PUBG Mobile dethrones Honor of Kings for July global revenue

PUBG Mobile generated the highest amount of consumer spending for July 2021, ending Honor of Kings’ four-month reign at the top.

According to Sensor Tower, the battle royale exceeded $299 million in consumer spending, a growth of 26.7 per cent year-on-year. Game for Peace, the Chinese localised version of the game, was responsible for 68.4 per cent of consumer spending, followed by 6.7 per cent from the US and six per cent from Turkey.

As mentioned, Honor of Kings secured second spot at $231.2 million in gross revenue, over $40 million less than the previous month. It should be noted that both PUBG Mobile and Honor of Kings fall under Tencent’s ownership.

The fall in revenue for Honor of Kings can be attributed to further playtime restrictions from Tencent in China, where players generated 94.7 per cent of total revenue for the month. This prompted criticism from state media that named Honor of Kings as a threat to the country’s values.

The next three highest-earning games were MiHoYo’s Genshin Impact, Niantic’s Pokémon GO and Roblox.

$7.6 billion in spending

Global player spending accumulated worldwide across the App Store and Google Play reached $7.6 billion, a 4.1 per cent increase over the previous month and a 7.2 per cent increase year-over-year.

July was the second-highest month for consumer spending in 2020 during the peak of the pandemic. The new figures show that consumer spending habits have continued to evolve and increase post-pandemic.

The US contributed the highest percentage at 29 per cent, or approximately $2.2 billion. Japan grabbed second at 19.8 per cent, while China ranked third at 17.4 per cent. Google Play is not active in China and therefore the figures recorded are exclusive to the App Store.

PUBG Mobile developer Krafton’s IPO debut saw the share price drop up to 20 per cent, the worst decline seen in South Korea for 17 years.

Following a ban of the game in India last year, Krafton published an India exclusive version of PUBG Mobile last month, Battlegrounds Mobile India, which shot to 34 million users in its first 10 days.