Buzz
By the end of 2017, a game developed by Vietnamese creators had captured the community's attention.
Recall the late months of 2017, the surge of survival games was remarkable. It was the era of 'PUBG everywhere'. PUBG became a global gaming sensation and indirectly paved the way for a plethora of subsequent survival products. Examples include Rules of Survival, PUBG Mobile, and even Free Fire.
If Rules of Survival marked one of the first survival games to hit mobile platforms, drawing inspiration from PUBG, then PUBG Mobile stood as the flagship product. Meanwhile, Free Fire emerged as a game developed by Vietnamese creators, represented by 111dots Studio.
During that period, Free Fire was touted for its 'immensely expansive open world', alongside the standout features of the survival genre. What set this game apart from others in its genre was its character system with skills, and even weapon upgrades... which were continually expanded upon later on.
This was also deemed as a distinctive 'identity' of Free Fire compared to other survival games. It also invited considerable scrutiny from the gaming community. Why does a game labeled as survival incorporate a character system with skills and even allow for 'power-enhancing weapon upgrades'? These have been lingering questions within the gaming community for quite some time.
However, it's undeniable that Free Fire is a successful game, especially in terms of revenue and downloads on Google Play. Particularly after Garena's global release of Free Fire. Even if someone doesn't like Free Fire, it's hard for the gaming community to overlook it.
Free Fire now, no longer resembles the game introduced at the end of 2017. Both in terms of graphics and gameplay, it's significantly different. Now, it's probably difficult to recognize how the game was in its initial period. This is also a prime example of a Vietnamese original game succeeding in the global market.
