Free Fire producer talks about the future; explains PUBG process and more
Harold Teo comments on how to keep the Battle Royale game up to date and become the most downloaded game for three consecutive years
Garena Free Fire is a name that frequently appears in reports and infographics about the global mobile gaming market, but it rarely makes headlines in gaming media — at least in the West. Developed and published by Singaporean gaming company Garena , the game is not just another contender in the mobile shooter and/or Battle Royale space; is really one of the most successful.
In fact, according to App Annie , Garena Free Fire has been the most downloaded game in the world for three consecutive years . In addition, Garena tells us that the game has reached a record 150 million active users in a single day, according to the results of the second quarter of 2021.
See also: boss of Garena in Brazil, he commands Free Fire in the country of football
“It definitely surpassed our wildest imaginations when we started the game, ” says producer Harold Teo .
“When we developed Free Fire, we wanted to create something that was specifically for mobile and something that could engage a large audience. Smartphone penetration was increasing, and we could reach many players.”
Free Fire producer talks about PUBG's lawsuit against Garena
Following Garena's work as an editor, which began in 2009, the company decided to internally develop its own title. Teo says development began in 2014, and the result was Free Fire, released in August 2017 — six months before the mobile version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) , albeit five months after the original PC version.
Since our interview with Teo, Krafton has filed a lawsuit against Garena , as well as Apple and Google, alleging that Free Fire is “ blatantly infringing ” PUBG. We contacted Garena and a spokesperson told us: “ Krafton's allegations are unfounded ”.
Krafton filed similar lawsuits against Epic Games for Fortnite (which was dropped) and NetEase for Knives Out and Rules of Survival (which was settled a year later). Regardless of the merits of any of these claims, the Battle Royale genre is clearly populated by a number of familiar-looking contenders. Garena's response to this added more variety to the game.
While Free Fire is perhaps best known to some as another contender in the Battle Royale space , the game has expanded over the years with additional game modes that Garena hopes will set it apart from the crowd.
A popular example is Contra Squad , a simple four-on-four mode that allows for faster matches. Then there's the weirder Pet Mania , where players are transformed into animals and compete in a series of races and challenges, either in teams or on their own.
Teo talks about the future and how he will face competition with Free Fire
“ Competition is definitely something we're very used to here in the mobile gaming space, ” says Teo .
“Tons of apps are being released on the App Store daily. So, I think the most important thing for Garena, and specifically for Free Fire, is to be focused on what we are doing, and not to be led by what other people are doing. We have specific goals in mind, which are to make the game as accessible as possible, reach a broad audience and serve our users.”
When pressed on what he means by “accessible,” Teo says the priority is “serving mobile user behavior,” fitting into the small time slots where people are free to play games on their phones.
“If our game is 4GB, 8GB or something, then people will think twice about installing it”
“ The maximum that a Free Fire match lasts is 20 minutes ”, he says.
“Some game modes — like Contra Squad — are much shorter than that. You can play for ten minutes, five minutes, but the longest can be 20 minutes. If you compare that to some of our competitors, it's pretty short.”
Another example of what Teo means by accessible is file size. The original 2017 Free Fire was just 200MB to ensure it would fit on virtually any phone.
“Many times gamers need to delete some apps from their phone and sometimes not all the phone's capacity can fit into this game category. Even today, one of the team's priorities is to make the application as light as possible”, added the Free Fire producer.
How Free Fire will attract more players in 2022
Keeping the game light is also one of the three key factors that Teo credits to Free Fire's continued ability to attract new users, maintaining its position as the most downloaded game.
The second pillar is content , with the producer pointing out not only the variety of modes, but also Garena's collaborations with other companies in in-game events. More recently, the publisher held a Free Fire event in the game based on the Netflix series La Casa de Papel , which added yet another new game mode. Additionally, Garena even marked its first film partnership last year with October's Venom: Time for Carnage event, which added new items, collectibles, and playable content.
The third is location . This goes beyond the game's language, extending to special events and content for different regions. For example, Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra worked with Garena in the Free Fire India Championships finals, while Egyptian rapper Mohamed Ramadan (Maro) was added to the game as a character.
So, for Teo, these are the three pillars that Free Fire must follow in 2022:
- Keep the game light;
- Content with partnerships and collaborations;
- Servers and events located by regions;
“ Each Free Fire player in each region has extremely different touchpoints and experiences ,” says Teo. “ We do not operate with a one-size-fits-all model ”.
“Big events and content like La Casa de Papel or the Cristiano Ronaldo collaboration we did in December 2020 are global collaborations that everyone will be able to enjoy. But localized content featuring local celebrities offers a localized experience on Free Fire. It hits a little closer to home, and that's the kind of impact we want to create.”
The localized events undoubtedly contributed to the wide spread of players that Free Fire managed to attract. The game has fans in over 130 countries, with Teo reporting that it is the most popular mobile battle royale in most of Southeast Asia, India, and Latin America.
“ It is a mixture of East and West ”, he adds. “We also recently gained a good foothold in the United States. ”
Free Fire's success is largely due to Garena's experience
Part of Free Fire's success was achieved from Garena's experience as a publisher . Before developing Free Fire , the company was responsible for bringing titles like League of Legends and FIFA Online to different markets . This gave the company “a treasure trove of information and insights,” as Teo describes it, on how to engage different audiences with a real-time multiplayer game.
“ We also had a treasure trove of information from the markets we were operating in ,” he says. “ Southeast Asian countries, for example Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and the like. This gave us a head start when we started making Free Fire, and we were able to leverage the lessons learned from operating and publishing these games and then localizing the game to each market where we are now successful. ”
Free Fire Max
Free Fire expanded even further last year with the launch of Free Fire Max in September. This is a superior version of the game built with the latest smart devices in mind, and it also comes with unique additions like Craft Mode , the in-game map editor.
While the company naturally made a lot of noise about its new release, it was also careful to emphasize that Max and the original Free Fire are interoperable, and Garena will continue to support both.
“ All the content we build — for example, the musical collaborations we perform, the original events we do — are served on both of our apps, so there are no exclusive activities for one or the other ”, explains Téo.
“In addition, the competitiveness of Free Fire, Esports, I think we are looking to resume our Free Fire World Series next year, and this esport is also something that can touch both Free Fire and Free Fire Max players. that, in addition to improved graphics and certain features of Free Fire Max, the experience for both users is basically the same.”
Free Fire Max won the 2021 Best User Choice award on Google Play in seven territories — the US, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan — showing that while Battle Royale may fly under the radar in the media, it still is popular with the public. Perhaps Garena will be able to maintain its position as the most downloaded mobile game for the fourth year in a row.
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