As PUBG-like contenders emerge, Islands of Nyne might already have them beat

Islands of Nyne originally launched in a limited, closed-alpha state. Over the weekend, it officially launched via Steam Early Access, so we are updating our April report with impressions of what you can expect from the $24.99 game on Windows 10.

Call it a trend, if not an outright phenomenon. Battle royale games have officially catapulted into the industry's pole position, largely fueled by the neck-and-neck popularity contest between PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite: Battle Royale. And over the past few months, we have learned that even more of these games will likely show up by year's end, with announcements attached to major series like Call of Duty and Battlefield.

The news follows plenty of latecomers to the battle royale genre, which all have a few things in common. Roughly 100 players parachute onto an island with the goal of being the last shooter standing, and that contest is made all the more tense by random-item pickups and a constantly shrinking battlefield.

Read 19 remaining paragraphs | Comments