Ubisoft’s free-to-play battle royaleHyper Scapeis getting a complete overhaul. The news comes just three months after the game’s launch.
Hyper Scapesaw some success when it launched into open beta this past July. Many lauded the game’s unique twists on the established battle royale genre, specifically its integration with Twitch. The feature allows viewers to affect the outcomes of matches, by voting on maps and game-changing modifiers, as well as see real-time stats and loadout information.
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Unfortunately forHyper Scape, overall enthusiasm waned by the time of its official release across PC and consoles. Despite initially high view counts,Fall Guysovershadowed it on Twitch, causing overall viewership to drop. Once the initial shine wore off, it seems, the cracks began to show. While the futuristic shooter introduced a number of fresh ideas into the mix, its lackluster combat undermined the effort.
In a recent blog post, Ubisoft stated that despite initial success,Hyper Scapefell short of player expectations. The post outlines a number of key areas Ubisoft intends to improve upon. First and foremost is the combat. Players found the barrier to entry much too high, and escaping from other players much too easy. In addition, Ubisoft says it will add more game modes and adjust its core Crown Rush mode, give players longer-term objectives to accomplish, and introduce crossplay earlier than planned. By adding crossplay, Ubisoft hopes to alleviate small lobby size issues.
Outside of the game itself, Ubisoft is also making adjustments to its development structure. Citing the success of theRainbow Six: Siegeteam, theHyper Scapeteam will be shifting to a “cell-based format.” Each key area laid out in the post, which Ubisoft refers to as “pillars,” will have its own dedicated development cell. With this format, each cell will have “greater focus and autonomy” when tackling the challenges each pillar presents. Lastly, the team promises to deliver updates more often inHyper Scape’supcoming second season.
Hyper Scapefinds itself in a precarious position. Free-to-play multiplayer games, battle royales in particular, have a very short window in which to make an impression. The market for similar games has grown tremendously in the years following thesuccess ofPUBGandFortnite. Each game competes for players' time and attention; a bad first impression, or a lack of long-term incentive, can spell certain doom. Only time will tell whetherHyper Scapewill right the ship, or otherwise fade into gaming obscurity.
Hyper Scapeis available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One, and is set to be a launch title for PS5 and Xbox Series.
