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Garena is a digital entertainment platform, developing and publishing online PC and mobile digital content in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. It was founded in Singapore in 2009, by current Chairman and Group CEO, Forrest Li.

Garena's first self-developed title, Free Fire is a mobile battle royale game. Free Fire was the second most downloaded game on the Google Play store in Q4 2018, and was the fourth most-downloaded game worldwide in 2018 on the iOS and Google Play Store combined.However, this game was clearly seen as a complete clone of PUBG, so after a while its sales plummeted, with millions of videos and websites criticizing it for cloning.

Garena distributes game titles on Garena+ in various countries across Southeast Asia and Taiwan. They include the multiplayer online battle arena games League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, the online soccer game FIFA Online 3, and mobile racing game Speed Drifters.

In 2014, Garena was valued at $1 billion until the investment of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan in the company on March 2015 increased its value to $2.5 billion.

In May 2017, Garena rebranded to Sea Ltd.

History[edit]

Garena (a portmanteau of the phrase 'global arena') was founded in Singapore in 2009. Its first product, launched in 2010 was Garena+, an online game and social platform for people to discover, download and play online games.

In November 2011, Garena announced that it had publishing rights^[1] for the anticipated team-based shooter game, Firefall, in Southeast Asia and Taiwan. Firefall claims to be the first team-shooter game and was awarded Anticipated MMO of 2012 in TenTonHammer's Readers Choice contest.

In December 2011, Garena announced their collaboration^[2] with online games developer, Changyou, to publish and operate the popular 3D martial arts game, Duke of Mount Deer, in Taiwan. The game is 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^[3] was created by several top online-gaming experts from China and South Korea and has gained much popularity in China.

Also in December 2011, Garena CEO Forrest Lireleased^[4] the 'Dominion' game mode for Garena's League of Legends players in Singapore and Malaysia.

In 2014, the World Startup Report valued Garena as a US$1 billion internet company^[5] and ranked it as the largest internet company in Singapore.^[6]

In March 2015, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP), one of the largest pension funds in the world, invested in Garena, valuing the company at over USD 2.5 billion.^[7]

In August 2015, Garena announced that BlackShot Online would be shut down at midnight on 1 September, having been unable to renew the distribution license. As a result, all game distribution rights were returned to Vertigo Games, which set up PlayOne Asia to handle the game distribution. Later, Garena published another FPS called Alliance of Valiant Arms.

Products[edit]

Garena+ is an online game and social platform. It has an interface similar to instant messaging platforms. Garena+ features allows gamers to develop buddy lists, chat with friends online and check on game progress and achievements. Gamers can create their own unique identity by customizing their avatar or changing their names. Gamers are also able to form groups or clans, and chat with multiple gamers simultaneously through public or private channels through Garena+. Garena+ users use a virtual currency, Shells.

Other products including BeeTalk, TalkTalk,^[8]Shopee.^[9]

Published games[edit]

Garena provides a platform for game titles such as Defense of the Ancients and Age of Empires, and also publishes premium game titles, including multiplayer online battle arena games League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth and Black Shot for players in the region.

Garena-published games:

Events and tournaments[edit]

In May 2012, Garena launched the Garena Premier League (GPL), a six-month-long online professional gaming league with more than 100 matches to be played. The first season of GPL is a League of Legends competition which comprises six professional teams. The teams are: the Bangkok Titans, KL Hunters, Manila Eagles, Saigon Jokers, Taipei Assassins and Singapore Sentinels, which represent top players from respective countries. GPL matches are captured and broadcast online along with commentaries, which are available for viewers to watch on the GPL official website.^[11]

In January 2013, Garena announced the second season of the Garena Premier League would start on 4 Jan 2013. Garena Premier League 2013 includes two new teams from Taiwan and Vietnam, bringing the total number of teams to eight. The teams are: AHQ, Saigon Fantastic Five (SF5), Bangkok Titans, KL Hunters, Manila Eagles, Saigon Jokers, Taipei Assassins and Singapore Sentinels.^[12]

In November 2014 the Garena e-Sports Stadium, a dedicated venue for esports, opened in Neihu District, Taipei.^[13] The studios was built partially to accommodate the beginning of the League of Legends Masters Series, the top-level Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau LoL league that was spun-off of the GPL.

In January 2015, Garena launched Iron Solari League, a women's League of Legends tournament in the Philippines.^[14] It is a monthly event organized in the second half of each month. It aims to encourage participation by under-represented groups and is open to all those who self-identify as female.

Besides competitive tournaments, Garena also organizes events to cater to users to meet and connect offline. This includes the annual Garena Carnival held in Singapore and Malaysia.^[15]

Controversies[edit]

On February 3, 2015, Garena eSports announced limitations on the number of gay and transgender people participating in a women-only League of Legends tournament, due to concerns that LGBT participants may have an 'unfair advantage'. This led to gamers questioning the decision, while League of Legends developer Riot Games responded that 'LGBT players are welcome at official LoL tourneys'. On February 4, 2015, Garena apologized and subsequently removed the restrictions.^[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Yahoo! News'. Garena snags exclusive Firefall distribution rights for US$23 million. Archived from the original on 2011-12-03. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
2. ^'Gamer.com.tw'. Duke of Mount Deer. Archived from the original on 2012-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
3. ^'PC Home'. Duke of Mount Deer.
4. ^'GameAxis'. Dominion Officially Launched on Garena. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04.
5. ^'Singapore's Tech Company Garena Valued At USD1 Billion'. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014.
6. ^'Start me up'. Archived from the original on 2017-06-30. Retrieved 2017-07-13.
7. ^'Subscribe to read'. Financial Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-11-27.
8. ^'Garena'. intl.garena.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-12. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
9. ^'Shopee: Buy and sell on mobile'. www.shopee.sg. Archived from the original on 2016-07-11. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
10. ^'Q4 and Full Year 2018: Store Intelligence Data Digest'(PDF). Sensor Tower. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
11. ^'Watch the Opening of Garena Premier League 2012 Season'. League Craft. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
12. ^'Garena Premier League'. Garena. Archived from the original on 2012-12-22.
13. ^'【活動】台灣史上第一座『Garena 電子競技館』隆重登場！'. Garena. 2014-10-29. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
14. ^Mitchell, Ferguson (February 3, 2015). 'All-female League of Legends tournament in the Philippines to limit LGBT participation'. The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
15. ^Putra, Ade (May 12, 2015). 'Garena Carnival 2015 Will Be at Suntec on 13–14 June [Updated]'. GameAxis. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
16. ^Stuart, Keith (2015-02-04). 'Pro-gaming tournament attempts to limit gay and transgender players'. The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2016-04-10.

External links[edit]