Battlerite is a free-to-play team-based action game that uses multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) gameplay. It was created and released by Stunlock Studios. The game is inspired by Bloodline Champions and was made by the same developers. An early version of the game was released in September 2016 and sold more than 440,000 copies in three months. The official release happened on November 7, 2017.

In May 2018, the developers announced a new free-to-play game mode based on the battle royale genre. They planned to release it by summer 2018. However, in August 2018, they changed their plan. The game mode would no longer be free and would instead be released as a separate game by the end of September 2018.

In July 2019, Stunlock Studios announced that they would stop working on the game. The last content update for Battlerite and Battlerite Royal occurred in October 2019. Both games would remain in "maintenance mode" for the foreseeable future, meaning only minor updates would be made.

Gameplay

Battlerite is a game where two teams, each with two or three players, compete against each other. Before the game starts, each player selects a special character called a Champion. Each Champion has different abilities for attacking, defending, and moving. To win a round, a team must defeat all players on the opposing team. A team wins the game by winning three rounds. Each round lasts about two minutes. When time runs out, a Sudden Death boundary appears, slowly pushing players toward the center of the map. The game can be played on different maps, each encouraging different strategies.

In Battlerite, the goal is not to destroy enemy towers or base structures, as in traditional MOBA games. Players also do not fight neutral units to earn resources. Because of this, players cannot buy items or upgrades to improve their characters. This results in shorter matches that focus more on fast-paced action compared to the longer, strategy-based games common in the genre.

Reception

Battlerite received mostly positive reviews from critics. On a website called Metacritic, the game has an overall score of 85 out of 100.

PC Gamer gave Battlerite a score of 89 percent. They praised the game's fast pace, free-to-play model, and how simple it is compared to other games in its genre. IGN's Ian Nowakowski gave Battlerite a score of 8.2 out of 10. He criticized the randomized progression rewards as "not very exciting," but he concluded that "Battlerite is strong in the arena. The team battles are intense and capture what makes competitive gaming fun for many hours."

Battlerite became popular quickly after its launch. Two weeks after the game was released on Steam's Early Access, Stunlock Studios said they had already gained 200,000 players, even though the game was pay-to-play at the time. Today, Battlerite has a smaller player base. According to SteamCharts, in 2017, the number of players reached its highest point in November, with 44,850 players that month. By 2018, the average monthly peak had dropped to less than 4,000 players.

PC Gamer added Battlerite to its list of the best free games available on the Steam platform.