Misplaced Pages

Garena

Trade name	Garena Sea Ltd
Company type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: SE
ISIN	US81141R1005
Industry	Video Games
Founded	2009; 15 years ago (2009)
Founder	Forrest Li
Headquarters	Singapore
Key people	Forrest Li (Founder) Terry Zhao (President)
Revenue	US$550m financing-2009
Owner	Sea Ltd
Website	www.garena.sg

Garena is a Singaporean game developer and publisher of free online games. It is the digital entertainment arm of parent company Sea Ltd, which formerly used Garena as the parent company name.

The company distributes game titles on Garena+ in various countries across Southeast Asia and Taiwan, including the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, the first-person shooter game Point Blank, the mobile MOBA game Arena of Valor and the mobile racing game Speed Drifters. Garena also used to distribute the football simulation game EA Sports FC Online, until Garena and EA Sports decided to retire the game.

In 2017, it released Free Fire, which had over 150 million daily active users globally by May 2021. As of February 2024, Free Fire had 100 million active users.

History

2009 - 2015

Garena was established by Forrest Li in Singapore in 2009.

In 2010, Riot Games awarded the publishing rights of League of Legends (LoL) to Garena, for the game’s first launch in Southeast Asia.

In November 2011, Garena announced its publishing rights for the team-based shooter game, Firefall, in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

In December 2011, Garena announced their collaboration with online games developer, Changyou, to publish and operate the popular 3D martial arts game, Duke of Mount Deer, in Taiwan. The game was the first MMORPG game available through Garena+. The game combines a classic Chinese story with the latest 3D rendering technology and cinematic quality graphics. Duke of Mount Deer was created by several top online-gaming experts from China and South Korea and has gained much popularity in China. The same month, the "Dominion" game mode for Garena's League of Legends players in Singapore and Malaysia was launched.

Transition

Upon its establishment in 2009, the entire company operated under the name Garena. In March 2015, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), one of the largest pension funds in the world, invested in the company, valuing it at over US$2.5 billion.

In May 2017, a corporate rebranding took place, and the parent company adopted the name Sea Ltd. after raising US$550 million in a funding round . However, the digital entertainment segment retained the Garena name, maintaining its brand identity in the gaming industry.

2017 - present

In 2017, Garena launched its first self-developed mobile game, Free Fire. Since its release, Free Fire has gained a substantial user base in Southeast Asia and Latin America and expanded its reach, being available in more than 130 countries. As of February 2024, Free Fire has over 100 million daily active users worldwide. According to data.ai, it was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide from 2019 to 2021 and continued to lead as the most-downloaded mobile battle royale game in 2022 and 2023.

Free Fire's popularity extends into the esports arena. The Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore (FFWS 2021 SG), held in May 2021, achieved a record of 5.4 million concurrent viewers, excluding Chinese platforms. This marked the highest peak viewership for any esports match in history, as reported by Esports Charts.

In January 2021, Garena acquired Vancouver-based Phoenix Labs, the developers of Dauntless. The acquisition aimed to expand Garena's international presence and enhance its capabilities in game development globally. Operations at Phoenix Labs and the development of Dauntless continued without disruption following the acquisition. By 2023, Phoenix Labs had transitioned back to operating as an independent studio following a management buyout supported by investors.

By the second quarter of 2021, Garena reported having 725 million active users, 45% more than the year prior, while the number of paid users grew 85% year-on-year, reaching 92 million. However, the outlook for Garena appeared less optimistic in 2022. Reports from March indicated that Garena was projected to achieve US$2.9 billion to US$3.1 billion in bookings for the year, a decrease from US$4.6 billion in 2021. This forecasted decline would mark the first ever downturn in Garena's business. One contributing factor to this decline was the ban on its "Free Fire" title in India, affecting its availability on both Google Play and Apple app stores.

In September 2021, Garena announced the global launch of Free Fire Max, an enhanced version of its flagship game, Free Fire. Designed as a standalone application, Free Fire Max retains the core gameplay of Free Fire but incorporates several upgrades, including enhanced graphics and an in-app customizable map for increased player immersion. It also features a more realistic map and exclusive content not available in the original version. The connectivity between Free Fire and Free Fire Max is facilitated by Garena’s proprietary technology, Firelink, which ensures full interoperability between both game versions.

By 2023, Sea reported it had stabilized the Garena's business performance and maintained steady demand for Free Fire, which achieved a peak of over 100 million daily active users in February 2024.

In 2023, Garena announced plans to publish Undawn, an open-world zombie survival game, across Southeast Asia. The company also began releasing another mobile game, Black Clover Mobile, based on the popular manga series Black Clover.

Products

In 2010, Garena launched its first product, Garena+, an online game and social platform for people to meet, chat and play games with one another. Other online products of the company include BeeTalk and TalkTalk.

Events and tournaments

In May 2012, Garena launched the Garena Premier League (GPL), a six-month-long online professional gaming league with more than 100 matches to be played. The first season of GPL is a League of Legends competition which comprises six professional teams. The teams are Bangkok Titans (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur Hunters (Malaysia), Manila Eagles (Philippines), Saigon Jokers (Vietnam), Taipei Assassins (Taiwan) and Singapore Sentinels (Singapore), which represent top players from respective countries. GPL matches are captured and broadcast online along with commentaries, which are available for viewers to watch on the GPL official website.

In January 2013, Garena announced the second season of the Garena Premier League, which would start on 4 January 2013. Garena Premier League 2013 includes two new teams from Taiwan and Vietnam, bringing the total number of teams to eight. The teams are: AHQ, Saigon Fantastic Five, Bangkok Titans, Kuala Lumpur Hunters, Manila Eagles, Saigon Jokers, Taipei Assassins and Singapore Sentinels.

In November 2014, the Garena e-Sports Stadium, a dedicated venue for esports, opened in Neihu District, Taipei. The studio was built partially to accommodate the beginning of the League of Legends Masters Series, the top-level Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau LoL league that was spin-off of the GPL. The Garena e-Sports Stadium officially closed in 2019, and future Garena events will be held at the Logitech G Esports Arena in Taipei.

In January 2015, Garena launched Iron Solari League, a women's League of Legends tournament in the Philippines. It is a monthly event organized in the second half of each month. It aims to encourage participation by under-represented groups and is open to all those who self-identify as female.

Besides competitive tournaments, Garena also organizes events to cater to users to meet and connect offline. This includes the annual Garena Carnival held in Singapore and Malaysia.

In 2019, Garena held its largest esports event for Free Fire, the Free Fire World Series in Rio de Janeiro, which drew a peak of more than 2 million concurrent viewers. The following year, Garena's tournament, the Free Fire Continental Series (FFCS), was conducted across three regions: the Americas, Asia, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa). The Asia Series broke records with over 2.5 million peak concurrent viewers, according to Esports Charts.

In 2021, the Free Fire World Series finals in Singapore achieved a new milestone for mobile esports by attracting over 5.4 million peak concurrent online viewers, the highest recorded for any mobile esports event.

In December 2023, Garena announced plans to consolidate all local Free Fire leagues under the FFWS (Free Fire World Series) brand starting in 2024. This initiative aims to standardize the game's esports framework and enhance its global identity. Additionally, Garena entered into a partnership with the Esports World Cup (EWC) Foundation, leading to Free Fire's inclusion as a competition title at the inaugural EWC, scheduled to occur in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in July 2024.

Controversy

On February 3, 2015, Garena eSports announced restrictions on the participation of gay and transgender individuals in an all-female League of Legends tournament, citing concerns about an "unfair advantage." This decision was met with criticism from the gaming community and a statement from League of Legends developer Riot Games affirming that "LGBT players are welcome at official LoL tournaments." On February 4, 2015, Garena issued an apology and rescinded the restrictions.

Published games

Garena provides a platform for game titles such as Defense of the Ancients and Age of Empires, and also publishes games, like multiplayer online battle arena games League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Free Fire, Call of Duty and Black Shot for players in the region.

Garena-published games:

See also

• List of game companies in Singapore

Notes

1. known as Need for Speed: Assemble in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

References

1. ^ "Garena Online Pvt Ltd". Bloomberg. 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
2. "Sea Limited Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2019 Results". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
3. "TechCrunch". Tech company Garena raises US$550m, rebrands as Sea. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
4. "Garena". www.garena.sg. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
5. "[Frequently Asked Question]". www.facebook.com. 24 August 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
6. Obedkov, Evgeny (17 August 2021). "Mobile battle royale Free Fire surpasses 150 million peak daily active players". Game World Observer. Archived from the original on 14 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
7. ^ Pramod, Matthew (4 March 2024). "Sea posts first annual profit in 2023 as Shopee clocks strong revenue growth". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
8. "South-east Asia's most valuable startup Garena running toward US IPO". TODAY. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
9. Bernardo, Anna (9 November 2022). "Riot Games to take back League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics publishing in SEA from Garena in 2023". Yahoo News. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
10. "Yahoo! News". Garena snags exclusive Firefall distribution rights for US$23 million. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
11. "Gamer.com.tw". Duke of Mount Deer. Archived from the original on 8 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
12. "PC Home". Duke of Mount Deer. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
13. "GameAxis". Dominion Officially Launched on Garena. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012.
14. Grant, Jeremy (March 2015). "Ontario Teachers Pension Plan bets on Asia with Garena stake". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
15. Chia Yan Min (9 May 2017). "Tech firm Garena gets renamed as Sea". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
16. Lee, Yoolim (8 May 2017). "Garena Rebrands as Sea After Raising $550 Million in New Funding". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
17. "Garena rebrands to Sea and raises $550 million more to focus on Indonesian e-commerce". 8 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020. Garena was founded in 2009 as an online gaming platform and its games business will retain that name.
18. Batchelor, James (27 January 2022). "How Garena Free Fire plans to stand out from the battle royale crowd". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
19. "A Successful Finale to the Decade: Mobile Highlights of 2019".
20. Kristianto, Donny (8 February 2022). "The Big Winners of 2021 in Apps: TikTok, Meta, Tinder, Free Fire, ROBLOX and More". data.ai.
21. Kristianto, Donny (9 June 2022). "022 Gaming Spotlight: No Such Thing as the Average Mobile Gamer – New Research Confirms Market Embraces Every Demographic, Age, Region and Genre".
22. "State of Mobile Gaming 2023". data.ai.
23. Belous, Daria (31 May 2021). "Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore: 5,4M Peak Viewers and new worldwide record".
24. "E-Sports: Thailand's Team Phoenix Force claim Free Fire World Series title". The Straits Times. 31 May 2021. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
25. "Sea Announces Garena's Acquisition of Phoenix Labs". www.businesswire.com. 29 January 2020. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
26. "Garena buys gaming developer Phoenix Labs for reportedly over US$150m". The Business Times. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
27. McAloon, Alissa (28 January 2021). "Dauntless dev Phoenix Labs acquired by Singaporean game company Garena". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 29 January 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
28. Takahashi, Dean (2 February 2023). "Dauntless creator Phoenix Labs spins out of Sea/Garena". VentureBeat. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
29. "Sea | Quarterly Results". www.sea.com. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
30. ^ Poh, Olivia; Lee, Yoolim (2 March 2022). "Sea's Market Decline Hits $132 Billion as Stock Tumbles Again". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
31. Iwamoto, Kentaro (2 March 2022). "Singapore's Sea expects 'headwind' after COVID-driven boom". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
32. "Singapore's Sea expects 'headwinds' after COVID-driven boom". KrASIA. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
33. ^ Orr, Aaron (21 September 2021). "Garena to launch Free Fire MAX globally". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
34. Cher, Benjamin (9 March 2024). "Garena's gaming revival could prove a false dawn for Sea". The Business Times. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
35. Poh, Olivia (4 March 2024). "Sea's Shares Climb After Big Spending Helps It Fight TikTok". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
36. ^ Lozano, Kurt (29 May 2023). "Garena's open-world zombie survival mobile game Undawn gets 29 June Southeast Asia release date". Yahoo News. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
37. Adam, Harith (15 November 2023). "Black Clover M: Rise Of The Wizard King Launches on November 30 Globally". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
38. Balea, Jum (31 March 2016). "Garena scores $170m funding from Malaysian government". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
39. "With 10M users in just four months, Tinder-esque app BeeTalk is buzzing throughout Asia". Archived from the original on 21 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
40. "TalkTalk". intl.garena.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
41. "Watch the Opening of Garena Premier League 2012 Season". League Craft. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
42. "Garena Premier League". Garena. Archived from the original on 22 December 2012.
43. "【活動】台灣史上第一座『Garena 電子競技館』隆重登場！". Garena. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
44. Lin, Libin (2 June 2019). "校際盃總決賽落幕 Garena電競館正式閉館". 銘報即時新聞 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 9 October 2024.
45. Mitchell, Ferguson (3 February 2015). "All-female League of Legends tournament in the Philippines to limit LGBT participation". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
46. Putra, Ade (12 May 2015). "Garena Carnival 2015 Will Be at Suntec on 13–14 June [Updated]". GameAxis. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
47. Zhang, Winston (3 February 2020). "A look into the rise of esports and mobile gaming". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
48. Lai, Adrian (23 December 2020). "Asian Leg of Free Fire Continental Series Sets New Viewership Record". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
49. Lai, Adrian (3 June 2021). "Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore Smashes Global Viewership Record". IGN Southeast Asia. Retrieved 9 October 2024.
50. Maas, Lea (13 December 2023). "Free Fire World Series unveils ecosystem changes for 2024". E Sports Insider.
51. Maas, Lea (22 February 2024). "$1m Free Fire tournament to take place at the Esports World Cup". E Sports Insider.
52. Stuart, Keith (4 February 2015). "Pro-gaming tournament attempts to limit gay and transgender players". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
53. "BlackShot Online - Southeast Asia". Papaya Play. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
54. Allsop, Ken (9 November 2022). "League of Legends 'set free' by Riot Games publishing in SEA". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
55. Bernardo, Anna (9 November 2022). "Riot Games to take back League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics publishing in SEA from Garena in 2023". Yahoo! News. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
56. Chris (2 August 2016). "Concerns related to the Russian merge". pathofexile.com. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
57. "FORM 20-F". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
58. Lai, Adrian (31 December 2020). "'Fairy Tail: Forces Unite!' Now Available in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines". IGN Southeast Asia. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
59. "Sea Limited Reports Second Quarter 2021 Results". www.businesswire.com. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
60. "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
61. Stevens, Nathan (16 November 2022). "Garena to Publish Upcoming Black Clover RPG in Select Global Markets". Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.

External links

• Official website

• 2009 establishments in Singapore
• Android (operating system) games
• Companies of Singapore
• IOS games
• Mass media companies established in 2009
• Multiplayer video game services
• Singaporean brands
• Singaporean social networking websites
• Video game companies established in 2009