Krafton’s Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) emerged as the Best Game of 2021 at the Google Play Best of 2021 awards in India, dedicated to games and apps listed on the Android app store.
“Gaming continued to gain significant interest in India, with many across the country enjoying a range of thrilling and imaginative gaming experiences,” Google Play Global Head of Editorial Brett Bouchard wrote in a blog post.
Garena Free Fire Max was named the Users’ Choice Game of the year.
In the Best Games for Tablets category, picked to highlight tablet-focussed games, Chicken Police, My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge, and Overboard! came out at the top in India.
| New Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal: Tesla CEO Elon Musk hails Indian-origin talent in US tech
Bitclass emerged as the top app, while Clubhouse was the Users’ Choice App of 2021. Developed by Bengaluru-based entrepreneurs, Bitclass indicates “the emergence of a digital learning culture in India fuelled by innovative localised solutions”, Google said.
Bitclass offers online classes ranging from dancing and banking to theatre acting and personal finance.
“In India, once again, we saw a diverse range of apps help people across the country with relevant – and often unique – solutions to their daily needs,” Bouchard wrote.
“This year, we saw a distinctive rise in e-learning, with many winners finding creative ways to help India learn a range of skills online, be it mastering a passion through celebrity-led virtual classes with FrontRow, or using AI to scale student learning outcomes with Embibe.”
FrontRow has emerged as the Best App for Fun, while Embibe was named among the Best Apps for Personal Growth.
| Parag Agrawal new Twitter CEO: Everything to know about the IIT Bombay alumnus replacing Jack Dorsey
Houzz, Canva, and Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw emerged as the three Best Apps for Tablets, while My Fitness Pal, Calm, and Sleep Cycle: Sleep Analysis & Smart Alarm Clock bagged the honours in wearables section for Best Apps for Wear.
Google’s best games and apps on Google Play differ across regions with the tech giant calling Google Play Best of winners across the globe “the gold standard” in game and app development.