The Battle Royale game mode has been one of Twitch’s top streaming categories for well over five years now. Streamers like Ninja, TimTheTatman, and CourageJD launched their careers to new heights when Fortnite released in 2017. Fortnite launched in a time where Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto V were still dominating the multiplayer landscape. This new battle royale was simple with mechanics and offered a unique building feature that allowed players to create, cover and gain high ground on their enemies. The game instantly became a massive hit and word of this new game spread worldwide. Celebrities like Drake and Travis Scott played with Ninja live on twitch and brought over 600,000 viewers at one point. In its first two years Fortnite generated over 9 billion dollars. Battle royale’s popularity caused other game developers to try and implement the game mode into theirs, beginning with Call of Duty.
The Battle Royale mode essentially is a large hunger games with lobbies averaging between 100 and 150 players. Games usually offer modes featuring solo, duo, three-man, and four player squads. An outer boundary, often called the storm, will slowly surround the map and begin to close around players as the game goes on. Games tend to last about twenty minutes or more so it’s up to you and your squad members to loot up and defend yourselves until you’re the last group standing. The games can get pretty intense and every Battle Royale has a unique set of weapons that can be arranged by level. Gold and Purple colored weapons are usually legendary or epic, while Green and Blue colored are often common or uncommon. The colored looting system I believe originated in Fortnite, but it was Call of Duty who introduced us to custom classes in their launch of Warzone.
Warzone was Call of Duty’s second response to try and compete with the popularity of Fortnite. Originally they had launched Black Out with the release of Black Ops IV and although it wasn’t very successful, it helped developers improve designs and gameplay for creation of Warzone. Launched at the beginning of Covid-19 Warzone quickly became popular for everyone in quarantine because it featured the classic first person shooter in a new exciting game mode. Bringing in over 6 million players opening night, Call of Duty now had something to compete with Fortnite.
Hunt:Showdown took a unique approach to the battle royale scene. Instead of roaming the battlefield slaying enemy players, Hunt introduces zombie-like characters and boss monsters that drop you special bounties that give away your location on the map. So be sure to plan your escape beforehand and be quick about it. Throughout the playthrough of this game you are expected to kill other players as well as enemy AI. The interesting thing about it is you are also encouraged to work with enemy players to defeat the boss for that round. So the decision is up to you whether you want to Lone Wolf it or you can hop on with some buddies and cruise through the competition. Join me this Sunday at 7. Happy hunting.
