Over the course of this fall, more and more phones have lit up with the colorful gameplay of “Clash Royale,” a game on the resurgence after many thought it had died for good.
“Clash Royale” was released in 2016 by the game company SUPERCELL, which has also made hits such as “Brawl Stars” in 2018. In “Clash Royale,” players build decks of cards with special abilities to battle against other players to see whose deck can destroy more of the opponent’s three towers.
Right from its debut, the game was a hit, grossing more than $1 billion within 12 months of its launch and exceeding $3 billion in revenue during the pandemic. After 2022, however, the game’s usage tanked after players started finding repetitive updates, unbalanced cards and a lack of new content, eventually becoming a game considered dead.
In the past few months, though, the playerbase has grown 24%, according to ActivePlayer.io, adding about 12 million new players. This was largely because of famous influencers such as Jynxi playing the game on their livestreams again around August, after taking a long break from the game.
He made widespread memes about it, which eventually led to its revival. There were also many updates for new cards with unique mechanics, balance changes and even a whole new game mode — Merge Tactics. All these updates brought back old players while inspiring new players to try out the game.
Personally, I think “Clash Royale” deserves this revival. Though I initially stopped playing because it was becoming repetitive and boring, the new game modes and cards have made the game much better.
For now, “Clash Royale” is showing no signs of stopping in its rise in popularity. With a growing player community both online and on campus, it seems like “Clash Royale” will stay alive among friend groups during school lunches until the next big game comes along.
