Bouncing back after years of being forgotten, mobile game “Brawl Stars” has recently undergone a meteoric comeback to reclaim its throne as the ultimate mobile game.
Traditionally, the lifespan of a video game only consists of three phases: the launch, where the game is first introduced to the world, its peak, where popularity and attention for the game is at an all-time high, and its decline, where the game’s player base gradually decreases over the next few years until it remains stagnant.
However, mobile game Brawl Stars has recently added a fourth phase to its mix: the revival. Defying all prior expectations, Brawl Stars has recently seen a dramatic increase in popularity over the past few months, spiking from an average of just over 700,000 monthly players in August 2023 to an average of over 4.2 million monthly players just six months later.
Brawl Stars was globally released by Supercell in December 2018, the developer of iconic titles such as Clash of Clans (2012) and Clash Royale (2016). It is a multiplayer online battle arena-type game, allowing players to battle one another simultaneously around the world with a variety of characters in three-versus-three or battle-royale game modes.
Although Brawl Stars looked promising at first, after reaching its previous popularity peak of 2.8 million monthly players in May 2020, that number has slowly declined over the past few years. Although the developers released regular updates which introduced a new brawl pass, skins, a new brawler or two, and a few limited-time game modes, which led up to the player base becoming gradually underwhelmed and disinterested of the game.
Supercell, realizing that the Brawl Stars was slowly dying out, decided to make a few controversial changes to the game. They first removed Brawl Boxes, a form of in-game reward, and replaced it with Starr Drops and the Starr Road. Almost a year later, Club League, a weekly competition for different in-game clubs to earn rewards, was also replaced by a monthly event called Mega Pig.
At first, these major changes received much backlash. However, the community eventually realized that the changes were beneficial to the game’s future. The Starr Road replaced the luck-based progression system of the Brawl Boxes with a consistent one. The Mega Pig also catered more to the casual player base, as players did not have to grind as much to get the rewards.
In December 2023, a new five-versus-five mode was added, allowing more people to simultaneously play together at once, increasing the game’s popularity. Seen especially in places like high schools. Supercell also added a new ranked system, similar to Riot Games’ hit MOBA title League of Legends where players earn ranks and rewards based on their skill level.
These major changes, which first sparked controversy, diverted more attention to the game, and caused the player base’s eventual positive realization were what gave way to its recent skyrocketing popularity and success.
