Finnish game studio Critical Force is revolutionizing the mobile eSports market with their FPS game Critical Ops. Critical Force was awarded as The Best Finnish Game Developer of the Year and received a 4 million Euro funding from South Korea.
According to the company founder Veli-Pekka Piirainen, mobile eSports is due to make a breakthrough in the eSports market that is estimated to grow to over 1 billion dollars in 2017.
“Mobile devices have a massive global distribution, meaning large numbers of players and wider audiences for tournaments. Better yet, the new generation of gamers is mobile-first. I strongly believe that with Critical Ops we have a great chance of making a big impact on the whole eSports market”, emphasizes Piirainen.
Already 10 million downloads in soft launch
The free-to-play game Critical Ops has been soft launched on iOS and Android platforms. It has already been downloaded for nearly 10 million times.
The super popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is an ideological forefather of Critical Ops. However, Critical Ops has been developed solely for mobile phones and tablets instead of PCs. First Person Shooters (FPS) have been extremely popular genre for eSports since the beginning. It has been the genre of choice for professional gamers on PC. Critical Ops is set to be the go-to FPS game for professional gamers of the mobile generation.
The future of eSports is mobile
Mobile devices are the next evolutionary step for eSports. Android and iOS touch devices have a lead in global market penetration when compared to gaming PC’s.
“Critical Ops doesn’t require expensive computer gear and accessories. A smartphone and an internet connection is all that is required whether mobile eSports is played professionally and globally for money prizes or for the bragging rights”, says Veli-Pekka Piirainen.
In addition to competitive play the mobile platform also allows for quick gaming sessions anywhere and at any time in a more casual gaming style. The mobile phone is always nearby usually in the gamer’s pocket.
Partnership with the world’s largest eSports network ESL Gaming
One of the most important aspects of mobile eSports are of course the tournaments. Tournaments for Critical Ops have been arranged for several months already. They have acquired a major audience and hundreds of teams all over the world.
Right now professional gamers are playing Critical Ops for money prizes in the ESL Mobcrush Cup that just started last Sunday in North America and Europe. Read more about the tournament from https://play.eslgaming.com/criticalops/.
Rapidly growing gamer base and a big investment brings more firepower
“Critical Ops has grown into one of the most promising mobile eSports titles. Every second there are 20 000 gamers playing the game. Critical Ops has about 300 000 daily active users. These are great numbers considering we’ve only soft launched”, says Veli-Pekka Piirainen.
It is notable that Critical Force was honored the Best Finnish Game Developer of the Year Award – in a country with such great game development studios as Supercell, Rovio, Seriously, Next Games and Remedy.
Critical Force raised €4 million in seed funding, partnering with South Korean video game development and publishing conglomerate NHN Entertainment. This investment is one of the biggest seed rounds for a Finnish game company.
“We will become the global market leader of real-time mobile FPS multiplayer games with the largest FPS eSports community in the world”, concludes Veli-Pekka Piirainen.
More information
http://criticalforce.fi/presskit/
http://www.facebook.com/CriticalOpsGame/
http://twitter.com/criticalopsgame
http://youtu.be/U6U1XwvMmhs (trailer video)