Pixile Studios’ top-down, animal-themed Battle Royale officially released in August of 2021 on consoles, though it appeared a few years earlier on Steam Early Access in late 2018. The game sees cutesy, cartoon animals battle to the death to be the last person standing out of 64 players. Lead designer and Pixile Studios co-founder Michael Silverwood stated that Super Animal Royale utilised the cartoony style to further the absurd humour and nature of the game.
With a unique visual style and toop-down 2D mechanics, Super Animal Royale distanced itself somewhat from other Battle Royale games like Fortnite and Apex Legends. It was more comparable to a wackier Battle Royale like Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout in terms of styling, and this allowed Super Animal Royale to gain relative popularity among the gaming community despite a mixed critical reception.
Recently, Pixile Studios have made further developments in making Super Animal Royale accessible to all players on every platform. This includes the announcement that PlayStation players will no longer require Sony’s paid online service PlayStation Plus in order to play Super Animal Royale online. This comes as somewhat of a surprise, as it is often the case with most games that to use online modes on a console requires paying for that platform’s online subscription service.
Alongside the promise of dropping PlayStation Plus, Super Animal Royale dropped a set of cosmetic items for those still paying for PlayStation Plus, featuring weapons and a t-shirt with a PlayStation blue colour theme. Xbox fans have a green version of these cosmetic items, though Switch fans are hoping for a red set to come soon. While the concept of a free-to-play experience was praised, some players have found that when trying to play the game without the service, they are being directed to the PlayStation Plus page and being asked to purchase the service. Though, this appears to be a Sony problem rather than something caused by Pixile Studios.
Removing the need for PlayStation Plus creates a more accessible environment for Super Animal Royale players, and a dedication to the community is usually a good sign for many Indie titles. Without AAA budgets, it can be hard to create an audience within gaming, yet many games such as Shovel Knight, Hollow Knight, and Undertale are just a few examples of Indie titles that created large followings. Through these communities, Indie titles such as Super Animal Royale are often enriched, so it is in some studios interest at times to create a true free-to-play environment.
Super Animal Royale is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
