ESPL Season 2 is officially postponed following the reported BGMI ban in India

ESports Premier League (ESPL) Season 2 is officially being put on hold, in light of recent events regarding Battlegrounds Mobile India. The game was removed from Google Play Store & Apple App Store in India on July 28th. The next day, the Government of India decided to reportedly ban BGMI. This has promoted the tournament organizer to put ESPL on hold. Let's check everything that esports fans need to know about the latest developments around ESPL Season 2 here.

ESPL Season 2 will return

While it is a disappointment for all esports players, teams, and India Today Gaming as well, ITG understands and respects the decision by the Government of India. If and when the ban gets lifted, ESPL Season 2 will return from the same stage. This means that ESPL Season 2 will start from the LAN Finals featuring the top 16 qualified teams that were set to compete. 

BGMI ban in India

The Government of India had earlier banned PUBG Mobile in the country back in 2020 alongside 118 other Chinese apps. This ban was implemented under section 69A of the IT act. The government has reportedly used the same section to remove Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) from Google Play Store and Apple App Store on July 29th, 2022. This comes on the back of a crime that took place in June.

Events that led to the ban

The Lucknow case led to a series of questions being posed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in a letter to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on June 9. NCPCR questioned MeiTY as to how the game, which is banned by the government, is still accessible and playable in India. During the Parliament Monsoon Session on July 22, Shri. V. Vijayasai Reddy, a member of parliament, asked MeitY about PUBG Mobile once again. Following an investigation from the ministry, BGMI, the game by Krafton, was first removed from the app stores and then banned from the country the following day.