As many of you know, I’m a fan of eSports. I don’t play most of the games that I watch, but one that I have played for quite a while now is Supercell’s Clash Royale. In many ways I look at games like this as the evolution of chess. You have a fixed number of pieces (card in this case) and each piece (card) has its own set of abilities on the board.
What makes Clash Royale so interesting is that over time you gather more cards and with a max of 8 cards playable per game the different dynamics each person can create a relatively limitless. This means you’re constantly adapting to different decks and strategies and with a tower defense twist I think Clash Royale is going to dominate in mobile eSports.
That being said, I thought I was pretty good at Clash Royale, until I started playing more competitively, and then I learned that I was the worst player every time. I was good enough to qualify to play with the grown ups…but safe to say I still belong at the kids table. Still – that didn’t stop me from continuing to compete and somehow I ended up in the California State Finals for Clash Royale.
I played four games, and lost all four, seriously – I got schooled. Still, it was an honor to compete and fun to get a chance to play with the pros. None of my matches ended up getting streamed…but you can see where I say “hello Twitch” in the chat before the first match…and there’s my 1 second of eSports fame.
If you’ve ever wanted to try Clash Royale – here’s a quick read with everything you need to know to get started. The game costs nothing but if you play it long enough you’ll end up spending money, and that’s where Supercell is the grand master, yes – Supercell pretty much prints money. Play a Supercell game long enough and I can promise you that you’ll end up spending the most money you’ve ever spent on a game.
Supercell announced that it earned a profit of $810 million on revenues of $2.029 billion in 2017. That’s an enviable financial accomplishment for a company that didn’t release a game globally in 2017 — and has only released four games in its seven-year life. (Source – VentureBeat)
Now the game is getting even more attention as it has recently become the leading mobile eSport and now a game played by the top eSports teams in the world.
Following its 2016 launch, “Clash Royale” generated over $1 billion in revenue in less than a year and now has over 50 million daily active users, according to Newzoo. In March, some 25 million competed in a global in-game qualifier event that saw about 7,000 players move on to the next rounds. A much smaller handful was recruited for professional teams.
That includes Wingard, who was recruited by esports organization Cloud9 at the end of July, just in time for the Clash Royale League debut on Aug. 20. He’s now one competitor on the dozens of teams worldwide competing in virtual leagues. (Source – CNBC)
Most of my friends know by now – you won’t find me watching football on Sunday, but Clash Royale or Fornite…
Have you played Clash Royale or any other game that has become a popular eSports? If so did you compete and come in anywhere ahead of last place? 😉
