I still don’t know what to think about PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, beyond it having the most obnoxious title of any game ever. The concept of having a Smash Bros.-like fighter starring PlayStation characters excites me greatly, but it’s really all about the execution. Unfortunately, everything shown so far doesn’t look as fun as what we get in Smash Bros. Hopefully the developers get everything sorted out before launch.
Speaking of the launch date, Sony announced today via the PlayStation blog that the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale will be launching on October 23 in the U.S. and October 24 for most of Europe. The game will launch simultaneously on the PS3 and PS Vita on those dates. Sony expects to announce final pricing for both versions at a later date which suggests that the title may not be the usual $60 and may even come with a price drop for the Vita version if players buy the PS3 version.
As for characters that will be in the game, Sony has remain tight-lipped ever since announcing Big Daddy and Nathan Drake at E3 for the title. That leaves the current roster at eight characters which is kind of bad for a fighter that’s all about nostalgia. Sony is going to start changing that starting tonight by announcing two new characters for the brawler at the EVO fighting tournament tonight at 6 p.m. PST.
Sony also announced that pre-orders will receive a special set of exclusive costumes for the characters revealed thus far. Players will be able to unlock plenty of alternative costumes for each character as they play through the game, but a pre-order will secure that awesome Big Daddy plush toy costume you see in the lead image.
Sony has a lot riding on this game. They have to prove that’s it different enough from Smash Bros. to warrant a purchase and to set itself apart from unfair comparisons, but they also must try to attract the Smash Bros. crowd with a better game. We’ll find out soon enough in October once the game launches. Here’s hoping they get it right.