Summary
TheBattle Royalegenre appeared in the blink of an eye, and after the record-breaking success ofgames such asFortniteandPUBG,it became the next big thing. In the late 2010s and early 2020s, there was seemingly a new Battle Royale game every month. Each new iteration was looking for a slice of the pie, so to speak.
While many Battle Royale games had some degree of success, the genre as a whole has fallen off a bit now. Mainstays such asPUBG, Warzone, Apex Legendsand, of course,Fortnite,are still extremely popular. Unfortunately, most other games in the genre, even some of themore popular and innovative ones, have failed to have a lasting impact. Here are somepopular Battle Royale games that were fairly successful during the genre’s peak that players and developers alike have now moved on from.
One Of The Trailblazers In The Genre
H1Z1: Battle Royale
Z1 Battle Royale is a Free to Play, fast-paced, action arcade, competitive Battle Royale. Staying true to its “King of the Kill” roots, the game has been revamped and restored to the classic feel, look, and gameplay everyone fell in love with. Play solo, duos, or fives and be the last ones standing.New management is in town and restoring the game to it’s former glory under a new name, Z1 Battle Royale. Since taking over development of the game in September the team here at NantG has worked with a firey passion to bring back the feel that was lost with the Combat Update. Our first major patch since taking over is coming out today March 6th and we couldn’t be more excited for you all to get your hands on it.
H1Z1’sBattle Royale mode was the first popular Battle Royale game made. It predated trailblazers such asPUBGandFortniteby a couple of years. The gamewas solid, but unpolished, and was extremely popular during the genre’s ascendancy. However,H1Z1’sBattle Royale mode failed to meet fan expectations, and it seemed to be constantly plagued by one issue or another.
While the game was still successful, it did fall off as the market got more and more oversaturated. Unfortunately, its main competitors were much more polished, had more frequent updates, and feature different unique selling points that overshadowed this mainstay of the Battle Royale genre.
Warfacewas a fun free to play FPS game which took a fair bit of inspiration from theCall of Dutyfranchise. Overall, it was a fun, low-effort game that was easily accessible for everyone.Warfaceeven had some solid gunplay, and some semblance of customization, and a class system.
As the Battle Royale fever took over the gaming world,Warfaceintroduced its own Battle Royale mode. While it did have some initial buzz, and a decent player base from its other game modes that carried over, its popularity slowly fizzed out. WhileWarfacewas a fun free-to-play FPS game, its Battle Royale mode just didn’t offer anything different enough to make it worth playing over the dozens of alternatives available.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4was a highly-anticipated release. The franchise had hit a bit of a lull, and Treyarch’sBlack Opsseries is widely seen as the pinnacle of theCall of Dutyfranchise. This game brought in aton of changes, the highlight being the newBlackoutmode;Call of Duty’sfirst Battle Royale mode.
Blackout was a solid Battle Royale that filled in the slow, tactical shooter niche in the Battle Royale genre. Moreover, it featured PvE enemy zombies as well as franchise-specific weapons which were fun to play around with. Blackout was a decent game mode, not quite as good asApex Legendsand the like, but pretty close. However, with the short shelf life ofCall of Dutygames, and theimminent release ofWarzone,this game was destined to fizzle out. Essentially acting as the practice run forWarzone,it did its job well.
Battlefield 5was a highly-anticipated game, especially considering what a massive success its predecessor was.Battlefield 1had amazing multiplayer modes, and one of the best single-player experiences in FPS gaming at the time. Sadly,Battlefield 5,whiledelivering in some aspects, had a Battle Royale mode that quickly fell off.
It featured a Battle Royale mode calledFirestormthat was launched post-Battlefield 5release hype, and right at the peak of the Battle Royale genre. At the time, it faced a ton of competition which it couldn’t live up to. While Firestormhad a cool map, some solidBattlefieldguns, and was one of the first games in the genre with a variety of vehicles, it was locked behind a paywall in a mostly free-to-play genre. Moreover, the mode felt like an attempt to capture the Battle Royale hype, and didn’t get the level of support thatFortniteandApex Legendsdid.
Rumbleversewasreleased in 2022, well past the peak of the Battle Royale genre as a whole. In that regard, and considering it wasn’t a huge name in the industry, its success was somewhat surprising.Rumbleversewas a brawler, as well as a Battle Royale, one of the select few focused on melee combat rather than shooting.
While the game had a steep learning curve, it was worth it.Rumbleversehad colorful and vibrant visuals, and a variety of different features, such as melee weapons, potions, and different traversal options. The gamewas well-reviewed and enjoyed some success. However, it never quite took off and faced steep competition fromMultiVersus, more due to their similar names than anything else. This game had a lot of promise. Unfortunately, it failed to capitalize on it and died pretty quickly.
1Realm Royale
One Of The Stand-Outs In The Genre
Realm Royalewas one of the more successful and popular games in the Battle Royale genre. It had a gigantic release with tons of release events and massive viewership on Twitch initially. With its more fantasy-like setting, it stood out from the crowd, be it the crafting system, the unique items, the mounts that could be used for traversal, or the hilarious knock-outs. Instead of players crawling when knocked down, they turn into chickens and flutter about.
Realm Royaleenjoyed popularity for a while, but it fizzled out eventually, and its recent re-releasedid not work out well at all.That was pretty much the final nail in the game’s coffin.
