Fortnite competitor PUBG Mobile wins Best Game of 2018 on Google Play

PUBG
Corp.

• “PUBG Mobile” has been named
  Google
  Play’s Best Game of 2018 and Fan Favorite Game of
  2018.
• “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” is a battle-royale
  shooter and helped inspire “Fortnite: Battle Royale” and the
  Blackout mode in “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.”
• “PUBG Mobile” is free on Google Play, while the versions on
  Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC are $29.99.

Google Play has released its Best of 2018 list, and
battle-royale shooter “PUBG Mobile” tops the list as both Best
Game and Fan Favorite Game.

As the name suggests, “PUBG Mobile” is the mobile version of
“PlayerUnknown’s
Battlegrounds,” the PC game that’s largely credited with
inspiring the battle royale genre leading to “Fortnite: Battle
Royale” and copycat game modes in “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” and
“Battlefield V.”

Hundreds of millions of players around the world are
playing battle royale games on video game consoles and smartphone
alike. It helps that the two biggest games in the genre, “PUBG”
and “Fortnite,” are free on mobile devices. Research firm
SensorTower reports that “PUBG Mobile” has been
downloaded more than 240 million times and has earned more than
$113 million through microtransactions.

“PUBG Mobile” and the console and PC versions of
“PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” have separate player bases, but
the games function the same. “PUBG” throws 100 players onto an
island with scattered resources. Once the game starts, they need
to find weapons and items to defend themselves with as the safe
areas of the island begin to shrink. The last player or team
surviving at the end of the round is the winner.

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Read more:
It looks like the smash-hit game
that paved the way for ‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’ is finally
coming to PlayStation 4

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While “Fortnite” is more popular than “PUBG” overall, the game is
not downloadable in the Google Play Store — Android users must
instead install the game directly from the Fornite website —
clearing the way for “PUBG Mobile” to dominate on Android devices
and Google Play download rankings. “Fortnite” is also unavailable
in China, the world’s largest video game market, due to the
Chinese government’s ongoing
freeze on new game releases.

Both the PC version of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” and “PUBG
Mobile” were published in China by Tencent prior to the
government’s call for increased video game regulation. The
game has seen tens of millions of downloads in China but Tencent
is still not allowed to monetize “PUBG Mobile” in China with
in-game purchases.

While “Fortnite” still reigns as the world’s most popular game, the
global reach of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds” will help ensure
that its around for years to come. The console version of
“PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds” recently celebrated the one-year
anniversary of its launch on Xbox One, and will be released on
PlayStation 4 on December 7th. The game’s creators have also
revealed plans for “PUBG” esports leagues in
North America and Europe starting in 2019.