Biggest subgenre in shooter games: Battle Royale

Battle Royale are usually online multiplayer games which amalgamate last-man-standing games’ mechanics with the scavenging elements of a survival game.

The fast paced confrontations, predominantly employing the usage of guns, posit them firmly as a subgenre of the shooter genre.

Size

Currently, the size of the market for battle royale games is estimated to be over $20 billion. With a CAGR of 12.17%, the market is projected to grow to over $28 billion by 2025.

Why do people enjoy this subgenre?

1) Social Factor: These games are usually multiplayer. Thus, the predominant premise for battle royale games is assembling a defined pool of players in a shared environment. This helps players meet new players or play with their existing friends.

2) Non-Linear and immersive gameplay: The game nature of the battle royale games involves deploying players to a defined map and then leaving them to their devices to scavenge arms and ammunition to battle each other. This creates unlimited possibilities for how a player might choose to approach a match.

3) Competitive nature: A key factor in these games is going against a considerable swathe of people to be the last man standing. Thus, players are constantly competing with virtually everyone else in the server. This motivates a player to give it their best.

4) Vibrant streaming community: Battle Royale games are amongst the most popular subject matter in streaming platforms as they consistently draw large viewership numbers due to the intense nature of a match.

5) Device agnostic: Most battle royale games are optimised of a wide variety of devices and platforms. This allows the games to appeal for a huge prospective audience.

How do they monetize?

The primary method for monetization in battle royale games is micro-transactions. Micro-transactions are game elements like maps, weapons, skins for which, a player needs to shell out real cash.

While a player can indulge in the game without having to resort to these micro-transactions, they certainly help a player extract more satisfaction from the game.

Nowadays, ‘battle passes’ have become increasingly popular within the gaming community. While micro-transactions would necessitate a player paying individually for every object of enhancement they wish to receive, battle passes allow players to pay a single amount to access most of the game’s features. An illustration of how alluring battle passes can be for gamers, we can take a look at a popular mobile game - Lords Mobile and how its revenues burgeoned post the introduction of a battle pass last year.

Thus, battle passes are a key ingredient in any game’s monetization structure.

Why is it scalable?

1) Booming e-sports market: Despite being a fairly new entrant in the e-sports domain, popular battle royale games like Fortnite and PUBG have attained a devout audience. This helps the subgenre become more popular as new tournaments are organised frequently with these games at the centre.

2) Monetization possibilities: The key appeal for the micro-transactions business model is the developer’s ability to add new content to an existing game and monetize it. Thus, a developer has potentially an uninterrupted stream of revenue from a single game for an indefinite period of time.

3) Social element: A battle royale game’s ability to pit you against hitherto unknown players who you might have to coordinate with, or enable you to play a game with your friends gives the subgenre a distinct social element.

4) Device agnostic: A huge factor in a battle royale game’s appeal is the player‘s ability to use any platform of their choice to partake in the game’s inherent exhilaration. Popular battle royale games strive to optimise themselves for as many devices as possible to maximise their potential market area.

Written by - Laksh Sharma