Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is an interesting case, mixing the winner-take-all style of a battle royale with colorful obstacle courses reminiscent of game shows like Wipeout. When Fall Guys was given a PS4 and Steam release date during Devolver Digital's showcase this month, it stood out as one of the more bizarre offerings. However, it has since proven its potential to stand among the greats by achieving a high viewership during its 48-hour beta this weekend.
The beta began at 5:00 p.m. July 24 in the UK, and just seven hours later it was the most viewed game on Twitch — only beat out in overall viewership by the site's "Just Chatting" option. Fall Guys' official Twitter account posted about the "glorious" accomplishment when "we were on top of the world," beating out the runner-up title Grand Theft Auto 5 by just 3,000 viewers at the time the page was screenshotted.
Mediatonic's "massively multiplayer party game" was also ahead of juggernauts such as League of Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Fortnite during its beta period. That success caught the attention of Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who congratulated the Fall Guys team. In response, the Fall Guys Twitter account asked if it would be possible to get one of its costumes into Fortnite, a crossover which would not be unprecedented given pre-ordering Fall Guys comes with Half-Life content on Steam.
While there is something to be said about a newer experience drawing more attention when it first makes the rounds, Fall Guys also has a lot going for it in terms of a cute art style with tons of customization options, as well as silly physics-based gameplay reminiscent of titles like Curve Digital's Human: Fall Flat. Despite their overabundance in the market right now, especially as titles like Ubisoft's Hyper Scape prepare to come out, battle royales are still incredibly popular.
Fall Guys is not the only game shown off during Devolver Digital's showcase this month. Other games like Shadow Warrior 3 drew a lot of attention, and Devolver themselves created a Doom-style game called Devolverland Expo so players could explore announcements on their own.
While Fall Guys is an odd game coming from a studio with an eclectic history, including Gears POP! and Hatoful Boyfriend, it is clearly primed for success. Fortnite fans are waiting on a delayed car update, so now is as good a time as ever for another colorful battle royale to soak up some of the spotlight.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout launches on August 4 on PC and PS4.
Sources: Mediatonic Games, Steam