Following its removal from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in India on February 12, Free Fire was purportedly banned by the Indian authorities, along with 53 other apps. Free Fire, along with numerous other games including Onmyoji Arena, Onmyoji Chess, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, and others, has been restricted, according to a list of 54 apps given by local news channel ET NOW.
The government of India has banned the applications, according to ANI, a popular news service in the country, because they constitute a “danger to national security.” According to the article, the banned apps were developed in China.
Free Fire, on the other hand, is created by Garena, a Singapore-based company. Sea Limited, its parent company, is similarly based in Southeast Asia and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
As word of Free Fire’s prohibition spread, Sea (SE: NYSE), a publicly-traded company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), saw its stock plummet. A single share of the corporation was worth $158.25 as of Friday evening’s close. Following the news of Free Fire’s suspension, the stock began at $139 on Monday morning before falling to $128.76, a reduction of 18.56 percent from Friday’s pricing.
The stock price rose slightly to $129.17 at the end of the day. Sea also owns Shopee, an e-commerce company. The news of Free Fire’s prohibition could not have come at a worse moment for Sea. The company was already in trouble; its stock had dropped about 60% since November 2020 due to a variety of factors.
