Tencent’s PUBG Mobile glides past the $75m mark in revenue despite China roadblocks
Tencent’s battle royale hit PUBG Mobile has generated over $75 million in revenue.According to Sensor Tower, $25 million of that has come within the past 31 days with the battle royale game hitting the $50 million milestone on August 19th.
One of the key drivers behind PUBG Mobile’s uptake of late has been the introduction of the Elite Royale Pass, which came on June 19th.
Before the date, the game had grossed an average of $1.1 million per week, but is now averaging $5.2 million.
The jump represented a 381 per cent growth.
Where we landing?
The US has proven to be the most lucrative for Tencent and has contributed to 21 per cent of revenue. Following on is Japan and South Korea with 18 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.
A notable absentee, however, is Tencent’s home country of China, where the game is not currently monetising.
According to Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad, Tencent has had difficulty in getting the greenlight to implement in-app purchases due to a current suspension of new game licence approvals from regulatory body SART (the State Administration of Radio and Television).
The situation is made even more difficult as the PUBG IP hails from PUBG Corp and Bluehole, both of which are South Korean companies. Their origin is problematic as China has currently banned games imports from the country.
