eSports have and remain a contentious element of the video game landscape but watching where the eyes of eSports viewers are going can offer some fascinating insights. Take for example the eSports Charts’ recently released data for the battle royale genre in 2022. It indicates that PUBG Mobile was firmly #1 in the Top 5, with a number of multi-platform and mobile games following along behind.
The remaining four consisted of Apex Legends, Garena’s Free Fire, Fortnite and PUBG Battlegrounds. All unsurprising entries into the charts for this particular genre, however they point to a firm and growing presence of mobile and multiplatform titles in eSports, with the battle-royale genre having benefited from an increasingly cross-platform approach to their titles.
eSports Battleground
Apex Legends and PUBG Battlegrounds are the two solo console and PC-exclusive titles on this list. PUBG is of course represented by its mobile version taking the top-spot. Considering how mobile eSports have grown recently, and the inherent accessibility of them compared to console or PC, this can be seen as further evidence that mobile eSports are growing in popularity. The battle-royale genre may also have not yet hit its peak, but as some commentators such as Mark Cai have pointed out, certain games are seeing fluctuations in viewing figures “While Free Fire had the highest peak viewership of these titles, the game lost viewers this year with a 50% decrease in hours watched from last year.”
Last year saw the key hiring of experienced individuals into the mobile eSports scene, including experienced organiser Kim Melter to Mobile Global eSports. Although some outlets such as Bloomberg are suggesting eSports is facing a significant slump, with the predicted boom of stadium-like eSports shows that many sponsors had been hoping for failing to materialise. However, this data shows there’s still a lot of potency within eSports due to its inherent accessibility for players and viewers.