What Is Garena Free Fire? Online Game, Now Banned, Leads To Suicide Of Mumbai Teen

What is Garena Free Fire: A game has reportedly led to the death of a teen boy in Mumbai city. Reports on Friday said that a 14-year-old died by suicide earlier this week, allegedly for not being allowed to complete a challenge on the popular Free Fire game.

The boy's death coincided with the timeline of the government deciding to ban 54 Chinese and linked apps on February 14, among which was also a version of Free Fire. Published by Singapore-based game developer Garena, Free Fire is a popular battle royale game that has over 150 million daily active users across the globe.

Last year, an enhanced version of the game called Free Fire Max was released, which, as per reports, is still available to play in India.

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According to a report by Hindustan Times, the teen boy in Mumbai was allegedly addicted to gaming and police during initial probe had managed to link his death to Free Fire, though the exact trigger was being investigated. Police quoted said they were trying to identify the boy's co-players in the multiplayer game to determine whether something happened while playing.

No suicide note was recovered and the deceased's parents did not give indication of anything suspicious in the days leading up to his death, as per reports.

On the evening of February 13, the teenager reportedly called his parents who were travelling at the time and couldn't take his call. When they called back later, he didn't answer and they returned home to find him dead.

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How Garena Free Fire Is Played

Free Fire by Garena is available to play online and ranks among the most popular digital games today. Played in third perspective, a single battle can involve upto 50 players at a time. The goal is to collect weapons on the island the battle is being waged on and eliminate enemies along the way. The player or team remaining in the end wins the match.

Free Fire shot to fame significantly following the banning of PUBG by the Indian government when relations with China were strained in 2020. Interestingly, PUBG developers in January this year accused Garena and filed a suit against the company for copyright issues, claiming the look of Free Fire resembled their own product.