BGMI and Free Fire Likely Safe from India’s Proposed Online Gaming Bill 2025
- Sagar Mankar
- Aug 20
- 2 min read
The upcoming Online Gaming Bill 2025 has sparked major concern among gamers, especially those who spend hours in popular battle royale titles like BGMI and Free Fire.
However, early analysis suggests that these games may not fall under the government’s new restrictions, since the legislation is aimed more at gambling-style platforms rather than skill-based shooters.
The bill mainly targets real-money gaming (RMG) platforms, where players deposit cash and compete for monetary rewards. Legal experts believe this will directly impact platforms offering fantasy sports, poker, and rummy, such as Dream11, My11Circle, RummyCircle, Junglee Rummy, Adda52, Zupee, Games24x7, WinZO, and MPL.
In contrast, BGMI and Free Fire operate on a different model, where revenue comes from cosmetic purchases, battle passes, and skins. Players spend money, but they don’t gamble with it for potential returns.
In short, you buy skins, you keep skins. There’s no system for withdrawing cash or betting against other players, which sets these games apart from the type of gambling activities the government is trying to regulate.
Free Fire and BGMI Faced a Ban Before
It’s worth noting that Free Fire was banned in India in February 2022 due to data security concerns, as it was accused of routing user data through Chinese servers.
However, Free Fire Max has remained operational in India and even hosted a ₹1 crore tournament in 2025, indicating that its monetization through cosmetics and in-app purchases hasn’t raised concerns with regulators.
Similarly, BGMI faced two bans for similar data security reasons. Unlike Free Fire, the game was relaunched on both occasions in India after Krafton adhered to strict data localization rules.
Since neither game offers withdrawal or betting systems, they fall outside the primary focus of the bill. So, battle royale fans can relax — your games are secure.
Rohit N Jagasia, Cofounder and CEO of Revenant Esports, welcomes this act as he believes the bill will create a "crucial difference between esports, social gaming, and chance-driven money games."
"The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025 is a welcome step toward resolving years of uncertainty in the sector. At present, a mix of state-level restrictions creates inconsistency. This bill helps bring a balance to that. With a central framework in place, we can unlock investment, foster innovation, and drive global competitiveness. The bill also recognises the crucial difference between esports, social gaming, and chance-driven money games. For esports in particular, that clarity is essential for growth and credibility. Once the detailed provisions are made public, we’ll have a clearer sense of its implications for esports. But it could well mark the start of India’s rise as an international esports leader."