From the opening moments of Guerrilla Games Cambridge’s PlayStation VR exclusive competitive shooter, RIGS: Mechanized Combat League [Review: 8/10], it’s clear that the idea of piloting giant robots that shoot each other is meant to be a futuristic sport in this fictional universe. The announcer’s booming voice reverberates around the arena, sponsorship decals are emblazoned across the chassis of each unit, and pilots are adorned in the colors and stripes of their chosen team.

Even if you’re not familiar with the world of RIGS, you can immediately tell it’s meant to be passed off as a fictional sparring match for fame and fortune. It’s a persona that fits all too well.

Ever since I first played RIGS, it’s felt like a VR version of Unreal Tournament to me. The fast-paced gameplay, variety of weapons and playstyles, and tightly-crafted arenas all lend themselves to frequent and intense firefights. There are a handful of game modes, each vastly different than the other, that put unique spins on genre staples. For example, Powerslam tasks players with ‘dunking’ their mechs through the ring in the center of the map once supercharged, whereas End Zone actually asks you to deliver a ball through a goal — sort of like Rocket League meets American football.

Throughout it all is that same common thread that this is all part of some futuristic sport. You earn sponsorship deals as you level up and have to take your team to the top of the ranks. You’ll look around at your teammates on the private jet back home following each match. Everything is built around the premise that you’re a sports star — so why not let that notion carry over into the real world as well?

“All of the game modes are special and unique, but End Zone absolutely requires the most communication,” said Mark Green, Studio Producer at Guerrilla Games Cambridge. “There is just more depth and team-based play with End Zone and it’s what we gravitated towards the most at the studio while testing. Using the Impulse Cannon to launch off of a level’s geometry and picking up the ball just feels great.”

While Powerslam was the most heavily marketed game mode, especially at conventions and in the preview available on the PS VR demo disc, End Zone is clearly the favorite among the competitive fans.

“End Zone absolutely requires the most communication to play well,” said Tom Jones, Art Director at Guerrilla Games Cambridge. “But Powerslam is my favorite personally. It’s something you can play more individually. And Team Takedown is still competitive, but you don’t need to pay attention to teammates at all really if you don’t want to. In that way, End Zone is absolutely the most Esports of them all.”

RIGS has the depth to make it as one of the first big competitive VR games and it’s something that the studio has had on its mind for quite some time.

“Having a game that ticks a lot of boxes in that way with regards to the gameplay angle, the competitive side, all feeds into this notion of RIGS as a believable sport,” explained Green. “Now that the game’s out there, with all this talk about Esports going too, it’s exciting. We’ve talked with a lot of Esports companies about some ideas.”

Outside of that official realm for potential promotion, fans have taken up the torch on their own. Blossoming from the fruits of Guerrilla’s labor is the MCAL, or Mechanized Combat Amateur League. There are already actual tournaments happening, with teams that register to compete. Battlefy is used to track brackets. Fan sites offer detailed guides and tips for playing different game modes and write ups about each week’s winners. Community members like Nightfiree are already shoutcasting tournaments.

Most notable of all though is that Guerrilla Games Cambridge is not only aware of all of this, but they embrace it. One of the most recent MCAL tournaments was sponsored by Guerrilla Games directly and even offered specially signed posters, signed copies of the game, and in-game vanity items for the winners.

“The MCAL guys have been great,” said Green. “They’re all very vocal about features that they want. The biggest thing we are missing that we are well aware of but just don’t have a clear timeframe on yet is a Spectator Mode.”

Some sort of Spectating feature is obviously important for viewing matches, but it’s also important for skill-building by players as well.

“One of the things we’ve noticed is that it’s really fun to watch and see players’ skill level and seeing how good they are,” explained Jones. “It’s generally very exciting. Trying to juggle new content with updating existing content is always a challenge, so we try to balance that in our patches. We want to keep the community together.”

As RIGS continues to grow into 2017, the plan is to release all updates for free to make sure the player base isn’t divided at all. That includes all new maps, new weapons, new RIGS, and more. The recent Winter Update is a great example of that notion in action.

You can read our review of RIGS for more information and pick up a copy of the PS VR exclusive on the PSN Store for $49.99.