This week, Respawn Entertainment announced a major change to Apex Legends. The popular Battle Royale game is getting a new mode called Arenas, a complete departure from its free-for-all gameplay. Their team is saying that elimination is still the focus, but there are ambitions to move beyond Battle Royale.
How'd we get here?
While it seems like it is relatively new, the trendsetting Battle Royale genre has been around for four years now. It was initially popularized by PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds in 2017, which introduced the 100 player format that we all now colloquially associate with Epic Games' Fortnite.
Fornite monumental success set the stage for the next four years of multiplayer gaming. Major studios rapidly put together competitive games, like Ubisoft's Hyper Scape, Respawn Entertainment's gold-striking Apex Legends, and even Nintendo turned Super Mario Bros. into an elimination gauntlet.
Is it finally time for the mega popular genre's downfall?
For all the haters, don't get your hopes up just yet. Despite years worth of Redditors saying "Battle Royale games are trash", Battle Royale isn't going anywhere. Gaming trends never actually die - they ebb and flow based upon how quickly a new hot trend comes along. There are a ton of ways the genre will stay fresh, however, it's about to get some serious competition.
What's next
Riot Games made a huge splash last year with Valorant, a competitive first person shooter similar to Counterstrike. Gaming trends also take time to develop, and there's always a delay between a hot new game and studios that try to capitalize on the trend. All eyes are on the first person shooter's coming out this year, but we're looking forward to the next gaming turf war.
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