The History of Battle Royale Esports
As one of the younger esports game genres, Battle Royale has seen mass adoption and continuous innovation in a relatively short span of time.
You’ve undoubtedly heard of big names like PUBG, Fortnite, and Apex Legends, but there’s more history behind battle royale esports.
It’s this history that we’re going to dive into in this post, covering both the battle royale genre itself as well as how it’s doing in the esports scene.
What is a battle royale
Battle Royale is a game genre that combines both survival elements with a last-man-standing game format, creating unique, fast-paced gameplay.
The name for the Battle Royale game genre is taken from the 2000 Japanese film/novel Battle Royale, which was a story about the last-man-standing competition in a shrinking battle zone. Some influence is taken also from the popular book/film Hunger Games.
As is the case with many game genres, battle royale first started as mods of other popular games. This is a common occurrence in the industry, as popular mods clearly indicate interest to game developers, that later use this to create standalone games.
Various elements of the genre were already widely adopted in games released pre-2010, but it wasn’t till the early 2010’s that the first mods were created. It took many more years for the true standalone battle royale games to gain mainstream popularity.
The first battle royale mods
Some of the first battle royale mods were seen on games like Minecraft and ARMA 2 between 2012 and 2014.
The Minecraft server plugin named “Survival Games” featured one of the first true battle royal games. It was released shortly after the Hunger Games movie in 2012, with a map layout that was very similar to that seen in the movie.
In the game, players started in a circle in the center of the map, with various items placed in the middle of the circle. The goal was to eliminate other players, with the last player left standing being crowned the winner.
The free-for-all game style combined with the ability to forage and a large-sized map made for gameplay that was great fun to play, as well as fun to watch. These games are also usually short lasting, which makes them fun to play even after a long work or school day when already mentally fatigued. This led to large numbers of streamers and YouTubers recording their games, further promoting the game mode.
DayZ & PlayerUnknown
DayZ was a mod created for the popular game ARMA 2 which was also released in 2012. However, it was the battle royale mod for DayZ released by “PlayerUnknown,” now known to be battle royal-pioneer, Brendan Greene, in 2013 that influenced the battle royal genre in a big way. This mod moved away from the Hunger Games structure, with items and weapons that were randomly spread across the map.
PlayerUnknown is a name often mentioned when talking about the history of battle royale due to the vast number of games he was involved in. Following the same structure as his DayZ mod, Brendan created a similar mod for ARMA 3 just one year later. He was also heavily involved in the launch of a standalone game titled PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds a few years later.
What was the first battle royale game?
PlayerUnknown’s Battleground (PUBG) was released on March 23rd, 2017, and is considered to be the first battle royale game. In the year of the release, over 30 million copies were sold, and over 20 million more copies in 2018.
PUBG remained one of the most played battle royal games in Asia for the next few years, although its adoption in the west wasn’t quite as impressive as they soon moved on to a new kid on the block…
When did Fortnite battle royale come out
Fortnite was released about 4 months after PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, on July 21st, 2017. The game rise quickly in the rankings and became one of the most-played games of 2018. Fortnite Battle Grounds set a streaming record on Twitch in the first few months of its launch and has been played by various celebrities.
Professional players and streamers alike played Fortnite battle royale, helping it to gain traction at an astounding rate. It was the most-played battle royale in the west, although it couldn’t surpass PUBG as the most-played game in the genre in Asia.
The history of Battle Royale Esports
The history of Battle Royale Esports is an exciting journey that has captivated gamers around the world.
As previously mentioned, it all began with the release of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in 2017, introducing the concept of a massive, last-man-standing multiplayer experience. The Hunger Games-inspired gameplay quickly gained popularity, leading to the birth of a new genre.
Epic Games took the Battle Royale phenomenon to new heights with the launch of Fortnite, a game that seamlessly blended building mechanics with intense gunfights. Fortnite‘s accessibility on multiple platforms, including the Nintendo Switch, propelled it to immense success and paved the way for other Battle Royale titles.
Fall Guys brought a fresh, lighthearted twist to the genre, captivating players with its colorful, obstacle-filled challenges.
Apex Legends, developed by Respawn Entertainment, introduced unique hero-based gameplay and became a major player in the esports scene.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Black Ops 4 also joined the Battle Royale fray, leveraging their well-established franchises to attract a massive player base.
Additionally, mobile games like Free Fire gained significant traction, allowing players to stay alive on the go.
Battle royale esports today
“Battle royale esports today
What comes to professional gaming and streaming, games like Fortnite Battle Royale, PUBG, and Apex Legends are dominant. These titles have fostered large and engaged communities, contributing to their lasting popularity. Some online games, like battle royales, may offer features like cashback bonuses to incentivize players (Source: www.käteispalautus.com).
Fortnite
Fortnite esports features some of the most-watched games in the industry, with various tournaments being hosted over the past few years. The 2019 World Cup was one of the largest esports competitions in history, with a total prize pool of 30 million dollars!
The Fortnite Champion Series is considered the competition featuring the best players in the world. It’s hosted by Epic, Fortnite’s developer, and featured a seven-million-dollar prize pool in 2020.
For 2021, this same competition has a prize pool of twenty million dollars spread over a range of different prizes. The competition consists of multiple tournaments, each attracting large viewer numbers.
PUBG
The PUBG Global Invitational S is the largest PUGB esports competition. Although it’s quite a bit smaller than the largest Fortnite esports competitions, the PUBG Global Invitational features 32 of the best PUBG teams and a prize pool of $3.5 million dollars!
Before its launch, there were multiple smaller tournaments in 2017. These tournaments featured smaller prize pools under $250.000. There were some growing pains as the genre hadn’t seen many esports games to date, which mainly consisted of logistical issues due to the fact the genre requires a large number of players to play at the same time, on the same map.
The PUBG Mobile Global Championship is another one of the larger PUBG esports competitions, although it attracts fewer viewers than the Global Invitational does.
Apex Legends
With the first esports tournaments launched in 2019, Apex Legends is one of the youngest battle royal games to have seen a large esports coverage. The EXP invitational was the first Apex Legends competition to be hosted, with a prize pool of $150.000.
At the end of 2019, the Apex Legends Global Series was announced, which would be held in 2020 and have a prize pool of three million dollars. The Global Series consists of various different tournaments, each with its own prize pool.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Released on March 10th, 2020. Warzone is one of the many successful launches from the legendary Call of Duty Series. The game has been a huge success and has been widely recognized especially because of its great map designs.
The Warzone storyline intertwined with other COD series games Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War, and Vanguard.
Conclusions
After the industry saw how PUBG and Fortnite took off, new games were announced on an almost monthly basis.
Nearly every new release being a battle royale game or incorporates battle royale game modes in the game. GTA Online, Battlefield V, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Dota 2 are just some of the titles released in the following few years, each of which incorporated some kind of battle royal gameplay.
Most games launched after 2018 had large spikes in player numbers, but most couldn’t maintain a solid player base. The original Fortnite and PUBG games maintained their popularity, keeping the genre alive.
Call of Duty: Warzone and Apex Legend, which were released in 2020 and 2019 respectively, hit player counts of over fifty million. Both of these games managed to maintain a good player base, in contrast to many of the other games launched in 2019 and 2020.
Given the genre’s action-packed gameplay that’s easy to follow along with as a viewer, the battle royale genre is expected to continue growing at a fast pace.
By the genre being just a few years old, larger competitions and wider coverage of matches are likely to propel the genre in the future.
Teemu "ecnuob" Pesonen
The editor is a huge fan of FPS games and an igaming professional with more than 15 years of experience. Favorite esports teams: NaVi, FaZe, HAVU, and ENCE.
