Any new battle royale title needs a hook: After all, we all know the formula, and Halo Infinite‘s popularity suggests that people may be tired of it. With that in mind, here’s the hook of Iron Galaxy’s new title, Rumbleverse: wrestling, and no guns.
The game was conceived back in October 2017, explains Adam Boyes, co-CEO of Iron Galaxy. “We were brainstorming, talking about different types of competitive games and Royale games, and our co-CEO, Chelsey Glasgow, was like ‘We should do wrestling,'” he says. “And then the whole brainstorming session became what it would it feel like if you could chokeslam someone off of a 40-story building.”
The demonstration kicks off with a character creation screen. Iron Galaxy emphasizes that customization is critical in the game, with a huge suite of body types, faces, costumes, and accessories available for players to create their own monstrous or beautiful identity.
“Some of us have landed our characters, like my shirtless chef: I’ve been playing him for three years now–you almost become that persona,” he says. “And that’s what we’re really excited about. Because if you think about a lot of streamers, they have an in-game persona. And we’re excited to see what kind of characters they are going to build.”
The game moves into the pregame lobby area, the Battle Barge, where combatants are testing out grapples and doing the worm. The barge transports players to their destination, Grapital City, eventually firing them into the clouds so they can skydive in. A large zone blocks off a specific section of the city, so you’ll fight in a different area of the island each time: Boyes estimates an average match is shorter than a typical battle royale game, at 12 to 15 minutes.
