The arena brawler Battlerite will be transformed from a Buy2Play title to Free2Play in November. Additionally, the roadmap for the upcoming year 2017 has been presented. Is the change in the business model a cause for concern?
Battlerite, the unofficial successor to Bloodline Champions, is a fun and fast-paced arena brawler. So a MOBA that focuses solely on team fights, skill shots, and duels in an ever-shrinking arena. The game from the Swedish indie studio Stunlock launched in September 2016 with a massive success on Steam and quickly reached number 1 on the Steam sales charts.
At that time, you had to purchase Battlerite as an early access version. However, in November the game should become Free2Play.
Battlerite – Is Free2Play a bad sign?
For many games, switching to a Free2Play model has been the beginning of the end. A method to try to save a dying game by making it accessible for free to many players, only to then charge them heavily. Is Battlerite going down the same path?
First of all, Free2Play is not a surprise for those familiar with the game. Already at the early access launch in 2016, the developers announced that Battlerite would be a Free2Play game on launch. On the other hand, player numbers have noticeably declined. According to Steam charts, Battlerite reached its peak in December 2016 with over 16,000 players.
In August 2017, the record was just a maximum of 2,500 players. In September, the numbers have slightly recovered, with a maximum of 4,345 gamers so far. A Free2Play launch could indeed bring fresh wind!
Battlerite – The roadmap for 2017 and 2018 – Xbox One launch next year!
In addition to the Free2Play launch, the developers have other goals. After some players reported that not much new content had come to Battlerite for a long time, it seems they are now ramping up:
- September: Battlerite will be free to play from September 25 to October 1. You can try the game at your leisure and decide whether you want to buy it to get all champions when it becomes free2play. During this time, Battlerite will also be 50 percent cheaper, costing only 9.98 Euros.
- October: Battlerite will receive a system in which you can pre-set your Battlerites – useful buffs that you receive each round from which you can only choose a selection. Additionally, new Battlerites and revisions of the old versions will be introduced. Also, a new UI and a new game mode, which is still unknown, will be added.
- November: The Free2Play launch will occur on November 8. As a free player, you will get a selection of easy-to-play heroes, but you can purchase new ones with real money or in-game currency. There will also be a new hero, additional items, an AFK penalty system, and additional music. Later in the month, there will be an event with dinosaurs.
- December: Here, you can expect a winter event with a new champion and special ice chests.
- 2018: Next year, Battlerite will have a tournament system, a new HUD, clans, three new champions in the first quarter, new maps, additional game modes, an event for the Chinese New Year, and finally the launch on Xbox One!
The announced updates have meanwhile delighted many Battlerite players. For a long time, there wasn’t much content, but now many wishes are coming true.
If you want to know how the game plays: Here is my report on the arena brawler Battlerite!
