Competition platform Challonge has introduced a ‘Free for All’ format on its platform aimed at Battle Royale and fighting games.
The format will allow tournament organisers to host competitions with a free-for-all format, allowing players to advance to a further round.
Challonge has also announced a new Station Tracker display system that equips tournament organisers with a “visual queue that details exactly where participants are playing and when”. This feature was modeled after flight information display systems found in airports and will aid with the organisation of competitions.
Matt McIntyre, CEO of Challonge discussed the new format in a statement: “A Free for All (FFA) tournament is a great answer to the question, how do I run a Fortnite tournament without private server access? In addition to the Battle Royale genre, there are applications for FFA in deathmatch, team deathmatch, elimination, racing games, speed runs, board games and much more.
“We’re currently working with several Super Smash Brothers Ultimate tournament organizers to add formal competitions around the four player and eight player last-character-standing modes. We’re all very excited to see how creative our 2 million users will be with the new Free for All format.”
As well as Battle Royale games (such as Blackout Fortnite) and fighting games (like Super Smash Brothers Ultimate), Free for All can also accommodate racing games (Mario Kart and Gran Turismo, for example) and card games (such as Magic: The Gathering).
Esports Insider says: Giving more ways to explore the competitive side of Battle Royale games is important if the genre is to find the best format for its esports efforts. Tournaments for Fortnite, for example, are under close watch and receive a lot of criticism, and Challonge could help to refine the format of these competitions moving forward. This feature is nothing groundbreaking but it could help.