Newzoo dissects battle royale phenomenon

According to Newzoo, as of May 2019, 41% of the U.S. gamers play either Fortnite, Apex Legends, or PUBG. It might be tempting to recognize battle royale as a genre in its own right that is distinct from shooter. However, the three titles do not share the same community, with people attracted to various battle royale games for different reasons.

In a new study, Newzoo looks at the U.S. gamers’ motivations for playing battle royales.

Battle royale stats

• Over two-fifths of all U.S. gamers played one of the three franchises in the past month. 71% played them on console, 17% on PC, and 12% on mobile.
• 56% of active battle royale players have at least tried their favourite title on several platforms. Fortnite makes it really easy by allowing players to use the same account across platforms. PUBG has also been successful in mixing PC and mobile players.
• 15% of all U.S. gamers are churned battle royale players interested in returning to the genre again in the future. It’s a huge demographic that new or existing battle royales still can activate.

• The genre also boasts very high viewability. Over 50% of the U.S. battle royale players watch battle royale streams, and 21% spend as much time watching their titles streamed as they do playing them.
• 59% of battle royale players only play one franchise in the genre. For example, 53% of active Fortnite players claim that they do not play any other titles. 16% of the Fortnite players alternate between all three hit battle royales. Only 12% play Fortnite and Apex Legends.

The reason why there is a clear segmentation between the audiences of the three battle royale franchises is lies the difference of their key features.

Players in the U.S. (also true for Germany and China) play Fortnite because of its focus on social play. Apex Legends players most value the title’s dynamic pacing. Finally, PUBG’s biggest appeal is the importance of teamwork and cooperation.

Moreover, at least in the U.S., each of the titles is also distinct in terms of the platform players prefer. For Fortnite, it’s console. Apex Legends is mostly played on PC. And PUBG players prefer mobile.

More info is available here.