First person shooter Battalion 1944 has been out as an Early Access game on Steam for little over two weeks. Since the rocky launch, Bulkhead Interactive has improved the game’s stability, fixed matchmaking issues and released new features at an impressive rate and they don’t seem to slow down. The first LAN tournament is about to be announced and I for one am really excited.

So far we’ve seen numerous online tournaments, including the weekly Blitzkrieg Battle, casted by Vince and dusT. Despite the problems that is to be expected from an Early Access game (defuse bug, unexpected crashes etc.) they have all been really entertaining to watch. Why?

Battalion 1944 is more than just a throwback to the early 2000’s. It’s a game that challenges the player as well as teams. We’ve seen the likes of rEplan and j_money completely taking over games and single handedly grind out wins for their respective teams. In rEplan’s case that team is PENTA Sports, a team known for making ballsy moves and pick up teams for yet-to-be-established games. And from what I’ve gathered Bulkhead are in the talks with more than one tournament organizer that’s interested in picking up the game.

The skill ceiling is very high and Battalion 1944 features complex movement mechanics which allows the player to gain advantages over their opponent if used correctly. It’s also a very fast-paced game that rewards quick reactions and good aim. All without sacrificing teamplay. I would even go so far as to say that the fast pace of the game makes it even more important for teams to have good systems in place. Good communication and knowing how to react when the opponent decides to go for certain plays. Battalion 1944 also has an economy system. Albeit not as complex as the one seen in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. I won’t delve too deep into the subject as the developers are currently working on a new system to replace the one used today. It’s really exciting to see what they’ve come up with. An economy system is a very powerful tool when it comes to balancing weapons, as shown by CS:GO. The fact that Bulkhead seems to want to go in a direction where the entire team shares economy is really interesting, even if it has its limitations. Being able to drop weapons for your teammates makes CS:GO’s system really complex and there are numerous ways you can choose to spend (or save) your money.

All in all I think it’s safe to say that Battalion 1944 has all the components a competitive game needs.

Potential Problems

Battalion 1944 is not designed to be a popular game. It’s designed to be a good game. As such it has, as I mentioned earlier, a very high skill ceiling. But it also comes with a really, really high skill floor. A new player with limited experience from other online shooters will get absolutely shit on by someone who understands the basics and has had time to learn how to use movement mechanics to their advantage.

Because of this, Battalion 1944 is a game that’s not for everyone. As Duncan “Thorin” Shields put it in his video about why Quake won’t be a big esports title again: They’re not trying to reverse engineer success.

On the other hand, Battalion 1944 is a team game. It’s easy to get your friends involved and queue up for a casual game. The social aspect seems to be key when it comes to an esports game’s commercial success. Is the game fun enough to play with friends to make casual gamers stick around? I hope so, but I’m yet to be convinced.

Unfortunately it’s crucial to have a casual player base. Without casual fans the esports is doomed. Without new players, the scene will slowly deteriorate. Player turnover is important if we want to keep the game interesting as veterans get older and drop off. New styles of play has a tendency to come from young players that manage to break through. Often because they have something new to offer.

If Battalion 1944 manages to appeal to the casual gamer, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t succeed as an esports title. It will probably never reach the same level of success as CS:GO, Overwatch or League of Legends, but I’m not sure it needs to either. Battalion 1944 will find its own place in the scene and the passionate tight-knit community will be key.