While Crossfire Legends is developed by Smilegate (South Korea), its Indian operations and publishing logistics were heavily tied to a Chinese parent company, creating a red flag for the government amid escalating border tensions in Eastern Ladakh. The government argued that the data harvesting capabilities of these apps posed a "grave threat" to user privacy.
Before the ban, Crossfire Legends was gaining significant traction in India. Leveraging the massive popularity of the Crossfire PC franchise, the mobile version offered fast-paced, 5v5 tactical combat that was less hardware-intensive than PUBG or Call of Duty: Mobile .
Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) was banned briefly in 2024 but reinstated after Krafton (South Korea) severed ties with Chinese publishing partners, moved servers to Mumbai and Chennai, and appointed a local compliance officer. Smilegate failed to do this quickly enough. crossfire legends banned in india
: A new version of Crossfire: Legends, rebuilt on a new engine, launched its Version 2.0 March 2026 Regional Availability
The gaming community in India has been vocal about the ban on Crossfire Legends. Many gamers have taken to social media to express their disappointment and frustration at the ban, arguing that it is unfair and will harm the gaming industry in India. While Crossfire Legends is developed by Smilegate (South
The latest casualty in this ongoing crackdown on Chinese-linked applications is , the mobile iteration of the legendary PC first-person shooter (FPS) franchise. Developed by Smilegate Entertainment (South Korea) but distributed and optimized for the Asian market by Tencent Games (China), Crossfire Legends has been blocked by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) effective immediately.
The Indian government has been increasingly concerned about the threat posed by Chinese and South Korean apps to national security. In recent months, several popular apps, including TikTok, PUBG Mobile, and WeChat, have been banned in India over concerns about data protection and national security. Leveraging the massive popularity of the Crossfire PC
Unlike previous bans where players could still access games via DNS switching, the Crossfire Legends ban is technically aggressive. ISPs have implemented DPI (Deep Packet Inspection). When the client tries to connect to the login server, it receives a 404 error. Furthermore, the game requires a constant ping under 100ms; connecting via an international VPN introduces 200ms+ latency, rendering the game unplayable due to lag.
The ban has also highlighted the need for gaming companies to ensure that their apps are compliant with Indian regulations and laws. Gaming companies operating in India will need to be more transparent about their data collection practices and ensure that they are storing user data securely.
