Battlerite launched last year on Steam as a free-to-play, team-fight focused MOBA. This year Stunlock Studios announced a new spin-off game called Battlerite Royale. It’s inspired by – you guessed it – the incredibly popular Battle Royale genre of games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
You can sign up for the Closed Beta on the official website. The beta will begin in September, and it’s set to launch on Steam Early Access later that month.
Battlerite Royale was originally announced as a game mode earlier this summer. Due to player feedback, the developers have decided to transform it into a stand-alone game, separate from the original arena brawler.
“As we continued to develop Battlerite Royale we saw more and more potential in it with every passing day, but we also noticed the difficulties with keeping Royale in the same frame as a Team Arena Brawler,” states the official blog post. “With the constraints from Arena limiting us and after seeing the huge reaction from Battlerite Royale’s announcement, we made the decision to protect the integrity of both experiences and create a new game instead of a new game mode.”
An entirely separate game leads to a new interface, matchmaking, and revamped Champion kits and abilities. Major balance chances had to be made, including increasing lethality to keep matches moving briskly.
The blog post assures existing Battlerite players that the core arena experience will continue to be supported and updated alongside the Royale game. Next month will see the launch of three new Royale-inspired maps for Battlerite, for example. Existing players will also net some rewards, as anything earned in the Battlerite base game will transfer to the new Royale game.
The closed beta will begin next month, with an Early Access launch to follow soon. Battlerite has not been officially rated, but features cartoon violence similar to Fortnite.
