Ninja Theory have kicked off a new series of Developer Update videos for their upcoming multiplayer hero battler Bleeding Edge, the first of which reveals some of the origins of the game. The biggest revelation from the first video, which answered community questions, was that this was originally going to be a MOBA before evolving into something closer to the hero shooter genre.
Fran Mead, Product Manager, spoke to Rahni Tucker, Creative Director, answer the most common community questions, including that one about its origins.
“Bleeding Edge had its roots more in a MOBA,” Rahni explained. “We started off with towers and minions and lanes, this kind of thing, but we found as we played the game it told us what it wanted to be and it led us away from that. It was hard to hold that level of strategy in your head at the same time as playing in third person.”
Also revealed was that there’s no plans for microtransactions in the game… “right now”. Everything outside of pre-order cosmetics can be earned through the game, but the door is left open for microtransactions in the future. However, Rahni states definitively that even if microtransactions do come in, “we would absolutely never sell anything that would affect the game, because it’s really important that it’s a competitive game.” Good to know when there’s a deep modding system that affects abilities and stats.
Earlier this week, Ninja Theory confirmed the times and dates of the game’s Closed Beta. The first of these kicks off next Friday, 14th February at 6PM, making it perfect for some Valentine’s Day throwdowns. It’s open for anyone with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, anyone who took part in the previous technical alpha on Windows 10 or Xbox One, and for anyone who’s pre-ordered the game via Steam.
The second Closed Beta takes place from 13th March, leading up to the full release of Bleeding Edge on 24th March, for Windows 10, Xbox One and as part of Xbox Game Pass.
Get ready for Valentine's Day… ? here are the times for our #BleedingEdgeBeta weekend, starting Friday Feb 14th!
Pre-order on https://t.co/IEYrohabQM or play with @xboxgamepass to get involved! More info: https://t.co/3kUuakzpZN pic.twitter.com/8aFCW56rRw
— Bleeding Edge (@BleedingEdgeNT) February 4, 2020
We went hands on with Bleeding Edge back at XO19, coming away curious about how the game is going to turn out. I said, “Bleeding Edge is a huge change of pace from anything that Ninja Theory has made before, and it’s great to see the freedom that being a part of Xbox Game Studios has given the studio to continue to experiment and push their own boundaries. Bleeding Edge won’t have the same impact that Hellblade did, but it is sure to be a cornerstone multiplayer release on Xbox One and Game Pass when it launches in March next year.”
