April Fools brings with it much laughter and skepticism for the gaming industry, as tech giants and publishers poke fun at themselves and different aspects of gaming culture, such as the Final Fantasy 14 Go reveal. Most of the time, these ideas are only concepts meant to be enjoyed briefly, giving headaches to people who are left wondering "what if?" In the case of Path of Exile, however, players won't be left wondering, as the developers unveil a brand new Battle Royale mode for a limited time.

Announced yesterday, Grinding Gear Games revealed a trailer and outlined the steps a PC player can take to experience Royale in an action-RPG setting. To begin, simply download the update from the Steam client, and the game will rename itself to Path of Exile: Royale. While some elements remain the same in the Battle Royale version - players still choose a class and play from a top down perspective - this new mode introduces staples from the Battle Royale genre, such as a 100 player free-for-all and a shrinking circle. The update even includes a Rhoa Dinner (similar to PUBG's Chicken Dinner) for the victor to display in their hideout.

The Royale event distinguishes itself from Fortnite and PUBG in that players will be still be battling against hordes of enemies apart from other people. This is a change of pace for Path of Exile, which has largely featured PVE as the focus of its multiplayer, not PVP. The introduction of this new mode might be a test to gauge how PVP fares in this setting. In the original announcement, developers said this update comes as a result of community feedback. What if that's not true? Depending on the outcome and popularity of this event, the Royale mode might be here to stay.

The reveal of this new mode comes as a surprise but not without merit. With talks of Fortnite potentially bringing trouble to other companies, and players asking publishers if the mode will come to other games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, it's interesting to see how different developers are noticing the popularity of the game mode, and attempting to gauge the impact it would have on their own genres. For now, it seems Royale could be outgrowing the FPS roots it began with.

Path of Exile is available now for PC and Xbox One.

Source: Grinding Gear Games