The 2021 Game Awards were packed with exciting reveals this year. While Nintendo was notably absent, many of the other game industry leaders were present with exciting games and even the occasional film. PC game store proprietor, Unreal Engine developer, and Fortnite creator Epic Games showed up as expected with a trailer for Fortnite’s new Chapter 3, and the announcement that it had secured Final Fantasy 7 Remake as a PC exclusive on its storefront. Even Fall Guys showed up with some Disney-crossover outfits, which is nothing to sneeze at. While Epic’s presence was subtle, it was undoubtedly a good showing for it.
However, there was one other Epic-aligned announcement at the Game Awards that slipped past most viewers. Not content with Fortnite and Fall Guys, Epic Games has funded another battle royale project. The market for them is getting fairly saturated by this point, so that alone is not something that will turn many heads. Or rather, a normal battle royale wouldn’t turn heads. What Iron Galaxy is bringing to the table with the upcoming Rumbleverse is far from normal, and the game is set to make waves as big as its sky-high piledrivers.
Rumbleverse is the First True Fusion of Fighting Games and Battle Royale
In the past few years, many have tried to jump on the back of the culture-shaping popularity of battle royales, and some have tried to do it differently. Fall Guys is the most notable title to break away from its association with first and third-person shooters, using party and physics elements instead. Some other titles have gone the melee-focused approach like Naraka: Bladepoint and Shadow Arena, but none of them have fully embraced the trappings of the 3D fighting genre. Rumbleverse is the first to advertise itself as such, and it is undeniably equal parts a fighting game and a battle royale.
As seen in beta footage, forty players skydive into a large city to duke it out. The walls gradually close in as the match continues, pushing players together until there is only one left. Players start on the same playing field, with the same pool of attacks, stats, and mechanics. Striking, dodging, shielding, grabbing, a super mode, and even parkour reminiscent of Prototype are all standardized.
The game will be free-to-play and monetized primarily through battlepasses, like Fortnite. Where the fighting and BR mechanics truly merge is in the pick-ups; players can find and imbibe up to ten stat-increasing potions per match, and can find weapons and special moves lying around. This keeps the action fresh without robbing Rumbleverse of the stable core a competitive game needs.
A New Genre of Battle Royales Could Spring From Rumbleverse
Rumbleverse isn’t just notable for the rare breed it is, but also what it represents and what it can do. Killer Instinct (2013) developer Iron Galaxy has managed to combine one of the most successful esports genres with one of the least. For as much as fighting and puzzle games have done for modern competitive gaming, they failed to adapt to the changing landscape and were left behind. Tetris has been clawing its way back to relevance with a battle royale of its own, and it’s high time that fighting games do the same. It’s ironic that the fighting side of Rumbleverse is an arena fighter, a controversial subgenre due to its high volume of licensed games, but it’s what works best with the battle royale format.
This project could bring together communities that never would have touched, and help feed more lifeblood into the fighting game community. The FGC has already shown much interest in it, with household names like Justin Wong and UltraDavid praising the beta. Rumbleverse could join Riot’s Project L fighter as a critical moment where a new fighting game is able to break into the mainstream and stay there. With Epic’s backing and Iron Galaxy’s talent, Rumbleverse could have a long future ahead of it. Here’s to hoping that Epic is able to spread the word about this game in the coming months, and that the final product delivers.
Rumbleverse launches in 2022 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Early Access begins on February 8th.