Hadean launches 10,000 player battle royale clash to stress test its Aether Engine

Applications are now open for 10,000 players to battle it out in a single sci-fi battle royale clash.

London tech firm Hadean is running the battle in order to perform the record-breaking stress test of its Aether Engine and showcase "the versatility" of its distributed simulation engine. The 10,000 players will face off in a single space battle and as is customary with battle royale matches, the winner will be the last player standing.

"The space showdown will showcase Aether Engine’s ability to handle a record-breaking number of players, breathing new life into the popular battle royale genre and opening up fresh gameplay possibilities for creative developers," states Hadean.

Participants can sign up for the free-to-play match right now at aetherengine.io/pvp-10k. While the specific date has yet to be confirmed, Hadean indicates the match is likely to take place in "late February". "Only players who quickly adapt to the anarchy around them will thrive in this unique combat scenario, as the sheer number of players involved means that old battle royale tactics no longer apply," teases the press release.

The global obsession with battle royale shows no sign of slowing down, with Nintendo recently confirming that Epic’s fan-favourite battle royale game, Fortnite, has "gained so much momentum" that since its release on Switch in 2018, the game has been downloaded to "nearly half" of all systems worldwide.

Epic’s battle royale reportedly earned $455 million on iOS alone in 2018, earning Epic roughly $1.6 million every day since it launched on the Apple store in March 2018. The game has also been a big earner for its streamers, too. Top Fortnite streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins earned almost $10 million last year, attributing 70 per cent of that revenue to Twitch and YouTube, and the other 30 per cent to revenue earned via ads, subscriptions, and sponsorship deals.