The esports industry has already developed into a massive one. Believe it or not, the same thing is happening to its mobile brethren too. The mobile esports industry, focusing on competitive smartphone video games, is racking in splendid numbers too. Mobile esports have been active for several years now, with the latest top-tier competitions being more lucrative than ever. People are betting on mobile esports too. Mobile esports bookmakers have noticed the trends and are now covering more and more mobile esports events.
With such rapid growth, we can expect things to keep on improving. The statistics are already showcasing impressive development, and with no signs of stopping, mobile esports could even overtake their desktop/console-based counterparts.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
According to Statista, there are roughly 418 million mobile esports viewers across the globe. That number, however, will grow to 548 million by 2022. A large portion of that will come down to China-based viewers; roughly 174 million, to be more precise.
A key reason why esports are developing so fast lies in the fact that you don’t have to be a gamer to play mobile esports titles. These games are meant to be played by everyone; from casual users to experienced and highly competitive gaming veterans.
Another big part of the reason why mobile esports are developing at such a rapid pace lies in the COVID-19 measures. During the lockdown, smartphone gaming thrived. Not long after the quarantine started, we saw the first proper mobile esports events pop up.
Even though they did not have sky-high viewership numbers right off the bat, they showed plenty of potential… and that’s all it took for sponsors to go knees deep into the biggest markets and kickstart another digital entertainment special.
Whatever the key reason may be, one thing is certain – mobile esports are here and they won’t be going away anytime soon!
Most Notable Mobile Esports
But, what sort of mobile video games are we talking about here? What are the biggest mobile esports in 2022?
Well, there are roughly ten notable titles with healthy competitive scenes and active communities. However, five of them are mainstream. They are as follows:
- PUBG Mobile
- Call of Duty Mobile
- Free Fire
- Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
- King of Glory
If you want more information about the five biggest mobile esports games in 2022, here’s what you need to know:
PUBG Mobile
Let’s start off with PUBG Mobile. Right now, it’s the most popular mobile battle royale on this side of the world. Believe it or not, PUBG Mobile is so darn popular these days that its numbers greatly exceed those of the original PUBG game.
The game has massive events, one of the most lucrative ones in business. Take the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021 as the perfect example. The event had $3.49 million in prize money. That’s just crazy for a mobile esports title, right?
When it comes to the most popular events, PUBG Mobile can boast 3.8 million peak viewers during PUBG Mobile Global Championship Season 0 Day 1. The average viewership on big events goes above the 500,000 mark, which isn’t half bad for a game of its caliber.
Call of Duty Mobile
Call of Duty Mobile is a game that tried to feed on the success of the desktop version. However, while the game itself is quite popular, its mobile esports scene is not so much. The biggest event was the CoD Mobile World Championship 2021 held last October and it had a peak of 56,784 viewers and just slightly more than 10,500 viewers on average.
Sure, those aren’t poor numbers… but they are nothing compared to all other mobile esports franchises mentioned in this title. That’s not to say CoD Mobile is a bad game, though. It has a certain charm, it has an audience… but the fact of the matter is that it’s a failed mobile esports experiment.
Free Fire
Here we have another battle royale game. People often draw parallels between these three. It’s no surprise really, especially considering the fact they hold a big portion of the entire mobile esports scene.
So, what’s so special about Free Fire? Well, in short, this game is insanely popular in Asia, just like all other mobile esports. But, it’s not to be taken for granted because it’s one of the most popular video games in the world. Yep, not mobile games but video games in general!
Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore racked in more than 5.4 million peak viewers. On average, the tournament had over 2 million viewers, which goes to show you just how big Free Fire is. To put things into perspective, one of the biggest esports franchises right now – CSGO – was never even close to having 2 million average viewers.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Commonly known as ML and MLBB, this multiplayer esports title plays as your typical multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) like LoL and Dota 2. Of course, the graphics and controls as well as certain mechanical elements are catered toward the mobile gaming experience. It’s a 5v5 game that was released back in 2016.
Believe it or not, MLBB has been downloaded more than 1 billion times and peaked at 100 million monthly players. While we’re talking about numbers, the game had a $1 billion gross in 2021, 44% of which was from outside of the Asian continent.
The Popularity Was Quick to Yield Great Results
Mobile Legends: Big Bang Professional League (MPL in short) enjoys plenty of action in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Latin America. These regional tournaments basically serve as qualifiers for the Mobile Legends World Championship where international teams from all over the world fight for prestige.
Mind you, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is so important in Asia that it was among the six games that got their spots at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.
King of Glory AKA Arena of Valor
Last but not least, King of Glory. Arena of Valor – King of Glory; call it how you want but it’s basically the same game just made for different markets. In short, this is the game that singlehandedly kickstarted the whole mobile esports scene. It was the mobile esports title before mobile esports was even a proper term.
As for the actual game, we’re talking about the popular MOBA recipe tailored towards casual players but with deep enough mechanics to cater to more competitive players too. The biggest event, Arena of Valor International Championship 2021, had just shy of 880,000 peak viewers and over 144,000 viewers on average. It had $1 million in prize money, which is not a small amount for a mobile esports title.
Betting on Mobile Esports
Of course, we are here for the betting side of things. Even though online bookmakers already offer betting on mobile esports, the real action hasn’t even started yet. Even in 2022, conventional esports (God this sounds weird) are still taking up the biggest part of the esports betting pie.
But, with each passing year, mobile esports are inching closer and closer. We’re still not at the tipping point, but it’s bound to happen sooner or later.
Right now, most bookmakers offer outright and match-winner betting on mobile esports. A few years from now, we’re likely to see the coverage expand even further. We’re talking a much bigger library of mobile esports bets, plus an extensive list of specials as well as live betting options.
Mobile esports’ dominance is inevitable – so you better prepare yourselves!
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