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Battle royale games have surpassed $2 billion on mobile

NetEase’s Knives Out leads the way

Battle royale games have surpassed $2 billion on mobile

The top battle royale games on mobile have collectively surpassed $2 billion in less than two years, according to Sensor Tower data.

Leading the pack is NetEase’s Knives Out, which has grossed more than $643.4 million in worldwide player spending since its launch in November 2017.

Fortnite from Epic Games followed closely in second, with an estimated $630.4 million after 20 months on the mobile market. That only includes App Store revenue, as sales from Epic’s own Android launcher are not tracked.

Tencent’s PUBG Mobile meanwhile claimed third at $438.8 million, while Garena Free Fire and Rules of Survival filled out the top five spots at $252.5 million and $96.6 million respectively.

Cash royale

In the first quarter of 2019, player spending across all five titles has reached $476 million, with PUBG Mobile firing to first at $148 million, or 31 per cent of the total. The introduction of a battle pass in 2018 has helped sales soar.

Compared to Q4 2018, the title, which was recently rebranded in China as Game for Peace, increased its overall revenue for the quarter by 63 per cent.

Tencent recently rolled out a new update to PUBG Mobile that promotes “healthy gaming” with young players.

Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.