The modern era of gaming introduced everyone to the Battle Royale genre, a competitive game mode where players typically fall onto a map and fight against it until one player or team remains. Ever since this game genre became popular, a plethora of different games have been released, each with its own take on the enticing gameplay loop of fighting to become the sole victor.
While some games have removed dropping into the map entirely, other entries have invented new objectives and abilities to spice up the typical battle royale gameplay structure. No matter which game is your favorite, here are some of the best battle royale games that Steam offers.
8th Vampire: The Masquerade – Blood Hunt
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt takes place on the streets of Prague and allows you and your friends to play as different factions of vampires, using both your skills and your shooting skills to achieve victory and hide from humanity . While Bloodhunt still maintains typical battle royale standards, the implementation of supernatural powers allows you to engage in both ranged and melee combat.
Specifically, the game pits multiple factions of players against each other as they battle inquisitors who are attempting to eradicate vampires entirely. Luckily, you can feed on unsuspecting humans to power up your character and unlock abilities like sprints and devastating melee attacks.
7 The cycle: limit
Unlike other entries on this list, The Cycle: Frontier takes place on an alien planet called Fortuna III and combines both PVP and PVE elements to create a unique battle royale experience. Instead of falling to this planet and struggling to remain the last team, you and your friends fight various threats and players around the map to secure high-value loot.
After gathering the necessary objectives and items, your team must then make it safely to an extraction point and evacuate the planet to keep everything you’ve gathered. While this newer take on the battle royale genre is certainly fun, the game lacks a compelling reason to actively collect this loot, making it feel like your efforts are mostly irrelevant.
6 Naraka: Blade tip
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Naraka: Bladepoint is a third-person battle royale with a focus on martial arts-inspired combat and features multiple heroes to play with, each with different abilities. In addition to the third-person perspective, the game also features grappling hooks that you can pick up to traverse the map and quickly enter combat.
Rather than simply introducing characters with different abilities, each hero in the game has three different ultimates and three different abilities that you can choose before heading into battle. This allows you to further customize your favorite characters to fill different roles on your team.
5 Hunt: Showdown
In Hunt: Showdown, you play as a bounty hunter tracking down specific monsters while other teams fight to hunt down their targets at the same time. Similar to the PVE aspects of The Cycle: Frontier, you and your friends must fight creatures in the wild and enemy players to secure your specific bounty.
The bounty system in Hunt: Showdown lets you and your team track the whereabouts of a world boss that you must kill before taking the remains to an extraction point. However, since there are only a limited number of bosses on the map, multiple teams compete for the same rewards and can even steal your bounty if you travel to extraction. By introducing this bounty system, Hunt: Showdown expertly introduces a compelling reason for players to compete for limited resources.
4 fall guys
Unlike the other shooters on this list, Fall Guys reinvented the genre by creating a battle royale full of fun mini-games and incredibly cute characters. Instead of jumping into a map and fighting a bloody battle for the crown, in Fall Guys you and your friends enter a game show full of different puzzles and obstacle courses.
To keep players interested, Fall Guys is constantly updating its gameplay by creating new maps and courses for you and your friends to compete on. In addition, Fall Guys regularly releases premium skins that you can use to decorate and customize your Fall Guy in cute costumes and even sponsored content.
3 Call of Duty: Warzone
A classic option for everyone who loves battle royale, Call of Duty: Warzone allows you and your friends to embark on a vast battlefield with unique missions, weapons, and vehicles. Although there are many different game modes, a typical Warzone game will have you and a team of up to three other players fighting for last spot on the team. To differentiate itself from other battle royales, Warzone introduced the Gulag, a place you’re taken to after you’re killed on the battlefield.
In the Gulag, you and another random player must fight against another two-player team, with the victors having the opportunity to revive on the battlefield. In addition, Warzone has also introduced small missions that can be completed throughout the game to get benefits and money. While this might not be the most imaginative battle royale out there, the sheer size of the Call of Duty franchise makes this a worthy battle royale for everyone to enjoy.
2 PUBG: Battlegrounds
Another proven entry, PUBG: Battlegrounds modernized the current standards found in any battle royale game while also popularizing the genre as a whole. Released at the perfect moment, PUBG: Battlegrounds introduced players to a fully realized battle royale, complete with large shootouts, multiple drop points, and vehicles.
While all of these gameplay features may now seem commonplace, these additions revolutionized the genre and ensured that any battle royale game had to introduce similar features to even be recognized in the genre. PUBG: Battleground’s influence can still be felt in every battle royale match you play.
1 Apex Legends
Apex Legends has consistently proven to be one of the best battle royales out there. A typical match in Apex Legends consists of you and two other teammates falling onto a map to battle to be the last team standing.
Apex Legends first gained notoriety by combining the hero shooter genre with the battle royale movement and allowing players to choose different characters with unique abilities. While Apex Legends made only minor changes to the typical battle royale format, the incredibly rewarding gunplay, movement, and abilities have kept this gaming juggernaut relevant.
