Gala Games’ Battle Royale Game, GRIT, Launches Closed Beta on Epic Games Store

Gala Games is gearing up to kickstart its Epic Games debut with the launch of the closed beta for its upcoming game, GRIT—a Wild West-themed battle royale similar to ‘PlayerUnknown’s: Battlegrounds’.

The news comes after Gala Games announced the development of a new title called ‘Superior‘, which is set to be a cooperative, super-hero shooter. The game is expected to launch on Steam, a direct competitor to the Epic Games Store.

The GRIT closed beta is scheduled to go live on the Epic Games Store on October 20th, and Gala Games has already released the first round of access keys, as of October 19th. The development studio has further shared that it will be sending new keys out on a weekly basis to players that have signed up for access.

GRIT: a Wild Ride in the Wild West

Gala Games’ GRIT is set to be the first Web 3.0 battle royale ever released. The game was developed by Team Grit, led by industry veterans Bob Berry, Jon Mavor, and John Comes.

John Comes, Senior Engineer at Team Grit and Co-Founder of Utopos Games, in particular, has over 20 years of experience as a senior developer, and has worked on such popular titles as ‘Command & Conquer: Generals’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth’.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what GRIT is all about: 

• Gunslingers: Players will play as characters from the GRIT NFT Collection. Each GRIT is a generative, ERC-721 NFT with unique traits, attributes, and distinct appearances.
• Ride or Die: Players compete in a last man standing face-off as either a solo player, a duo, or a squad to test their skills in a battle royale shooter set in the Wild West.
• Perks: Players hunt for different vintage weaponry and special perks to gain strength and give them a better chance of winning. Players can equip and rank up a variety of perks and more than 20 unique weapons, with 225 million possible loadout variations to mix and match.

In order to join the closed beta, players first need one of the access keys shared by Gala Games. While not everyone will be able to play before the game’s full release, players hoping to join the beta can sign up on the game’s website, create an Epic Games Account, and, if they’re lucky, wait for an email with an access key. Gala Games will send out new sets of access keys each week for the duration of the beta.

GRIT represents a big step in Gala Games’ campaign to contribute high-caliber games to the Web 3.0 space, and releasing the game to Epic Games’ 200 million users could be monumental in promoting the capabilities of blockchain games and Web 3.0.

On the Flipside

• Not the fastest gun in the west: GRIT was originally scheduled to be the first ever Web 3.0 NFT game on the Epic Games Store; however, Mythical Games‘ ‘Blankos Block Party’ beat them to the punch in July this year. 
• Unlike the game’s Steam release, which is scheduled to take place before the end of the year, a date for the game’s full Epic Games Store launch has not yet been indicated. Considering it took the company so long to release the closed beta though, it’s reasonable to assume that there’s still a fair bit of time left. 
• Many games in the Web 3.0 gaming space have had profound success with their closed betas, especially games like Illuvium: Overworld, which is now home to 100,000 players. However, it’s important to note that the positive metrics for Illuvium: Overworld are due in part to the success of Illuvium’s first game, Illuvium: Arena. 

Why You Should Care

GRIT is part of Gala Games’ efforts to build out the Web 3.0 gaming industry by developing and delivering competitive games that attract mass adoption. The battle royale genre has seen a lot of success over the years, with Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Call of Duty: Warzone leading the way, boasting millions of daily players. Now Grit, as the first battle royale game coming out of the Web 3.0 sector, could prove highly effective in accelerating the mainstream adoption of the space.

Read about Gala Games’ upcoming co-op shooter on Steam:
Gala Games’ Co-Op Shooter Game, Superior, Set to Be Launched on Steam