Xaviant Games announces a closed beta for The Culling, which aims to recreate the last man standing tournaments from Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.

Last Week, Atlanta-based developer Xaviant Games stepped forth from the shadows to announce The Culling, an ambitious title which aims to recreate the fatal tournament vibe that movies like Battle Royale and The Hunger Games brought to popularity. The initial trailer for The Culling showed plenty of potential, and showed off what looked to be a spacious island map with plenty of room for ambushes.

In any event, the video certainly got plenty of attention for The Culling, which pits a group of up to 16 contestants on a remote island and simply lets them fight to the death. Players will have a limited time to set forth, find weapons, create traps, and hunt down other players until they're the last one left standing. There have been plenty of modifications and expansions for games that attempt to replicate this idea, but in recent times this title appears to be the only one built for this from the ground up.

Today, Xaviant Games has announced that the studio will be accepting applications for a closed beta, so those interest in joining the 'battle royale' can do so by registering on their Google Form here.

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This isn't the first game to attempt to incorporate a Hungers Games-feel with a crafting system, and it's something that ARK: Survival Evolved has incorporated within the last year. Whether The Culling can get enough support and dominate the burgeoning 'Battle Royale' demographic is anyone's guess, but the title certainly looks like something that could be a huge multiplayer hit.

It'll be interesting to see how alliances pan out in The Culling, as betrayal looks like it will be the name of the game. Only one person can win in the end, so those who team up in the beginning with friends will have to keep looking over their shoulder, because at some point teams will have to disband - and not everyone will be honorable about it.

This isn't the only beta coming up this month for a title slated for March 8th, so it looks like curious gamers will have plenty of options on their hands if they're interested in trying out games before making their purchasing decisions. The Culling clocks in at a quite reasonable $14.99, and will feature a 10% discount for its first week on Steam Early Access.

What do you think about The Culling, Ranters? Do you think it has a chance to stand out from the rest of the Steam early access games?

The Culling will release on March 8th on PC.