Shuttered Xbox One Battle Royale Game Comes Back Online This Week

Developer Xaviant has announced that its battle royale game, The Culling, is getting a second wind on May 14 for Xbox One. The studio said that the PC release will follow sometime later.

This new version of the game is dubbed The Culling: Origins and features a number of improvements, including adjustments to A.I. behavior, graphics enhancements on Xbox One, gameplay tweaks (like stamina reduction), and more. In addition to all of this, Xaviant has removed premium items and purchasable loot boxes from the game. However, as a result, the studio notes that "past saved games will be wiped and all previous unlocks have been reset." Check out the official relaunch trailer below.

What's most notable about The Culling: Origins, however, is the price of entry. Those who already own it will be able to get into the game at no extra cost. Anyone who doesn't have the game will only need to pay a nominal $6 to jump into the battle royale action. However, it's not that simple. In order to continue playing The Culling: Origins, players will need to win matches or purchase tokens. These Online Match Tokens, which can be bought in packs or earned by winning a match, grant you access to another match. If you have no Online Match Tokens, you can't play The Culling: Origins online. It seems there is offline play, though.

This surprise relaunch of The Culling: Origins comes after Xaviant closed the servers on the battle royale game in 2019. The studio released a sequel to the game in the form of The Culling 2 but quickly pulled the game from digital storefronts after a rough launch week.

The Culling: Origins Relaunch Details

• Players can play one free match online each day. Players can play additional matches through the following means:
  • Winning an online match grants an Online Match Token.
  • Packs of Online Match Tokens can be purchased (3 tokens = $0.99, 10 tokens = $2.99, 20 tokens = $4.99).
  • Online Passes providing unlimited online play can be purchased for 7 Days ($1.99) or 30 Days ($5.99).
• Xbox One graphical quality improved dramatically, rendering at 30% higher resolution with the addition of anti-aliasing and an improved framerate.
• A.I. behavior has been overhauled to provide a much more compelling and challenging offline experience.
• Player stamina system has been tweaked - reducing the time it takes for stamina to fully regenerate.
• The game no longer includes premium items or charges for crates. Players can level up, earn crates, and unlock airdrops through offline play.
• In order to keep the game alive indefinitely, a great deal of effort has been spent streamlining backend systems to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
• A side effect of this effort is that past saved games will be wiped and all previous unlocks have been reset.