The mythical, samurai, battle royale game Naraka: Bladepoint is going free to play and officially launching on the PlayStation 5.
It’s been two years since the game initially launched in early access. According to the publisher, it has been available on PC and Xbox for most of that time, seeing spikes in play counts that have now reached the tens of millions.
NetEase says, “This launch comes as Naraka: Bladepoint celebrates its second anniversary along with crossing the 20 million unique player mark.”
PlayStation 5 players will get a welcome bonus through in-game items: “a Katana skin, a Ryuzan·Frost Reflection, and 2 Immortal Treasures. PS Plus members will also receive more goodies, including five more Treasures, a cool exclusive Headwear.”
The 60-player arenas are chock-full of customization and opportunities for players to make their characters their own, so it’s easy to see why a free-to-play model could work here.
But wait, that’s not all! The game will also be collaborating with the NIER series. You can check out the (very) short video below. There are little to no details on precisely what this will entail, but there’s a distinct possibility that costumes or even known combatants will be added to the roster. Style and gameplay-wise, this makes perfect sense and could be an excellent team-up for Naraka and Nier.
Having played a handful of rounds on Xbox late last year, I can confirm that Naraka: Bladepoint does some fun and cool things with the battle royale genre. The melee-heavy combat, swift action, and traversal elements all felt pretty solid, even at the time. I didn’t stick with it after a couple of weeks, but now might be a great time to jump back in and play with a few of the available unique characters.
Naraka: Bladepoint can be downloaded now on PC, Xbox, and PC for free.
