After the successful launch of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) which surpassed 34 million registered users within a week after its release in the country, the game is all set to arrive on the Apple iOS platform soon, a top company executive said on Saturday.
According to Wooyol Lim, Head of Battlegrounds Mobile Division at South Korean gaming company Krafton, the developers are doing their best to bring BGMI to iOS users in India as soon as possible.
“We will soon make announcements on our social media handles to keep our fans updated,” Lim told IANS.
BGMI, which rechristened itself after PUBG was banned in the country last year, has seen a peak of 16 million daily active users and 2.4 million peak concurrent users in India.
The executive said that BGMI had been developed exclusively for their fans in India, and the company emphasizes offering a superlative gameplay experience and immersive content for fans and players.
“Our primary focus is to keep bringing in more and more engaging content, world-class collaborations, and India-specific content,” Lim said.
On being asked if BGMI is a toned-down version of PUBG, Lim said that the game is serviced by Krafton, which is a completely independent entity in South Korea.
“With the game’s launch, fans in India can expect the expansion of a healthy gameplay environment alongside the growth of its local video game, esports industries,” Lim noted.
“Krafton will continue to introduce features and items that reflect the local culture and needs on Battlegrounds Mobile India including outfits and India-specific events”.
The battleground game also reminds its players to take a break if they play for too long, which can be annoying for a lot of players. However, Lim said providing a safe gameplay experience is extremely important for the company.
He said that the team cares deeply about the health of their fans and keeping this in mind, they have kept the advisories in the game.
“We are huge advocates of responsible gaming, and measures have been taken to ensure our fans understand that Battlegrounds is a virtual world and time limits for gaming have been set accordingly, plus OTP control given to parents,” Lim informed.
In mid-July, Krafton announced its first esports tournament — Battlegrounds Mobile India Series 2021.
The registrations for the tournament kicked off on July 19 and the event would have five stages spanning over three months. The video game developer has announced a prize pool of Rs 1 crore for this inaugural series.
(Vivek Singh Chauhan can be reached at vivek.c@ians.in)
