Free Fire became the first mobile battle royale game to reach the one billion downloads mark on Google Play Store. This news comes after a very exciting year for Garena’s game, full of records and impressive numbers. To celebrate the achievement, an in-game event will be launched in August, together with Free Fire’s fourth anniversary.
Free Fire started breaking its own records in 2020, when it reached 60 million daily users in March, 80 million daily users in May and 100 million daily users in August. These numbers helped the game keep its title of most downloaded game in the world for two years in a row, according to App Annie. Garena’s battle royale was also the third most watched game on YouTube in 2020.
Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, Garena has made numerous efforts to keep Free Fire a dynamic and exciting game for players. In one year, the battle royale received some big collaborations and partnerships, such as, Street Fighter V, Attack on Titan, McLaren Racing, One-Punch Man, and Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.
These collabs have engaged the public in several countries in the world, leading Free Fire to join the small group of mobile games that have reached one billion downloads. Besides impressive partnerships, Garena has also invested heavily in online tournaments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After canceling the Free Fire World Series (FFWS) 2020, an offline tournament that was set to happen in Brazil, Garena announced the Free Fire Continental Series (FFCS), an online regional tournament that caught the attention of players all over the world, peaking at 2.5 million viewers.
After the success of FFCS 2020, Garena hosted their first offline championship after the COVID-19 pandemic started, the Free Fire World Series (FFWS) 2021 Singapore. The tournament was a global triumph, reaching 5.4 million concurrent viewers, the all-time record for most peak viewers during an esports event, according to Esports Charts.
The good news for players is that this is just the beginning for Free Fire, with an All Stars event planned for July and another FFWS edition for the end of the year, Garena’s battle royale fans can expect many new things to come.
