Pearl Abyss, the publisher of popular MMO, Black Desert Online, has released a free-to-play Battle Royale game: Shadow Arena.
Shadow Arena launched yesterday, after several rounds of beta testing. It is entirely free-to-play, but, as with every mobile game, there’s paid content you could sink your coins into. Following the typical Battle Royale formula, 40 players are dropped on an island and pitted against each other in a bid to claim the champion’s title. What’s different about this one, though, is that it has a fantasy theme. Players will be able to choose between swords and other weapons or spells to defend themselves. Even the genre staple of “insert-rapidly-closing-circular-substance-here” is converted to fit the setting: players will be battling to keep out of the dark magic fog.
Like Apex Legends, Shadow Arena provides a roster of heroes taken from the world of Black Desert for you to choose from, rather than customization options for a base character. It appears that a lot of these heroes are DLC requiring real funds to purchase, but Shadow Arena is offering Jordine Ducas for free, if you log in to the game before July 9th. Shadow Arena runs weekly Hero Rotations, allowing players to try out different heroes for free. To own them, though, they must be purchased with silver or gCoin. A DLC pack with ten heroes is available on Steam.
The setting is an arena filled with fantasy staples, such as Ancient Ruins Guardians, and a giant dragon. Both these elements are lethal to players, and they must prepare for danger from all sides to survive against the fog, the guardians, and other players.
Another Battle Royale seems like a risky move for Pearl Abyss, but Shadow Arena looks unique, and with its ties to Black Desert Online, it’s sure to do well. Shadow Arena could be just what the Battle Royale genre needs to breathe some life back into it.
Source: Shadow Arena on Twitter
