Brawl Stars Explained

Brawl Stars
Developer:Supercell
Publisher:Supercell
Platforms:Android, iOS, iPadOS
Genre:MOBA, Hero shooter
Modes:Multiplayer

Brawl Stars is a multiplayer online battle arena[1] and third-person hero shooter[2] video game developed and published by the Finnish video game company Supercell.[3] The game was released worldwide on December 12, 2018, on iOS and Android platforms.[4] The game features a variety of game modes, each with a distinctive objective. Players are able to choose from a selection of Brawlers', i.e., characters able to be controlled with on-screen joysticks inside of an in-game match.[5]

Gameplay

In Brawl Stars, players battle against other players or AI opponents in multiple game modes. Players can choose between different Brawlers, which are divided among 5 rarities (Rare, Super Rare, Epic, Mythic, Legendary). Brawlers can be unlocked through the Starr Road, the Brawl Pass, the Trophy Road, or purchased through the Shop to use in battles.[6] In December 2022, a new progressive unlock system called the "Starr Road" replaced Boxes as the method to unlock Brawlers.[7]

During a match, players can use their Brawler's normal attack or their Super, a special attack that, charges up when damaging an opponent, or in some cases through additional means. Players can also equip their Brawlers with power-ups known as Gadgets, Star Powers, Gears, and Hypercharges; Gadgets and Hypercharges can be activated during a match, while Star Powers and Gears are passive abilities.

In addition, it is possible to purchase skins with Gems, Bling, and Coins, or unlock them through the Brawl Pass or randomly in Starr Drops, which will alter the appearance, animations, effects, and/or sounds of Brawlers. Unlocking a new skin will also give the player a custom emote based off the skin they unlocked.[9]

Game Modes

Brawl Stars has a variety of different game modes that players can choose from, each one having a different objective. Players can invite friends to play with them up to the maximum team size of a game mode.[10] [11]

Solo and Duo Modes

3v3 Modes

5v5 Modes

Map Maker

Map Maker is a feature within the game that allows people to make custom maps and play them with selected modifiers. There is also a feature that allows players to submit their maps into candidates of the day. This allows the player's maps to be tested by the public in a game mode that rotates daily between Knockout, Heist, Hot Zone, Solo/Duo Showdown, Brawl Ball and Gem Grab.

When each game is played, the player can give the map a like or dislike. The map with the most likes becomes the winner of the day and everyone can play it.[13] [14]

Mega Pig

Mega Pig is an event that occurs once a month over a weekend. Players have 15 tickets (amount of games to play). With every game they win it goes towards club progress, and the more a club wins, the more Starr Drops they get at the end of the event. The top three contributors earn extra Starr Drops.[15]

Weekend Modes

The following weekend events like Robo Rumble, Boss Fight and Big Game were removed in April 2024.[16]

Clubs

Clubs are the game's main social system. They also add another level of gameplay depth through Mega Pig. Clubs have a variety of roles:

Brawl Pass

On May 14, 2020, a game update added a new reward system called the “Brawl Pass”.[19] The Brawl Pass is the game's version of a battle pass. When players compete in battles, they earn XP (formerly known as Tokens) to progress along the Brawl Pass and unlock tiers with various rewards. All players have the free Brawl Pass by default. Players could purchase the premium Brawl Pass with Gems, until January 4, 2023, where a change was made so the pass could only be bought with money.[20] [21] After 4 January, Brawl Pass Plus was added, being a different version of the premium Brawl Pass with better rewards.

Resources

The main resources in Brawl Stars are as following:

Starr Road

The Starr Road was introduced after the removal of Boxes in December 2022. It serves as the gateway to unlocking Brawlers. Players can select a Brawler from a selection of others of the same rarity to initiate the unlocking process. The progress is made through Credits, a currency obtained in the Trophy Road, Mastery paths, Starr Drops and Brawl Pass. Players can switch to a different Brawler they wish to unlock at any time, with the accumulated credits transitioning to the new selection.

Once a Brawler is unlocked, it becomes a permanent addition to the player's collection. The Starr Road then presents a new selection of Brawlers from the next rarity tier to unlock. Alternatively, players have the option to acquire Brawlers from the Starr Road using Gems.

Until February 29, 2024, the Chromatic Shop allowed players to unlock Chromatic Brawlers through Chroma Credits, a currency obtainable through the Brawl Pass and used exclusively for unlocking Brawlers in the Chromatic Shop. Alternatively, Gems could be used to purchase the Chromatics.[24]

Cosmetics

Brawl Stars has a variety of cosmetics, including skins, pins, player icons (profile pictures) and sprays. Some cosmetic items are exclusive or limited edition, i.e. only unlockable from Ranked Starr Drops, Events, or Challenges.

Player retention

Newcomers and returning players are offered a login calendar, different in each case, to encourage them to stay in the game. These rewards are usually currencies, though some are skins or new Brawlers.[27]

Brawl Stars Championship

The Brawl Stars Championship is an annual tournament, composed of a qualifying stage, available in-game, another Monthly Qualifier stage, a Regional Monthly Finals stage, and finally a World Finals stage, where the best teams compete to win the Championship. The first in-game challenge is similar to other challenges: the players must win 15 matches in the in-game challenge without losing three times. After 15 wins, a regional Monthly Qualifier stage is created, that gives access to the regional Monthly Finals.[28] These events would lead to the World Finals.[29] [30]

Its first edition, known as the Brawl Stars World Championship, was held on November 15 and 16, 2019, at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center in South Korea. The first-place winner was Nova Esports after a 30 victory. Other participants competing included Animal Chanpuru, Tribe Gaming, 3Bears, Spacestation Gaming, and PSG Esports. With a $250,000 prize pool, it was the first international event for the game and had teams from North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.

In 2020, the World Finals were held between November 21 and 22 with a base $1,000,000 prize pool. Half of the amount was raised using the profits from an in-game championship package. Eight teams participated in the World Finals, which were originally planned to take place in Katowice, Poland, but was moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. PSG Esports was the winner of this year's championship with a prize of $200,000. The other monetary prizes were split between the other teams which won second to eighth place.[31]

In 2021, the Brawl Stars Championship started on February 20. There are eight seasons for the championship that occur once per month starting from February until September. The Championship Challenges and Monthly Qualifiers are each live for two days per season. The top eight teams from the regional Monthly Qualifiers go to the regional Monthly Finals. 16 teams from the Monthly Finals from all seven regions come together to participate in the World Finals, which took place in this edition from November 26 to 28 in-person in Bucharest, Romania. The prizes for 2021 were $600,000 in the Monthly Finals, and a minimum of $500,000 in the World Finals with opportunities to increase this amount through in-game offers.

Development and release

Supercell set out to develop a team based game similar to League of Legends and Overwatch. The team wanted to create such a game that was designed with mobile devices in mind first. According to Frank Keienburg, Game Lead of Supercell, "Our focus was on retaining a lot of depth while stripping away all the fluff." Although the game contains some elements of the battle royale genre, these were implemented before the genre as a whole took off and the team did not set out to make a game with those elements.

The game is notable for its long soft launch period during which virtually every aspect of the game changed.[32] Supercell officially announced the game via a livestream video on June 14, 2017.[33] It received an iOS soft launch in Canada the following day.[34] The soft launch would last a total of 522 days, during which internally it was doubted whether or not the game would ever actually see a general release.[35] [36] Initially, the game was played in portrait mode and the movement controls were controlled by tapping on the screen. Eventually, landscape mode and joysticks were implemented.[35] [36] Other changes include changing the UI, changing the metagame and transitioning the game from 2D to 3D.[36] Frank Keienburg attributes the difficult beta period to the developers working in a new genre where they "weren't sure how to interpret its success."[35] The game soft-launched in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and Malaysia for iOS on January 19, 2018. On June 26, 2018, Android received early access to the game as a continuation of the soft launch.[37]

Brawl Stars was made globally and officially available on December 12, 2018.[4] [1] It made more than US$63 million in its first month.[38] On June 9, 2020, Brawl Stars was released in mainland China, with the corresponding changes to accommodate to the Chinese laws.[39]

Partnerships

The game has a partnership with Line Friends to create official merchandise, new skins for Brawlers that are based on Line Friends characters, sticker packs on Line Messenger, and new content. A pop-up store was opened in January 2020 in South Korea to sell the merchandise from the partnership. Merchandise is also available at major Line Friends retail stores and online.[40] In September 2022, Brawl Stars also partnered with BT21, featuring new skins and Pins in-game.[41]

The game partnered up with Paris Saint-Germain F.C. (PSG), a French professional soccer club, in 2019 to host Brawl Stars Ball Cup organized by PSG's esports division. There were three online qualifier events and an online playoff event. The top two teams travelled to Paris for the finals. The finals were played live at PSG's home stadium, Parc des Princes. All matches took place in Brawl Ball, a football-like game mode.[42]

The game partnered up with PSG again in 2020 and 2021. During the partnerships, the game launched the Paris Saint-Germain Challenge. The challenges are similar to the championship challenges, but all matches are based in the Brawl Ball game mode. In 2020, the game offered a PSG skin for Shelly for players who won nine matches and lost four or fewer times. PSG's esports division also has a team that competed in the 2020 championship challenge.[43] In 2021, the game offered a PSG Mike skin for Dynamike.[44]

The game partnered up with Godzilla in 2024 to create official merchandise, new skins and pins for Brawlers based on various kaiju, and a new game mode named Godzilla City Smash.[45]

Reception

Awards

The game was nominated for "Mobile Game" and "EE Mobile Game of the Year" at the 15th British Academy Games Awards.[46]

Critical reception

Brawl Stars received "mixed or average" reviews or 72 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic.

Pocket Gamers Harry Slater scored the game 3 out of 5. Reviewing the game immediately after global release, he praised that game's progression. He criticized Showdown, the game's battle royale mode, for being the weakest of all the game modes that were in the game. He said that Showdown "doesn't capture the real madness of the genre, and there's a distinct lack of tension since you can pretty much see everyone on the map and what they're up to". He mentioned that something felt "missing in Brawl Stars. You'll play, you'll get new characters, you'll unlock new modes, but you're never having quite as much fun as you feel you should be doing." He continued on to say that "the action is relatively flat - in the team matches you know within the first few seconds which way the game is going." He concluded in disappointment because the game did not seem like "the huge step forward for multiplayer mobile action that a lot of us were hoping for."

148 Apps Campbell Bird scored the game 3.5 out of 5. She started with mentioning that the game felt "like a combination of Arena of Valor and Overwatch." She praised the game's graphics and the developer's implementation of the progression system to encourage players to play again, as well as the quick matchmaking. However, she criticized the game's controls for feeling "oddly loose and muddy". the characters falling "into pretty predictable hero shooter archetypes", as well as claiming that "every mode in the game is some variation on something you’ve seen before in other, better multiplayer shooters." She also highlighted that the frequent connection issues and unbalanced teams made the experience of playing the game less enjoyable.

Commercial reception

Brawl Stars has been downloaded over 200 million times. In 2020, Brawl Stars had the second highest gross of any mobile game in Europe.[47] It grossed US$526 million in total in 2020, which accounted for more than half its life time revenue. It was also the fourth game by Supercell to surpass US$1 billion in lifetime revenue.[48]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Supercell's Brawl Stars launches on iOS and Android. Minotti. Mike. 2018-12-12. VentureBeat. en-US. 2020-03-17. April 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210418130429/https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/12/supercells-brawl-stars-launches-on-ios-and-android/. live.
  2. Web site: 'Brawl Stars' review: 'Overwatch' lite, on smartphones. 2020-08-11. Young Post. June 28, 2020. November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127120502/https://www.scmp.com/yp/discover/entertainment/tech-gaming/article/3090691/brawl-stars-review-fun-mobile-hero-shooter. live.
  3. News: Supercell's off year: revenues of $1.56 billion and profits of $577 million. Takahashi. Dean. February 11, 2020. GamesBeat. VentureBeat. January 23, 2021. June 5, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220605135910/https://venturebeat.com/2020/02/11/supercells-off-year-revenues-of-1-56-billion-and-profits-of-577-million/. live.
  4. Web site: Supercell's Brawl Stars is globally launching in December, and you can pre-register right now. Sholtz. Matthew. 2018-11-14. Android Police. en-US. 2019-08-29. November 27, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211127120441/https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/11/14/supercells-brawl-stars-globally-launching-december-can-pre-register-right-now/. live.
  5. Web site: A Beginner's guide to your new favourite mobile esport . Red Bull . March 10, 2021 . 5 April 2021 . en . November 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221115163618/https://www.redbull.com/in-en/Brawl-Stars-tips-for-beginners . live .
  6. Web site: UPDATE: Tara's Bazaar. 2020-07-24. Brawl Stars. en. September 20, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220920173530/https://blog.brawlstars.com/blog/game-updates/update-taras-bazaar.html. live.
  7. Web site: Credits . Brawlify . 2024-07-01.
  8. Web site: Supercell is Throwing Out Brawl Stars' Gacha Mechanics . December 2, 2022 . December 12, 2022 . August 31, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230831012646/https://www.droidgamers.com/news/brawl-stars-gacha/ . live . The cost to unlock each Brawler on the Starr Road depends on its rarity.[7]
  9. Web site: 2018-12-26 . Brawl Stars Skins List (Summer of Monsters) - All Brawler Cosmetics . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220921211901/https://progameguides.com/brawl-stars/brawl-stars-skins-list/ . September 21, 2022 . 2020-08-01 . Pro Game Guides . en.
  10. Web site: Torres. Ida. 2017-06-17. Brawl Stars is an upcoming game from the makers of Clash Royale. 2019-08-29. Android Community. en-US. March 31, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190331042713/https://androidcommunity.com/brawl-stars-is-an-upcoming-game-from-the-makers-of-clash-royale-20170617/. live.
  11. Web site: Hayward. Andrew. 2018-12-19. Brawl Stars is a worthy, if simple, Clash Royale successor. 2019-08-29. Polygon. August 29, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190829045721/https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2018/12/19/18146759/brawl-stars-review-supercell-ios-android. live.
  12. Web site: Game Modes . Supercell Support . Supercell . June 29, 2024.
  13. Web site: About Map Maker . Supercell Support Portal . Supercell . 29 June 2024.
  14. Web site: The Starr Force Update . Supercell Blog . Supercell . January 27, 2021 . June 29, 2024.
  15. Web site: Mega Pig Update Patch Notes . Supercell Support . Supercell . 29 June 2024.
  16. Web site: Update: Tara's Bazaar . Supercell . June 30, 2024.
  17. Web site: Patch Notes: April 2024 Update . Supercell . April 2024 . June 30, 2024.
  18. Web site: Clubs and Club Roles . Supercell Support . 2024-06-30.
  19. Web site: Swan . Eva . Everything you need to know about Brawl Stars' Summer of Monsters pass . Dot Esports . 1 February 2021 . 7 July 2020 . February 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210206161820/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-brawl-stars-summer-of-monsters-pass . live .
  20. Web site: Incoming Changes to the Brawl Pass × Brawl Stars . 2024-01-04 . Brawl Stars . en.
  21. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . Here's everything you need to know about Brawl Stars' new Brawl Pass . Dot Esports . 1 February 2021 . 13 May 2020 . October 5, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211005071214/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/heres-everything-you-need-to-know-about-brawl-stars-new-brawl-pass . live .
  22. Web site: In-Game Currencies. Brawl Stars Support . Supercell . 29 June 2024 .
  23. Web site: Mastery . Supercell Support . 2024-06-30.
  24. Web site: How to get Brawlers Supercell Support Portal . 2023-10-22 . Supercell Support . en.
  25. Web site: Skins . Supercell Support . 2024-06-30.
  26. Web site: Sprays . Supercell Support . 2024-06-30.
  27. Web site: Login Calendars Supercell Support Portal . 2023-10-22 . Supercell Support . en.
  28. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . Brawl Stars' Championship Challenge to happen on March 20 and 21 . Dot Esports . 28 March 2021 . 18 March 2021 . May 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210503153838/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/brawl-stars-championship-challenge-to-happen-on-march-20-and-21 . live .
  29. Web site: 2019-12-15. Brawl Stars Championship has $1 million prize pool in 2020. 2020-07-24. Daily Esports. en-US. July 24, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200724231602/https://www.dailyesports.gg/brawl-stars-championship-has-1-million-prize-pool-in-2020/. dead.
  30. Web site: Brawl Stars Championship 2021 . Brawl Stars . 28 March 2021 . en . March 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210304091045/https://blog.brawlstars.com/blog/esports/brawl-stars-championship-2021.html . live .
  31. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . PSG Esports win Brawl Stars World Finals 2020 . Dot Esports . 28 March 2021 . 22 November 2020 . May 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210506205744/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/psg-esports-win-brawl-stars-world-finals-2020 . live .
  32. Web site: Webster . Andrew . Supercell's new game mixes Fortnite and Clash Royale, and its out soon . The Verge . November 14, 2018 . 23 December 2019 . December 23, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191223200800/https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/14/18093052/supercell-brawl-stars-global-launch-iphone-android . live .
  33. News: Clash of Clans developer Supercell reveals new game, Brawl Stars. Callaham. John. 2017-06-14. Android Authority. en-US. 2019-08-29. April 29, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210429141404/https://www.androidauthority.com/supercell-new-game-brawl-stars-779929/. live.
  34. Web site: 'Brawl Stars' Has Soft Launched on the Canadian App Store, Android Version Coming Soon?. Funnell. Rob. 2017-06-15. TouchArcade. en-US. 2019-08-29. June 5, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190605150853/https://toucharcade.com/2017/06/15/brawl-stars-has-soft-launched-on-the-canadian-app-store-android-version-coming-soon/. live.
  35. Web site: Asarch . Steven . 'Brawl Stars' Game Lead Talks Lessons Learned After 522-day Soft Launch . Newsweek . November 20, 2018 . 23 December 2019 . December 23, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191223200800/https://www.newsweek.com/brawl-stars-interview-release-game-director-spike-supercell-mobile-1224546 . live .
  36. Web site: Hayward . Andrew . Supercell on Brawl Stars, a mobile action game tailor-made for tournaments . Red Bull . January 22, 2019 . 23 December 2019 . November 10, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211110170146/https://www.redbull.com/us-en/brawl-stars-supercell-interview-meo . live .
  37. Web site: Brawl Stars is finally coming to Android, with limited access starting today. Sholtz. Matthew. 2018-06-26. Android Police. en-US. 2019-08-29. April 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210428073759/https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/06/26/brawl-stars-finally-coming-android-limited-access-starting-today/. live.
  38. Web site: Supercell's 'Brawl Stars' Clears Over $63 Million in One Month. Vincent. Brittany. January 16, 2019. Variety. January 17, 2019. November 27, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221127104455/https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/brawl-stars-63-million-debut-1203109668/. live.
  39. Web site: 2020-06-23. Tencent's latest game Brawl Stars rakes in US$17.5 million in first week. 2020-08-14. South China Morning Post. en. August 9, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200809093702/https://www.scmp.com/tech/gear/article/3090093/tencent-lands-another-mobile-game-hit-brawl-stars-rakes-us175-million. live.
  40. FRIENDS . LINE . LINE FRIENDS partners with SUPERCELL for official Brawl Stars character licensing business worldwide . www.prnewswire.com . 5 April 2021 . en.
  41. Web site: BTS X Brawl Stars Skins: Release Date, Costs, And Designs . 2022-09-13 . MobileMatters . en . September 13, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220913141430/https://mobilematters.gg/brawl-stars/bts-brawl-stars-skins-release-date-costs-designs . live .
  42. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . Paris-Saint Germain to host Supercell's Brawl Stars Ball Cup . Dot Esports . 5 April 2021 . 29 October 2019 .
  43. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . Brawl Stars launches Paris Saint-Germain Challenge, giving players the chance to win a skin . Dot Esports . 5 April 2021 . 20 March 2020 . May 6, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210506130123/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/brawl-stars-launches-paris-saint-germain-challenge-giving-players-the-chance-to-win-a-skin . live .
  44. Web site: Ahmed . Wasif . PSG Brawl Ball Cup 2021 kicks off in Brawl Stars . Dot Esports . 5 April 2021 . 28 March 2021 . March 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210328111913/https://dotesports.com/mobile/news/psg-brawl-ball-cup-2021-kicks-off-in-brawl-stars . live .
  45. Web site: Patch notes: Godzilla Attacks Brawl! × Brawl Stars . 2024-05-19 . Brawl Stars . en.
  46. Web site: Fogel . Stefanie . March 14, 2019 . 'God of War', 'Red Dead 2' Lead BAFTA Game Awards Nominations . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190315135246/https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/british-academy-games-awards-2019-nominees-1203163369/ . March 15, 2019 . March 15, 2019 . Variety.
  47. News: Partleton . Kayleigh . European consumers spent $14.8 billion on mobile apps last year . 1 February 2021 . Pocket Gamer . January 11, 2021 . January 28, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210128033642/https://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/75475/european-consumers-spent-148-billion-on-mobile-apps-last-year/ . live .
  48. News: Batchelor . James . Brawl Stars is Supercell's fourth title to pass $1bn in lifetime revenue . 1 February 2021 . Pocket Gamer . 29 January 2021 . January 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210129121057/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-01-29-brawl-stars-is-supercells-fourth-title-to-pass-usd1bn-in-lifetime-revenue . live .