Report: COD Mobile and Garena Free Fire are the most popular first-person shooter mobile games in India post-PUBG Mobile ban

The gaming industry in India has seen somewhat of a boon with the massive popularity of the global phenomenon that was PUBG Mobile. The game was instrumental in legitimizing mobile devices as a platform for handheld gaming and gave birth to the competitive gaming culture in India as well.

According to a detailed report by CMR India (link here), surveys show that Indian players generally gravitate towards action/adventure games. Within the genre, first-person shooters like PUBG Mobile have seen the most amount of success.

(Image Credits: CMR India)

The industry witnessed a major shift, as was inevitable with the ban of PUBG Mobile in India due to security concerns and rising tensions between the country and China. According to the survey, games such as COD Mobile and Garena Free Fire rank highly as the most popular first-person shooter mobile games in the country.

COD Mobile and Garena Free Fire are the most popular first-person shooter mobile games in India post-PUBG Mobile ban

(Image Credits: CMR India)

COD Mobile was seen as quite the competition for PUBG Mobile before its launch, as Activision has dominated the console market with the Call of Duty games for years. With it being brought to the mobile gaming platforms, it was bound to get tough for PUBG Mobile.

However, seemingly out of nowhere, another competition emerged in the industry as Garena Free Fire swept up players with its intuitive gameplay and in-depth combat loop and saw it rise in popularity.

In a post-PUBG era, the games have risen to fame as even casual players are aware of them today. COD Mobile and Garena Free Fire have become popular even amongst players who don't play first-person shooters.

(Image Credits: CMR India)

According to the report by CMR India, Garena Free Fire and COD Mobile are seemingly neck-to-neck when it comes to popularity amongst the Indian playerbase.

Previously PUBG Mobile was synonymous with gaming and first-person shooters in the country, for which COD Mobile and Garena Free Fire are now equally popular.

(Image Credits: CMR India)

The survey by CMR India, 'The Next-Gen Indian Mobile Gamer: A Consumer Survey Report,' is based on an extensive survey conducted across eight cities of India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.