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STORE INTELLIGENCE · RANDY NELSON · JUNE 2018
PUBG Mobile's Royale Pass Has Increased the Game's Revenue Nearly 5x in Its First Week
Tencent's popular battle royale game PUBG Mobile is trying a new approach to monetization, and Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data show that it's working.
Tencent has been looking for a winning monetization formula for PUBG Mobile since it debuted microtransactions in the game back on April 15, nearly a month after the title was released. If not to the degree of Fortnite's $1 million per day, then something hopefully more than its average of $170,000 per day in worldwide App Store and Google Play player spending.
According to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data, it appears to have found a winner by aping Fortnite's main money-maker, the Battle Pass. Our latest estimates show that PUBG Mobile's player spending for the first week of its new Royale Pass have increased 365 percent over the $1.3 million average it earned in the preceding three weeks, bringing in approximately $6.1 million gross worldwide on both platforms.
Hitting the Ground Running
The chart below illustrates the dramatic increase in player spending spurred by the launch of the game's Royale Pass, which, like its Fortnite counterpart, rewards players with additional cosmetic items and in-game currencies as they rank up.
There are two versions of the pass, the free Royale Pass and a paid Elite Royale Pass. Like the Battle Pass in Fortnite, the Elite Royale Pass is priced at the equivalent of $9.99, paid for by purchasing Unknown Cash using real money in the game's store.
PUBG Mobile Ranks Up
The effect of adding the Royale Pass can also be seen in the game's revenue ranking. For example, before its launch, PUBG Mobile was typically ranked between 100 and 150 on the U.S. App Store's top grossing iPhone games chart. After, it has remained in the top 50. That's still well below Fortnite's consistent top 10 ranking, but nevertheless a dramatic improvement.
At present, we estimate that PUBG Mobile is now earning more than $700,000 per day in player spending across both stores worldwide and has grossed more than $16 million to date.
As players of the game are aware, Tencent appears to be continuing to fine-tune its monetization strategy, adding items such as weapon skins, player emotes, and more. We'll be continuing to watch its development closely and offer more insights as they emerge.
