2018 is the year of the Battle Royale genre. With Fortnite being the biggest game in the world and PUBG dominating player counts on Steam, it was only a matter of time before other developers jumped on this hot trend.
First, we heard about the AAA studios in DICE and Treyarch each announcing their upcoming titles (Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4) will each have a Battle Royale mode. But, they weren’t the only titles announced that are looking to take the genre crown. Let’s get you guys caught up.
Mavericks Proving Grounds
First title up is “Mavericks Proving Grounds.” Mavericks isn’t a newly announced title per say, at E3 was the first time we got to see some gameplay within the newly released trailer. And, it looks promising!
If you haven’t heard of Mavericks before, it is a 1000-player Battle Royale that differs from its competitors in scale. Mavericks will have a 16x16KM map, will feature full destruction, wildlife, and the ability to track down other players by following in their footsteps they leave behind in the terrain. Mavericks will be launching in Early Access in August of this year.
Islands of Nyne
The second title is “Islands of Nyne,” which also like Mavericks is not a newly announced title. In fact, it’s actually been playable in an Alpha state for the past few months of this year.
ION differs from its competitors by being based in the far future, being smaller in scale and having more fast-paced gameplay. The title will officially release on Steam in Early Access sometime in Q2 2018.
Now, everything I just stated above relates to the PC version of ION, and surprisingly enough it looks like ION is coming to Xbox as well. In a blink and you miss it moment at the Xbox E3 conference, Microsoft showed a trailer for all their upcoming indie titles. During this trailer at the 1:35 mark they show that “Island of the Nyne” is coming to Xbox through the ID@Xbox program.
No release date or any other news have been released since the reveal, so I would not be expecting to see it on Xbox anytime soon.
So, do these future Battle Royale titles excite you? Or do you think the genre is becoming oversaturated? Maybe it’s not your thing at all! Let me know in the comments below.