CrossFire is an online tactical first-person shooter for Microsoft Windows developed by Smilegate Entertainment. The game was released in China by Tencent Games, with the company also acting as the exclusive agent service company. The tests for its software bugs were started publicly in April 2008.
Due to its popularity in Asia, especially China and South Korea, it has become the world’s most-played video game by player count. with a lifetime total of 1 billion users in 80 countries worldwide. It was the world’s top-grossing online game as of 2014, and went on to become one of the highest-grossing video games of all time, having grossed over $10 billion in lifetime revenue, as of 2018.
A film adaptation of the game was announced in October 2015. A remake and a sequel, CrossFire HD and CrossFire 2, respectively, are in development at Smilegate, with Remedy Entertainment working on both games’ single-player portions. An Xbox One version of the game that incorporates Remedy’s campaign, known as CrossfireX, was announced at E3 2019 and is set to be released for free in 2020.
Gameplay –
CrossFire is a free-to-play first-person shooter that features two mercenary corporations named the “Black List” and “Global Risk,” fighting each other in an epic global conflict. Players assume the role of either a Black List or Global Risk mercenary, joining an online team that must work together to complete objective-based scenarios. Except for the Zombie mode and Wave mode, each mode can support a maximum of 16 players, each divided into an 8-man team.
Players progress and eventually be promoted through various Military Ranks, beginning at trainee, with the highest being Marshall. Players can also customize their character’s equipment and appearance through in-game items.
CrossFire has a free currency which is called Game Points (GP), which is earned through playing and completing matches, buying premium items that grant bonus GP, or fulfilling certain missions. Premium and special items like modified weapons can only be bought using monetary currencies. The content tends to vary from version to version.
Game Modes –
CrossFire features several game modes, each with unique maps and rules.
Team Deathmatch –
Teams work towards goals, such as first to x many kills, or the team with the most kills.
Search & Destroy –
Black List’s objective is to plant and detonate a C4 charge in a designated spot or kill all of the Global Risk players. Global Risk’s objective is to eliminate all Black List players or prevent Black List from planting and detonating the charge within the match’s time limit. Players do not respawn. Rounds last up to 3 minutes.
Free for All –
No teams, teams kill as many players as possible. Players respawn at different locations. The round ends when a player reaches the kill quota for the match or the timer runs out. Weapon restrictions exist for this mode.
Elimination –
Similar to TDM, except players do not respawn when killed. In some maps, players start only with their melee weapons and must pick up guns pre-set in the map. Rounds last up to three minutes, with Global Risk defaulting in wins.
Suppression Mode –
A new, and much faster Search and Destroy. Each Black List player gets a bomb, and spawns only a few metres from the bomb plant site. The Global Risk must storm their defenses and disarm the bomb before it detonates.
Ghost Mode –
All Black List mercenaries have invisibility and melee weapons, while all Global Risk mercenaries are fully visible, but can use all available weapons. Black List emits a heavy breathing sound, footsteps, splashes while running through water, and also becomes significantly visible while moving.
Shadow Mode –
A variant of Ghost Mode. A player becomes a Shadow warrior which is an advanced ghost character. This mode introduces security devices such as Sensors, Lasers and Sprinklers to track down the Shadow warriors. In this map, there are certain parts of the floors which are covered with different textures (including broken glass) that will make more noise than others, making it easier for the Mercenary Soldiers to hear the Shadow Warrior movements.
Mutation Mode –
One or two players are infected and mutated 20 seconds into the round. When the time is up or all mutants are dead, the soldiers win. If all the soldiers mutate or die, the mutants win. Mutants are knocked backwards when shot.
Escape Mode –
A game mode where the Black List team must “escape” through a portal a certain number of times while the Global Risk team tries to prevent them. There are walls and doors that can be destroyed to make the escaping team’s job easier or are a requirement to escape, at half time the teams switch sides (if the team finishes escaping early, then they immediately switch sides. If they do not complete their goal, then the other team only has to finish what the other team started).
Hero Mode –
The game plays mostly like Mutation mode, but features a “Hero” character. 20 seconds into the round, one to three players randomly will mutate and one will become the “Hero”. Also, mutants here will continue to respawn when killed unless they are killed with a headshot. The game ends when either the soldiers survive until the round ends or they are all mutated.
Hero Mode X –
Random players are mutated after 20 seconds count down, and one of them is chosen to be the “Terminator” which has 6000 HP and can infect players with longer ranged lightning bolt attacks, making it a rather daunting foe for soldiers. Mutants can only be prevented from respawning by being killed with a melee attack rather than a headshot.
The premise of this mode is that once only 2-3 players are left, they can have a chance to turn into Commandos, which cannot be infected like regular soldiers and possess dual kukris, which do massive damage to mutants and prevent them from respawning altogether, however Commandos cannot use firearms. The round ends either with all players infected/killed or if all the mutants are killed and cannot respawn. Also in this mode, it features a damage boost for soldiers, which deals much more damage to mutants and increases every time a soldier is infected.
Zombie Mode –
Four players in a Zombie Apocalypse-esque scenario. Zombie Apocalypse consists of a team of four Global Risk mercenaries trying to survive a fixed number of rounds with a boss at the final round. The enemies featured in the game are a variety of “zombified” Black List mercenaries and mutants, each kind having their own characteristic. The game ends once the players survive through the rounds and kill the final boss in the map or if all the players are killed and cannot respawn.
Elite/Bounty Mode –
This mode is the first with given money and battle results, similar to the concept of Counter Strike. When the battle begins, players can only use the pistol equipped in their inventory and must buy other weapons using their cash. Cash can be gained by killing opponents or planting/defusing the bomb. This mode is like S&D Pro.
Wave Mode –
5v5 or 4v4 team based mode. Both teams must destroy the opposition’s defense towers in order to reach the base, which has two “Last defense towers” guarding it, and players must destroy those two towers to start damaging the base (clearance of all side towers is not needed). This is the first mode where the player can pick one of eleven classes before joining the room. Each class is different and has its own skills. This mode also introduces NPCs, airstrikes, mortar bombs, energy transmitters and Class Upgrade Systems.
King Mode –
No teams. Players compete in a series of mini-games each round, and the players with the highest score get selected as a commander each round. The game continues until a player reaches a certain score and fights to be crowned the King.
Sheep Mode –
No teams. Players compete to get the most points in the end by picking up sheep, which generate points every so often. Once someone has gotten to a point limit set before the game, the golden sheep is spawned, and everyone must fight to see who will get it.
Big Head –
Team death match but with a twist, as the player kills they level up, increasing their head size. The maximum is five. A bar will fill up for each team and when it is full, that team will enter “Big Head” mode, where the player is able to instantly kill anyone with a melee attack.
Characters –
Characters are the avatar of players and are what they will look like while playing in the game. A note is that while all characters are visually unique from each other, they are all functionally the same with no real advantages or disadvantages from each other in terms of stats, apart from a few limited-edition characters who are, for example; able to see better through smoke or reduce the visual incapacitating effects of flash bang grenades.
The characters featured in CrossFire are a combination of both real and fictional Special Forces groups. The real groups featured are: The Russian OMON, the LAPD SWAT, the British SAS, the Brazilian BOPE, the German GSG 9, the Korean 707th Special Mission Group, the United Nations Special Forces, and the American Navy SEALs. Each character also has both a Black List and Global Risk variant. Some characters are bought with GP, while some are bought with premium currency. There are special characters found in some modes like the knight.
There are also mutant characters for the Mutation/Hero modes, which unlike regular game characters, each have unique abilities.
Weapons –
CrossFire features weapons based on real-life models, with each weapon belonging to a category. Categories include machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, etc. Each category is functionally similar to their real world counterparts (Ex. Machine guns are heavy, powerful, lay down heavy fire and have long reload times, Submachine guns are lighter and fire faster but deal less damage, Shotguns are effective in close range but ineffective at long distance, etc.)
Weapons often have many variations, including different skins which give them different attributes. In addition, the re-skinned versions are often more rare. There are also some weapons which are different from other weapons like the VIP weapons, which have better functions like faster reload, among others. Certain modes have mode-exclusive weapons.
Game Performance –
CrossFire is the most played online FPS game worldwide, with over 8 million concurrent users and 650 million registered players by 2017, according to developer Smilegate, with the majority of players in Asia, especially China and South Korea. The game had 660 million players worldwide by 2018, and has reached a lifetime total of 1 billion users in 80 countries as of 2020.
In 2013, the game was one of the three most popular video games in China, with a revenue of almost $1 billion. It was the world’s top-grossing game of 2014 at ₩1.5 trillion ($1.3 billion). By 2015, CrossFire had grossed $6.8 billion, making it one of the top five highest-grossing video games of all time, along with Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Street Fighter II and World of Warcraft.
CrossFire grossed $1.1 billion in 2016 and $1.4 billion in 2017, making it one of the three top-grossing PC games for both years, along with League of Legends and Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO). In 2018, CrossFire grossed $1.5 billion, making it one of the year’s five top-grossing video games, along with Fortnite, DFO, League of Legends and Pokémon Go. In total, CrossFire has grossed $10.8 billion in lifetime revenue, as of 2018.
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