Mobile gaming is on the rise, there’s no denying that but who knew that mobile gaming would find its way into the eSports realm? According to Newzoo, there will be 3.7 billion mobile players worldwide by 2023, and it seems that more and more gamers are joining the eSports community, either as players or as spectators.The latest statistics come from Esports Charts and concern mobile eSports games in particular. The site ranked the top 5 eSports games on mobile, based on the total Hours Watched of eSports matches, creating a list of the most popular eSports mobile games in 2021.
#5 Battlegrounds Mobile India
Unsurprisingly, Battlegrounds Mobile occupies the last spot in the top 5. The game was launched in September 2020 as a PUBG adaptation after the original game was banned in India.
Since its launch, Battlegrounds Mobile India has skyrocketed hosting various tournaments including ones sponsored by Red Bull, Tesseract Esports, Skyesports, Upthrust Esports, and other companies, including the publisher Krafton.
#4 Arena of Valor
Arena of Valor is a well-known game in the eSports realm. The game is a typical MOBA and also an international adaptation of the immensely popular Chinese game Honor of Kings. Arena of Valor actually retains its fourth position in the chart from last year, and was in the top sport back in 2019. The game player base comes mainly from Asia but there are various championships and tournaments planned for Europe, America, the Middle East, and North Africa.
#3 Free Fire
Free Fire is the controversial PUBG clone that sparked several lawsuits through the years. Even though Free Fire is considered a rip off by some, the game is still quite popular, especially in India, Brazil, Latin America, and Indonesia.
Free Fire occupied the second spot in the charts in 2020, and dropped one place in 2021. Actually, the most popular esports tournament of 2021 took place in this game: Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore with 5.4M Peak Viewers.
#2 PUBG Mobile
Here it is – the game everyone knows, and the former number 1 on this very chart – PUBG Mobile. PUBG Mobile is one of the most popular mobile games, and holds the top spot for the game with the most active monthly users in 2021.
Surprisingly, the battle royale title gave up its top position in the eSports charts, despite tournaments being held all over the world – such as the PMPL 3 2021 Southeast Asia Finals and PUBG Mobile World Invitational 2021.
#1 Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is the most watched mobile eSports game of 2021. It is a testimony of how important and popular is the eSports genre in Asia, as the main source of views in this MOBA came from Southeast Asia.
International championships and regional MPL leagues for Indonesia and the Philippines also contributed to the popularity of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The most popular tournament was the M3 World Championship with 3.1 million peak views.
Conclusion
Source – Esports Charts
So, there you have it. The most popular mobile eSports games. Some of the entries on this list aren’t surprising at all, others show that competitive gaming is really popular in some regions of the world.
All of the games on this list are free to play, so you can check them out. Don’t worry, you don’t have to participate in eSports tournaments, and get obliterated by 13-year-olds (which was my experience trying to play PUBG Mobile).
