Free Fire India release date confirmed as the battle royale returns to Android and iOS

Free Fire India will be available to download on October 28, 2026, Garena has confirmed, ending more than three years of uncertainty over the India edition of its battle royale game. The publisher says the app will cost nothing, and that it will arrive on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.

News of the Free Fire India release date arrived via press release, following a quiet rebrand of Garena’s regional YouTube channels. Both Free Fire India Official and Free Fire India Esports have dropped their old monikers to reflect the incoming launch.

Free Fire India official release date set for October 28

Garena now describes Free Fire India (FFI) as an edition designed specifically for the local market, packed with tailored content and events right out of the gate.

The first of those is a Diwali campaign that runs until November 15. Garena says the game is optimised for a broad range of smartphones, and that accounts held by players under 18 require parental consent. Break reminders, playtime limits and spending caps are part of the build too, alongside the festival event.

Garena has also confirmed that it has taken into account feedback from the Indian government's stakeholders and that the game operates on servers located in India.

Original Free Fire was blocked in India in February 2022 under the IT Act's section 69A, alongside several other applications. Free Fire MAX was not on that list. It stayed available, and it became the most important route into the game for India's players, which makes this new application the first India-specific version since the ban.

Garena originally unveiled Free Fire India on August 31, 2023, with MS Dhoni acting as brand ambassador, and set the release for September 5 of the same year. It postponed the launch on September 4, 2023, on the basis that the game experience needed more polishing. The postponement happened a day before the planned release, and no new date followed before this announcement.

On esports, Garena says it will keep working with partners on grassroots and collegiate competitions, and on pathways towards international tournaments, without naming events.

Whether Free Fire India sits alongside Free Fire MAX or replaces it on the competitive circuit is unanswered. Indian teams have kept competing on MAX, and Apex Gaming, TSG Pros and Resurrection are reportedly set to represent India at the Free Fire World Series 2026 Global Finals.

Check out the latest Free Fire MAX redeem codes here.