The actually dead battle royale title The Culling from 2016 has been revived several times. Now the developers are really going for it, releasing their game again and allowing players to play only one free match per day.
What’s happening: Xaviant Games, the developers of the battle royale shooter The Culling or The Culling 2, have now announced that they will bring their actually dead game back to life on May 14th – for the third time already. First only for Xbox One and later for PC.
But that’s not all. The developers are additionally planning a strange payment model. Players will still have to purchase the title if they do not already own the first part. However, they are still only allowed to play 1 match per day. For additional matches, players must…
- win a match to receive an online token that can be redeemed to play another match
- buy online tokens (3 tokens = €0.99, 10 tokens = €2.99, and 20 tokens = €4.99)
- purchase an online pass to play unlimited matches. It costs €1.99 for 7 days and €5.99 for 30 days
Players who want to spend as little money as possible can only play 1 free match per day and then have to wait. A strange concept to attract many players.
What is The Culling: The battle royale title with survival aspects from 2016 aimed to capitalize on the survival BR hype to position itself at the top. With a strong focus on intense fights in small arenas for 16 players and many melee weapons, as well as a humorous tone, The Culling aimed to stand out. And it did.
In the first weeks, there were thousands of players online, and the peak was over 12,000 (via Steamcharts). However, that changed quickly, and development was halted, to subsequently produce The Culling 2.
That was the problem: The Culling 2 omitted the elements that made the first part stand out. Instead, the part felt like a cheap copy of PUBG and H1Z1. The community didn’t like this either, and the title still has a Steam rating of 16%.
The developers then released The Culling Origins the first part as a free-to-play version again, only to pull it back after half a year. Now the first part is coming back for the third time, not as a free-to-play version, but as buy-to-play including the aforementioned questionable payment model.
What the developer says: Xaviant stands by the decision, they say themselves: “We have changed our monetization approach to ensure that players can visit The Culling in the coming years.” However, the community thinks differently.
What the community says: While there may be a few players who would like to play the first part again, the payment model is rightly viewed very critically.
- reddit user and The Culling subreddit mod 7heJoker says: “The payment model is ridiculous. Consider this my resignation. I can’t support such a greedy company.”
- reddit user camerynlamare is not thrilled either: “Yeahhhh. This will die instantly. There’s no way they’ll attract enough new players with a pay-to-play system. At least I get a few weeks with the game.”
- reddit user The4thTriumvir wishes for the old game back, even in early access: “With such a pay-to-play system, this game is dead at launch. RIP. It’s sad because I am also an Origins PC player and oh, how I wish for the glorious days again – early access. When will we ever hear that phrase? lol”
How long the battle royale title will last this time is questionable. If you’re interested in battle royale, you better check our genre list of BR titles.
