The success of PUBG and Fortnite spawned an entire industry of battle royale games, some of which came with interesting new ideas, but far more blatantly attempting to copy the successful formula of the two most well-known franchises.
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) launched in December 2017, although it had spent almost an entire year in Steam’s Early Access. Throughout the year, the team fine-tuned the PUBG experience, and it debuted on Xbox and PlayStation in early 2018.
Even before it officially launched, PUBG had surpassed almost all other games on Steam in terms of peak concurrents. It surpassed League of Legends, the most popular online PC game, in August 2017, four months before its official launch.
While PUBG garnered global popularity, it struggled to compete in the United States, as Epic Games’ Fortnite overshadowed it. When it launched on iOS and Android in 2018, PUBG Mobile managed to surpass Fortnite in downloads, through its large userbase in China and India, but it still lagged behind Fortnite in revenue.
Due to Tencent’s involvement in PUBG, as an investor in the developer Bluehole, it managed to pass China’s censors. That has come back to bite the organisation however, as India recently banned PUBG Mobile in the country, due to its connections to Tencent Games.
PUBG Mobile was already starting to ascend in 2019, but with the coronavirus pandemic, the game has skyrocketed in both downloads and revenue. In March 2020 when the world went into its first lockdown, PUBG Mobile made $270 million a month in revenue.
Epic Games spat with Apple and Google, which resulted in the removal of Fortnite from both app stores, has added more fuel to PUBG Mobile’s fire. That has been somewhat dampened by India’s recent ban of the title.
We have collected data and statistics on PUBG Mobile. Read on below to find out more.
PUBG Mobile Key Statistics
- PUBG Mobile was the third highest grossing game in 2022, generating $1.1 billion
- 30 million people play PUBG Mobile daily, and 50 million more play Game for Peace
- In 2021, PUBG Mobile was downloaded 100 million times, lower than 2021 figures
PUBG Mobile Overview
| Title 1 | Title 2 |
|---|---|
| Launch date | 9 February 2018 |
| HQ | Seongnam, South Korea |
| Developers | PUBG Corporation, xFAIRx |
| Publishers | VNG Game Publishing, Tencent Games, KRAFTON, xFAIRx |
| Industry | Video games |
PUBG Mobile Revenue
PUBG Mobile saw a noticeable decline in revenue, from $2 billion in 2021 to $1.1 billion in 2022.
PUBG Mobile annual revenue 2018 to 2022 ($mm)
| Year | Revenue ($mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 172 |
| 2019 | 1510 |
| 2020 | 2492 |
| 2021 | 2012 |
| 2022 | 1123 |
Sources: AppMagic, Sensor Tower
PUBG Mobile Users
PUBG Mobile has 20 million daily active players. India’s ban of PUBG Mobile sunk the games daily active users by more than half.
PUBG Mobile daily active users 2018 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | DAUs (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2019 | 50 |
| 2020 | 65 |
| 2021 | 35 |
| 2022 | 20 |
Source: Tencent
PUBG Mobile Downloads
PUBG Mobile had 100 million downloads in 2022. The impact of the India ban is noticeable here as well.
PUBG Mobile annual downloads 2018 to 2022 (mm)
| Year | Downloads (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 261 |
| 2019 | 265 |
| 2020 | 218 |
| 2021 | 127 |
| 2022 | 100 |
Source: Tencent
PUBG Sales
PUBG has sold 80 million copies since its launch on PC and console. This does not include PUBG Mobile, which is free-to-play.
PUBG cumulative sales 2017 to 2022 (mm)
| Date | Sales (mm) |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2018 | 50 |
| 2019 | 60 |
| 2020 | 70 |
| 2021 | 75 |
| 2022 | 80 |
Sources: Daniel Ahmad, Statista
PUBG Mobile FAQ
How many people play PUBG Mobile?
About 30 million people play PUBG Mobile. It lost half its userbase when it was banned in India. An additional 50 million play the Chinese version, Game for Peace
How much revenue generation is Game for Peace responsible for?
Game for Peace is responsible for over 50 percent of PUBG Mobile’s revenue generation (Sensor Tower)
What are the age demographics for PUBG Mobile?
Over 75 percent of PUBG Mobile players are male in India, 60 percent are male in the United States
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