We’ve all heard of PUBG Mobile, and we’ve all heard of esports, but with such a highly competitive crowd – which is a total no-brainer, given the multi-million dollar tournaments that the industry continually hosts on a global scale across several different games – it might come as a slight surprise to hear that PUBG Mobile is, in fact, the most successful of them all. It’d be easy to assume PC behemoths like League of Legends and Valorant would emerge as the victor, but PUBG Mobile has spearheaded the efforts of bringing competitive mobile gaming to a worldwide stage and rightfully earned its winner, winner, chicken dinner.
After a hugely successful grand final of the PMGC at the ExCel Centre in London, the world’s biggest PUBG Mobile event offered a monumentally huge $3 million prize pool to rival not just other esports events, but sports events, period. PUBG Mobile’s staggering growth in the esports sphere, with a projected viewership of 640 billion – yes, billion – in 2025, is catching the attention of not just mobile gamers, but all gamers.
We got the opportunity to have a chat with James Yang, the Senior Director of Global Esports over at Level Infinite, to discuss how they plan on keeping PUBG Mobile on top, what other events they have planned in the future, and how they’re keen to support players at all levels to ensure the longevity of the competitive scene.
When we asked how PUBG Mobile is leading the charge in transforming mobile esports into a global phenomenon, Yang was keen to remind us that “PUBG Mobile is one of the most popular mobile games, so our players are everywhere in the world. To serve esports to our players, being truly global was not optional for the PUBG Mobile Esports program since we began in 2018, which means we’ve prioritized accessibility and hosting events across all the continents.” The grand finals were held in London this year, but previously, the tournament has been hosted in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Dubai, with players joining from all across the globe.
Yang went on to say, “now we are aiming to be the largest and most accessible ecosystem in esports, offering players from around the world many opportunities to compete at the amateur, semi-pro, and pro levels. In 2024 alone, we’ve hosted major events in Brazil and Saudi Arabia, and now we’re coming to the UK for the first time for our biggest event of the year, the PUBG Mobile Global Championship. In 2025 we’re expanding even further, […] and we hope the success and scale of our events helps drive the industry forward, alongside the other amazing esports ecosystems.”
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but PUBG Mobile has seen a significant level of expansion and recognition in the mobile esports arena after hosting such hugely successful PUBG Mobile tournaments. Yang confirmed that they’ve seen “consistent growth across the entire mobile esports ecosystem since we began our program across all metrics – participation, viewership, and the number of events we see organizers hosting each year. This has been amazing to see, and thanks to our playerbase and the popularity of PUBG MOBILE, we’ve had the privilege of playing a central role in this.”
While PUBG Mobile esports has made some major waves, we were curious to see where it sits in the esports ecosystem. Not just specifically for mobile esports, but esports as a general industry, and this is where James Yang was proud to remind us that “PUBG Mobile is the most watched battle royale esport, across all platforms, so we’re making great progress here, but there’s much more to be done. In the East and Latin America, mobile esports is already incredibly popular, but we still have a lot of ground to cover in Europe and North America, for example. We’re seeing more top teams emerging from these regions, and we’re making a concerted effort to advance these ecosystems in 2025, so watch this space. We’re also hoping hosting the biggest event of the year in London will bring in new Western Europe fans.”
PUBG Mobile’s largest playership comes from the Asian market, with China taking the top spot for the most active players. But with the likes of the 2024 Grand Finals taking place in London, just like other huge esports championships like the League of Legends Worlds final, which descended upon the UK capital in November, it’s worth wondering what inspiration PUBG Mobile has taken from desktop esports when it comes to planning for the future of mobile esports.
Yang categorically says they “are always looking at the amazing things other ecosystems are doing to see where we can learn. One of the key ways mobile esports differ is its accessibility and player size, which means the size of our ecosystem is enormous and robust at all layers. The nature of battle royale esports also means you have a high number of teams competing in each league and competition, so it’s a huge logistical operation.”
Since PUBG Mobile’s launch in 2018, the esports scene has changed rapidly, and Yang cited the global pandemic as a huge challenge to overcome in that time. “As mentioned, PUBG Mobile Esports requires a high level of logistical planning across so many regions, and pivoting all of our events online was a challenge, but one we were able to overcome. Another challenge is being taken seriously as an esport when you’re a mobile game. Throughout the years, we feel that we have proven the skill of our players and the demand for mobile esports, but it has taken time.”
It can’t have been easy to solidify a spot in the space, considering the hugely disruptive lockdowns so soon after the game launched. Not only did PUBG Mobile manage to, but it eventually came out on top as the most popular mobile game on the current market, even years later. When asked about plans to keep mainstream appeal, Yang explained that “on the product side, it’s by continuing to introduce engaging, high-quality content that keeps players coming back, and partnering with global IPs that introduce PUBG Mobile to new audiences. For instance, this year alone, PUBG Mobile has partnered with Venom: The Last Dance, Dragon Ball Super, Line Friends, Lamborghini, and McLaren.”
But like with any live-service game, it’s largely the players themselves that keep the game afloat, and we wanted to know if PUBG Mobile has a system in place for professional players to grow and build on their careers. Yang confirmed that “this is a key priority for us to ensure the longevity of PUBG Mobile Esports, and support players from all layers of our ecosystem. The feedback we always receive from players is that the best thing we can provide for them is opportunities to play and compete in their regions, which is why we now have events in many countries, with more coming next year.” After such a huge success in London, we’re sure to see PUBG Mobile competitive tournaments crop up on a global scale, even bigger and better than before.
Yang continues by saying that “the Ultimate Royale ranked mode we launched this year in-game lets ambitious players compete under pro conditions to help them level up quickly, and they even have the opportunity to qualify for pro events. I also want to highlight the strength of our competitive ladder from amateur to pro. The PMGO (PUBG Mobile Global Open) allows local players to compete regionally in qualifiers, but advance to global events to take on pros who have qualified through the pro circuit, so the path to a professional career is very direct. We’re also adding new events to our amateur ecosystem in 2025 to strengthen the base layer of the program.”
So, it’s safe to say that a lot has been achieved in the esports space, particularly for PUBG Mobile, but there’s still a pretty big future ahead for it. Yang says, “There’s so much we want to achieve in the coming years, but we have two key goals in the near future. We want to be the most robust amateur esports title and go even further in 2025 to give players everywhere more opportunities to compete. We have big plans for 2025 that will support both watching esports and playing esports!”
We’re watching this space like we’re staring down the sight of an AWM rifle, and we’re excited to see how PUBG Mobile can continue to solidify mobile gaming globally. The industry is only continuing to grow bigger and better, with so many incredible new titles on the way that break the boundaries of what was previously possible on a smartphone, with PUBG Mobile continuing to sit at the top of the pile.