Free Fire esports: From milestone viewership to almost building from scratch
In the history of esports, very few games have been able to leave the kind of impact that Free Fire has. This mobile battle royale, developed and published by Singapore-based Garena, has gained worldwide popularity since its launch in late 2017. In recent years, it has played a key role in establishing the gaming industry as a major force.
The free-to-play multiplayer title has become especially prominent in regions like South Asia and Brazil, where its adaptability to mid- and low-specification phones has made it much more accessible than other games. The game was received so well that Free Fire surpassed $1 billion in revenue under two years after its release, as per the financial results of Sea Limited, the parent company of Garena.
Such early success meant that Garena was quick to establish a robust and deep-reaching esports ecosystem for the game. Alongside the other big three shooter mobile games — PUBG Mobile and Call of Duty: Mobile — Free Fire esports has carved a successful space on the international competitive gaming calendar, attracting millions of viewers to its events.
Early Free Fire tournaments were often regional and had smaller prize pools compared to later events. The period between 2017 and 2019 was crucial for establishing the core gameplay mechanics and competitive balance that would later be essential for a thriving esports scene.
The first official year of the game's esports scene (2019) introduced the Free Fire World Series (FFWS), which continues to be one of the most beloved year-round competitive gaming formats. These regional events have undergone some changes over the years, but they remain available globally and offer multi-million dollar prize pools to players.
It also witnessed the game's first-ever international championship, the $100,000 prize pool Free Fire World Cup 2019, which Indonesia's EVOS Divine won to become the inaugural Free Fire world champion. The first round of the seven-game finals drew over a million concurrent viewers, showcasing the potential of mobile esports tournaments under the right conditions.
Undoubtedly, Free Fire's initial esports efforts were focused on building a community and establishing a basic tournament structure. While the game itself was exploding in popularity, the esports side was still finding its footing.
These efforts paid off, with the game's esports scene rapidly growing in popularity and reaching its peak within a few years. However, viewership has slightly declined in recent years, making its competitive journey from 2020 to 2024 a key phase in its evolution.
2020: The year of regionalization
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FFWS was replaced by regional events called the Free Fire Continental Series (FFCS). This kept the competitive scene alive while ensuring player safety, as the world grappled with the new disease and how to fight it.
The FFCS showcased the growing talent pool in different regions, laying the foundation for future global competitions. In fact, these competitions remain among the game's most popular as per the Esports Charts database, sitting in the second and fourth spots on the all-time table by Peak Viewers (PV).
Outside of the competitive gaming sphere, things were looking rosy as well. After all, as per Ryan Wyatt, the then-Head of Gaming at YouTube, the game reached 100 billion lifetime views on YouTube, with the most contributions coming from India at over 26.6% (unfortunately, the original X post has since been deleted).
The subcontinental country was also one of its biggest markets until the game's unfortunate ban in 2022, spawning some of its most famous early content creators on the red platform. Many of the most prominent competitions held at that time also emanated from India, encouraged by the positive performances of the country's teams.
2021: FFWS Returns With a Bang
Even with the lockdown era left behind, Garena was looking to take advantage of the renewed fame Free Fire esports had been receiving over the last few years. Hence, the FFWS made a triumphant return with a massive $2 million prize pool, marking a significant investment in the esports ecosystem, attracting top teams and increasing viewership.
And what a season the game had, hitting over 147 million HW — a record for a single year — and ending it with the then-record-breaking Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore. It became the most-watched esports event in history at that time, with over 5.4 million PV, cementing the title's position as a leading mobile esports title.
In essence, the FFWS 2021 Singapore went where no other game had up to that point, rivalling even some PC-based esports in terms of viewership and player base, including League of Legends. It was the first esports tournament to surpass four and five million peak concurrent viewers, highlighting the popularity of battle royale games at a time when lockdowns brought more people into gaming.
Indian fans again played a key part, with Hindi viewers contributing 22.5% to the total Hours Watched number. What helped was that Indian fans who preferred PUBG Mobile migrated to Free Fire after the former's ban in September 2020. As a result, the Hindi broadcast collected 50 million views and set a new PV record of 1.9 million people.
2022-2023: Innovations can't arrest viewership slide
Free Fire esports continued to expand, with more regional tournaments and leagues providing opportunities for aspiring players. Garena introduced new formats and features to keep the competitive scene fresh and exciting.
Moreover, the Singapore-based company decided to jump on the success of the FFWS 2021 Singapore by adding a mid-season FFWS event, making it two such tournaments across the year instead of one. However, with the world's borders fully reopening and competitors also looking to attract viewers to their events, Free Fire faced a challenging time.
Between 2022 and 2023, its cumulative watch time from annual competitions dropped drastically, with the peak concurrent viewership at its major competitions dropping from a high of 5.4 million to less than 600,000. Even the addition of the Free Fire SEA Invitational (FFSI) in 2023 could not arrest this slide, with the competition doing a meagre 107,306 PV.
The Free Fire ban in India played a crucial role in this fall, with the country's audiences moving to Battlegrounds Mobile India, the localised version of PUBG Mobile. Although Free Fire MAX, a graphically enhanced version, remained available, the end of competitive play led fans, creators, and pro players in India to move on to other games.
There was also a rising candidate in the mobile esports division, with Mobile Legends: Bang Bang continuing its own growth and putting up some solid numbers via its global championship and regional league, the Mobile Legends Professional League. In fact, 2022 can be counted as the year LoL and MLBB esports began taking over the competitive gaming world when it comes to milestone PV numbers.
Eventually, come the end of 2023, Free Fire's reign as the most popular esports event was broken by LoL's Worlds, which did 6.4 million PV. The M5 World Championship also created history, touching the 5 million peak concurrent viewers mark for the first time and establishing itself as the undisputed mobile esports leader.
2024: In with the old and Esports World Cup debut
Having fallen off its pedestal as the top game by PV, Free Fire needed a fillip, and Garena decided to bring back the FFWS branding for local Free Fire leagues. While that did not mean immediately going back to the highs of 2021, the entire season did see an increment in audience reach, with the watch time and average online viewership climbing up by 105.23% and 129.15%, respectively.
The Free Fire World Series - Global Finals 2024 also hit 751,237 PV, signalling the title's most popular event for three years. It also ended as the second-most-watched international championship in the game, thanks to Fluxo's victory, which attracted a higher number of Portuguese-speaking viewers as compared to the 2023 edition.
Free Fire was also featured as a title in the inaugural Esports World Cup held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This prestigious event brought together the game's top teams from around the world to compete for a share of the substantial prize pool of $1 million, on par with what the FFWS Global Finals was offering.
While the EWC 2024 for Free Fire did not really light up the world in terms of viewership, it did give the game exposure to new markets and fans. This was especially true for less popular regions like North America, whose teams may not have participated in the event, but the sheer prominence of the entire multi-discipline spectacle was sure to have resonated with those who may not have known much about the title.
Crucially, the gains made in 2024 helped Free Fire's biggest tournament close the gap on the corresponding event of its biggest rival, PUBG Mobile. The difference in their PV numbers fell by 40.63%; most hearteningly, while PUBG Mobile's global championship witnessed a small bump of 0.54% in its peak concurrent viewership, the PV jump for the FFWS Grand Final was a substantial 31.68%.
It is safe to say that the game's near decade-long competitive segment is somewhere in a maturity phase, with the focus shifting towards long-term sustainability, refining the competitive ecosystem, and ensuring fair play. Fans and players are likely to see more emphasis on player development, team management, and creating a robust infrastructure for professional players.
Continued innovation in tournament formats and in-game features designed for competitive play will also be key, although maintaining the rise of viewership and attracting new fans could well be the biggest challenge. Nevertheless, the inclusion in events like the Esports World Cup is a strong indicator of Free Fire's continued relevance and potential.
Looking Ahead
The future of Free Fire esports looks a lot more promising than it was 12 months back. While the initial explosive growth might have levelled off, the focus on long-term sustainability and continued innovation should ensure that the game remains a major player in the mobile esports landscape for years to come.
Thanks to global series like the EWC, we might see more professional teams forming, dedicated training facilities, higher prize pools than ever before, and even greater integration with the broader gaming and esports world. A new roadmap for 2025 has also been revealed, with a focus on "dynamic" tournaments, new competitive formats, and a Global Talent Development program, meaning the new season will be another interesting watch.
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