BGMI Air Launch Date, Download Size and Beta Cities
What is the BGMI Air launch date, how big is the download and can you still get into the closed beta? Krafton India has set the launch for December 10, 2026, after a closed beta in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata from November 20 to 24.
The first download is around 1GB, and applications for the beta closed on November 9. I think the size is the easy part of this story. What would decide a switch for me is the frame rate, the device requirements and the ranked rules, and Krafton hasn't published any of the 3 yet.
BGMI Air Launch Date
BGMI Air launches in India on December 10, 2026. Krafton India announced the date on November 4, and Beebom's report on the announcement carries the beta schedule along with it.
BGMI Air is the lighter version of Battlegrounds Mobile India, and it was first announced as BGMI Lite. This is how it reached a launch date.
Date | What happened |
|---|---|
August 25 | Pre-registration opens on Google Play under the name BGMI Lite |
October 15 | Krafton renames the game BGMI Air and reports 10 million pre-registrations |
October 27 to November 9 | Applications for the closed beta |
November 4 | Launch date announced, with more than 14 million pre-registrations |
November 20 to 24 | Closed beta in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata |
December 10 | Launch in India |
The pre-registration pace has stayed almost flat for 10 weeks. The first 10 million took 51 days, which is about 196,000 a day. The next 4 million took 20 days, which is 200,000 a day.
If that pace held for the 36 days between the announcement and launch, BGMI Air would open with about 21 million pre-registrations. That is my arithmetic, and Krafton has given no such figure.
Two things are still missing from the calendar:
- Launch time. Krafton has given a date and no hour.
- Open beta. In October, Krafton said an open beta would come before launch, and it hasn't dated one. One outlet lists November 25, and Krafton hasn't confirmed that date.
How the BGMI Air Closed Beta Works
The closed beta is an invite-only test held in 3 cities, and applications have closed. Players had to be able to reach one of those cities, so this is not a build you can download at home.
Krafton picked players through an audition. These were the terms on its application form, which stopped taking entries on November 9.
- Dates: November 20 to 24, 2026
- Cities: Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata
- Application: a 15 to 60 second video on why you should be among the first to play, plus a form linked from the BGMI Air and BGMI Instagram pages
- Age: 18 or older
- Travel: selected players reach their city at their own cost
- Window: entries opened on October 27 and closed on November 9 at 11:59 pm
- Seats: Krafton hasn't said how many players it selected
Krafton's announcement gives only the 5-day window. An independent fan site that tracked the form lists Mumbai on November 20, Delhi on November 22 and Kolkata on November 24.
The same site says selected players must keep the event confidential until 11:59 pm on November 24. If that holds, I wouldn't expect first impressions from the beta before November 25.
That leaves 16 days between the last beta day and launch. It is enough time to tune settings and fix crashes, and too little to rebuild anything big. So, I'd expect the December 10 build to look a lot like the beta one.
The form also said Krafton will never ask applicants for money, an OTP or bank details. I'd treat any "BGMI Air beta APK" link or paid beta slot as a scam.
BGMI Air Download Size
Krafton's number is an initial download of around 1GB. That figure covers the first download only, and Krafton hasn't said how much space the game takes after updates and extra content.
Krafton's Google Play listing for BGMI Air explains how the rest is meant to work:
- There is no mandatory extra package before your first match.
- Extra modules are optional, so you download only what you play.
- A module you've stopped using can be removed.
The only fixed size on a store page is on the iPhone side. On November 12, the App Store listing for BGMI Air showed 1.8GB, against 3.99GB for BGMI.
- BGMI Air is 45% of BGMI's listed size (1.8 ÷ 3.99).
- The saving is about 2.2GB.
- The BGMI Air figure comes from a pre-launch listing, so it can change by December 10.
For scale, PUBG Mobile Lite arrived in India in July 2019 with a 400MB install, as The Next Web reported at the time. BGMI Air starts at about 2.5 times that. Asli size launch ke baad hi pata chalega.
BGMI Air Device Requirements
Krafton has not published minimum requirements for BGMI Air. Nothing official exists yet on RAM, Android version or supported chipsets, and the Play listing only says the game is optimized for all devices.
This is everything that is published so far:
- iPhone and iPad: iOS 13.0 or later, as listed on the App Store. BGMI asks for the same iOS version.
- Android: no Android version, RAM or chipset floor has been announced.
- Frame rate and graphics: no options or caps have been announced.
The iOS requirement matches BGMI's, so BGMI Air doesn't reach older iPhones than BGMI does. On Apple devices, the only gain Krafton has shown so far is storage.
The same fan site's walkthrough of the beta form says applicants were asked for their phone's RAM, and the lowest option was "4GB or less". That is a survey question, and I wouldn't read it as a requirement.
My advice is to wait for Krafton's own list before buying or keeping a phone for this game. Any requirement table published before that list is a guess.
BGMI Air vs BGMI
Krafton describes BGMI Air as the same game in a lighter install. Its listing also says the main game remains the best choice for the fullest content. This is what the store listings of the 2 apps confirm.
BGMI Air | BGMI | |
|---|---|---|
Maps named in the store listing | Erangel | Erangel, Miramar, Sanhok and Livik |
Modes named in the store listing | 100-player battle royale in solo, duo or squad | 100-player Classic, Arena, TDM and Metro Royale |
Players per match | 100 | 100 |
App Store size on November 12 | 1.8GB | 3.99GB |
iOS requirement | iOS 13.0 or later | iOS 13.0 or later |
Erangel is the only map Krafton has confirmed for BGMI Air. It hasn't said whether Miramar, Sanhok and Livik come as optional modules, or whether Arena, TDM and Metro Royale are in the game at all.
PUBG Mobile Lite cut its matches to 60 players and about 10 minutes so it could run on phones with less than 2GB of RAM. BGMI Air keeps 100 players on Erangel, so I think the load on a weak phone in a fight may not fall as much as the download does.
I've played this game since it was PUBG Mobile, and my view is that a frame drop in a close fight costs more than a long download ever does. Bhai, a 1GB download that stutters in the final zone helps nobody.
Accounts, UC, Inventory and Rank
BGMI Air is a separate app that uses your existing BGMI account. You log in with the same account, and no transfer is needed.
Krafton's listing confirms 3 things:
- Login: an existing BGMI account works on BGMI Air.
- Inventory: owned items carry over, and the listing gives outfits as the example.
- Updates: BGMI Air will be updated alongside BGMI.
It doesn't cover these:
- UC: the App Store listing mentions UC inside BGMI Air. It doesn't say whether a balance from BGMI shows up there.
- Rank: there is no word on whether your tier and season points are shared.
- Level and achievements: not mentioned.
- Settings: there is no word on whether sensitivity, control layouts and graphics presets come across.
Settings are the one I'd plan for. Sensitivity depends on the device and the frame rate, so numbers tuned on one build can feel wrong on another. If they don't carry over, I'd rebuild them with the method in my BGMI sensitivity settings guide instead of copying a code.
Playing With BGMI Friends
BGMI Air players can team up with friends who are on BGMI. Krafton's listing says you can do it directly from BGMI Air in solo, duo or squad, in one lobby.
The listing calls the 2 apps one battlegrounds, which reads to me as shared matches. It leaves 2 details open:
- Whether a ranked match played in BGMI Air moves the same tier you hold in BGMI
- Whether both apps offer the same frame rate options inside a shared match
The second detail decides how fair a mixed ranked lobby is. If one app caps frames lower than the other, 2 players in the same fight aren't getting the same game. I'd want that answered before pushing rank on BGMI Air.
BGMI Air and Esports
Krafton hasn't said whether BGMI Air can be used in BGIS or any other official tournament.
The question matters most for the open qualifiers. BGIS 2026 opened with in-game qualifiers from January 8 to 14, and EarlyGame's rundown of the rules lists them like this:
- 15 Ranked Classic matches in TPP on Erangel and Miramar, with the best 10 counting
- Phones only, with emulators and controllers banned
- Account Level 30 or higher and at least Platinum I
- The top 1,016 squads moved on to Round 1
Squads play that round from their own phones in ordinary ranked lobbies. It is the one stage where a lighter app could bring in players whose phones can't hold the full game.
Krafton has to answer 2 things before that can happen. One is the shared-tier question above, because this qualifier counts ranked matches. The other is whether Miramar is playable in BGMI Air, since the listing names only Erangel.
Until Krafton answers both, I'd keep BGMI installed for anything official. The same goes for local custom-room tournaments, because Krafton hasn't said whether BGMI Air supports custom rooms.
Pre-Registration, Rewards and iOS
Pre-registration has been open on Google Play since August 25, when the official BGMI site announced it under the BGMI Lite name.
- Android: pre-registration is on Google Play, and it had passed 14 million by November 4.
- iOS: the App Store lists BGMI Air as free with in-app purchases and expected on December 10. The reports on Krafton's announcement mention only Google Play, so the listing is the clearest sign of an iPhone release on the same day.
- Rewards: Krafton says pre-launch rewards will be shared on BGMI Air's social channels. It hasn't published a list.
FAQs on BGMI Air
Will BGMI Air replace BGMI?
No. BGMI Air is a separate app and BGMI stays available. Krafton's store listing says the main game remains the best choice for the fullest content, and that both apps will be updated together.
Is BGMI Air free to play?
Yes. The App Store lists BGMI Air as free with in-app purchases, and Krafton's Google Play description calls it a free game.
Is BGMI Air launching outside India?
Krafton has announced the December 10, 2026 launch for India only. It has not mentioned a release in any other country.
Is there an official BGMI Air APK download?
Krafton has not announced an APK download. Pre-registration is on Google Play, and the App Store carries a listing with December 10 as the expected date. The closed beta was held at events in 3 cities, and its application form said Krafton never asks for money, an OTP or bank details.
What is the age rating of BGMI Air?
BGMI Air is rated 12+ on both Google Play and the App Store. The 18 or older rule applied only to the closed beta events in November 2026.
What I'd Check on Launch Day
I'm not switching on day 1, and my advice is to keep BGMI installed until BGMI Air has answered a few things on your own phone. This is the order I'd check them in:
- The installed size after the first match, and again after adding the maps and modes I play
- The frame rate options the game offers on my phone, and whether they hold in a hot drop
- Whether my tier, UC and friends list show up after login
- Whether a ranked match moves the same tier I hold in BGMI
- Whether my sensitivity and control layout came across
If your phone already runs BGMI at a steady frame rate with storage to spare, I don't see a reason to move yet. If it is out of space or dropping frames, December 10 is worth marking. The first reports after the beta ends on November 24 should say whether the lighter build delivers.
