BGMI Air has passed 14 million pre-registrations, and KRAFTON will launch it in India on 10 December
The 1GB version of Battlegrounds Mobile India gets a closed beta in three cities first, from 20 November.
Nov 4, 2026
KRAFTON India has given BGMI Air a release date. The lighter version of Battlegrounds Mobile India comes out on 10 December, with more than 14 million pre-registrations on Google Play already behind it.
That count has moved fast. When KRAFTON renamed the game from BGMI Lite to BGMI Air on 15 October, it had just gone past 10 million. Pre-registration opened for Android users on 25 August, so the first 10 million took about seven weeks, and around four million more have signed up since the rename.
A 1GB download for cheaper phones
BGMI Air is aimed at phones with entry-level hardware or not much free storage, and the first download is about 1GB. It will be its own app, not an update to BGMI. KRAFTON says existing BGMI players will be able to play it without having to migrate their accounts.
The closed beta runs from 20 to 24 November
Before launch day, KRAFTON is running a closed beta test from 20 to 24 November in selected regions, including Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Getting in takes some effort. Players have to post a short video saying why they should be picked, tag the game’s official handle, and fill in an application form linked from the official Instagram account, @battlegroundsmobilein_official.
KRAFTON says details of pre-launch events and rewards will follow on its community channels in the run-up to 10 December.
Where it could matter for BGMI esports
The timing is neat. BGMI’s competitive season has just had one of its bigger weekends, with South Korea’s Nongshim RedForce winning BMIC 2026 in Mumbai by 82 points on 1 November. Events at that level are played on the full game, and KRAFTON has not said whether the new app will feed into any competitive pathway.
The more likely effect is lower down. Plenty of Indian players are on phones that struggle to run the full game, and 14 million sign-ups before launch suggests the demand is real. If even a slice of them move on to the main game once they are hooked, the pool that open qualifiers and grassroots events draw from could get a lot bigger.