Could Critical Ops become a major mobile esports game?

Finnish developer Critical Force's mobile FPS game Critical Ops may be a game to keep an eye out for in the future in terms of mobile esports, as it has already garnered 10 million downloads in soft launch and players are playing it for money in tournaments right now.

Critical Force's founder Veli-Pekka Piirainen believes that esports will gather a billion US dollars in 2017, and mobile esports will be a big part of that. "Mobile devices have a massive global distribution, meaning large numbers of players and wider audiences for tournaments. Better yet, the new generation of gamers is mobile-first. I strongly believe that with Critical Ops we have a great chance of making a big impact on the whole eSports market", emphasises Piirainen.

That's where Critical Ops comes in. The FPS is influenced by CS:GO but has been developed for mobile phones and tablets instead, and is described as "the go-to FPS game for professional gamers of the mobile generation."

"Critical Ops doesn't require expensive computer gear and accessories. A smartphone and an internet connection is all that is required whether mobile esports is played professionally and globally for money prizes or for the bragging rights", says Piirainen.

Critical Ops has already been played in tournaments for several months, attracting hundreds of teams globally and there's even a tournament for money being played at the ESL Mobcrush Cup that started last Sunday.

"Critical Ops has grown into one of the most promising mobile esports titles," Piirainen continued. "Every second there are 20 000 gamers playing the game. Critical Ops has about 300 000 daily active users. These are great numbers considering we've only soft launched."

"We will become the global market leader of real-time mobile FPS multiplayer games with the largest FPS esports community in the world", Piirainen concluded. How much potential do you think Critical Ops has?