Battle Royale Game Analysis

Is the Battle Royale Genre the Next eSports Frontier?

Summary

The battle royale genre has taken the gaming world by storm. With that said, would it be something we will see in the eSports circuits? Let’s see what the future holds:
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ESports has gained a worldwide following, and it being part of the Olympics is being discussed. Although we might not see eSports players winning gold medals for their, the pool of potential games and events is rapidly increasing. First-person shooters and MOBAs are already a staple, and with that in mind, will we see battle royale games in eSports in the future?

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Battle royals
You could simply gather the best 500 players on the planet and have them play a game each. The top 20 of each game would go to the finals, comprising the top 100. The winner of the finals will be then crowned the champion.

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However, there are certain considerations you would need to keep in mind. The most notable would be if the overall format is enough to decide who the best battle royale player in the planet is. What if the fan favorite somehow was unlucky enough to drop in an area where countless other players are and managed to get himself killed early on? On the contrary, what if the champion simply won through sheer luck?

It would not be farfetched to presume that some fans will end up being disgruntled by the overall results of future competitions. You see, the the battle royale genre is a clash of gaming styles. Campers and those who avoid confrontation are usually the ones who survive until the smallest, while those who seek fights are the best-equipped, thanks to them picking up enemy loot. Imagine a camper with zero kills winning top honors against someone who notched a dozen. The outrage would be huge.

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Epic Games and Bluehole are still refining both before they can be fully released into the pipelines. Regardless though, you can say that they are highly successful titles, and with success comes opportunity. Some triple A developers would certainly want to cash in on the genre’s popularity, and they may probably create a BR game that would be a perfect eSports event.

One good example of a triple A title that would be a fantastic BR game is Metal Gear. The next installment, Metal Gear Survive, is coming in 2018 and is an online action-survival game. Though it’s more like a Metal Gear with zombies, its overall feel shouts “battle royale”. Apart from which, a Hunger Games-inspired title would be a fantastic addition into the genre. A first-person title, called Islands of Nyne, is in the alpha stage.

Overall, the potential for battle royale titles added into eSports events is massive, and we might see them come into the fray in the future. However, we will have to wait until Fortnite and PUBG to become fully-furnished before we can see them being played on the big stage. The future for the genre is bright, and eSports can make it shine