Garena's Free Fire relaunch delayed over gameplay refinement, localisation

Garena, a Singapore-based online game developer and publisher, has delayed the launch of its battle royale game, Free Fire. The game was supposed to relaunch on September 5 after a year-long ban in India.

The developer has not announced a revised launch date.

The company says it wants to refine the gameplay and complete the "localisation of the Free Fire India experience".

It is also not clear if the company means localisation of player data or in-game content. Garena declined to comment on queries sent by YourStory.

Just like its competitor BGMI, which was also banned after a crackdown on apps linked to China, Free Fire was subject to a three-month trial, where the government would monitor data security and player wellbeing.

Garena had tied up with Yotta, a Hiranandani Group company, to provide local cloud hosting and storage infrastructure for Free Fire India.

On August 31, the game developer unveiled former Indian captain MS Dhoni as the new brand ambassador for the game. Dhoni is featured in the game as a playable character called "Thala."

Garena also announced the Free Fire India Championship (FFIC) through an MoU with the Government of Uttar Pradesh, aiming to promote esports in India. FFIC was open to teams nationwide, and the winners had the opportunity to represent India at the Free Fire World Series in Thailand in November.

In May, BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India) made a comeback after being banned by the government in July 2022 under Section 69A of the IT Act 2000.