The once king of Battle Royale finds itself struggling amidst two juggernauts in the genre – PUBG and Fortnite. A quick glance at the title’s SteamCharts page tells the story.
Today, Daybreak Games hopes to infuse new life into their game by exiting early access. And with today’s official release comes a new game mode – Auto Royale.
Let’s take a look.
Ok, that looks pretty damn cool.
Cool enough to even get me re-downloading the game again. The question is, can Daybreak Games convince the hundreds of thousands that used to play their game to do the same?
Modes like ‘Auto Royale’ are a good start. H1Z1 has to find ways to stand out. The more arcadey gameplay offers something different compared to PUBG, but not Fortnite.
The most popular battle royale games stand out with their gameplay. For PUBG, it’s a more tactical approach (at least, compared to the other popular games). Fortnite leans into its more fast-paced gameplay and building mechanics.
And that leaves us with H1Z1. I would place it more towards Fortnite when it comes to gameplay. But it lacks another gameplay hook to help it stand out. Plus, Fortnite is free. You’re going to be hard-pressed to eclipse a game that has no barrier to entry.
H1Z1’s answer could lie in the ‘Auto Royale’ mode. Maybe not the mode specifically, but by offering modes that shake up the traditional battle royale format. H1Z1 doesn’t have the population to start tossing out dozens of new game modes, but they can use ‘Auto Royale’ as a testing bed. And then build off of it with special weekend modes. See what sticks.
Fornite’s 50v50 mode proved popular (c’mon Epic, bring that back!).
It’s going to be an uphill battle for H1Z1 to reclaim its former glory. The best thing the devs can do is just try to pump out as much new content as possible. New maps, new weapons, new modes.
As for the other H1Z1 game, Just Survive? No word on when the devs plan on leaving early access for that game.
What do you think of ‘Auto Royale?’ Enough to pull you back in?