Battle Royale games are the topic of the moment. Since the enormous success of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds the Battle Royale genre is more popular than ever. But what makes games like PUBG, Fortnite: Battle Royale, and H1Z1: King of the Kill so appealing?
The “Battle Royale” genre refers to games where a large number of players, usually 100 or more, are unarmed and placed in a large area.
There, they must fight mercilessly for survival. Various weapons and equipment like axes, knives, pistols, shotguns, and sniper rifles can be found. Whoever survives as an individual player or team at the end—depending on the game mode—wins.
Battle Royale? Wasn’t there something on television?
The idea for this type of game originally comes from the novel “Battle Royale” from Japan. The novel was later filmed in a bloody and successful manner.
In Battle Royale, the brutally selective school system of Japan is exaggerated into a fight for life and death. While in real life, students compete for study placements and career positions, the school trip is about survival.
Here, losers are not dropped in the race for top jobs but slaughtered. Students fight for bare survival as part of an inhumane government program.
The also popular book series “The Hunger Games” (German: “Die Tribute von Panem”) deals with a similar theme. There, selected candidates murder each other in a media-effective way on a deserted island to eventually organize food packages for their starving homeland.
The PUBG victory phrase “Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner” is to be taken literally.
Why is Battle Royale so cool as a game genre?
What works well on screen or in book form can celebrate huge success as a game principle in 2017.
But this didn’t happen overnight; it’s a niche trend in gaming that has built up over years. The whole fun started with modder Brendan Greene, better known as “PlayerUnknown.” He wrote Battle Royale mods for the military shooters Arma 2 and Arma 3.
Now, Greene is successfully developing the PUBG named after him for the Korean company Bluehole. But the competition is not sleeping. The recently launched Fortnite: Battle Royale also wants a piece of the pie.
But why is it so much fun to kill each other on an island? What is the secret of success for PUBG & Co.?
Battle Royale games are extremely exciting!
The beginning and the end of a typical round in PUBG or H1Z1 are unmatched in excitement.
At the beginning, you are placed almost naked. Already when parachuting, you see your fellow players and enemies ominously gliding down. You are safe for now, but once your feet hit the ground, the slaughter begins, and everyone is fair game!
Now it’s a race to find a weapon as quickly as possible, or you can only desperately swing your fists while your opponent may have gotten a 9mm or a shotgun and blows you away with a mocking laugh. That’s it for the Chicken Dinner!
It gets even more extreme at the end of a round. As is usual in Battle Royale games, the playfield gets smaller and tighter as the game progresses. In the end, the last players are packed in a small space, usually heavily armed and ready for anything!
Whoever keeps their nerves here and systematically or with a lot of luck takes out the enemy has truly earned the Chicken Dinner!
Battle Royale games write their own stories!
The game design of a typical Battle Royale game like PUBG or H1Z1 is quite simple. There is no story, no NPCs, no major interaction opportunities with the game world. It is simply about killing each other.
Therefore, every form of narration and drama comes from the players. This is “emergent gameplay“, which usually occurs in complex sandbox games like Eve Online. Hence, PUBG is rich in absurd and often hilariously funny situations and events:
- Two players jump heroically with a motorcycle over a ramp into a well-fortified building and kill the surprised defenders.
- A player somehow manages to bug a car into a tight bunker and runs over the helpless defenders mercilessly.
- Two players hide in an overturned car and shoot from there, taking out a lot of enemies who would never think to check there.
- A player’s team falls victim to a large horde of similarly dressed players. He then disguises himself as one of them, infiltrates the horde and waits for the right moment to blow them all up in revenge!
- The last two players in a round decide to settle the final duel for the Chicken Dinner with a fistfight among gentlemen.
- A horde of players decides to instead of the regular game, to rather play a round of car racing. Of course, with weapons!
Battle Royale games are perfect for streamers!
Games that can be streamed well on Twitch and Co. clearly have an advantage in today’s gaming landscape, and the Battle Royale genre is ideally suited for this. PUBG, in particular, became famous primarily through streamers and thus achieved remarkable success.
A typical Battle Royale round usually consists of nerve-wracking action and plenty of downtime in between. Just this time can be optimally bridged by a streamer, making jokes or telling anecdotes. Then, when something exciting happens again, you can entertain the viewers with your shooting skills (or your spectacular failures).
Battle Royale games are ideal for team players!
In a Battle Royale game, you don’t always have to compete as a lone fighter. There are often modes for teams, usually as duos or 4-player squads. In a team, games like PUBG or Fortnite are even more fun!
The gaming experience fundamentally changes then. Where before you carelessly picked up everything and all players were at odds with each other, now it’s about acting and planning as a team.
Therefore, you must distribute your equipment meaningfully and apply strategy and tactics if you want to get the Chicken Dinner. Those who run around aimlessly and grab everything will mercilessly perish.
Jürgen’s conclusion: That’s why I love Battle Royale!
Ever since I saw the notorious Battle Royale film, I have been a huge fan of the genre.
The idea of being alone somewhere and having to fight for survival is something deeply disturbing yet fascinating. Therefore, games like PUBG strike a chord with me when I’m quickly gliding toward the ground right after the start and already see my future enemies landing around me.
The thrill in the first minutes is hard to describe and is one of the highlights of my gaming experience so far. A regular shooter deathmatch like in Paladins or Call of Duty never comes close. In a team, this constant panic is somewhat alleviated by the comrades present, but there’s the indescribable feeling of being part of a cool killer crew.
So, in my opinion, there can never be enough Battle Royale games as long as each brings its own flair to the genre. For example, Fortnite with its destructible environment, faster pace, or buildable structures. And competition is said to enrich business.
Dennis Zühlke says: Battle Royale is currently hitting the zeitgeist.
I love it when hundreds of players fight for bare survival. And when only a handful of people are left – Wow, what a feeling!
I am currently into PUBG and have been playing it consistently since I bought it. Although you die often, when you do become a winner, PUBG rewards you with a fantastic feeling of achievement. I also don’t mind that several developers are hopping on the bandwagon. The main thing is they bring their own elements to the game.
What do you think about Battle Royale games? Are you also excited or do you find the game principle tiring and dull?
Don’t miss our hands-on article on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds or Fortnite: Battle Royale!
