner and impressed with several solid results in ESL India Premiership 2019.

Sabyasachi “Antidote” Bose and his crew also enjoyed a good run at Conquerors Insignia 2019: Asian Subcontinent, where they cruised through the group stage and semi-finals without losing a single map.

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However, not having the backing of an established esports organization and all the benefits that come with it has pushed the players to play in subpar conditions, which has affected their performances over time.

Having no facilities, it was reported Antidote and Sunny “DEATHMAKER” Das played together from Kolkata, Vishal “haiVaaN” Sharma and Lucas “yb” Groening played from a cafe in Mumbai, while Tejas “Ace” Sawant helped his team from the comfort of his home.

It was said the ex-Signify management provided the players with some assistance on their solo venture, but not nearly as much as an organization would be able to, most notably facilities and salaries.

Soon after their defeat in the finals of Conquerors Insignia 2019, it was revealed Deathmaker had decided to join Entity Gaming, leaving Orgless5 in disarray.

The remaining players followed, announcing they would be looking for a new team, after the ESL India Premiership 2019 – Fall Finale which will mark the end of Orgless5.

Out of all four remaining players, however, it is Antidote’s decision to become a free agent that caught the most attention.

The former OpTic India, JMD Gaming, Dare2Dream, Malhar, and 2EZ Gaming player is widely considered one of the best in India and arguably the best AWP in the whole subcontinent, so there is bound to be significant interest in the talented 23-year-old.

Because it��s a relatively small tournament compared to the rest of Dota 2 events taking place in March, most of the top eight teams did not take an interest in it. As a result, GESC: Indonesia offers great Dota 2 betting opportunities and some pretty imbalanced matches with highly predictable outcomes.

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Analysis of the teams

Evil Geniuses

Almost 3 moths ago, Evil Geniuses decided to make some critical staff and roster changes that drew much criticism from the community. However, the decision paid off as EG went on to get a few important results. The team has been on the rise lately, beating top opponents (or at least taking games off them) and looking more and more like the Dota 2 machine it once was.

This tournament is of particular importance for the North American team, who has to climb back to top 8 in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings. Right now, they��re sitting at no. 9 with 885 qualification points. Given that the competition at GESC: Indonesia is not that fierce, EG has a very high chance of qualifying for the Finals.

The Final Tribe

There��s not much that can be said about this team because it��s never made an appearance at a Dota Pro Circuit event. The main reason why they qualified for this tournament is that none of the big European teams had an interest in it.

The Final Tribe has a 100% Swedish roster made up of a few individuals who even played for Alliance at one point in their career. However, without a reputable captain and absolutely no achievements to speak of, The Final Tribe is likely to finish 7th �C 8th at GESC: Indonesia.

Digital Chaos

Make no mistake, this is not the team that finished 2nd at The International 2016. It��s actually the Animal Planet roster, which recently got signed by the North American organization.

Digital Chaos has some big names in its roster, including Aui_2000 (former TI champion with Evil Geniuses in 2015) and MoonMeander (former multiple Major champion with OG). However, just like The Final Tribe, the team lacks a great leader and without this component, it��s almost impossible to do well against the world��s best teams. Which is why we haven��t seen Animal Planet at any Dota Pro Circuit event since its formation.
Going into GESC: Indonesia, my expectation is that Digital Chaos will finish 5th �C 6th.

Natus Vincere

Six weeks ago, Natus Vincere lost 2 key players: RodjER and SoNNeikO. After their departure, the team��s strength and overall coordination dropped like a rock. Na��Vi has no real captain at the moment and their whole playstyle seems improvised. Which is one of the reasons why the team is losing match after match against top opponents.
However, in a tournament like this, where they only have a few other strong teams to worry about, Na��Vi is quite likely to get a top 4 finish and earn some much-needed qualification points for The International 2018.

Fnatic

Live Evil Geniuses, Fnatic has been on the rise lately, obtaining tickets for Dota Pro Circuit tournaments and earning qualification points in them. With the addition of UNiVeRsE, the team has stepped into a new era and is now a fairly strong contender at any event.
Going into GESC: Indonesia, Fnatic is the third team in terms of strength. So they will likely get a top 4 finish.

Rex Regum Qeon

Rex Regum Qeon is an Indonesian team with no international experience. Like The Final Tribe, they��re only here due to exceptional reasons. The tournament organizers decided to reserve one qualification spot for Indonesia, most likely to support the local Dota 2 scene and attract a larger audience at their live event.
Rex Regum Qeon will almost certainly get destroyed by every single opponent at GESC: Indonesia. Without any experience at this level of competition, there��s not much they can do about it and will have to rely on a miracle to succeed even slightly. A 5th �C 6th place finish would actually be an incredible result for this team.

Infamous

Infamous is a South American team with a fair amount of international experience. During the 2017-2018 competitive season, the team has taken part in four tournaments, including this one: Galaxy Battles II: Emerging Worlds, StarLadder i-League Invitational Season 4, ESL One Katowice 2018, and GESC: Indonesia. However, so far, they��ve only managed to qualify and not much else, finishing last at every event the went to.
Going into this tournament, Infamous will likely get a 5th �C 6th place finish as they are stronger than Rex Regum Qeon, The Final Tribe and even Digital Chaos.

VGJ.Thunder

VGJ.Thunder is one of the strongest Dota teams in the world and a main contender for winning this event. Realistically speaking, it will be either them or Evil Geniuses.
VGJ.Thunder has several exceptional players in its roster. One of them is Sylar, who has been 3 times on the podium (top 3) at The International. Another one is ddc, who has attended every single TI event so far. At the 2017 edition, he was the captain of LGD.Forever Young and helped the team secure a 3rd place finish.
At their latest tournament (the Bucharest Major), VGJ.Thunder took 2nd place after they lost against Virtus.pro in the Finals. Keep in mind however that Virtus.pro is the number 1 team in the Dota Pro Circuit rankings, and that the Bucharest Major brought together the best teams in the world. VGJ.Thunder defeated Vici Gaming, Team Secret, TNC Pro Team and Newbee to get to the event��s Finals. This kind of performance says a lot about their level of skill.

GESC Indonesia: Betting predictions and team news

Evil Geniuses vs. Infamous

There��s a huge strength difference between these two teams right now, so I don��t think Infamous can stand up to EG in this encounter. Evil Geniuses recently finished 5th �C 8th at the Bucharest Major, defeating teams like Newbee, Team Liquid (in the Group Stage) and PaiN Gaming (another South American team, like Infamous) in the process. The chance of success for the North Americans is above 97%, making this match a great betting opportunity.
Bovada puts the odds at -1200 / +550 or around 1.08 �C 6.50 in favor of Evil Geniuses.

Best bet: Evil Geniuses to win $1.08 with GG Bet

VGJ.Thunder vs. The Final Tribe

This match offers the best betting opportunity on this list. VGJ.Thunder is better than EG while The Final Tribe is worse than the South Americans from Infamous. But, in spite of this, the odds for this match are even better than those of the previous one.
Bovada puts the odds at -700 / +375 or around 1.14 �C 4.75 in favor of VGJ.Thunder and this is practically free money to be made.

Best bet: VGJ.Thunder to win $1.14 with GG Bet

Natus Vincere vs. Rex Regum Qeon

Being an established CIS team, Na��Vi certainly is the clear favorite in this match even though its recent record at Dota Pro Circuit events has been poor. In theory, they��re still lightyears ahead of Rex Regum Qeon and should win this battle without too many problems. However, the chance of an upset is considerable in this case, simply because Rex Regum Qeon will be performing in front of their home crowd. The match is also a Bo1, so it��s enough for Na��Vi to mess up their draft or make one critical error during the game and the odds will swing in their opponents�� favor.
Bovada puts the odds at -500 / +300 or around 1.20 �C 4.00 in favor of Natus Vincere. At these odds, if you��re using a long-term betting strategy to optimize your profits, you may want to consider betting a smaller amount on Rex Regum Qeon.

Best bet: Rex Regum Qeon to win $4.00 with GG Bet

Fnatic vs. Digital Chaos

If Fnatic just plays its standard game, they should win this Bo1 without breaking a sweat. They have a great roster at the moment, with players like Abed and UNiVeRsE in key roles, and I can��t see a team like Digital Chaos besting them in a match like this.
Bovada puts the odds at -225 / +150 or around 1.44 �C 2.50 in favor of Fnatic, so the returns are very high for such a likely outcome.

Best bet: Fnatic to win $1.44 with GG Bet

With a current value of $700 million, the esports industry is fast becoming a global phenomenon with a rise comparable to that of cryptocurrencies. In India, while there are several factors holding it back, it is expected to continue to grow rapidly.

Perhaps esports can even rise to challenge the domestic success of cricket in India. As a comparison, in the summer of 2017, eight Indian Premier League teams played a tournament consisting of 60 games within a 47-day period. One team eventually emerged the overall winner. A total of $2.4 million was won in prize money by over 25 players, coaches and team staff.

Just month’s later, a comparable feat occurred in Seattle, USA, in the esports arena. A five-member team known as Team Liquid won $10.86 million after 11 days of winning in the game of Defense of the Ancients (DOTA 2). The Seattle tournament was called The International.

With an estimated 120 million online video gamers in India it is realistic to say that these numbers could eventually challenge cricket as the no.1 pursuit in the country, a remarkable feat in a country where around 400 million people tune in when the national team plays an important game.

With successful cricket stars akin to rockstars in India and almost instant millionaires when they reach the summit of the game, the lure of esports riches could drag in these sorts of numbers, making it one of the most important markets in the world.

How would esports generate money to compete with cricket?

The esports market is growing in leaps and bounds. The original sources of revenue for the market are:

• Advertising and sponsorships
• Games licensing
• Broadcasting rights
• Merchandising
• Game developer fees
• Game passes

The above sources of revenue have helped to sustain the ever-growing esports industry. But investors have also taken a liking to the gaming world, and their investments have even helped the International Olympic Committee to recognize esports as a ��competitive sport��. Some of the external investors that have funded the market include:

• Alibaba
• Intel
• The Walt Disney Company
• The Kraft Group
• Hewlett Packard
• Entertainers such as Jennifer Lopez

Given the enlarging esports markets in South Korea, USA, China and other parts of the world, analysts believe it is only a matter of time before esports becomes a reality at the Olympics, giving it even more prominence in sporting mad countries like India.

Esports phenomenal growth in India is largely impacted by limited high-speed internet connectivity. Despite this Director of India��s esports governing body, Esports Federation of India, Lokesh Suji, expresses optimism on the growing profile of the industry in the country.

“It’s estimated that India has around 120 million online gamers,�� Suji revealed.

��This population will cross 300 million by 2021. The serious esports community in India is pegged around 10 million. India has the largest youth population in the world. Esports is culturally more relevant to current and upcoming generations.”

Indian youths make up the largest percentage of online gamers. Ages range between 18 and 25, with most of them picking up the hobby in school.

What began as a hobby in school for many of them years ago is today becoming a profitable career. To underscore this point, over $308,000 was won in various esports tournaments across India in 2017.

While it will take time and Government investment in things like faster internet connections, esports looms as the main challenger to cricket’s dominance of the mindsets of millions of Indians.