Krafton, the South Korean company behind PUBG and its Indian version Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), is facing serious allegations of a data breach. A Maharashtra-based individual, Santosh Torane, has filed a police complaint accusing the company of leaking and selling personal user data on Telegram. According to the FIR, Krafton allegedly sold data at just Rs 2,000 per person without informing users or obtaining permission. The complaint names Krafton executives WooYol Lim, Jitendra Bansal, Yoonal Soni, and Wooyol Shalom.

Although Torane claims this is not his first complaint, previous concerns were reportedly ignored. The case has now reached the Bombay High Court, with the next hearing scheduled for April 15, 2025. Krafton, for its part, has denied the allegations and said it places high importance on personal data protection. The company has chosen to wait for the legal process to unfold before making further statements.

Could BGMI be banned like PUBG Mobile?

The data leak accusations have revived fears that BGMI may be banned, similar to what happened to PUBG Mobile in 2020. On September 2, 2020, the Indian government banned PUBG Mobile along with 117 other applications linked to China. This followed earlier bans on 47 apps—mostly clones of 59 apps banned in June of the same year.

Why was PUBG Mobile banned in India?

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) stated that the banned apps were a threat to the sovereignty, integrity, and defence of India, as well as public order. Complaints had alleged that these apps were secretly transmitting user data to servers possibly located outside India. The ministry cited serious national security concerns, stating that data mining and profiling by hostile entities posed a risk to Indian cyberspace.

What is Krafton's link to PUBG and BGMI?

PUBG was originally developed by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of Krafton. The mobile version was created in partnership with China’s Tencent and gained immense popularity, especially in India, where it recorded over 40 million monthly active users in July. India accounted for 24% of global PUBG Mobile installs, according to Sensor Tower. Krafton later launched BGMI specifically for India after PUBG Mobile was banned.