Battle royale is still the kind of the moment if you like your free shooters, multiplayer, and shooters. And they work great on mobile.
Developers like Epic Games and PUBG Corporation have managed to bring the frenzied gameplay of multiplayer shooters like Fortnite and PUBG to touchscreens with amazing efficiency, meaning it’s just as fun to kill your friends with virtual controls as it is. ‘with buttons.
There’s a lot of variety out there, from Garena Free Fire to every game with .io at the end of its title. And there is much more to come. These are five of the biggest prospects for the battle royale genre in 2021.
Farlight 84 is the only game on this list that isn’t paired with a huge existing franchise. The fact that he’s joining such an esteemed company is a testament to the beauty of the game. Set in 2084 – which as we all know will be a total horror show – Farlight 84 is your classic post-apocalyptic shooter filled with electric shields, advanced weapons, jetpacks, etc.
It’s a 40-player battle royale that looks like it can take on behemoths like Fortnite, and we think it’ll be out before the end of the year.
Just to reiterate the idea that the future will be bloody and apocalyptic, PUBG: New State is yet another post-apocalyptic shooter where you’ll take on human opponents in the smoldering remnants of civilization. It has a grainy, more grounded look than its rivals, which developer Krafton clearly hopes to set it apart from the pack. There’s no way PUBG: New State will be anything but great when it launches this year. You can pre-register now.
When PUBG and then Fortnite took the world by storm, conclusively demonstrating that battle royale is the most marketable type of online shooter, EA quickly took action with Apex Legends, which is set in the same universe as Titanfall. Using 3-player teams and an innovative Legends system, Apex Legends is one of the best examples of the genre, and the mobile version is set to be a hit. It is currently being tested in India and the Philippines, with more countries expected to follow.
This one took us by surprise. Square Enix recently announced two new mobile games based on the hugely popular PS1 RPG Final Fantasy VII, and one of those games, incredibly, is a battle royale shooter. Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier is set in the Final Fantasy universe, bringing a fantasy twist to a genre that doesn’t tend to share a lot of DNA with traditional RPGs. It looks pretty good too.
There’s a funny space shaped like Call of Duty: Warzone on the Google Play Store. Call of Duty Mobile is a huge hit on Android, but it’s not a battle royale (although it does have a battle royale mode). Call of Duty: Warzone, meanwhile, is a free battle royale available on PC but not mobile, despite the exemplary success of Fortnite, PUBG, and Garena Free Fire on the small screen. Activision Blizzard hasn’t announced a mobile port of Call of Duty: Warzone either – but some compelling rumors and basic common sense make it a near-certainty.