Every BGMI team in India has been asking one question for weeks: when can we finally fix our rosters? We put that question straight to Karan Pathak, Associate Director of Esports at KRAFTON India, at the Dome in Mumbai during BMIC 2026. And he gave us real dates, on camera.
We will get to them. First, Pathak had a lot more to say, about a billion views, BGMI Air esports, Free Fire’s return, PMGC prep and why PC PUBG matches now start after office hours. The conversation was mostly in Hindi, mixed with English, and the quotes below are our translation.
How much has BGMI esports grown, according to Krafton?
A lot, and Pathak had a number ready. “When I say viewership has grown, we have grown by 300%,” he said. “We are close to about a billion views. From 300 million views to a billion views is a big number for us.”
He was honest about one wish. “I just hope that if Indian teams were a bit higher up today, we would have hit a million peak too. That million is the target.”
He also remembered how rough the early days were. “First of all, there was no internet. We got a lot of abuse too, when we first started,” he said. “But the ecosystem has developed. The internet has become better. The crowd has become more aware.”
The Dome itself meant something to him. When BGMI esports first came here in 2023, he recalled, the event had to take a day’s break for the India vs Pakistan cricket match. “Coming back home feels really good,” he said. “I had said it at BMSD itself, that if you come here, there is something special. Delivering that was a lot of fun.”
What did Karan Pathak say about BMIC, the smash rule and the 2027 roadmap?
Will BMIC grow beyond 16 teams? “Don’t know yet. The format changes year by year,” he said. Team numbers have gone up before, but any change will depend on budgets and costs.
BMIC 2026 was played without a smash rule. On whether the rule returns in other tournaments next year, he said, “Not sure yet. We haven’t sat down on formats. When we do, I will answer that for sure.”
The 2027 roadmap is waiting on venues. “There is nothing on the roadmap for now. We will release a video on it,” he said. “The venues haven’t closed. Once venue confirmation comes, we will release the roadmap, because venues are few, and without confirmation of their dates I do not want to announce anything.”
Will BGMI Air have its own esports scene?
Not decided. “We will launch the app first, then tell you the plan,” Pathak said. “For now, it is all under structure. Once the app is launched, then we will be able to decide.” Our guide to BGMI Air pre-registration crossing 10 million has the latest on the launch.
What does Krafton think of Free Fire’s return to India?
He sounded relaxed about it. “Good for them,” Pathak said. “Competition in esports, I’ve said this before, there is a lot of room for anybody to come and do it. If they come as competition, good luck.”
He added that he had congratulated their leadership after their last event. “New standards will have to be set, and we will have some competition at least.”
How should Indian teams prepare for PMGC 2026?
Pathak pointed to Team SouL, which already holds a PMGC slot. “If they want to, I would recommend they travel to Nepal. Nepal has been hosting us,” he said. “Or go to Turkey a bit early and practise. They get the devices there, so they can still play from that.” We broke down how SouL’s existing slot affects the rest of the field in what happens to the PMGC slots if SouL win BMIC 2026.
What is PUBG India Challenge, and why is it played in the evening?
On PC, Pathak called the PUBG India Challenge the biggest yet, starting at Rs 25 lakh. One detail tells you a lot about who plays PC PUBG in India. “Most of our PC players are also working,” he said. “They came to us saying, bhai, don’t keep it in the day, there’s office. We actually have to go to office.” So the matches will run in the evening.
“The PC market is slowly picking up,” he added. “My feeling is very strong that it will be positive. But let’s see. We don’t want to be overconfident.”
When does the BGMI transfer window open?
So, the question every team owner and player has been waiting on. We asked it near the end of our chat, and we kept it for the end here too. When we asked Pathak for an update, he did not dance around the problems teams have already had with roster moves.
“It’s coming now. There have already been a lot of issues with teams, TalkEsport must know about them,” he said. “November 15 is when we are going to open the transfer window.”
The closing date is not final yet. “Closing dates are something we will discuss, because there is a tournament happening,” he said. “It’s December 20, most likely. But we are also working around the ongoing third-party tournaments, so that teams can change their rosters along with the ongoing tournaments too.”
| Window | Opens | Closes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| First BGMI transfer window | October 1, 2025 | November 15, 2025 | Completed |
| Second window | April 1, 2026 | See our April tracker | Completed |
| Next window | November 15, 2026 | December 20, 2026 (most likely) | Opening date confirmed by Karan Pathak |
The first two windows come from KRAFTON India’s official transfer window announcement, which introduced the system in October 2025. Every signing and release from the spring window is on our April 2026 BGMI transfer tracker, and if you are new to how it all works, start with how KRAFTON India’s player transfer window works.
What a five-week window means for teams
From November 15 to December 20 is 35 days, by our count. That is a short run for the biggest reshuffle of the year. Teams coming off BMSD and BMIC will want to fix what went wrong fast, and players who had strong events in Hyderabad and Mumbai will have offers on the table. Our guess is that most of the big moves land in the first two weeks.
