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Battle royale is one of the most popular gaming genres across the world. Millions of gamers, including PC, mobile, and console gamers, engaged in different battle royale games. According to a recent report by Esports Charts, Krafton’s popular battle royale title PUBG Mobile became the most watched esports title in the battle royale genre in 2022. PUBG Mobile esports content acquired over 112 million hours of watch time in 2022 alone. Furthermore, it was the only title in the battle royale genre to cross 100 million hours of watch time.
Top 5 most watched battle royale esports titles of 2022
1. PUBG Mobile
Although PUBG Mobile was unavailable in numerous countries across the globe, it secured the top spot in the most-watched battle royale esports title of 2022. It acquired 112.09 million hours of watch time. The highest peak viewership recorded of the title was 903,011 during the 31st Southeast Asian Games PUBG Mobile, which hints at how big the title is in Asian countries. The PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2022 (PMGC 2022), whose main event (grand finals) is yet to commence, has already acquired over 20.9 million hours of watch time.
2. Apex Legends
2022 was a big year for Apex Legends. It attracted a lot of new players to the title. Furthermore, the game also increased its audience in the Asian region, which could be due to the launch of its mobile version, Apex Legends Mobile. Apex Legends recorded over 62.47 million hours of watch time in 2022. Furthermore, it recorded a peak viewership of 676,653 during the Apex Legends Global Series 2022: Split 2 Playoffs.
3. Free Fire
Free Fire has a huge audience in Asia and Brazil. However, the Free Fire ban in India has severely affected the title’s total viewership. It still managed to record a peak viewership of 1.4 million viewers. Furthermore, it acquired a total of 43.83 million hours of watch time. Notably, Free Fire lost around 50% of its total watch time as compared to 2021, and it dropped from second place to third. Compared to its counterpart, PUBG Mobile, Free Fire lagged by over 63 million hours of watch time.
4. Fortnite
Compared to 2021, Fortnite has seen an improvement in its esports viewership. This improvement can be attributed to the introduction of a new game mode, Zero Build, to the title; it attracted a lot of new players and brought back the old players to the title.
Fortnite acquired a total of over 38.96 million hours of watch time through tournaments. Furthermore, it recorded a peak viewership of 557,722 during the Twitch Rivals Creator Series: North America Kick-off, ft. Fortnite Zero Build features some of North America's most popular content creators.
5. PUBG: Battlegrounds
PUBG: Battlegrounds acquired the same watch time as Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI - Indian variant of PUBG Mobile), even though BGMI was unavailable in India for almost five months.
PUBG: Battlegrounds acquired a total of over 29.63 million hours of watch time through tournaments, which secured it the fifth position on the list. Furthermore, the peak viewership recorded in 2022 was 239,112 at the PUBG Nations Cup 2022.
2022 was an amazing year or PUBG Mobile. It crossed the $9 Billion USD milestone in lifetime revenue generation in November 2022. Furthermore, it also won the prestigious 'Esports Mobile Game of the Year' by the Esports Awards 2022.
