Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) has officially returned to India. The battle royale was banned last year in July owing to various security concerns under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. BGMI was unbanned last month and is now available for download on both iOS and Android smartphones in India. The developers have made several changes to the game that promotes a healthy gaming environment and comply with local laws. While the popular game is finally back, it looks like there is not a lot of enthusiasm around it.
BGMI live streams by popular esports players in India have witnessed underwhelming viewership since the game has been available for download. A report by AFK Gaming revealed some stats that highlight the difference in viewership of BGMI live streams since the game was unbanned in 2021 and 2023.
According to the reported details, BGMI live streams by popular gamers in India are seeing four times less viewership currently compared to the 2021 launch. The report stated that Mortal, who recently launched their voice pack in BGMI, has seen a peak viewership of 50,000 during their live stream. So far, the gamer has over 1.2 million views since BGMI got unbanned last month.
Dynamo, who is one of the most popular gamers in India, also witnessed a massive drop in BGMI live streams since the game got unbanned last month. Compared to the 2021 launch, where the gamer got an average of 2,15,000 views per stream, Dynamo is now averaging about 45,000 views. So far, the YouTuber has got 2.3 million views in total.
Another streamer, Scout, has had a peak viewership of 30,000 views and a total viewership of 1.1 million views so far. Jonathan seems to be the least impacted as the gamer has over 98,000 peak viewership since the 2023 launch while getting a total of 2.3 million views so far.
| Creator | 2021 Launch Peak Viewership | 2021 Launch Total Views | 2023 Launch Peak Viewership | 2023 Launch Total Views |
| Mortal | ~200K | 4.8M | ~50K | 1.2M |
| Dynamo | ~215K | 8.2M | ~45K | 2.3M |
| Scout | ~150K | 4.3M | ~30K | 1.1M |
| Jonathan | ~180K | 4.9M | ~98K | 2.3M |
The developers have not released any official numbers, which reveal the total number of downloads the app got on iOS and Android smartphones since its relaunch. This is contrary to the 2021 relaunch, where the developers announced that over five million users had downloaded the game under the early access programme, whereas over 10 million had downloaded the game within days of its official release on iOS and Android App Stores. Last year, Krafton also revealed that over 100 million players have downloaded BGMI by the time the game completed its first year in India.
The 10-month-long ban might have led to players and viewers losing interest in the battle royale. There were a few replacements, such as Call of Duty: Mobile. PUBG: New State and Apex Legends. While PUBG: New State failed to create the same level of buzz as BGMI, Apex Legends is no longer available on mobile. Call of Duty: Mobile seemed to be the only major alternative for BGMI players. However, players might return to BGMI slowly and we might see a spike in user interest over the coming months.
Krafton is also trying to lure players to return to BGMI by announcing special in-game rewards and events. You can click here to know more about the same.
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