Iron Galaxy and Epic Games announced that the wrestling-themed battle royale Rumbleverse will launch for free on August 11, 2022.
Rumbleverse is the latest game to put a unique spin on the hit battle royale genre by focusing on wrestling rather than shooting. Played from a third-person perspective, the game features 40 wrestlers being dropped into Grapital City with only melee strikes and wrestling moves at their disposal and the goal of being the last wrestler standing. The game has had several closed tests betas, and was originally scheduled to be released in February before being delayed.
Announced in an official blog post by developer Iron Galaxy, Rumbleverse will now be coming ahead of schedule as a full release on August 11 rather than launching in early access this fall. It will be free-to-play on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via the Epic Games store, will launch with Duos mode, and begin its first season one week later on August 18. The game’s first Battle Pass will come with the launch of Season One and will allow players to earn additional rewards for their Locker Room, though no specifics on what these items will be or how progression will work were given.
The battle royale space has seen many casualties as developers attempt to find an audience in the crowded space. Rumbleverse looks to have carved out a potential spot by focusing on wrestling and melee combat rather than shooting and having the backing of Fortnite developer Epic Games as a publisher. However other aspects such as balance, variety, and support will all end up being the deciding factors in whether or not it can survive or end up going down for the count.