Free-to-play hero shooter Paladins is getting is own battle royale mode in the vein of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. Developer Hi-Rez Studios announced the “Battlegrounds” mode (yes, it’s actually called that) at Hi-Rez Expo 2018 on Thursday, which, just like PUBG, will feature 100 players dropped into a massive map where they fight over loot and battle to be the last team standing as a deadly fog rolls in, shrinking the playing field.
Hi-Rez says that Paladins: Battlegrounds was “designed from the ground up to be played in teams” and will use the same class-based team setup from the main game. Although the mode is clearly inspired by (or ripped directly from) PUBG, the main game of Paladins is actually more like Blizzard’s Overwatch than anything else.
Other than the class abilities and mounts (neither of which appear in PUBG), Paladins appears to be the latest game to be tempted by the growing genre. Fortnite, a third-person shooter, was among the first, launching Fortnite Battle Royale late last year. Not only was Fortnite’s Battle Royale mode free, but it was also available on consoles. (PUBG finally hit Xbox One in December, but it’s still in a fairly early, buggy state). Fortnite Battle Royale immediately shot to the top of the charts, so it’s no surprise to see other developers diving in.
In addition to the Battlegrounds game mode, Hi-Rez also announced several other upcoming updates for Paladins, including a new Flank Champion named Moji, a new map, the addition of a Team Deathmatch mode and a new mount type: the Battle Cat. All of these updates will be available for PC on January 11th and for consoles on January 18th. Paladins: Battlegrounds is on display at the expo, but won’t be ready until later in the year.
