Why is BattleBit Remastered so Popular?

BattleBit Remastered has been taking the top charts recently. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it leave the “Top Selling” category since its release on PC. The indie shooter has sold 1.8 million units during its first two weeks despite being developed by only three people. The developers—TheLiquidHorse, SgtOkiDoki, and Vilaskis—showed us the light; just because a game looks good doesn’t mean it plays good.

2023 has shown us the dark side of the free-to-play ecosystem, so having BattleBit Remastered on Steam and stealing the spotlight from other titles like it, such as Battlefield and Call of Duty. Despite being on Early Access, the game outperformed the most popular games on the Steam platform—it even surpassed Starfield preorders.

Fitting in the Most Competitive Genre of Gaming

It isn’t unusual to see indie games these days. They arguably offer more value for your money and are frequently fun to play. BattleBit Remastered is an indie FPS that functions similarly to Battlefield, has Squad’s functions, and Roblox’s visuals.

BattleBit Remastered is an interesting case in that compared to the other Steam success stories I’ve heard, it’s doing battle in one of the most competitive genres of gaming. It’s much tougher to stand out from the crowd if you’re developing a first-person shooter title. That’s because there’s no shortage of well-supported, free-to-play shooters on the market. If you try to search for free FPS games, chances are there’ll be a cornucopia of titles for you to choose from.

Usually, whenever we hear an indie game blowing up the charts, it’s in a genre that hasn’t been squeezed dry. And yet, here’s BattleBit—charging $15 for a pop and making more money than Call of Duty ever could on Steam.

$15 for A Good FPS Game Isn’t A Bad Deal

You might think BattleBit Remastered would sell much better if it went with the free-to-play route, but its $15 price tag is a massive part of the appeal for many people. The hard-earned money you spend on it gets you a game with tons of stuff—no (extra monetary) strings attached. There’s no cosmetic store to peruse, no battle pass to grind for needlessly, and there’s a trunk’s worth of rewards to unlock by purely playing the game as is.

Here’s what your $15 could get you when you purchase BattleBit Remastered:

• 39 unlockable guns
• 78 attachments
• 6 classes
• 17 destructible maps (with day and night variants)
• Dedicated 254-player servers
• Dozens of class-specific primary/secondary gadgets
• Community server support (beta)
• VOIP with proximity chat

If you want to support the game even more, you could get the optional $20 Supporter Pack with gun skins.

We’ve Gotten Too Used to Being Dripfed Content

Perhaps the main reason BattleBit Remastered feels like a buffet of content to us is that we’ve gotten accustomed to F2P shooters that only start with a modest amount of content where the devs build on it over time. It’s rare to jump into an online game that feels like it’s already 20 seasons deep in 2023, which is pretty sad to think about.

I’m not saying the free-to-play titles don’t have any advantages. Seeing how many games we can install and enjoy these days without opening our wallets is terrific. Accessibility gets consumers in the door, then the seasonal content—aka battle passes—tempts us to spend money. However, if you’re an avid player of games like Valorant, Warzone, Apex Legends, or Overwatch 2, you know those titles constantly nag you about skin bundles and battle pass buy-ins. It feels like I’m in this parasocial relationship where it only gets less healthy when more money is involved.

BattleBit Remastered is the Perfect Palate Cleanser

If you’re a multiplayer FPS addict, you will adore BattleBit Remastered. It provides a breath of fresh air amongst the online games that promote the same services that entice you to spend more cash than you should. Sure, it lacks the bombastic audio and graphic violence you’d usually see in other games, but the matches can surprisingly be intense. This is mainly chalked up to the impromptu roleplay of the VOIP proximity chat.

BattleBit Remastered echoes the success story of Stardew Valley, where just because it’s a small game doesn’t mean it can’t win people over or punch above its weight. Plus, unlike other free-to-play games out there whose lifespans are in constant flux, there’s a future in sight for BattleBit Remastered. Should the devs deliver all the guns, modes, and maps they plan to release via free updates, that’s great! But even if it doesn’t, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in the game’s current state.