The battle royale genre has proved to be so popular, games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds collectively have millions of concurrent users daily. Their rise has been so meteoric, and allowed Twitch streamers like Dr. Disrespect to reach such historic heights, that it’s easy to forget a good chunk of this craze began with H1Z1. Hell, they hired PlayerUnknown himself to develop their King of the Hill mode.
Now Daybreak, the team behind H1Z1, which started as competition to DayZ, is evolving yet again. From survival game, to battle royale forefather, to a new brand of battle royale: Auto Royale. It’s a new mode that’s launching alongside the move to 1.o as the game leaves early access.
H1Z1 General Manager Anthony Castoro had this to say about the game finally leaving early access and this new shift in the genre they’re introducing:
“In 2016, we did something unheard of — we split a successful game into two products and introduced the world to the first standalone battle royale game. The next year, we created the first battle royale esports league and became the second esport to ever air on broadcast television. This year, we continue to push this young genre forward with the introduction of Auto Royale. Auto Royale doesn’t rinse and repeat what is currently available on the market, it turns the genre on its head with a fresh approach — arcadey, vehicle-only battle royale unlike anything anyone has experienced before.”
Basically, it’s battle royale, but with cars. Simple enough. You’ll have 30 teams of four battling it out until there’s only one car standing. It almost feels like the modern Twisted Metal we’ve been hoping for all these years.
AUTO ROYALE GAME MODE HIGHLIGHTS:
Two New Vehicles: Players can choose from two vehicles in Auto Royale – Sedan or ARV – both new to the game and only available in Auto Royale.
Sedan: Nimble car with faster acceleration and higher jump clearance, allowing skilled drivers to quickly evade enemies.
Armored Recon Vehicle (ARV): Offers more stability, making it easier to drive for new players, but has less turbo fuel efficiency.
New Weapons: The Light Machine Gun (LMG), available only in Auto Royale, deals the most sustained damage of any gun in the game.
New Power Ups: Players pick up evasive, defensive and combat drops to throw opponents off their trail, heal themselves, or deal damage to enemy vehicles.
- Defensive drops include vehicle repair kits, environmental buffs, fire extinguishers, and vehicle armor.
- Evasive power ups include smoke screens, high-octane fuel, turbo boosts, and oil slicks.
- Combative pick-ups include land mines and corrosive smoke.
The most fascinating takeaway from this news? H1Z1 isn’t resting while PUBG and Fortnite jockey back and forth as not only the biggest battle royale game, but the biggest games in the world. With a unique take on the battle royale genre, they can probably scoop up some of those fans that moved on. There’s certainly enough of them to share.
It seems like this is Phase 2 of the battle royale genre as we know it.