The total registered users of “CrossFire: Gunfight King” (hereinafter referred to as CF mobile game) have exceeded 450 million, and the cumulative number of viewers of esports events has exceeded 1 billion times. These numbers represent the companionship and support of countless players over the past decade With the growth of CF mobile games, CrossFire has become one of the few shooting IPs in game history that has remained evergreen on both ends
When Xu Guang, the General Manager of Tencent Interactive Entertainment K1 Cooperation Department, mentioned the two terrifying data above, I was instantly distracted.
Indeed, 10 years is really long, long enough for the Chinese mobile game market to move from tens of billions to billions, long enough for many products to become a thing of the past. However, CF mobile games, which have always been by our side, have witnessed the passage of time for ten years, but they tell the story of growth with shining numbers.
On December 6th, the “2025CFM 10th Anniversary Ceremony and CFML Autumn Competition S18 Finals” kicked off at the Zhengzhou Olympic Sports Center. The exclusive ceremony of the “Golden Decade” shone brightly in every corner of the venue, activating the boiling expectations of the live audience and countless viewers before the live broadcast.
The growth of CF mobile games has also been reflected in the eyes of countless people through this event.
At the same time, the on-site preview of the new linkage props and gameplay that will debut in January in collaboration with “Wandering Earth 2”, the continuously updated bio gameplay and live action interactive video game gameplay, the upcoming “Spirit Cage 2” linkage that will be launched in May 2026, the carnival of breaking through the dimensional wall with the four major partners – Ctrip Travel, Luk Fook Jewelry, Bite of China, and Dewu, as well as a series of innovations in the game, all demonstrate the determination of CF mobile games to continue on their growth path.
As the first FPS mobile game in China to last for ten years, the significance of CF mobile game itself has long been associated with multiple aspects. Its strong vitality has continuously attracted players of different age groups and event audiences, giving the product a model significance.
CF mobile games also showcase their answers to the question of how products can cross cycles and how IP can continue to grow, with sustained user vitality, innovative content ecology, and deep cultural connections. This was also the case at the 10th anniversary celebration.
Another distraction is the moment when Q9. Kwai team chopped KZ. Pisces team down at the end of the ceremony and lifted the trophy symbolizing the champion of S18 final of CFML autumn competition in the golden rain.
I thought of the strong dialogue between Q9. Kwai and KZ. Beta in the S17 final of the summer game a few months ago, and even thought of the efforts made by CF mobile game along the way. It is precisely its continuous exploration in ensuring top viewing, consolidating bottom participation, and deepening internationalization that has made CF mobile gaming events one of the benchmark events in mobile esports.
Continuous progress is the winner
Before the finals began, the appearance of well-known singers Zhang Dawei and Song Yuqi brought the game and pop together in a perfect encounter.
Song Yuqi brought the song “COPDD” specially designed for CF mobile games on the scene, and exploded through the scene with a dazzling edge on the stunning stage.
Da Zhangwei’s new brainwashing song “Ten Times Shuang” premiered live, not only driving countless players to follow the dynamic music and “enjoy together”, but also successfully breaking the circle. As of now, the MV of “Ten Times Shuang” has exceeded 3 million views on Bilibili platform alone.
It is not surprising to see such a high number of views. Even before the 10th anniversary celebration, the popularity of CF mobile game related topics continued to rise, and hot memes emerged one after another. The most explosive one was the “Did you register for CFM in 2016” on various platforms after the announcement of the eligibility criteria for the “Ten Year Old Soldier” welfare. This sentence has even become a social code among players, giving a sense of temporal and spatial confusion, but it also intuitively demonstrates the active community vitality of the product.
And when the two teams appeared, cheers echoed through the venue once again.
Long before the start of the game, the desire of both sides to fight continued to soar. After all, in August this year, the two teams had a showdown in the S17 finals of the CFML summer game. At that time, the Q9 Kwai team resisted the pressure of falling behind 0-2 and won the last four games in a row.
A few months later, when we met again, the battle situation ushered in a 180 degree turn. Under the leadership of the Q9. Kwai Zihua player and Yuchen player, Q9. Kwai, as the “triple champion”, quickly opened up the situation, continued to use strength to attack, firmly controlled the scene in their own hands, and won three maps, directly won the match point with a score of 3:0, throwing the pressure to KZ. Douyu.
However, KZ. Douyu was able to stand on the stage of the finals, thanks to the individual abilities of its players and the rigor of their tactical coordination. Despite falling behind by a large margin, KZ. Douyu turned pressure into motivation and won the fourth and fifth sets consecutively, bringing the score close to 2:3. Just as everyone was speculating about writing the miracle of “letting 3 chase 4”, in the crucial sixth game, Zihua’s “big heart” became his winning weapon. The implementation of multiple “forward pressure” tactics helped him seize the key map position. While winning this game, he held the championship trophy high in front of countless spectators during CFM’s ten-year legendary moment.
Just as the former Q9. Kwai sub artists said in their interview, “There is no permanent winner in e-sports. The final competition is about who dares to fight more. The real dynasty is not about never losing, but how to make continuous progress”. The sub artists and Q9. Kwai once again proved themselves with new progress.
Going abroad and attracting new customers, dual track parallel
As the world’s first FPS mobile game professional league, CFML is also growing, and in recent years has built a promotion path from the Hundred Cities League to the “CrossFire: Gunfight King” professional league (CFML), gradually “winning” from grassroots players to professional players.
At the 10th anniversary celebration, the development of CF mobile gaming esports dimension was presented in a clearer way to everyone. The entire system adopts a dual track strategy of globalization and localization, and on the one hand, through the establishment of the Southeast Asia Division (CFM SEA) and preparation for the World Championship, it opens up systematic overseas expansion; On the other hand, the addition of U21 tracks and university competitions in China will improve the talent supply channel from the general public to the professional sector.
Previously, the gaming think tank had in-depth discussions with Chen Jin, the head of the esports business of CrossFire, regarding the dual track parallel strategy. In his opinion, the implementation of this strategy will comprehensively enhance the competition’s competitiveness and viewing experience.
Chen Jin frankly stated, “With the injection of young players and overseas power, the competition will see more diverse character arcs and shining moments. The intense battles and story based growth of players will attract a wider user base, thereby enhancing the influence and commercial value of the competition
Previously, Li Xingjian, the Operations Manager of the Tencent Interactive Entertainment K1 Cooperation Department’s CrossFire mobile game, announced that “CFM will comprehensively build an international esports ecosystem” and use the CFM SEA region as the first pilot.
It is reported that the SEA competition area will be divided into 5 stages, covering the entire process from the region to the CFM World Championship, opening up the global perspective of CF mobile game competitions in a more standardized form.
The emergence of the CFM SEA competition zone not only means that CFML can compete with overseas experts, but also marks the activation of the global potential of the CFM competition system. At the same time, the International Esports Program will showcase CFML’s strategic upgrade from a “Chinese champion” to a “global hub” from three dimensions: innovation of the competition system, realization of partner rights, and output of local experience, making “competing with friends” a reality on the world stage.
In addition to internationalization, the mobile game “CrossFire” has also added a “CFM Baicheng League U21 Track” in the Baicheng League, which will become an important part of the CFM secondary league system, focusing on discovering young talents with great potential, providing them with a systematic and high-intensity competitive platform, and building a stage for them to connect with professional clubs, paving the way for their future promotion to the CFML professional league.
The emergence of the “CFM Hundred City League U21 Track” has lowered the entry threshold for young players to access the professional system, taking the construction of the league’s youth training system to a higher level and injecting a steady stream of talent “live water” into the competition.
Essentially, in the past few years when Chinese esports shed its youth and became a new driving force for the development of various industries such as culture, tourism, and commerce, the value and significance of esports events themselves have surpassed that of competition itself, which has enabled them to integrate with many aspects of production and life. On the contrary, its “omnipresence” will also provide impetus for the development of the sports system and the diversified expansion of the sports itself, which is a positive effect brought by the two-way empowerment of industries for esports. So whether it is “going global” or “recruiting new players”, it is a necessary and highly pioneering step for CF mobile gaming esports.
Accumulate steps, even thousands of miles
Not only in esports, CF mobile games also systematically outline the future development blueprint from multiple dimensions such as product, culture, and public welfare.
For example, at the product level, the “New Life Plan” has been officially launched, which combines the Qualcomm chip platform with the Red Magic 11Pro series to conduct technical performance testing, achieving a dual breakthrough in both visual performance and operational efficiency;
At the cultural level, we will collaborate on “A Bite of China” and launch a “Fried Market” activity at Zhengzhou Oil and Chemical Plant, creating a cross era combination performance of modern drones and intangible cultural heritage making iron flowers, allowing the game to collide with local cuisine, modern technology, and intangible cultural heritage skills to create unprecedented sparks;
Continuously promote public welfare projects such as “Fire Line Ignites Dreams” and “Glacier Defenders”, guiding players to complete the transformation from game participants to social value co creators.
The above actions are the countless “small steps” in the development of CF mobile games over the past decade, and as the small steps accumulate, a broad path is paved that has been praised by countless people as “flowing FPS, iron fisted CF mobile games”.
Ten years ago, CF mobile game, as Tencent’s first large-scale DAU “end to end” product, took the first step in its journey in the mobile FPS field with industry phenomenon level data of over ten million registered users within two days. In the following decade, with countless persistence, exploration, innovation, construction, and iteration, CF mobile game has withstood multiple pressures, firmly grasped the basic foundation in the competitive shooting mobile game track, and actively attacked, continuously breaking through circles, releasing market vitality different from industry cognition.
Especially at the beginning of this year, Tencent’s Q1 financial report mentioned a historic high in revenue, which destined CF mobile games to celebrate their tenth birthday with vigorous performance.
To be fair, in the current situation where FPS competition is described as fierce and somewhat weak, it is rare to be able to break out of such a continuous growth curve in ten years. We also have reason to believe that in the next decade, CF mobile games may still deliver a stunning answer sheet for countless people.
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