India’s mobile gaming and esports ecosystem gears up for new phase of growth as Free Fire returns ...Middle East

Garena’s flagship title Free Fire has officially marked its return to India’s mobile esports landscape with the announcement of the Free Fire MAX India Cup 2025, setting off a wave of excitement among gamers, creators, and tournament organizers. Scheduled to take place from July 13 to September 28, the tournament with a prize pool of ₹1 crore will serve as Free Fire India’s first major competitive roadmap since the game’s ban three years ago.

Free Fire MAX India Cup 2025 Features 1 Crore INR Prize Pool

According to Sensor Tower’s India Mobile Gaming Insights Report, India leads the world in mobile game downloads, recording 8.45 billion downloads in FY 2024–25. The country’s revenue landscape is dominated by core games, with battle royales such as Garena Free Fire and Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) leading the charts.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Free Fire India Esports (@freefireindiaesports)

As a title that consistently ranks among the top in both downloads and revenue, and with a strong presence across India’s tier 2 and 3 cities, Free Fire’s return reopens competitive access to millions of aspiring esports athletes. Its ability to run on low-end smartphones makes it particularly accessible, especially for players previously left out of the structured tournament ecosystem.

“The return of Free Fire is a watershed for mobile esports in India,” says Akshat Rathee, Co-founder and Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming. “India’s gaming market thrives on accessibility, and Free Fire’s ability to run smoothly across a broad spectrum of devices makes it especially relevant for gamers nationwide.”

NODWIN Gaming, a leader in South Asia’s esports and gaming ecosystem, is behind some of India’s most prominent youth culture IPs, including Comic Con India, NH7 Weekender, DreamHack, and others. Its flagship esports property, the Battlegrounds Mobile India Masters Series (BGMS), is the country’s first BGMI tournament and currently the only esports event televised nationally. The tournament is set to return soon with its fourth season.

“More options for Indian gamers and esports athletes are always a good thing. Switching between games is harder than most realize, but what’s clear is that Free Fire has a loyal audience, just as BGMI does. Both games offer very different experiences, and that diversity is a strength for the ecosystem,” adds Rathee.

The return also presents a major shift in the business of esports. With BGMI having dominated the mobile battle royale space in Free Fire’s absence, the arrival of a worthy contender is set to balance the ecosystem in terms of audience attention, sponsorship opportunities, and grassroots talent development.

Animesh Agarwal, Co-founder and CEO of S8UL, believes that Free Fire’s return reinforces India’s place as one of the world’s leading mobile-first markets. “It is a positive sign for the entire gaming landscape. Free Fire has always connected deeply with the mobile-first audience in India, and its comeback will undoubtedly spark new energy in the competitive scene, including publisher-led tournaments, community leagues, and grassroots events”

Alongside esports, Free Fire’s resurgence is also expected to boost the country’s gaming creator economy.

“The game’s return also helps creators reconnect with their communities and explore new content formats. It’s a positive sign for the entire gaming landscape. At S8UL, we’re watching this space closely and are preparing to build a strong presence in Free Fire once again,” highlights Animesh.

S8UL is currently the only Indian organization competing across 12 different esports titles. Later this month, it will make history as the first and only esports organization from India to compete at the Esports World Cup 2025, one of the world’s biggest esports events, taking place in Riyadh from July 8 to August 24.

Read More about BGMI

For developers and platforms that have been building infrastructure around mobile gaming, Free Fire’s competitive return is a signal to double down.

“The fact that the game is optimized for low-end devices means millions of new players can enter the competitive scene without high-end hardware, and that’s critical for a market like India. From a game development and ecosystem standpoint, it also signals to developers that the battle royale genre continues to have a strong demand curve here. With more tournaments, more creators, and more publisher investment, this is the kind of momentum that inspires innovation not just in games, but in supporting tools, platforms, and technologies built around them,” comments Mikhail Bhuta, Co-founder & Tech Lead of Dirtcube Interactive LLP, which recently launched Specter, India’s first-of-its-kind backend platform designed to revolutionize the gaming ecosystem.

For Garena, this is a second chance to establish itself not just as a game publisher, but as a long-term stakeholder in India’s gaming economy. With the Free Fire MAX India Cup 2025, it’s betting big on a market that remains young, mobile-savvy, and hungry for competition.

In the months ahead, all eyes will be on how the new competitive roadmap unfolds, how brands respond, and whether the next wave of esports stars will once again emerge from the familiar battlegrounds of Bermuda and Purgatory.

India’s mobile gaming and esports ecosystem gears up for new phase of growth as Free Fire returns Inside Sport India.

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( India’s mobile gaming and esports ecosystem gears up for new phase of growth as Free Fire returns )

Also on site :

• Clayton Kershaw Enters Exclusive 3,000-Strikeout Club With Dodgers
• Clayton Kershaw Notches 3,000th Strikeout, Cementing Place in MLB History
• Liverpool star Diogo Jota, 28, dies in car crash in Spain — days after his wedding