How does Ubisoft's Battle Royale Hyper Scape compare to Apex Legends?

It looks like another sci-fi battle royale is upon us, this time from Ubisoft. The project is named Hyper Scape and is slated for release on July 12, according to a first statement from journalist Rod Breslau via Twitter and additional information available on the game's official website.

While very little is known about this new game, it's hard to avoid the Apex Legends parallels. Ubisoft has clearly developed the title in secret, setting it up for a surprise reveal. Breslau says the studio ran an aggressive promotional campaign with help from Twitch, comparing it to "launches of Valorant and Apex Legends." “These tactics have been deployed by Respawn extremely effectively over the course of Apex Legends and replicated with the same results in this year's Call of Duty: Warzone launch.

But the similarities between Hyper Scape and Summit don't seem to end with the release model.

gameplay

There is actually enough in the description that we have to infer that Hyper Scape will play the same as Apex Legends. We know it's a first-person shooter, which comes with some dynamics that are unique to the genre and make the gameplay quite different from third-person shooters like Crucible and Rogue Company. We also know that this is a free AAA game from a big studio, which means it is designed for the big lobbies, unlike the smaller experimental formats of games like Hunt: Showdown and well, Crucible. again.

The final key to remember is the “fast” descriptor Breslau uses to describe the game, and the official Hyper Scape “heartbeat action” pitch promises. One of the Apex Legends "defining features is that this is a game of extreme mobility and split-second decisions. So Hyper space is" fast "and" pulsating "in the way it plays rather than in the way it's advertised, expect it to be a high skill cap game like Apex Legends.

Twitch integration

What is shown in the teaser tweet makes Hyper Scape's Twitch integration similar to that found in Vermintide 2. It appears that people logging in to watch a streamer play the game will be able to vote on in-game events, literally affecting the game. C It's something unique to this game, and the closest thing we have to Apex Legends is custom lobbies run by streamers for fun. And it's not at all close.

Setting

Hyper Scape is "set in a futuristic virtual world," according to Breslau. The “virtual” part seems to relate to the Twitch integration feature, as the game setting involves a mega-corp known as Prisma Dimensions, which appears to be in charge of a VR blood sport known as by Crown Rush. Beyond the sci-fi feel of those early screenshots, there isn't a great thematic similarity between this new battle royale and Apex Legends.

However, Hyper Scape appears to feature an urban setting, and that will be important to a lot of Apex Legends players and Fall of the Titans stans who have been hoping for a city map since Summit launched. It's too early to dream that big, but it's possible that Hyper Scape will allow us to relive the glory days of Angel City.

Platforms and crossplay

According to Breslau, Hyper Scape will launch on PC on July 12, and a console release will follow later in 2020. This could potentially indicate that the game will be released for next-gen consoles, which are slated for the holiday season.

In any case, it appears that Hyper Scape will be available on PC and consoles, just like Apex Legends. Whether cross-play will be available seems to be a matter of time, rather than whether the importance of cross-play matters to gamers.