The Battle Royale for Battle Royale Games is Here, but Who is Looking Ahead?

Our annual fall shooter gathering is rapidly approaching with both EA and Activision announcing their entry into the battle royale market. It’s going to be really exciting to see what these publishers with deep pockets can do to polish up the genre. However, beyond Battlefield and Call of Duty, gamers can expect developers coming out of the woodwork to showcase their take on this new way of shooting your friends this E3. What we can learn from the mobile gaming market is that when everyone is jumping on a bandwagon to take a piece of the latest trend, in the words of Colin Moriarty (@notaxation) on Twitter, “parallel roads are already littered with corpses, so tread carefully.” The reason Fortnite and PUBG are so popular is that they are truly inventing something new, so I wonder, what’s next?

E3 is a magical time for fans, devs, publishers, and media all the same. My favorite moments are always the interactions with devs who have been in their cave all year trudging through the code of their next big idea gleaming with excitement to be out in the wild and talk about their project to people that really care. Many of the great genre-breaking innovations in gaming over the last five years or so (walking simulators, rogue-likes, VR) were first exposed on the show floor in a conference like E3, Gamescom, or PAX. So while battle royale sits at the forefront of the media conversation, the next big idea will be tucked away in the corner somewhere for a lucky patron to find.

In terms of AAA development, most of the popular teams have shown their cards. However, some of the projects still have much to be revealed before we know what will truly push games forward. We still have much to learn about Red Dead Redemption 2 following IGN’s Daniel Krupa’s preview showcasing Rockstar’s vision for the sequel. Rob Nelson, co-studio head of Rockstar North, details their direction for creating something new by giving NPC’s a more meaningful contribution to the world whether you’re present or not and balancing realism with fun. The open-world genre as a whole is now incredibly established so Rockstar will have to dig deep to freshen it up. Housemarque, after pronouncing the arcade genre forever dead, muttered a bit of info on their next offering, “Stormdivers,” promising a “high flying and heavy hitting, multiplayer centric experience”. They have consistently marched to the beat of their own drum, so it’s likely we will get something new and special. A top down, twin-stick shooting, battle royale or MMO game could either be the worst idea ever, or best.

What’s important is innovation. Grand Theft Auto 5 didn’t become the greatest selling entertainment title of all time by creating the same online world that every other MMO had. No, they added funky driving games, cinematic heists, and zany promotions like 4/20 weed bonuses. With trends come copycat developers looking to make a quick buck and that doesn’t help anyone. Look at the Marvel cinematic universe. Now everyone and their mom wants a universe. DC has been struggling for the last few years trying to follow suit and are just popping movies out before they can get a cohesive vision together…in my humble opinion, of course. Maybe it would have been cool if they said, “we don’t need a universe, lets put together several miniseries showcasing various visions.” In fine art, people glorify to artist who defined a genre like Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, etc. Disney was put on the map, creating the first full length feature cartoon with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Currently our games are being plagued with forced online cooperation modes and ongoing service orientated structures remodeling many of the franchises we’ve held so dear over the past decade. BioWare’s next Dragon Age will be modeled as a service. Mass Effect: Andromeda tried to set itself up to be an open ended universe with potential for unlimited sequels destroying its soul in the process (we know how that story ended). Shadow of War basically made a more open-ended version of its predecessor to make room for microtransactions. And I can only imagine that Star Wars single player games are in development hell because someone is trying to tell a story through forced service-based structure being demanded from the publishers flipping the bill.

Don’t get me wrong, I think some developers are doing amazing things with MMO’s, GaaS, and Battle Royale, and every genre has its audience. Look at Destiny, The Division, Fortnite, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Monster Hunter, Sea of Thieves (which still needs some work), and the list goes on. Everything these games have in common is that they are all attempting to elevate their genre and bring something new and exciting to the table. Also, Playstation is doing God’s work with their single player, narrative driven content, but that’s for another story. Until then, keep your eye out this E3 for the next Picasso.