Sensor Tower, which provides market intelligence and analytics for the mobile app economy, recently released its list of the top grossing mobile games worldwide for May 2022. Honor of Kings, a multiplayer online battle arena from Tencent, with approximately $268 million in player spending topped this list.
But other big games were not far behind. The popular battle royale game Garena Free Fire was the second most installed mobile game worldwide in April. The countries with the largest number of Garena Free Fire installs were India at 33.6 percent, followed by Indonesia at 10 percent. In May, however, Free Fire was the 4th most top grossing game in terms of revenue generated on Google Play. The likes of Candy Crush Saga and PUBG Mobile were among the other top grossing games on the App Store and Google Play.
But what makes the likes of Garena Free Fire and Roblox so popular? Here’s a closer look at some of these mobile games that keep trending no matter what.
Garena Free Fire: Free Fire is a multiplayer battle royale mobile game, developed and published by Garena for Android and iOS. This world-famous survival shooter game is available only on mobile. Every 10-minute game places you on a remote island where you are pit against 49 other players, all seeking to survive. Players freely choose their starting point with their parachute, and aim to stay in the safe zone for as long as possible. They can explore the vast map, hide in the wild, or seek to eliminate other players in order to be the last person surviving on the island. Aside from battle royale, Free Fire also comes in other game modes.
Honor of Kings: Honor of Kings is a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Tencent Games for the iOS and Android mobile platforms. It is a quick-match mobile multiplayer online battle arena (or MOBA) game, one of the first of its kind inspired by another PC game League of Legends. It is one of the most downloaded games in the world. Earlier this month, a report from TechCrunch said a global version of the game could be rolled out by Tencent by the end of this year. Honor of Kings is currently not available in India.
Roblox: This is an online game platform and game creation system developed by Roblox Corporation. You can program games and play games created by other users. While Roblox was launched more than 15 years ago, it found a new lease of life during the covid-19 pandemic. You can create different virtual experiences in Roblox. It also features full cross-platform support, meaning you can join your friends and millions of other people on their computers, mobile devices, Xbox One, or VR headsets.
Genshin Impact: Genshin Impact is an action, role-playing game set in Teyvat, a vast world teeming with life and elemental energy. In the game, you and your sibling have arrived here from another world. Separated by an unknown god and stripped of their powers, players must journey across Teyvat to seek answers from The Seven — the gods of each element. Along the way, players can join forces with a diverse range of characters, and unravel the countless mysteries that Teyvat holds. Known for its graphics and storyline, Apple awarded Genshin Impact with "iPhone Game of the Year" in the App Store Best of 2020 and the 2021 Apple Design Awards for visuals and graphics. It also won Google Play's "Best Game of 2020".
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