The story
Founded by Forrest Li in 2009.1
2009 to 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. Besides Southeast Asia and Taiwan, Free Fire is also available in markets such as Europe, North America, Latin America, Brazil, and the Middle East and Africa.
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.
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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.
From Wikipedia’s article on Garena, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5