PUBG Mobile players across India were left shocked on the afternoon of Sept. 2, 2021. Amidst rising border tensions between India and China, the South Asian country’s ministry of electronics and IT issued a ban on several Chinese applications – one of them being PUBG Mobile. Every crisis creates an opportunity, and that’s how BGMI was born.
The ban was a surprise for many players and the game soon stopped working on devices from the country. Soon after, Krafton announced that it was taking over the publishing responsibilities for PUBG Mobile in India. It later released Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) on July 2, 2021, a replica of PUBG Mobile, with green hit effects and a warning message for matches, for players in the country.
Now, a year later, BGMI has crossed 100 million registered users. Here’s the timeline of the game’s first year.
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Krafton announces Battlegrounds Mobile India
BGMI Promotional Image
Krafton first announced Battlegrounds Mobile India on May 6, 2021, and soon after opened pre-registrations for Android users. The game amassed 20 million pre-registrations on the Google Play Store in just two weeks.
After a period of testing, BGMI was officially released on July 2, 2021. A month later, the game registered 50 million downloads.
BGMI releases on iOS – a bit late, though
While BGMI opened pre-registrations for Android users on May 6, 2021, there was no official communication regarding the game’s release on iOS devices. Even after the release on July 2, Apple users couldn’t find the game on the App Store.
Krafton finally announced that BGMI is coming for Apple users on Aug. 18. The game was released on the same day.
First esports event, BGMI – The Launch Party organized in July
BGMI – The Launch Party
With PUBG Mobile having a huge esports scene in the country, Krafton quickly jumped on the wagon and brought the first tournament on July 8 and 9. It was called The Launch Party and 18 teams, made of content creators, locked horns for the title of champions.
The tournament achieved a peak viewership of 547,888 and had an average viewership of 218,915, per Esports Charts.
Battlegrounds Mobile India Series announced and representing India in the PMGC
After the success of The Launch Party, Krafton announced the next official tournament for BGMI, the India Series (BGIS).
The BGIS featured open qualifiers leading to quarterfinals, semifinals, and the grand finals. While the tournament was announced in July, the qualifiers began way later in December. The reason for the delay was said to be due to a crackdown on hackers by Krafton in BGMI. No official statement was issued by the publisher, though.
The grand finals for the BGIS were held from Jan. 13 to 16 with Skylightz Gaming securing first place.
The winner of the BGIS received a direct invite into the PUBG Mobile Global Championship (PMGC) 2021 Grand Finals. The winner was supposed to fly to Dubai to compete in the event. However, after the top three teams of the BGIS, namely Skylightz, TSM, and Team XO, failed to furnish the necessary documents for traveling, the slot went to fourth-placed GodLike Esports.
It was the first time in two years that an Indian team was competing on the international stage. GodLike wasn’t able to put up a good show and placed 13th.
BGMI game updates are aligned with PUBG Mobile
While BGMI is a different game, it shares the same developer with PUBG Mobile. Thus, the cadence of updates on both games is identical. BGMI usually receives the same updates a few days later.
The most recent update was Patch 2.0 which brought the Livik map, a new season, the Evangelion collaboration, and more to the game.
BGMI 2022 Esports Plans
With the success of the BGIS, Krafton didn’t take long to announce its 2022 plans. This year, the game will have four major tournaments which are the Open Challenge (BMOC), Pro Series (BMPS) Season one, India Series (BMIS) and the BMPS Season two. The combined prize pool for these stands at Rs. 60 million (about $759,000).
So far, the BMOC and BMPS Season one has concluded. Team Soul emerged victorious in the BMPS and has qualified for the PUBG Mobile World Invitational (PMWI) 2022.
Team Soul top points table to become champions of BMPS Season 1
After three years, Team Soul are back at the top after taking an insurmountable lead in the Battlegrounds Mobile India Pro Series.
BGMI crosses 100 million registered users
BGMI marked a year of release on July 2 with a bang as Krafton announced that the game had crossed 100 million registered users. With a flourishing esports scene and huge player base, the future for the battle royale title looks bright in the country.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest mobile gaming news and updates.
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