Has Apex destroyed any chance of smaller dev BR games being a success?

[Xwing]

Tetris 99 launching at the exact same time as Apex and still being wildly popular proves that if you can have a unique enough take on BR, you can find untapped players to come and play.

I would not be shocked if we saw something like a 2D platforming BR or a Smite style 3rd person action BR gain at least hardcore niche audience success (which is very good for an indie dev) in the next year or two.

As someone else in this thread pointed out, BR may be a trend, but it is a trend much less limiting in gameplay style and format than the trend of MOBA or Character Shooter before it.

As an aside, since Call of Duty has found at least moderate success with Blackout, I will be very interested to see if 343 can come up with a uniquely Halo version of BR for Infinite. Perhaps a much larger scale version of Warzone from Halo 5?

 

[justiceiro]

There is always a audience for good games. It more a matter of small developers knowing how to mantain it's games at a reasonable cost, and generating enough revenue.

 

[Vic_Viper]

I think Apex Legends just proved that if you do something unique enough it can succeed. I dont think the market can handle too many more of these right now though, no matter who puts it out.

 

[Timeaisis]

What? No. I mean it's a joke to count Tetris 99, but it's still kinda true.

 

[nikasun :D]

I gave Elysium a go as its free to play and boy is it rough. I see nothing here that makes it stand out from any other generic BR.

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The snow map was awesome. Shooting and looting just works instantly compared to pubg and they had three different gear items to explore the map. Flying around with the glider or using the snowboard is far from being generic. The new map is okay, the grappling hook is awesome and makes the game fast. Also the fact that you have to get into the helicopter at the end to win is also different.

 

[Deimos]

i don´t wanna know what is happening at Housemarque at the moment...they also developed a Battle Royale game but somehow we heard nothing about it anymore...

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They've had a few betas already and send out emails regularly, but I haven't had time to try it yet. Apex has pretty much killed the tiny amount of interest I had though...

 

[The_Land]

And here we are with Tetris 99.

I think right now you could try making Battle Royale everything and see where that goes, i don't think Apex killed anything.

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Tetris 99 is still "Tetris". It has nothing to do with acquiring better loot and killing people. Doesn't really count.

 

[The_Land]

sorry dp

 

[Poltergust]

After Tetris 99 I'm super curious to see BR-styled games for other genres. I think there's a lot of potential for creativity here.

 

[Aters]

No, it hasn't. People said this before Apex came out and look how it successful it is.

I think there's still room especially for a tactical BR game. None of the current good BR games scratch the tactical itch like PUBG did. PUBG is currently the only tactical game but it's so bad and lacking. Imagine a BR game with R6 Siege, Escape From Tarkov, or Insurgency Sandstorm mechanics. It would be ground breaking.

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I agree. I want a game as tactical as PUBG but less janky. I haven't seen anything like that yet.

 

[Trace]

I think there's some creativity still to be had in the genre, Battlerite Battle Royale just went F2P today and it's an interesting take on the idea.

I don't think there's a lot of room left for "normal" FPS BR games though.

 

[RSTEIN]

Guys. I have an amazing idea.

Battle Royal has been brought to Tetris with great success.

Now, what's another classic game that could benefit from the BR treatment?

Answer: poker! Imagine if instead of just playing with a couple other people you played against HUNDREDS OF OPPONENTS. Every time you "kill" someone you get their chips. Lots of strategy, lots of kills, lots of excitement. In the end it all comes down to TWO people who have ALL THE CHIPS. WOW!

This is...

POKER BATTLE ROYAL

Do you think it will work?

 

[Kaiken]

Nah. Someone needs to create a fun filled first person (or third) Fat Princess battle royal with classes and objectives.

 

[Godzilla24]

Same way starcraft 2 sorta killed rts games. publishers won't bother making more because they will get reviewed compared to starcraft 2. Poor reviews may equal poor sales. Lost investment etc.

 

[Commodore64]

The same trend happened with the MOBA games, where a huge oversaturation of the market started to happen. I hope devs remember this and don't fall for the same trap twice.

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I remember when stealth games were big because of Metal Gear Solid and Splinter Cell so they added it to a Tony Hawk game. Devs have been chasing trends for as long as there been trends.

 

[Dremorak]

pretty soon we'll be able to have a battle royale royale, where 100 people playing different battle royale games try to be the last one left

 

[Yossarian]

Nah. You never know how these things will pan out.

pretty soon we'll be able to have a battle royale royale, where 100 people playing different battle royale games try to be the last one left

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Cut this man a cheque.

 

[hydruxo]

I think there's always a chance of the perfect storm of a BR game with enough polish + a clever idea hitting the mainstream out of nowhere. I'm more so talking about BR games that aren't just traditional shooters though. Like, Spellbreak for example is really cool and I hope it catches on.

 

[DOT_mjo]

I don't think so and I'm not sure why it would? Apex came out of nowhere the same way another BR game can.

 

[Ferrio]

Maybe for FPSes, but there's so much to explore in the BR space. I'm surprised we haven't seen an RTS BR yet. Something like TA/Sup Com would work amazingly.

 

[Dylan]

The Battle Royal genre is still a puppy. It's Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat 1.

The idea that the only valid permutation of the genre includes a diminishing play area seems naive. I think we will see creative iterations on the idea in the relatively near future that will make PUBG/Fortnite/Apex seem relatively primitive.

If anyone ever played Warzone mode in Subspace back in the day, that's a pretty good direction to take it imo.

 

[Crushed]

PUBG is such a technical mess, I find it hard to believe that noone seems to be willing to capitalize and make something more polished. Like you said, all of the major BRs don't really interesect with one another (with the exception of BLOPs and Apex) so I'd expect most of them to survive in the long run.

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Nobody makes a polished PUBG because the companies that would have the resources to polish up a game like that would also need to focus on mass market appeal.

 

[Syranth]

The smart play, as already mentioned, is to expand BR out into non-FPS/TPS genres.

Tetris 99 is hopefully the start of BR coming to every possible genre.

For example, Forza Horizon should 100% have had a BR mode at launch, or have a BR mode implemented in DLC.

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Forget Forza Horizon..... I honestly think the best racing game to bring back for this format is Split Second.

 

[Hailinel]

The genre has reached the point where there's a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Battle Royale arcade game, and we also have Tetris 99. There's still plenty of room for creative exploration of the concept regardless of the longterm health and success of Apex Legends.

 

[Spaltazar]

*hits blunt*
100% orange juice br

 

[J-Skee]

They're lucky that testers are under NDA

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Geez. That's telling.

 

[VeePs]

Pretty sure we saw it when Fortnite fucked PUBG beyond all recognition.

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Joke post?

 

[Arthands]

I actually think it destroy single player games on a whole in the industry. Studios who made single player games will sit up and invest their future effort in battle royale games and lesser effort on single player titles

 

[newmoneytrash]

Tetris 99 is still "Tetris". It has nothing to do with acquiring better loot and killing people. Doesn't really count.

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It absolutely has both of those things

 

[SimpleCRIPPLE]

Yeah, CoD could get away with it this year because PUBG on console is terrible, so Blackout was the main alternative to Fortnite if you wanted something without building. But next fall, a $60 CoD BR is going to be a much harder sell against an established Apex Legends / Fortnite combo.

 

[ghoulie]

Where is fantasy BR and anime BR? We have some room left in the market!

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sign me the hell up for Chivalry BR

 

[Hamster Plugin]

I think Apex and Fortnite are going to kill most paid BR games, except for Call of Duty because that brand is still very strong and also has other multiplayer modes that people want to play.

On PS4 there's the important detail that you don't need PS Plus for F2P games while you do for paid games. That will keep the F2P BRs strong and reduce the chances of someone without Plus trying out a paid one, as they have to pay an extra 60 bucks after the purchase. Would you buy PUBG for 90 dollars?

 

[Cokomon]

Randy Pitchford is lurking scribbling down ideas for his Borderlands Battle Royal

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Notes:

• Characters should be badass. And remind us constantly how badass they are with funny dialog.
• Create Rule 34 subreddit for the characters at launch, not afterwards.
• Funnel money from Sega contract to fund development.
• Copy Apex Legends.

 

[Trisc]

I find Ring Elysium to be a great BR game - I haven't gone back to PUBG since. Haven't played Apex yet.

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My main problem with RoE is that it's loaded for bear with tracking software that is collecting stuff the game absolutely should not and does not need.

Notes:

• Characters should be badass. And remind us constantly how badass they are with funny dialog.
• Create Rule 34 subreddit for the characters at launch, not afterwards.
• Funnel money from Sega contract to fund development.
• Copy Apex Legends.

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Considering Battleborn's competitive multiplayer was a surprisingly entertaining MOBA, I'd be fine seeing what Gearbox can cook up regarding a battle royale, though I wouldn't expect it to be particularly popular unless they did something really wild to get folks interested. Regardless of that, I'd rather have Borderlands 3, anyway.

 

[Marble]

I don't think so. It doesn't even need to be AAA. It's not like you need a team of a 1000 people do make a BR game. It's basically one big map. The most time goes into gameplay and balancing. There's hardly a story element and almost voice acting needed.

 

[Sander VF]

BR is not some transient fad it's a new "metagenre" that can be fused to many different existant genres, sorta similar to "Rougelite".

Tetris 99 demonstrates this very clearly.

Shooters are only the beginning. Any type of game that can facilitate competative play between a large number of players is gonna get in on this shit sooner or later.