The Realm Royale console beta will go live on January 22 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Publisher Hi-Rez Studios confirmed the news earlier today and has reiterated intent to further develop the game, with a handful of updates coming throughout the year. The move to consoles comes after a successful stint for the battle royale title on PC, though its player count took a nasty hit only a couple of months after release.
The arrival of the game on PS4 and Xbox One means that you won’t have to deal with invite codes to play the game any more, with the open beta allowing everyone to download the title and play for free. Hi-Rez hasn’t detailed whether the open beta will be constrained to specific dates yet, but there will likely be regular patches for the game in the coming weeks.
For those of you who don’t know much about Realm Royale, it’s got a few nifty ideas but essentially follows the usual rules of the genre. Using a hero class system that make character choice a bit more interesting, players follow the typical battle royale rules as the fighting area shrinks along with the player count. Similar to Fortnite, Realm Royale offers a crafting system, except instead of towers, you craft weapons. Forges that are dotted around the map let you slap together defensive gear and a handful of neat weapons. Don’t worry, there are the usual shotguns and sniper rifles for you modern battle royalers as well.
The move to open beta for consoles isn’t too surprising. The PS4 and Xbox One versions have had closed betas running for the game for some time, and Hi-Rez Studios likely feels now is about the best time to open the game up to a wider audience, especially considering the drop its player count has taken on the PC version. Having released in June 2018, Realm Royale‘s first month saw an average play count of 32,811. By October 2018, that number had dropped to an average of 1,165. The last few months have seen a slow uptake in players according to SteamChart, with the average player count for PC now sitting a little above 2,100 players. Hi-Rez Studios will surely be hoping that the console open beta will see a new lease of life for the game when it arrives on January 22.
