Mobile game popularity is on the rise as people with busy schedules pack gaming time into their commutes. Yet within mobile games, mobile shooters are odd beasts: They take a genre that relies on precise controls and transfers that experience to a touch screen. Yet despite these limitations – and with the aid of Bluetooth controllers for pros – mobile shooters are performing exceptionally well, even on live-streaming platforms.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile (hereafter Warzone Mobile) is one of the more recent titles to enter this space. Having released on the 21st of March 2024, the game has just entered its fourth Season and is going strong. Warzone Mobile takes the battle royale experience of Warzone and condenses it down into 10-minute matches on smaller maps. Publisher Activision appears to have hit the sweet spot when converting its game to mobile.
Now that the game has had a chance to develop, it’s worth looking back on the performance of Warzone Mobile compared to other mobile FPS games, and what features are drawing in fans.
Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile Trades on its IP for Debut Success
Comparing the first 30-day viewership for various mobile FPS games reveals, unsurprisingly, that Call of Duty games performed well upon release thanks to IP recognition. Warzone Mobile racked up 1.8M hours watched in its first 30 days, second only to Call of Duty: Mobile with 2.1M hours watched.
However, PUBG Mobile didn’t experience that same show of demand, with just 622K hours watched. This is most likely due to two factors: Firstly, PUBG had only existed for one year before PUBG Mobile’s launch. Secondly, PUBG Mobile paved the way for players accepting shooters in a mobile format, and so it wouldn’t reap the rewards of this ground-breaking move until later in its life cycle. Arena Breakout also started slow with just 200K hours watched, but has since grown enough to warrant a full PC release with Arena Breakout: Infinite.
Obviously the IP was a big drawcard for most players, but what else went into making Warzone Mobile’s launch successful? The first step was a multifaceted approach to promotion. Apart from announcing the game across its social media platforms, Activision went a step further by embracing a sponsorship with Monster and partnering with creators like iFerg to spread the word. Additionally, Warzone Mobile touted a cross-progression system that would allow achievements earned on PC to transfer over to mobile and vice-versa, ensuring that mobile gaming sessions added to the player’s overall experience.
Although Warzone Mobile launched four years after the original Warzone – too long perhaps, in retrospect – the game has performed on par with its major competitors PUBG and Fortnite. Mobile seems to offer a path forward for Activision as multiple mobile genres find increasing popularity among gamers who can’t afford an expensive PC gaming rig. Stream Hatchet will watch to see if this trend towards competitive mobile games continues in the coming months.
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