Ubisoft has been teasing their new BR game, Hyper Scape which was leaked earlier this week. Hyper Scape went live at 12PM ET today with a technical test phase release.
Various Twitch and YouTube personalities were permitted to start streaming the game, and just 30 minutes later, it has amassed nearly half a million viewers. The release caused the game to immediately top the Twitch charts.
What is Hyper Scape?
Hyper Scape is a free to play BR and first-person shooter. Hyper Scape takes place in a fictional world during the year 2054, where everyone can seamlessly plug into a metaverse.
While Hyper Scape released to a small amount of people today, the game releases publicly to PC first via open beta on July 12. PlayStation 4 and Xbox One access will come at a later, unspecified date.
The game is being developed by Ubisoft Montreal which is responsible for the success of some big name titles such as Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. While Ubisoft has created some popular titles, this is their first time entering the BR arena.
Why Is Hyper Scape Different?
Hyper Scape has entered the BR genre very late. Games such as Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds were released 3 years ago. Many have said the BR genre may be dying from player fatigue but Twitch charts show a different story.
Apex Legends released quietly just a year and a half ago, and it has continued to take a large chunk of marketshare out of the BR genre. But Hyper Scape is bringing fresh ideas to the BR genre that haven’t been used before.
Ubisoft hopes the game’s Twitch integration and elimination perks will upset the “fatigue” from the current popular BR games. When playing the game, you can revive your teammates by taking out other players — a respawn beacon will appear by a downed enemy.
If you’re eliminated, you can still play an active role in your squad’s success. You’ll go into an echo form, in which you’ll be able to scout ahead and ping things of interest for your teammates.The idea of respawning your teammates from finding downed enemy beacon’s is an interesting idea but could bring campers to an all-time high.
Winning the game is unconventional as well. Towards the end of a match, the Hyper Scape crown pops up somewhere on the map. You can claim victory if you pick up and hang onto it for 45 seconds. Therefore, you may not need to be the last one alive to win the game.
This is most certainly an interesting addition to a Battle Royale game. You can also fuse guns together for upgrades, double jump and there’s no fall damage. So Hyper Scape is sure to throw some curve balls into the mix.
Can It Survive?
Will Hyper Scape take some marketshare with an already saturated genre or will the game fail to make an impact, similar to Amazon’s “Crucible“? Ubisoft has definitely come to the genre thinking outside the box but only time will tell if gamers will stick around.
The BR audience is always interested in new ideas but very unforgiving. Radical Heights once topped the Twitch charts with its new BR thinking. Just weeks later it’s playerbase had dwindled to less 1000 concurrent players.