At this year’s China Joy, Snail Games, the developer of popular free-to-play MMORPGs such as Age of Wushu and Black Gold Online, announced that their previously announced MOBA, King of Wushu, will be coming to Microsoft’s next-gen console, Xbox One. When it arrives, it will mark the first console MOBA for the platform.
Very little is known about the free-to-play MOBA besides that it will be set in the same universe as Age of Wushu (reportedly in the same time frame or just after) and will feature the same martial arts-style combat. Players will play on teams of five and must work to destroy the enemy team’s base while still protecting their own — fairly standard MOBA-fare, as we’ve come to know it. Much like SMITE, characters will be controlled from a third-person perspective and will utilize action combat to attack and dodge.
A brief teaser trailer was shown, displaying the six playable classes and short glimpses of gameplay. The game is developed in CryEngine 3 and boasts some impressively detailed environments, textures and effects. Reportedly still in the early stages of development, no release window was given.
The console exclusivity announcement for King of Wushu comes just days after Perfect World Entertainment revealed that their popular free-to-play MMORPG, Neverwinter, would be headed to Xbox One as a timed exclusive. This is big news for Microsoft and is likely the result of their recent campaign to acquire new and unique content for their console — a move to compete with Sony Playstation 4’s aggressively expanding marketplace catalog. No word yet on whether Snail Game’s MOBA will eventually come to PS4.
For continued King of Wushu coverage, keep to MMO ATK.