Hyper Scape Is Getting A Major Overhaul

Hyper Scape is Ubisoft's new free-to-play entry into the battle royale genre, but--as the developer admits in a blog post--the game has fallen short of expectations. The game was released in open beta in July and officially released on August 11. In the months following, Hyper Scape hasn't been able to make a big splash or compete with popular contemporary battle royale staples like Fortnite and PUBG.

However, the company is planning to make major changes to the game in order to attract new players and retain existing ones. For making the environment more hospitable to new players, Ubisoft is planning to lower the skill ceiling, provide more training activities, and diversify game modes.

Ubisoft states that the game's learning curve is too difficult for newcomers and it is currently "too hard to aim, track and consistently damage players, and eliminate them, especially on console." Regarding game modes, the company also acknowledges that the core game mode, Crown Rush, is "unforgiving." New aspects such as respawn systems and "deathmatch" style game modes will be added soon. Ubisoft wants to provide players with more match styles and modes that are different from what's currently offered, and the developer will rethink how to organize Hyper Scape's limited time modes and how to best balance a split player base across multiple modes.

As for hoping to retain players, Ubisoft wants to establish more medium and long-term goals. In season 2, a Player Ranking system will be implemented. More progression systems will follow. Crossplay will also be implemented soon to provide a larger player pool in the lobbies.

Ubisoft ended its overview on Hyper Scape's future by stating, "To deliver on these pillars, we are restructuring our development team into a cell-based format, which we have seen our colleagues on Rainbow Six: Siege use to fantastic results. These interdisciplinary cells allow greater focus and autonomy in tackling the work ahead. Each pillar has a dedicated dev cell."

In GameSpot's Hyper Scape Review, Jordan Ramée rated the game 6/10 and stated, "Hyper Scape has some great ideas for changing key features and mechanics in a battle royale game, but so far it doesn't come together into something satisfying."

Hyper Scape is available for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. You can check out Hyper Scape's mid-season roadmap to see what's new in the game in October.