It didn’t take long into E3 2018 before we got our first Battle Royale announcement, and it was a big one, as Battlefield V developers briefly discussed their new “Royale” mode.
Due to the unprecedented success of games like Fortnite and PUBG, which have seemingly shifted the landscape of gaming in under a year, the battle royale game type is now being recognized as more than just a fad by the big publishers.
Treyarch, developers of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 announced their battle royale mode, named Blackout, back at the game’s reveal event in May.
And as one of its main rivals, many fans were expectant that Battlefield would also enter the space with their own mode, to keep up with the competition.
Battlefield titles are unlike many other first-person shooters however, with its trademark destructibility, vehicles and gunplay, plus regular multiplayer already supports up to 64 players.
So Battlefield’s take on battle royale has a lot of promise if it is executed properly, and the team at DICE have made clear that these unique aspects of Battlefield will all be present in the BR mode.
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Lars Gustavsson, the Creative Director at DICE said that there was “an extremely big push” for BR within the studio, which lead to their decision.
Royale is coming to #Battlefield V, reimagined with the core pillars of destruction, team play, and vehicles. It will be unlike anything you’ve played before, and we’ll have more to talk about later this year.
Watch the EA PLAY #Battlefield V livestream: https://t.co/heygNXz18W pic.twitter.com/eza6YLRarx
— #Battlefield V (@Battlefield) June 9, 2018
They didn’t go into much detail about the new mode during the EA Play conference at E3, simply saying that more information would come later in the year.
Speaking to Gamespot, when asked about Black Ops 4’s rival BR mode, Gustavsson said:
“It’s interesting times. We’re all game developers but also gamers. Looking forward to seeing where it takes us.”
The ‘Royale’ mode in Battlefield V will not be available at launch, but will be released free later in the game’s cycle. Blackout, Call of Duty’s version, is set to be available at launch.