Krafton share prices drop 9pc on Battlegrounds app ban in India

South Korean mobile game developer Krafton has been hit with a ban to another one of its apps in India this week, causing the stock price to crash by 9 percent. However, it recovered to just 5.7 percent losses by the close of market.

Reported by Reuters, Krafton's hit game Battleground Mobile India (BGMI) was delisted from both Android and Apple devices on Thursday. Google cited an Indian government ban for the move. This is the second large game Krafton has banned in India after Player Unknown Battleground (PUBG) was banned in 2020.

The developer's website said that India accounted for 100 million gamers of BGMI, leading to the strong public market reaction upon publication of the news.

It is unclear why the app was banned. A source told Reuters that Google received the takedown order in the last 24 hours, while Apple and IT Ministry of India have not responded to queries yet.

The PUBG ban in 2020, part of a wider crackdown of more than 100 mobile apps related to national tensions with China, was explained due to China's Tencent having Indian publication rights for PUBG.

Since that original ban was enacted under the explanation of national security, more than 300 apps have been banned in India.