MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries officially lands on Steam, GOG, and Xbox consoles this month. The announcement of new platforms for the 2019 title is accompanied by a trailer, showcasing the long-running series' signature large-scale explosive action.
While developer Piranha Games originally planned to launch DLC for MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries last fall, the launch of CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 caused its release to get pushed back to spring 2021. The game's arrival on Xbox consoles marks the end of a 17-year drought, with the last available title being 2004's MechAssault 2.
The MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries trailer is filled with what most MechWarrior fans expect: massive intimidating Mechs, gunfire, rockets, flamethrowers, lasers, explosions, and destruction. Viewers see a wide variety of Mechs, weapons, and environments, all of which appear to be completely destructible. The game releases the same day as its Year One update and the Heroes of the Inner Sphere DLC, adding a massive amount of content to the game. While the update adds crossplay and makes some gameplay and UI improvements, the Heroes of the Inner Sphere DLC includes an all-new Career Mode, Mechs, missions, weapons, equipment, and more for $19.99.
Many console gamers may not have been aware of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, or may have not had the means to access it. This is because the title was an Epic Games Store exclusive, one of several higher-profile games to be held by the distributor. The platform has sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into exclusivity deals over the past few years, a practice that CEO Tim Sweeney admitted has made the Epic Games Store not currently profitable. Hopefully the multi-platform release of the updated game will be enough for the franchise to be successful.
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries launches May 27 for PC via Steam and GOG, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: MechWarrior 5