Mobile gaming is a big deal in South Africa with over 71% of adults in the country playing mobile games to some degree. In the past, compatibility issues have been a barrier to entry for South African mobile gamers. That was until Garena Free Fire was launched.

Garena Free Fire is a battle royale game developed specifically with mobile gamers in mind, with its features, specifications and gameplay all optimised for gaming on the go. In addition, Garena Free Fire is all about the community of gaming,  creating engaging content and experiences that are accessible to all, around the world.

Developed and published by Garena for Android and iOS, Free Fire has been well received by players in Africa, particularly Southern Africa, over the past four years. Its dedicated servers in the region are accessible to most African countries, greatly improving the experience in the African Garena Free Fire mobile gaming and competitive esports scene. 

Perhaps it’s most definitive popular feature in South Africa however, is its compatibility with most smartphones. A player doesn’t need the most powerful smartphones or latest software and operating system to enjoy the Free Fire experience. Even the Garena new Free Fire MAX is compatible with a range of phones and operating systems. This means the current growth trend is set to continue and then some: 

According to a recent report by ResearchAndMarkets.com, the Global Battle Royale Game market increased significantly during the market 2017-2020 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next four years. The report estimates that the segment could grow to be worth $28.38 Billion by 2025, an increase of some 60% from 2021. The report outlines that the battle royale game market is expected to increase so rapidly due to growing usage of smartphones and esports competitions. 

As with its mobile-first for all approach, Garena Free Fire is a leader in the esports field, with its esports events offering users a level of competition that is unrivalled within the mobile battle royale genre. It was named “Esports Mobile Game of the Year” for the second year running at the Esports Awards 2021. 

Due to these factors, according to App Annie, Free Fire became the most downloaded mobile game globally in 2019 and 2020 and looks set to continue its run in 2021/22. The game has also won numerous industry awards over the past three years, including ‘Best Popular Vote Game’ by the Google Play Store in 2019 and ‘Best Battle Royale Game’ at the Pocket Gamer Awards 2021. Sensor Tower revealed the list of Top Games Worldwide for 2021 by Downloads earlier this week. Free Fire ranked first for both Google Play Downloads (in which it has reached over 1 Billion to date) and Overall Downloads.

For more information on Garena, please visit https://www.garena.com. To find out the very latest on Free Fire, do head down to https://www.facebook.com/freefireEN.

• Apple iOS App Store
• Google Play Store