Is The BMIC Tournament Rigged? Fans Spot "Loophole" In Krafton's Rules That Gives Korean Teams An Unfair Advantage

The Indian BGMI community is in an uproar, and this time, it’s not about a player transfer or in-game drama. A firestorm of controversy has erupted over the newly revealed tournament rules for the upcoming BMIC, with fans and analysts pointing to what they are calling a blatant “loophole” that appears to give a massive, unfair advantage to the invited Korean and Japanese teams.

The complex ruleset, which has already been criticized for being confusing, is now being viewed in a more sinister light. The core of the outrage stems from a specific scenario explained by Krafton India Esports’ own Karan Pathak on a recent podcast: what happens if an international team wins the BMIC?

“If a Korean or Japanese team wins, they will go straight to the Gauntlet. Because they have a group stage slot,” Pathak revealed. And with that one sentence, the integrity of the entire tournament has been called into question.

Fans were quick to point out that this creates a lopsided system. Indian teams have to battle through the grueling BMSD tournament just to get a shot, but the invited international teams seem to have a golden ticket.

“This is a joke, right? The tournament is rigged from the start,” one prominent fan account posted on X (formerly Twitter). “So an Indian team has to win TWO tournaments to get ONE slot, but a Korean team can just win one and get a free pass? How is that fair?”

The perception of a Korean teams advantage is growing. The argument is that since these teams already have pre-existing group stage slots, the BMIC tournament acts as a “free roll” for them—a chance to win and get a better placement (the Gauntlet) with no real penalty if they lose. For Indian teams, however, it’s a do-or-die battle for survival.

“It feels like we have to climb a mountain while they get to take a helicopter,” an anonymous player from a top Indian team allegedly told us. “We love the competition, but we want the playing field to be level. This feels like the rules are written to favor the invited teams.”

Adding fuel to the fire is the perceived dismissiveness from Krafton India Esports. When trying to explain the convoluted rules, Pathak’s final advice to the community was, “There is no point in thinking too much about it.”

This comment has not gone over well. What might have been intended to calm the community has been interpreted as Krafton telling its passionate fanbase not to look too closely at a potentially unfair system.

“‘Don’t think about it’ is what you say when you don’t want people to find the flaw,” a popular streamer said on his broadcast. “The fans have every right to question if the BMIC tournament rules are unfair. We are demanding transparency.”

Is this a simple misunderstanding of a complex but fair system, or have fans uncovered a genuine loophole that compromises the competitive integrity of BGMI’s biggest upcoming event? The community is demanding answers, but with the official clarification not scheduled until November 3rd, the speculation and anger are only likely to grow.

The stage is set for a massive showdown, but the biggest battle might not be in the game itself, but for the trust of the fans who feel the rules may already be rigged against their favorite Indian teams.

What do you think? Is this a legitimate controversy, or are fans overreacting? Let us know in the comments!

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