Hyper Scape launches turbo mode September 15

Ubisoft announced that its Hyper Scape battle royale game will get a turbo mode that speeds up the gameplay. It launches September 15.

The mode will offer max level loot and faster healing regeneration, closing of zones, and crown victory. Hyper Scape is a big bet by Ubisoft on a new intellectual property, and it’s the company’s first entry into the popular battle royale genre (think Fortnite or Call of Duty: Warzone), where 100 players fight each other in first-person combat to be the last one standing while the audience tries to influence the outcome.

These free-to-play battle royale games were a hot trend in the game industry even before the pandemic, as the barrier to get into the games is low. Call of Duty: Warzone saw more than 75 million downloads in two months, and Electronic Arts has been busy updating Apex Legends. And Fortnite and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds continue to have huge audiences.

Ubisoft Montreal, which has been recently rocked by the company’s sexual misconduct scandal, has been working on the game for two years. Ubisoft said the game has millions of users and thousands of streamers playing it.

The audience participation part is a new trend. ControlZee announced a game that streamers can play with their followers. And Retroit is a street-driving game similar to Grand Theft Auto where the viewers can drop things into the game to either mess up or aid drivers. SOS tried to do similar audience participation in a Survivor-like show.