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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.
What is a battle royale?
Battle Royale is a game genre that combines both survival elements with a last-man-standing game format. The name is taken from the 2000 Japanese film/novel Battle Royale. As is the case with many game genres, battle royale first started as mods of other popular games.
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, released after the Hunger Games movie in 2012.
DayZ & PlayerUnknown
DayZ was a mod created for ARMA 2 in 2012. The battle royale mod for DayZ released by "PlayerUnknown" (Brendan Greene) in 2013 influenced the genre in a big way.
What was the first battle royale game?
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) was released on March 23rd, 2017, and is considered the first battle royale game. Over 30 million copies were sold in the first year.
When did Fortnite battle royale come out
Fortnite was released about 4 months after PUBG, on July 21st, 2017. It set a streaming record on Twitch and became one of the most-played games of 2018.
The history of battle royale esports
It all began with PUBG in 2017. Epic Games took the phenomenon to new heights with Fortnite. Fall Guys brought a lighthearted twist. Apex Legends introduced hero-based gameplay. Call of Duty joined the fray. Mobile games like Free Fire gained significant traction.
Battle royale esports today
Fortnite
Fortnite esports features some of the most-watched games in the industry. The 2019 World Cup had a total prize pool of 30 million dollars! The Fortnite Champion Series featured a twenty-million-dollar prize pool in 2021.
PUBG
The PUBG Global Invitational S features 32 of the best teams and a prize pool of $3.5 million.
Apex Legends
With the first esports tournaments in 2019, Apex Legends is one of the youngest battle royal games to have seen large esports coverage. The Apex Legends Global Series has a prize pool of three million dollars.
Call of Duty: Warzone
Released March 10th, 2020. One of the many successful launches from the legendary Call of Duty Series.
Conclusions
After the industry saw how PUBG and Fortnite took off, new games were announced on an almost monthly basis. Given the genre's action-packed gameplay, battle royale is expected to continue growing at a fast pace.