The Call of Duty Franchise is well known as a powerhouse on consoles and on PC. On the major systems, Call of Duty has been one of the most important shooters. It took the audience for online FPS to new heights, only really being surpassed by Halo in terms of its influence in popularizing online gaming. Call of Duty has evolved with the times though. Its grown a large esports scene, and continues to push the franchise into new areas like a Battle Royale with the popular Warzone. Call of Duty Mobile is another new frontier for the game, and its seen huge growth over the last few months.
Call of Duty Mobile has released in new territories, leading to a huge jump in revenue. There is also a growing esports scene for the game, reflecting the ever-growing trend for mobile competitive gaming.
© Call of Duty Mobile
The mobile version of the game has been kicking around for a while, but it has really made an impact in markets with a huge audience for mobile titles. However, up until very recently Call of Duty Mobile was absent in possibly the most lucrative market mobile games; China. The game has only launched in China the last week of December, but it has had a great reception.
The game appeared at number 4 in the nation’s charts for mobile revenue.
The game’s launch in China generated over $14 million. However, that’s just a fragment of the revenue that the mobile game brings in worldwide. It was still beaten out by Honor Kings, once of China’s biggest games. That game particularly has a vibrant esports scene, including Honor of Kings betting. This esports side of the game is something that will soon be present in Call of Duty Mobile too.
Call of Duty itself isn’t the biggest Esports franchise, but as the Call of Duty League is quickly growing, the mobile side of the game is in an upward trajectory as well.
The China release is likely going do wonders for the esports ecosystem as well. CoD is one of the few franchises that can operate the same title in an out of China. In that sense the esports aspect gives put the game in a unique position to run a global ecosystem.
The Call of Duty Mobile game has had a few events, although its attempts to get a more professional circuit off of the crowd was scuppered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Call of Duty Mobile World Championship, which was to be the breakout event for the game, was unfortunately cancelled last year.
The event is rescheduled for this year, but a date for the event is still up in the air. It’s organization is going to depend on how much esports events can return to normal this year. The mobile game’s playerbase is growing rapidly, and the demand for a serious side of the game is there. Once esports events can return to normal, it will definitely be a title to keep your eyes on.
[cta id=2581 type=geo]Now that CoD mobile has launched in China its revenue has reached an impressive level. So far the game has broken the 650$ million mark and is still going strong.
If this continues, the game will rival the mainline series in terms of profitability. The Call of Duty Mobile esports scene is growing too. The cancellation of events has left the competitive scene on ice for nearly a full year, but the player base is expanding rapidly. With this growth, the eventual tournaments are going to be even more excited, with more great players entering the pool.
Some of the bigger esports organizations have signed up to the hype as well. Fun Plus Phoenix, T1, Singularity and XSET already have competing rosters and more big hitters are likely to join in 2021.
Read next: What should the North American esports expectations be in 2021?
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