India’s battle royale gaming scenario has gotten slightly bleak in recent months. However, with the ban of BGMI and Garena Free Fire, Sigma Battle Royale has started to trend throughout the country. In recent days, this new game has been the talk among gamers, especially the Free Fire community. However, it’s also garnered some level of infamy. The game was available on the Google Play Store in the “early access” format. In less than 48 hours, it gained over 5,00,000 downloads.
Nonetheless, its reputation was short-lived, as the game was removed from the Play Store by Google. In this blog, we’ll take a deeper dive into what is Sigma Battle Royale and why it was removed. With that being said, let’s get started, shall we?
Also read: Here’s How You Can Play Garena Free Fire After The Ban In India!
What is Sigma Battle Royale?
One of the most popular formats of the Indian mobile gaming scene is battle royale. Brought into the limelight through BGMI, the genre was expanded further by Garena Free Fire, and Free Fire MAX, and now includes the likes of Call of Duty Mobile as well. However, quite a few of these games have been banned by the Indian government, citing security concerns. Most notably, BGMI (formerly PUBG) and Garena Free Fire have suffered losses due to the game’s ban.
These games, with a vast community, multiple tournaments, and lakhs of players countrywide, lost a large sum of revenue thanks to the ban and uncertain conditions of the mobile gaming scenario in India.
Also Read: How To Get Unlimited Diamonds in Garena Free Fire
Recently, Sigma Battle Royale emerged as a new contender for the top spot in battle royale games. As stated earlier, it garnered thousands of downloads in just a few days. Sigma is considered to be a survival shooter online game with stylised visuals. The game offered two modes right off the bat – the classic Battle Royale mode with 50 players, and a 4v4 Fight Out mode.
While the game was still in “early access”, the game offered these two well-worked modes, new weapons, slightly unique gameplay, and graphics that combined aspects from Fortnite and Garena Free Fire.
Why did Google remove the game?
As stated previously, the game’s graphics and general gameplay resembled that of Garena Free Fire. So, when it was removed from the Play Store, there were concerns that it was due to a complaint made by the management at Garena, claiming the game to be a Free Fire clone. Other rumours circulating the removal also believed that Garena had acquired Studio Arm Private Limited, the development studio behind the game. However, as it turns out, neither of these speculations seems to be true.
According to multiple sources, the game was removed by Google itself. The reports state that Studio Arm and Sigma Battle Royale APK have been identified as high-risk profiles. Apparently, Studio Arm didn’t comply with Google’s Developer Program Policy. Google states that the game has assets which contribute to Intellectual Property violations. These assets also contain several references to Garena Free Fire. This gives Google enough reason to believe that some of these assets were directly ported to Sigma Battle Royale from Garena Free Fire.
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Basically, there’s a decent chance that the developers at Studio Arm imported various assets or took inspiration from Garena Free Fire. However, they did not change the assets enough to make them their own.
Will Sigma Battle Royale return to the Play Store?
Although the chances of Sigma Battle Royale returning to the Google Play Store seem bleak, it is possible. If the developers at Studio Arm can change their assets to not resemble that of Garena Free Fire, Google might review the APK. In other words, Studio Arm must look through its assets carefully and remove any resemblance to Garena Free Fire’s icons, textures, characters, or images. Only then will it be able to return to the Google Play Store.
If the developers got anything right with the game, it must be the download size. The game is surprisingly small, at just 280MB. Compare this to the large size of Free Fire MAX at over 600MB, Sigma Battle Royale is possibly a game meant for low to mid-tier devices. Nonetheless, Studio Arm needs to work on ensuring that its next iteration of the game has more original content.
Also Read: How To Change Server In Garena Free Fire
Playing Sigma Battle Royale
Although you won’t find the game’s APK at Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, you can download it through third-party websites. However, we at Cashify don’t condone the usage of third-party websites. You should only download apps from verifiable sources such as the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Downloading applications from elsewhere could leak your data or install malware/ransomware on your smartphone.
Please exercise caution when downloading items from unverified sources!
Also read: 5 Best Free Fire Players In India Whose Levels You Can’t Reach!
Should You Download Sigma Game APK?
The short answer is – NO. Although Sigma Battle Royale is no longer available in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, there are hundreds of third-party websites to download the game. However, we wouldn’t recommend you download the game from these websites. After all, the game itself was removed from the official stores as the APK did not meet their security standards. So, if you download the game from an unrecognised domain, you may put your smartphone at risk.
Plenty of these websites tend to modify the APK to run the game without accessing security filters present in the App Stores. While you will be able to play the game, this will put your smartphone’s security at risk. Not only is there a chance of malware and ransomware being unknowingly installed into your device, but it could also steal your personal information.
Also Read: How To Download And Install Garena Free Fire MAX MOD APK?
In other words, always stick to downloading apps from recognised App Stores, whether it’s from Google or Apple. These stores run plenty of checks before making an app available for download to the general public. In this case, we’ll have to wait for Studio Arm to fix the pending issues with Sigma Battle Royale. When it’s placed in the official app stores, you’ll have a better chance of playing the game without any hassle!
Can you play Sigma Battle Royale now?
Fast forward to February 2023, and Sigma Battle Royale remains unplayable. Its Google Play Store page hasn’t returned, and the game is even unplayable for those players who had downloaded the game before it was taken down. At the moment, players who had the game previously can open the app, but can’t join a game session. Instead, the game shows them a “Maintenance” screen. According to the developers and the message shown in the game, the game’s servers have been closed.
However, the developers have also stated that the game remains in the ‘testing’ phase. Moreover, they look forward to seeing the players soon. This could imply that the developers, Studio Arm, intend to bring the game back into the battle royale market. However, in any case, they will have to make significant changes to both gameplay and design, thanks to Sigma Battle Royale’s similarity to Free Fire and Free Fire MAX.
Alternatives to Sigma Battle Royale
Sigma Battle Royale isn’t the first battle royale game, and neither will it be the last of its kind. Of course, with multiple bans in India, very few battle royale games are available to play. Nonetheless, there are a few well-rated Sigma Battle Royale alternatives that you can play today:
FOG – MOBA Battle Royale Game
FOG – MOBA Battle Royale Game is one of the more unique battle royale games that you can play instead of Sigma Battle Royale. The game features dark fantasy MOBA elements, which are mixed with RPG components as well. FOG is set in the Middle Ages, which also separates the game from other competitor products. Apart from tearing through enemies in fast PvP battles, you will also have to deal with fantastical creatures and monsters on your way to glory.
Check it out here.
Grand Battle Royale
What if PUBG, Free Fire MAX, or other such battle royale games were mixed with Minecraft? Well, thanks to Grand Battle Royale, you don’t have to wonder about it anymore. This pixel-block aesthetic battle royale game looks like it’s a straight mod of a Minecraft map. However, don’t be fooled by the hilarious aesthetics of the game. Grand Battle Royale still features solid gunplay and battle royale mechanics. From assault rifles to shotguns to even the amazing pixel gun, use whatever you can to mow down your enemy and be the last player standing!
Check out the game here.
Apex Legends Mobile
What can we say about Apex Legends Mobile that hasn’t already been said? The game is a perfect recreation of the PC game which took over the world in 2019. Developers Respawn Entertainment built the game engine from the ground up to accommodate mobile screens and players. Moreover, new and exclusive characters have been added to the game as well. Unfortunately, Respawn and EA have announced recently that Apex Legends Mobile will be shutting down its servers on May 1, 2023. While there can be many reasons for the game shutting down its servers, Apex Legends Mobile is still a pretty solid battle royale game.
You can check it out here.
ScarFall: The Royale Combat
While there are plenty of ‘clones’ or lookalikes for PUBG and Free Fire MAX, ScarFall is a Made in India game that’s done the job relatively well. You’ll find all that you need in this battle royale shooter, with varied environments, multiple game modes, and plenty of players to eliminate in a bid to become the lone survivor. Furthermore, you’ll be able to create your own set of rules for online gameplay as well. This helps keep the gameplay fresh, without losing out on the novelty. While the game isn’t as polished as PUBG, it’s an excellent alternative to Sigma Battle Royale!
Check out ScarFall here.
All of the games listed above have decent ratings on the Google Play Store. Moreover, most of them offer better graphics and gameplay than that of Sigma Battle Royale. Of course, they will require a powerful smartphone to play smoothly. However, it’s always better to play battle royale games developed by reputed developers which have proper security measures and encryptions.
Summing up
The battle royale genre is a highly popular one in the Indian mobile gaming market. These games have plenty of content throughout the year. Moreover, multiple players can simultaneously engage in the game, pairing up with random players or friends for hours. Due to their popularity, plenty of new games, such as Sigma Battle Royale, will continue popping up online. Regardless of whichever game you choose to play, ensure that you download them from verified sources. For those of us who missed the chance to play Sigma Battle Royale, we hope that the development studio fixes the relevant issues and gets it back into the App Stores!
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