PUBG Mobile made $198 million last month despite controversies

PUBG Mobile continues to dominate the mobile market. 

A report by Sensor Tower found that PUBG Mobile placed second in worldwide revenue for mobile games in September 2020. It rose 13.3% in year-over-year growth, making $198 million in September alone. Almost 60% of PUBG Mobile’s revenue came from China that month through its sister title, Game For Peace. 

Game For Peace is a localized and heavily censored version of PUBG created by Tencent. PUBG itself was shut down in China due to concern among government officials regarding its violent content and possible addictiveness. Tencent, which licenses PUBG and PUBG Mobile in China, replaced the game with Game For Peace. The game notoriously has eliminated players wave goodbye and vanish instead of laying dead on the map. Game For Peace even had its own tournaments in Asia. 

PUBG Mobile was also a big hit in the United States. American players made up 12.4% of the battle royale’s earnings. 

Despite its good showing, PUBG was dethroned as the top-earning mobile game in September. Tencent’s Honor of Kings came in first by earning almost $240 million. That was an 87% growth from last September. A whopping 96% of Honor of King’s revenue was from China proving the country’s strong relationship with the mobile game market. 

• PUBG Mobile banned in India as tensions with China rise. 

Honor of King’s growth is quite astonishing, but PUBG Mobile would have most likely remained in the top slot if it weren’t for its ban in India. On September 2, PUBG Mobile was banned from the country amid heightened tension between India and China. India makes up a significant portion of PUBG Mobile’s player base, with the ban in India raising serious questions regarding the game’s future.

Despite the strong tally in September, PUBG Mobile made more money in August, reporting $221 million.