Battlerite Royale

Battlerite Royale hit Steam Early Access on September 26, 2018 for $19.99, one of the first top-down MOBA battle royales that dared to answer the question "what if Diablo had a shrinking circle?" Developed by Stunlock Studios (Bloodline Champions veterans), it mashed 20 champions into 10-minute matches on a map 30x larger than the standard arena. Marketing director Johan Ilves promised "Diablo-esque exploration + MOBA character variation + battle royale survival," which sounded incredible until you actually played it. Players skydived off a wyvern onto Talon Island, scavenged items like barrel discs and rocket boots, then brawled with revamped champion kits designed for the BR format. StreamerHouse hit a massive 791-viewer peak in 2018, catching the initial hype when the game was fresh and the BR genre was still printing money. But Battlerite Royale faced the same problem as every MOBA-BR hybrid: the core audience wanted tight arena combat, not looting simulators with RNG circles. The game's playerbase evaporated as Apex Legends and Fortnite dominated 2019. Stunlock eventually pivoted back to the original Battlerite arena mode, and Battlerite Royale became a forgotten experiment—proof that bolting "battle royale" onto existing games doesn't automatically print success.