Critical Force, the mobile games developer responsible for Critical Ops, has announced that they’ve received $6.3 million from Business Finland, a public grant organization. The company plans to use the funding to strengthen their position in the mobile esports market. This will largely center around Critical Ops, their flagship first-person shooter title. Despite the studio having only 65 employees, their first title has already garnered over 40 million downloads. In light of this announcement, the CEO of Critical Force, Veli-Pekka Piirainen, said:
With the new funding we are happy to have the opportunity to really show our hands regarding our status as the number one developer of mobile esports FPS games. The news of the funding coincided beautifully with us reaching 40 million downloads as well as our very first Critical Ops live tournament in Seattle with $40.000 prize pool
Critical Ops and the future of mobile esports
Though it lacks the tenure or prestige of PC and console gaming, the mobile games esports scene is steadily advancing. Not only have popular titles such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds received mobile iterations, but other AAA developers are continuing to push the market forward. Just last week at E3, EA Games announced that the newest iteration of beloved franchise Command & Conquer would be a mobile, multiplayer-only title. Though it may not be what fans were hoping for, Command & Conquer Rivals is admirable in that it marks a AAA investment into the burgeoning competitive mobile scene.
That being said, mobile platforms continue to advance in technology, even rivaling consoles of yesteryear in terms of computing power. Despite being seen as a casual market, mobile systems offer an advantage over every other platform in the sense that they are always readily available. Naturally, a serious player will always want to have access to their stats and competition. We’ll see if the mobile market can continue to provide enough rich experiences and enticing awards to warrant players congregating to their esports scene.
