PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is one of the most popular games in the world right now, and it is making more money every day thanks to its viral appeal livestreaming video services. It’s is also coming off its first appearance at E3 (the Electronic Entertainment Expo industry and fan event) in Los Angeles, where Microsoft revealed the Battle Royale-like online shooter will hit Xbox One later this year with support for the powerful Xbox One X coming later in 2017. While that will give it a significant new potential audience, it doesn’t really need the help.
Bluehole, the development studio responsible for Battlegrounds, announced today that it has surpassed $100 million in revenue since launching in March. The phenomenon has also reached 4 million copies sold worldwide. Battlegrounds, which is $30 on the Early Access portal for unfinished games on the Steam platform, is a last-person-standing fight where 100 people drop on an island and collect gear and weapons in an effort to survive longer than anyone else. Bluehole noted in early May that Battlegrounds hit 2 million since launching in March. It then hit 3 million by the first week of June. And only a couple of weeks later, the shooter is rushing past the 4 million milestone. Sales are picking up pace, and it could make more money in June than it did in May.
Battlegrounds did 791,000 copies sold worldwide in May, according to the estimations of SuperData Research. That intelligence firm collects data from publishers, developers, and retailers and extrapolates sales information from that. No other company publicly shares this info, so it is difficult to verify, but I’ve asked Bluehole if that number is correct.
Either way, the growth here is astounding.
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https://twitter.com/BattleRoyaleMod/status/877996976356286464
It has caught on with players around the world thanks to its popularity on broadcasting sites like Twitch, where it has reached as high as 350,000 simultaneous viewers. Battlegrounds has also hit 250,000 simultaneous players on Steam, and these are from all over the world. While a quarter of players are from the U.S., 19 percent live in China, 6 percent in Germany and Russia each, and 4 percent are in the United Kingdom, according to Bluehole. Battlegounds has also caught on in important esports markets, with 5.5 percent of its players coming from South Korea.
“I genuinely appreciate all the love and support the fans have shown to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” Bluehole vice president Chang Han Kim said in a statement. “Our team is working passionately to deliver a stable gameplay experience as we prepare for our full launch later this year.”
Battlegrounds is still incomplete. Bluehole is focusing development time on improving its servers and adding features like climbing and mantling. But the studio is also teasing new modes like one that will turn players into zombies to chase after a small group of survivors.
