Roller Champions, Ubisoft’s neon, flashy take on roller derby finally has a release date, having been lost in the development wilderness for several years. Having been announced at E3 2019, and then been made playable in pre-alpha form shortly after, the game largely disappeared. Many years and Ubisoft Forward’s had come and gone with excited fans hoping to see the game shown off or even stealth dropped, but it never happened. Now, and seemingly out of nowhere, the stealth drop as happened with Roller Champions skating into the free-to-play arena next week, May 25th.
At launch the game will be coming to PC (via the Ubisoft Store), Xbox One, and PS4 (Xbox Series X|S, PS5 via backwards compatibility) next week, while sometime in a to-be-determined future, it will be coming to Nintendo Switch, the Epic Games Store, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia. The game will include cross-play for those looking to switch from platform to platform on the fly, and cross-progression, for those keen to bring their win/loss ratio and everything else with them.
The goal of Roller Champions is fairly simple; you along with two others in a trio will face off against another team in a typical Roller Derby ovular arena, with a first to five scoring system dictating the victorious team. Retaining possession is the key to success, if players can complete a full lap of the arena the goal will reveal itself and a shot can be taken at it; if you’re on defence at this time, it becomes imperative to intervene through timely tackles, intercepting passes and more, to regain possession and make your own offensive thrust.
In the Ubisoft news post, they declare “Teamwork, dedication, and daring are your keys to progressing from your scrappy beginnings through bigger stadiums and tougher competition all the way to the Elite Champions’ league”. Of course, being a free-to-play title, there are plenty of monetisable customisation options, and a battle pass (dubbed a Roller Pass) which will net you “helmets, gloves, outfits, and skates, as well as poses, goal FX, emotes, and other cosmetic items” as you progress.”Players can also purchase the premium Roller Pass to earn more exclusive gear that won’t be available in the item shop”.
Roller Champions hits on May 25th.
