The Battle Royale genre continues to enjoy huge success. The two top dogs of the industry right now, "Fortnite: Battle Royale" and "PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds", have given rise to such incredible explosions of player count, it's hardly any wonder other development studios are trying to cash in on this addictive multiplayer format. After all, the next "Black Ops" title from "Call of Duty" is doing its best to keep by morphing the franchise into a Battle Royale offering. Even "Grand Theft Auto V" has made a pass at the genre. With the two existing "Battle Royale" giants getting all the attention, it's all too easy to forget there are other similar titles out there.

If you're close to having your fill of the "Battle Royale" genre, worried your honeymoon period with it is coming to an end - worry no longer. I've got your back with this exhaustive list of alternatives. Let's extend that honeymoon time of yours with the hottest multiplayer format of today.

Darwin Project

The first thing that will hit you when looking at "Darwin Project" is its approach to art direction. It may look a lot like "Fortnite" with its cartoon-ish character design, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's a Fortnite ripoff. It plays very differently indeed. Players are teleported to random parts of the map at an equal distance to one another. The frantic rush for resources and your crafted advantage is here, as you'd expect with Battle Royale.

What Darwin Project does differently to any other multiplayer game on the market is the Show Director. This player controlled, floating robot watches over the match and buffs any players he/she likes. Things get interesting when the Show Director drops pickups that can't be ignored, nukes an entire region or activates anti-gravity!

When playing as the Show Director, players will also get a megaphone function to introduce any new rules of their choosing. On paper, it sounds like it could be a bit broken, yet it is all surprisingly functional and fiendishly addictive. No wonder it was voted top future E-Sport at last year's E3. Oh by the way - it's free to play on PC with Steam right now.

You're welcome.

Crucible

"Crucible" won't be out for a fair while yet as it currently has no announced release date. It makes it onto this list because of just how interesting it looks. Developed by Amazon Game Studios, it'll be nice to see what the team is capable of after the cancellation of what was supposed to be their debut release, "Breakaway". "Crucible" looks to be a mixture of "Fortnite's" colorful palette and "Unreal Tournament's" high fantasy futuristic setting. It will also involve the hero-specific character types (and their unique skills) known in such titles as "Overwatch" or "Paladins." Of course, a match is one against all, as we would expect. But Amazon tells us, "Players make and break alliances on the fly.

In Crucible, it takes a mix of combat skill, strategic planning and social finesse to survive." Needless to say, we'll be watching this one closely. No word yet on the asking price, come release day.

H1Z1: King of The Kill

Before "PUBG" creator, Brendan Greene created his own Battle Royale title, he was first part of the team that created "H1Z1: King of The Kill". This one bears a lot of similarities to "PUBG" but it's a little more stripped down. There are no weapon attachments, you don't get to choose where to parachute in from and there are fewer weapons. This doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. It just makes "H1Z1: King of The Kill" more accessible to a wider audience. This tends to feel slightly more like an arcade experience than a hardcore one.

It boils down to the randomly placed drops, leading to frantic battles from the get-go and slightly more forgiving weapon handling. If you find "PUBG" a little too intense, "H1Z1: King of The Kill" may be the change you need. This is another Battle Royale title that is available on Steam for free!

Mavericks: Proving Grounds

Sorry readers, this is another one that is not currently available as it is still in development. What makes "Mavericks" worthy of this list is a couple of things. It looks set to be the most beautiful Battle Royale game yet, as it is built on the CryEngine. This is the same engine that brought us the still beautiful "Crysis" series. To top that off, "Mavericks" boasts a ginormous seven and a half mile squared map that will play host to a whopping four hundred players.

Needless to say, developer Automaton Games, is touting their latest labor of love as "the next generation of Battle Royale." In an admittedly vague talk at last year's PC Gamer event, Studio Head, James Thompson explains "It is set in a huge photorealistic and highly dynamic environment, with strong player progression, social hubs, intelligent mission systems and global scale, player-driven narrative."

The Culling

"The Culling" leans far more heavily into our movie culture of dystopian, post-apocalyptic kind of stuff. Like " The Hunger Games." Only this time around, players should expect a heavier emphasis on melee combat. It's an interesting twist that is frankly welcome in the wake of other Battle Royale titles that usually boil down to camping in the bushes and waiting for a victim.

While the first person melee swinging on offer here is a crudely basic combat system, it doesn't need to be any more complex. Players should expect to craft what rudimentary head smashers they can to gain the upper hand. If they're lucky they may happen across firearms with precious few rounds, dynamite or even a chainsaw. Messy. Despite its seeming darker tones, "The Culling" takes more of a comical tongue-in-cheek approach with its presentation. The scoreboard hangs magically above players and the game's branding is all over the place. It also offers a Duos Mode, allowing two players to team up and watch each other's backs.

"The Culling" is available for purchase on Steam for PC or the Xbox Store.

Maelstrom

"Maelstrom" is a great example of just how flexible the Battle Royale genre can be. Tired of lugging about on foot in all these games? "Maelstrom" is all about naval combat as players are pitted against fifteen other ships. The ships are quirky as heck so it's fair to say it's not the kind of game that takes itself too seriously. Not only will daring seafarers have to deal with one another but they'll also have to watch out for sea monsters that will sink their ship pretty quickly if you get on the wrong side of them! If this isn't enough to draw you in, "Maelstrom" also offers a lengthy player progression system and plenty of collectible loot.

ARMA III: PlayerUnkown's Battle Royale Mod

For the final entry in today's list, we go back to where it all began. This is the mod that would go on to skyrocket Bredan Greene's career and ultimately give birth to the battle royale genre. Just bear in mind that this, not being a stand-alone title, you'll need the original "ARMA III" to play the mod. That also means players should expect all the hardcore, realistic trimmings that tend to come with "ARMA III". These include realistic bullet drop, high damage hits, and firearms that kick like a mule. It's probably best not to try this one if you've never played a battle royale game before. Although, if you're looking for the purest form of the genre, going straight back to its roots is where you'll find it.
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