In the golden era of battle royale games, it would be slightly absurd of us to not bring Realm Royale into the conversation. Still considering that it’s still in its early access stage, Hi-Rez Studio’s Real Royale is a cool free-to-play third-person shooter battle royale game set in a cool fantasy world with horses and guns. The game definitely applies the PUBG formula very effectively to its own.
There is certainly a unique charm to this game and many are considering joining the early access bandwagon if they haven’t already, especially since there is no cost involved. So what exactly can you expect from Realm Royale and how does the game’s mechanism work? We’ve got all the answers to your question in this article.
What is Realm Royale?
If you are a fan of Paladins and SMITE, then you will be happy to know that Realm Royale is also being brought to you from the same developers, Hi-Rez Studio. In fact, Realm Royale is a spin-off of the hero shooter Paladins and has been derived directly from the Paladin: Battlegrounds. The game offers five classes, seventeen weapons, and twenty-five abilities that players can experience.
Since it’s a battle royale game, it should not come as a surprise that players will drop into a massive fantasy-inspired map as part of a hundred player battle royale setting with the natural conclusion of last-man-standing. The terrain is surrounded by a Fog that contracts every few minutes to squeeze the players tighter together towards the center. You will have to survive till the end and take down others till your squad is the only one that’s left alive.
Another unique aspect of the game is that when you kill an opponent, they don’t just die. Instead, they turn into a chicken that is capable of small melee attacks that are capable of still injuring you. If they make it back to their teammates in time, they can even be restored back to life. So make sure you kill the chicken for good measure too. We must admit the chicken is an amusing touch.
Early Access vs Official roll-out
Even though there is still uncertainty regarding the date of the official roll-out of Realm Royale since Hi-Rez Studios has not made any announcement regarding the same. The game developer is predominantly focused on polishing the game and checking how users are responding to the gameplay and setting.
Of course, there are certain differences in a game that’s still in Early Access versus when it is officially rolled out. Since Realm Royale is still in early access, out-of-game features such as player levels and unlockable cosmetics have yet to be introduced. Also, you might experience glitches and server issues occasionally that you will have to report to the developers so that they can address the same.
Does Realm Royale support crossplay?
The game was released for Microsoft Windows via Steam’s early access program in June 2018 and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version were released two months later. Realm Royale was also made available on the Nintendo Switch and went into open beta on June 20, 2019, for the hand-held console.
Fortunately, Realm Royale was made available for crossplay across Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch last year. For the PlayStation 4 skeptics (we know they don’t exactly play nice with the other consoles), an official announcement was made by the devs stating,
“As of 11 September 2019, we have announced that PS4 cross-play compatibility has come to Paladins: Champions of the Realm with its most recent update “Pirate’s Treasure.” It will also come in the next major updates for SMITE: Battleground of the Gods (17 September 2019 with the “Underworld: Odyssey” update) and Realm Royale (early October).”
Even after the game is officially rolled out, it will be available for crossplay. The developers are truly for the democratization of gaming and making sure that the game can be accessed in the gamer’s choice of console no matter what. We suspect that the server load is going to be tremendous and the devs have to consider the audience reception and ensure that the game is perfect when it’s time. We reckon that this is what’s contributing towards the more than two-year period alpha testing and consequent delay in the official roll-out.
From what we’ve seen of the early access version, Realm Royale is an exciting game with a cool concept (especially with the whole Horse summoning move) and an interesting old world theme. If and when the game does release officially, other battle royale themed games will have healthy competition to look forward to, especially considering what a breath of fresh air Realm Royale will be in what is slowly becoming a rather stuffy genre.
We will be closely following the progress of Realm Royale and make sure to keep you updated regarding the same. Take care and stay safe.
