Imagine if McDonalds’ only competition was Wendy’s and there was no other fast food restaurant out there. Imagine if Playstation only had competition from Microsoft and did not have to worry about other platforms existing. What if the Mars bar only had to worry about the Snickers bar? Do you see where I am going with this?
The videogame genre Battle Royale has taken the world by storm with titles like Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite. These are the only two popular titles on the market that own the Battle Royale genre title. Yes, H1Z1’s King of the Kill exists but let’s be real for a second: it doesn’t matter. The problem we see right now is that there are only two big contenders for the Battle Royale title. Fortnite has seemingly pulled away from PUBG and has taken over Twitch, YouTube and every mobile phone around the world.
I have heard so many people talk about the annoyance of Battle Royale games but in all honesty where are they all? They say, “please no, not another Battle Royale game”, when in all honesty there isn’t much out there just yet. The only way you can improve yourself is by having steady competition from multiple sources. Things improve by being pushed and challenged. This is why more games with the Battle Royale genre tag need to be released.
Radical Heights, developed by Boss Key Productions (Lawbreakers), could very well be the next contender. Hold your hatred for a second and listen to me. Radical Heights is taking a risk by being free-to-play and releasing as SUPER early access. Look at the game because it doesn’t look great visually. The reason this game might stand a chance is because they are taking what Fortnite was so good at (simple inventory management, cute aesthetics, fun kills, etc.) and adding their own little flare to it with a money management system that reminds me of Escape from Tarkov. You collect money, deposit some of the money over a period of time into ATMs, and if you survive until the end you get to keep all the money. You can then spend the money on weapons and aesthetics but you can also lose the money just as fast by being killed. There is no base-building either, which can be a good thing for people who did not see that as something that helped them.
Do you see what I am trying to say? Adding more games to an existing genre that is crazy popular can only heighten the genre even more. We can’t just have one or two games take over an entire genre. We need a lot to discover what works and what doesn’t. We need to use everyone’s imagination and develop great games. We all want great games. The competition of having lots and lots of games under the same genre brings us new mechanics, new art styles, new rules, and new foundations.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Fortnite. I equally love what PUBG is doing. The problem stems from these games becoming stale over a period of time if they don’t continue to develop exciting new elements in their games. They can’t just copy each other. They need to see what other developers are doing to help them advance their product to the next level. That is why new developers need to take the risk and make Battle Royale games while the genre is this hot. Everyone ready? Bring on the titles!
