Garena today announced that the Free Fire World Series, Free Fire’s largest and most iconic esports tournament, will be held in Singapore in May 2021. The Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore (FFWS 2021 SG) will feature Free Fire’s largest-ever prize pool of US$2,000,000. It will also mark the beginning of a return to normalcy for Free Fire international esports, after tournaments in 2020 were held online.
Free Fire’s global popularity continues to grow; it was the most downloaded mobile game worldwide in 2020 across both the iOS App and Google Play stores, the second consecutive year that Free Fire has topped the ranking, according to App Annie.
The World Series is Free Fire‘s largest and most iconic esports tournament – the inaugural Free Fire World Series 2019 Rio was watched by more than 2 million concurrent online viewers at its peak, which was then the world record high for mobile esports tournament, according to Esports Charts.
The FFWS 2021 SG will host the Play-ins on May 22 and the Finals on May 29. Previously announced to take place on April 24 (Play-Ins) and May 1 (Finals), the dates were shifted to accommodate the global pandemic situation.
The tournament will bring to Singapore 22 teams from across 14 regions to compete for the title of being the Free Fire world champion and a slice of the US$2,000,000 prize pool, one of the highest in mobile game esports. The Play-Ins will feature 12 teams who placed either first or second in their regional-level tournament. The top two teams from the Play-Ins will then join the top 10 seeds from each regional-level tournament in the Finals.
The teams will battle over 6 rounds – across all 3 maps – to be the last one standing, with points awarded based on round ranking and the number of kills.
Delivering quality esports content, safely
The FFWS 2021 SG highlights Garena’s continued efforts to delight the global community with competitive and engaging esports content – all while prioritizing the safety of all involved. Garena will ensure that all activities are in line with prevailing public health protocols and travel policies.
To this end, Garena is organizing the FFWS 2021 SG with the support of the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and in close collaboration with various industry experts and organizations – such as the Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA).
Justin Lye, Global Esports Manager, said: “We know how highly-anticipated the World Series is to our players and fans, so we’ve been working together with the relevant authorities to ensure we give them the biggest Free Fire tournament we’ve ever hosted. Safety has been and will continue to be our biggest priority as we carry out the event.”
“Singapore is the perfect choice for this World Series, and we are thankful for the support we have been receiving from the local government and industry experts. This will be a good opportunity to welcome the very best Free Fire players to Singapore, where Garena was founded,” Justin added.
Jean Ng, Executive Director, Attractions, Entertainment, and Tourism Concept Development for Singapore Tourism Board said: “We are proud to support our homegrown gaming company Garena as they prepare for FFWS 2021 SG – one of the world’s leading esports tournaments. The return of such events testifies to Singapore’s growing reputation as an esports destination as well as our ability to host such events safely. We look forward to welcoming all qualifying teams to Singapore, and working closely with the organizers towards a safe and successful event.”
Nicholas Khoo, the co-founder of SCOGA, said, “We are glad that Garena has chosen Singapore for its iconic Free Fire World Series tournament. This event is one of the biggest globally and will be a great boost to Singapore’s ambitions in esports. This is definitely a milestone event and we are looking forward to hosting all the participants safely in Singapore as they compete for pride and glory.”
Free Fire is an immersive battle royale game created specifically with mobile gamers in mind. Developed and published globally by Garena, Free Fire achieved a record high of over 100 million peak daily active users in 2020. Free Fire content on YouTube was also the 3rd most-watched game for the year with 72 billion views.
