Following two years in Steam Early Access and Xbox Game Preview, Darwin Project now has a firm release date for January 2020, and this will also include the PlayStation 4. The free-to-play battle royale game boasts some unique features, including class-based combat where ten inmates face off.

In addition to controlling an inmate, Darwin Project allows players to take on the role of Show Directly or Spectator, each with different ways of impacting the match. The Show Director is described as controlling the flow of each match by adding powers that Inmates can directly benefit from. Spectators on the other hand view the game but also vote on powers, or best of all, being allowed to enter the match as a surprise combatant.

As for the three Inmate classes, players can choose from one of three pieces of gear that will determine their specializations. Jet Wings will allow players to become highly mobile and to attack from above. A Grapple Gauntlet will serve to quickly get to an opponent and attack in melee range. Finally, the Headhunter Drone is a robotic companion that can assist players by tracking targets.

As the game is entirely free-to-play, cosmetic items will be the primary mode for monetization and will allow players to customize their characters. Currently there are cosmetic slots for:

  • Hats Hair styles Skins Armors Cloaks Face Detail Shirts Pants Boots Bows Axes Pre-made Sets

The release of the game is great news for fans who have played the game in its Early Access forms, especially since there has not been a major update since January of 2019. The developer has clearly been focusing their efforts on preparing the game for launch over any other forms of content release.

While this may have resulted in starving the early players of content for much of the year, the alternative might have looked like too many other developers who launch games into Early Access programs, which is to say pumping out content in an unpolished game and ultimately never finishing and formally launching.

The real question will be whether Darwin Project can attract enough attention to be a profitable game in the saturated battle royale market. Even Fortnite, the biggest of all the battle royale games, has been posting decreasing revenue numbers as of late. This could be due to several reasons, but one that is persistently floating around is that the genre may simply be seeing the end of its natural lifespan, thanks in part to so many competitors vying for the same player base.

For now, we can only wait and see, and it will only be another month or so until Darwin Project formally launches. Hopefully it does well, since the innovation behind class-specific specialization seems like it would make for some outstanding gameplay.

Source: Press Release

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