Highlights

  • Fragpunk joins a crowded hero shooter market, risking getting lost in the shuffle of 2024 competitors like Marvel Rivals and Concord.
  • Despite visually impressive aesthetics and unique mechanics, Fragpunk's trailer only slightly elevates its public perception above Concord.
  • The rush to capitalize on hero shooters mirrors the battle royale trend, but may lead to unoriginal titles that fail to stand out or find success.

The recent Xbox Games Showcase unveiled another entry in the 5v5 hero shooter genre with Fragpunk, a title that's already been thrown on the heap of other 2024 competitors. From Marvel Rivals to Concord, the hero shooter genre was already getting bloated — and Fragpunk may have just sealed the deal.

Fragpunk's Xbox Games Showcase slot wasn't without some appealing attributes, even if the title ultimately falls into the trap of repetition. Bold colors, a futuristic setting, and a unique deck-building mechanic gave Fragpunk a strong showing. Unfortunately, its wonderfully rendered trailer, with the flair of 2D effects to boot, only placed the game a rung or two above Concord in terms of public perception; the trailer's YouTube comments section demonstrates this with a brutal response.

FragPunk
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There's A Hero Shooter Gold Rush, And That Might Be Bad News

Concord, Fragpunk, Marvel Rivals, and more are all indicative of a hero shooter gold rush, itself a fragment of a larger rush for live services, which is a trend that's been taking the industry by storm since Fortnite's breakout success. That trend hit a wall earlier this year with the fallout of games like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Skull and Bones, both of which failed to unseat incumbent success stories like Valorant and Overwatch 2. It's those two games specifically that will also create a barrier for the deluge of hero shooters primed for 2024.

Hero Shooters Are The New Battle Royale

All the new hero shooters scheduled for 2024 or 2025, even those with promising mechanics like Fragpunk, are following a similar pattern to games like Battleborn and Lawbreakers back when Overwatch first dropped. Between then and now, however, the big scuffle in gaming was over the battle royale market. It started with Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, only for Apex Legends to boot the latter off the totem pole. Many games were killed in the wake of this particular gold rush, with everything from Spellbreak to Knockout City being left to gather dust.

The problem with these constant attempts to carve out a new niche in a dominated market is the 'rush' itself. In an attempt to try and mimic another game, titles like Concord trade a sense of identity for unbridled mass appeal — something that ends up appealing to very few. Moreover, not only is artistic value being crushed by this pursuit, but the games also suffer on a mechanical and presentation level. Many titles mentioned here haven't been released yet, but live service hopefuls like Marvel Avengers and Fallout 76 have shown how problematic such a release strategy can be in the past; both were thrown onto the market without the proper polish, leading to bug-laden, half-baked launches.

Live Services Are Causing A Lot Of Industry Strife

Layoffs have been a major talking point in the industry, both with the tragic mass losses last year and the continuation of said losses in 2024. Ahead of the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft just recently axed 1900 jobs in a truly devastating blow to the industry and the medium at large.

The constant financial disappointment produced by new live service games is among the prime culprits. Game after game being brought out solely to fight a losing battle has led to a death march, one that many believe games like Fragpunk are set for. Of course, it's still possible for something to break through the cracks (like Helldivers 2) if it has a strong direction, one that commits to a live-service model for its own sake as opposed to the chase of short-term gain. Despite that possibility, it's evident to many that, for the health of the industry, its workers, and players, a drastic change needs to take place in how projects are managed.