What Hyper Scape Needs To Do In The First Season To Compete With Other BR Games
Season 1 of Hyper Scape releases on Tuesday, August 11. With the first season, Ubisoft is introducing cross-platform play, which means that the battle royale is officially launching on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. There will also be the standard stream of content, including a new weapon, Hack, Battle Pass, and Limited-Time Modes. Essentially, Hyper Scape is following the Fortnite model of success with their first instalment. Of course, the content will differ, but the way it’s being delivered is quite familiar to fans of Epic Games’ battle royale. This similarity brings up an interesting question though; what does Hyper Scape need to do in Season 1 to set itself apart from the other battle royales in the scene?
Hyper Scape’s must-haves in Season 1
As with any new battle royale, the competition to stand out is fierce. With giants like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends already dominating the market, there’s not a ton of room for another mainstream title. However, Hyper Scape does fit a niche that has been missing from battle royale. The game is fast-paced and introduced a plethora of innovations to the genre. Although, that by itself won’t be enough to keep Hyper Scape relevant for very long and stand beside the three previously mentioned titles.
What Ubisoft needs to do with the shiny new BR is stick with the current model of content streaming. Before Season 1 even began, fans were introduced to both a new weapon and Hack. Of course, there will be one more of each when the first season launches on August 11. This is already more content than what’s been released in Fortnite Chapter 2 - Season 3. So, Hyper Scape started hot right out of the gate.
Click to enlargeThe trick to staying relevant though, is staying consistent with this content. Sure, implementing new weapons every update isn’t feasible. However, introducing Limited-Time Modes or in-game events are a great way to keep the community engaged. Pairing this with some meta-changing updates is how games like Apex Legends gained the momentum to catapult to the top. Ubisoft has previously stated that it plans to update Hyper Scape frequently and provide many weapon balancing changes. Whether it follows through on that statement is what will make or break the battle royale.
In addition to that, however, there’s another side to battle royales nowadays. Content is great and is what fans look forward to, but there’s also the lore side of things. Fortnite was the creator of this for the BR genre, introducing different characters and storylines with every passing season. This is a massive part of why the game took off in the first place. When the meteor crashed down in Season 3 and left Dusty Divot in its wake, players went wild and explored the new map for weeks. Hyper Scape needs to attempt to capture that same attention.
Again, the game is off to a solid start. We already know the story behind Hyper Scape and why things are the way they are thanks to the official cinematic trailer. Although, this isn’t enough. Ubisoft needs to evolve this story throughout Season 1 and eventually lead up to a major reveal or surprise at the beginning of Season 2. This will ensure fans stay engaged with the story and, in turn, with the game itself.
It’s no secret why Hyper Scape should attempt to mimic some of the ideas implemented into Fortnite. The game is a massive success because of these ideas, and any developer would be crazy not to want to capture that magic in their own game. However, Hyper Scape also needs to set itself apart from games like Fortnite. This means coming up with fresh ideas and content that don’t have fans going “Stolen from Fortnite”. It’s a tricky balance to maintain but if Ubisoft can pull it off, Season 1 of Hyper Scape won’t be the last.
Images via Ubisoft Montreal
