Will everything turn into Free Fire? The doubt that plagues any Battle Royale player who plays on mobile.
With the resounding success of the rival, franchises that were once the inspiration for the creation of Free Fire, now rush to bring elements that were successful in Garena's game.
It's no secret to anyone! In 2017, Free Fire came up with the proposal to be the mobile equivalent of the then successful PC, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG).
In the race to compete with other game developers, the 111dots studio chose to make a game for fewer players and a smaller map. Hit the fly!
Defeat in the field of compatibility
In a short time, the shy game from 2017 became synonymous with compatibility, since many people were looking for PUBG on Google Play, and because they had an incompatible cell phone, they ended up having Free Fire as the only option.
Here in Spain, in 2018, the year that PUBG Mobile was launched, Samsung dominated the market with 41,9% of cell phones used, according to data from StatCounter.
In other words, almost half of smartphones sold in Spain used intermediate or entry-level Exynos processors.
Everyone knows that “mid-range” and “input” Exynos processors struggle to run heavy games. So, just do the math.
As much as Tencent tried to compete, the success of Free Fire was inevitable, thanks to its “lightness” and compatibility with virtually any cell phone sold in Spain and around the world.
The company that created both PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty Mobile even tried to get another lighter version like PUBG Mobile LITE and launch CrossFire Mobile in the west with Battle Royale mode. Nothing helped. In fact, the attempt only served to "kill" both games around here.
So if you can't win, join them
There's a saying that goes, "if you can't beat them, join them".
It is not today that PUBG Mobile started a process of “Free Firezação”. In 2019, we have already shown that the game has started a restyling of its skins.
The game with a post-apocalyptic and military proposal, started to adopt flashy colors and themed skins. PUBG Mobile won skins similar to Free Fire and even with almost identical themes.
It didn't take long and PUBG Mobile also started to adopt pets.
These days, battle pass trailers are so fanciful that they even make us forget that the game we're playing is even PUBG...
… And there's more!
Free Fire Ice Wall and Shield in PUBG Mobile
If someone told me that PUBG Mobile would have an event with “ice wall” and “Cristiano Ronaldo shield”, resources “sucked” straight from Free Fire, I would laugh in the person's face. Well now it has!
This seems like a decision that came from above, coming from some executive or investor who wants the game to be an “improved Free Fire”. It looks like a desperate attempt to get new users.
It's no use saying: “ah but it's an event”, because it's clear as day that Tencent didn't choose these “features” for nothing. Why not put a mode where you can revive teammates like in Call of Duty Mobile?
Speaking of him…
Will Call of Duty Mobile also become a Free Fire?
Another game that also started a “Free Firerization” process was Call of Duty Mobile. But this process has not started now.
In 2020, COD Mobile already had many skins similar to those released in Free Fire. In addition, the Activision game also featured skins from Call of Duty Warzone, its “big brother” on PC and consoles.
But currently, it seems that COD Mobile has given up on being inspired by its “big brother”. The bet on the Cyberpunk aesthetic even makes sense, but it leaves something to be desired from the moment it is implemented a month after Free Fire.
A new mode in COD Mobile is a Battle Royale with a smaller map and shorter matches. Yes, we know that the “Mini Royale” mode already existed in other CODs. The curiosity here is in the description of the new battle mode. Focused on “10 minutes” matches, precisely the average time of matches for which Free Fire became popular.
For example, where are the contracts in COD Mobile's BR mode? Will you wait for Free Fire to implement first and then bring it? It was supposed to be centuries ago.
You must be thinking: “Oh, but it's okay to copy what is successful in another game”.
Exactly! So don't complain about Free Fire, saying that the game is a copy of this or that, other games are doing the same thing and worse, now they are "inspired" by resources that were successful in Free Fire.
So answering the question in the image of the post, the answer is No. Battle Royales will not all become Free Fire, but don't be surprised that they started to bet more on what worked in Garena's game.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
