Brr Brr Patapim has become loot in PUBG MOBILE. So has Ballerina Cappuccina. And Lirilì Larilà. And Boneka Ambalabu.
Those are the stakes in Brainrot Royale, a mode arriving today within World of Wonder, and the whole thing is every bit as unhinged as that lineup suggests. Backed by licensing support from games studio Do Big Studio, the viral meme creatures and their pseudo-Italian rhyming names have made the jump into the world’s biggest mobile battle royale.
The mode is a hoarding contest with guns
The last-player-standing formula doesn’t apply here. Instead, Brainrot Royale is a frantic scramble to assemble the largest Brainrot collection before time runs out.
Characters are strewn across the map. Your job is to track them down, escort them back to base and bank them. Each successful haul upgrades your weapons, unlocks stronger Brainrot and opens the door to rarer varieties.
There’s a twist, and it’s the fun kind. Whatever you haul back turns into a target. Rivals can raid your base and make off with your rare Brainrot, so you’re perpetually torn between heading out for one more grab and hunkering down to protect what’s already yours.
Coins come from taking down a Brainrot. Those coins pay for stronger weapons. Stronger weapons deliver more damage, harder challenges and a larger collection. The loop keeps feeding itself.
Beach party eggs and bosses that launch you
Dotted around the map are beach party eggs that conceal surprise rewards. Oversized Boss encounters also lurk out there, capable of flinging players through the air in ridiculous fashion before they cough up valuable loot.
The premise is silly, yet PUBG MOBILE is still clearly recognizable beneath it, with that same quick, tactical decision-making surfacing whether you’re repelling a last-second raid or timing a theft just right.
Rick Li, Producer of PUBG MOBILE and Deputy General Manager of Quantum Studio, LightSpeed Studios, Tencent Games, said: “Every gameplay mechanic had to feel true to the fast-moving, unpredictable nature of the original IP, while creating the kind of moments that players would want to jump back in and experience again.”
World of Wonder is doing bigger numbers than you’d guess
WOW serves as PUBG MOBILE’s creator platform, giving players the tools to build and publish maps, modes and experiences of their own. Competitive shooters, puzzle challenges, racing maps, anything goes. Because the tools are drag-and-drop, no coding background is required to build something.
Users have produced more than 5.4 million maps since the platform’s March 2023 debut, and it has reached over 8.5 million peak daily players. Numbers at that scale explain why professional studios are now turning up next to the hobbyists.
“World of Wonder has become one of the most exciting ways for us to evolve PUBG MOBILE beyond traditional battle royale. Every collaboration in World of Wonder is an opportunity to give players fresh experiences while empowering creators to push the platform in entirely new directions,” said Vincent Wang, Head of PUBG MOBILE Publishing at Tencent Games. “Brainrot Royale reflects that vision, bringing together a globally recognised IP and our creator ecosystem to deliver something totally new for the community. Using PUBG MOBILE’s creative tools, Brainrot Royale will provide a new challenge built around tactical Brainrot collection moments, stealthy stealing and solid defence to emerge victorious. Looking ahead, WOW welcomes more top studios and talented creators to join the ecosystem and build more exciting gameplay experiences together.”
Do Big Studio wanted the chaos to spread
For the studio behind the Brainrot IP, the collaboration is simply an organic extension of what the memes were already doing.
“Brainrot has always been about creating something people want to share, and turning that into a playable experience in PUBG MOBILE opened up a whole new level of creativity for us,” said Justin Peress, CFO of Do Big Studios. “We’re especially excited to see players shoot, steal, defend and create their own crazy Brainrot moments. Watching the community embrace the unexpected and put their own spin on the experience is what this collaboration is all about.”
Today marks the launch of Brainrot Royale in World of Wonder, and the first appearance of the original Brainrot IP inside PUBG MOBILE. The game can be downloaded free from the App Store and Google Play Store.
Right now, somewhere, a player is about to watch a hard-won Lirilì Larilà disappear because a stranger raided their base while they were off hunting something rarer. That’s the game.