By Steven Asarch
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For a while, it seemed like Brawl Stars would never be released. Supercell, known best for mobile smash hits like Clash Royale and Clash of Clans, soft-launched their take on the multiplayer shooter in June 2017. For 522 days, the game stayed in a hypothetical beta, going through massive reworks and transitions. The game started out as a portrait-mode tapper and eventually grew into a full-scale top down multiplayer mobile shooter. Players take control of Brawlers, each with their own unique set of attacks and abilities, and try to be the last monster, luchador or bear standing. With power-ups to collect, bushes to hide in and energy to absorb, it simplifies the traditional hero shooter experience.
Honing the focus of Brawl Stars proved to be a significant challenge for the development team. " Brawl Stars is a different game than the others we made, which made it an interesting project," game lead Frank Keienburg told Newsweek. Supercell has made strategy and action games in the past, but this is its first foray into the multiplayer battler market. "We started with a fun game but we weren't sure how to interpret it's success. Over time we got a better idea of where it should go," he added.
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Supercell took its time developing Brawl Stars in the hope of replicating the success of 2012's enduring hit, Clash of Clans and 2016's esports powerhouse, Clash Royale. "We could have released the game earlier, but we wanted to make a game that was ready to play five years from now," Keienburg explained.
Originally, the game was played in portrait mode, requiring players to tap the screen to fire a weapon. Once the game was released to players, the devs quickly noticed that people enjoyed playing with a joystick on their screen. This inspired them to invert the game and throwing in a second joystick. The team also tweaked other elements, like the UI and in-game economy.
Brawl Stars brings some of the features of popular console and PC shooters to mobile. "The people on the team and most of us at SuperCell are gamers, so we are all inspired by other multiplayer titles on other platforms, be it League of Legends or Overwatch," Keienburg acknowledged. Just looking at Brawl Stars, you can see comparisons to popular battle royale games like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. They both have squads of characters battling it out while a deadly cloud slowly circles the map. Keienburg said that in playtests, before either of those games were released, Brawl Stars "already had a little bit of a battle royale mode" and wasn't trying to copy the trend.
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What started as a "space cowboy" shooter quickly evolved with each new character added to the roster. "As time went on, we moved away from the West and created a more diverse environment," Keienburg said. Characters like a shovel-wielding vampire, a prospector who chucks dynamite and a small girl with a "Big Baby Bear" added more flavor to the world of Brawl Stars .
These characters are designed from the ground up, with balance being a crucial part of development. One of Brawl Stars' more cherubic fighters is Spike, a sentient cactus who launches spikes at enemies. Before he was a plant, he was just a list of abilities that had been properly balanced by the design team. At this point, there was "no identity or clear vision of what the character needs to be," Keienburg explained. From there, the artists started to tinker with his design elements, transforming him from a list of numbers and words to a sentient cactus in overalls.
Why are these characters are shooting at each other? That's a secret the developers want players to find out for themselves. That hasn't stopped players from falling in love with the game already, even though it's only available in select countries, including Canada, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The game's subreddit is bustling with different fan-made ideas for maps, brawlers and skins, along with footage and screenshots of exciting gameplay. Members of the fan community also discuss their favorite Brawlers, which Keienburg believes is "because they have a strong affinity with these characters."
Supercell wants to keep that momentum going. As part of their plan, updates for Brawl Stars will roll out "more than once a quarter," Keienburg said. "We want to be able to provide the community with as much content as they want. That means an ambitious plan."
Brawl Stars launches globally in December on iOS and Android, but you can pre-register on their website.
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