Free Fire Max esports returns to India following three year hiatus

Singapore gaming publisher Garena has announced Free Fire Max esports’ return to India, with registrations starting on July 7th, 2025 for the TEZ Free Fire Max India Cup (TEZ FFMIC).

This comes three years after the original battle royale game, Free Fire, was banned from app stores in India due to security concerns. While that version remains banned, a tournament with a ₹1 crore (~£85,094) prize pool is taking place on the enhanced version of the game, Free Fire Max.

It has been three years since Garena held an esports event for the Free Fire franchise in India, but has continued to foster an active esports scene in other regions across the globe.

In the post on Instagram, Garena wrote: “₹1 crore prize pool. You read that right.
The stage is set, the stakes are higher than ever. Registrations start 7th July for TEZ FFMIC!”

A full event roadmap was also shared online for the India Cup:

Garena also shared some key information for those looking to participate in the tournament. The minimum rank requirement for all team members is Diamond 1 and Level 40. The top 48 teams will advance to the Online Qualifiers, where each team plays a maximum of 12 games, and the top 8 teams will then move on.

Free Fire is a free-to-play mobile battle royale game where 50 players drop into a zone, collect gear to become stronger and eliminate other teams to become the last person standing.

Free Fire was banned in 2022 alongside 50 other Chinese-linked apps by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on the grounds of security concerns. It was initially expected to return on September 5th, 2023, but it never happened, and an official date has yet to be revealed by Garena.

Some have speculated that the game is set to relaunch in India in 2025 under the name Free Fire India. This is also spurred by reports that Garena is in the process of moving game servers to India in Yotta Data Services’ Navi Mumbai sites.

Prior to its ban, Free Fire was the most downloaded game in the globe, with over 218 million downloads in 2021 according to Sensor Tower. Its other version, Free Fire Max, still remains accessible in China.

Free Fire initially launched on December 8th, 2017. Free Fire Max, which offers enhanced graphics, resolutions, and animations for higher-end devices, launched four years later on September 28th, 2021.