Over the course of the fall, Ashes of Creation developer Intrepid Studios has been testing a battle royale mode component for the Kickstarted full-scale MMORPG. Devs have maintained over the last few months that the mode may not make it into the game and was primarily there to test PvP, at least up until November, when Intrepid put a name on the alpha one phase mode: Apocalypse. The free-to-play mode will effectively “move the battle royale, the castle sieges, and the horde mode into a side arena that will be playable by everyone” with participation achievements and cosmetics that transfer in the base MMORPG.
Now, Intrepid has put a date on Apocalypse too: December 18th.
“Ashes of Creation Apocalypse, a new competitive and cooperative multiplayer game linked directly to the world of Ashes of Creation, will launch in open beta for free on Dec. 18 for Windows PC. Pitting 100s of players at a time against each other in a massive world of high fantasy and all-out warfare, Ashes of Creation Apocalypse builds upon and refines many of the core systems at the heart of Ashes of Creation while letting players experience its stunning action and visuals right away. Ashes of Creation Apocalypse delivers a self-contained, standalone experience for fans of competitive action, combat, and chaos. The game will launch with a full-fledged battle royale mode in which 100 players will duke it out with destructive weapons and magic until the last person is left standing. After release, new unique modes will be introduced, letting 200 players join forces in massive castle siege battles, as well as co-op horde mode missions in which small groups must fight off ravenous hordes of vicious demons.”
The press release out tonight stresses that the battle royale component is a “precursor” to the Ashes of Creation MMORPG that gamers Kickstarted for over $3M in 2017.
It’s been a bit of an odd year for Ashes as it winds through its pre-alpha. Not only has it weathered criticism over this battle royale mode, but it took heat for its decision to partner with My.com for European publishing. However, we tried the game out at PAX and found its combat “surprisingly solid,” so it’s definitely still a big MMORPG to watch.
