The battle royale subgenre of games is already something of a monolith in the industry, but it could get even bigger next year with an estimate of $20 billion earned in 2019. At the moment, the battle royale market is being dominated by a handful of games, with Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds divvying up player bases between them in spite of that controversial lawsuit attempt.
The pair are not the only two battle royale games available at the minute, but things are going to get much more competitive in 2019. Chief among those fighting Epic Games for its battle royale crown will be Call of Duty, with claims that Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode will be even better than Fortnite when it launches later this year.
All in all, this is going to lead to battle royale being an even bigger component of the industry as a whole. According to SuperData Research, battle royale games will be worth $20 billion to video games on their own, which is a huge increase in a genre that was only worth $1.2 billion back in 2017. This $20 billion is an estimate for any games that heavily feature a battle royale mode within their gameplay.
The analysis was revealed off the back of Fortnite hitting another milestone. The game has now passed the $1 billion milestone, which is an incredible amount for a game that is free-to-play at entry level. Even though Fortnite’s growth is slowing down, the game is clearly still a major powerhouse and will take some beating next year.
That said, the game is going to face its toughest challenge yet. Call of Duty games are always among the most popular sales-wise in any given year, even where sales don’t quite meet expectations such as with Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. As such, there could be a solid player base built in for Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode, meaning that it could be the game to finally take down Fortnite.
Gamers will find out soon as to how it’s shaping up. The Call of Duty battle royale beta begins in September, so after that the gaming community will have a better idea of whether Blackout will be able to try and trump Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. If so, Black Ops 4 could be an integral part of the exceptional growth of battle royale into 2019.
More: Here Are 3 Other Battle Royale Games You Should Pay Attention To
Source: SuperData
