Battlegrounds Mobile India expected to release on THIS date, but will it be banned?

New Delhi: BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA could be launched in India on June 18, exactly after a month after it had opened for pre-registrations on May 18. However, the game may also be facing a serious trouble, considering that several political leaders have urged the government to look into the game's potential threat to national security.

KRAFTON, the South Korean video game developer has been lately teasing a lot on the game on its social media forum – the latest seemingly on the game’s India launch date. The company in its Facebook post said:

“We know you've been waiting for us since a long time.

We're super excited for the biggest drop of the year!

Guess the date and let us know in the comments below.”

However, the game's fate has been mired in controversy even before its launch in the country, with resistance among the politicle circle to ban the game. Arvind Dharampuri, Member of Parliament from Nizamabad (Telangana) has written a letter to the IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad requiring the need for "examination" of the game. The MP cited issues international data transfers and Terms of Service of the game among reasons that might call for halting the game.

BJP national spokesperson Suresh Nakhua, Gadchiroli MP Ashok Nete are also among the political leaders who have asked the government to look into the national security aspect the game purportedly could threaten. An MLA from Arunachal Pradesh, Ninong Ering, in a letter to PM Narendra Modi has demanded that the game should not release citing risks to national security.

Set in a virtual world, BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA is a battle royale game where multiple players employ strategies to fight and be the last man standing.

“Players pre-registering for BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA will get 4 amazing rewards, the Recon Mask, the Recon Outfit, Celebration Expert Title, and 300 AG. These rewards are for fans who pre-register, so get ready to dive in and enjoy the battle royale experience on BATTLEGROUNDS with your friends,” KRAFTON said earlier.

A free-to-play, multiplayer experience from KRAFTON, players can battle it out in diverse game modes which can be squad-based or even one-on-one. Featuring diverse maps with different terrains on a virtual setting, BATTLEGROUNDS MOBILE INDIA utilizes the full capabilities of Unreal Engine 4 to bring alive fantastic worlds augmented by 3D sound, to build a truly immersive experience on a mobile phone, KRAFTON says.

Touted to be an alternative of PUBG Mobile India, it is said that the game has many similar features as that of PUBG.

The Indian government had on September 2 banned 118 apps on national security concerns, including the immensely popular PlayerUnknown`s Battlegrounds (PUBG) Mobile, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act.

PUBG, which has more than 600 million downloads and 50 million active players globally, had nearly 33 million users in India.