Battle royale

A battle royale drops dozens or up to a hundred players into a map with almost no equipment. They scavenge weapons while a shrinking safe zone pushes them together, and the last player or team alive wins.

Where the name comes from

The name comes from the 2000 Japanese film Battle Royale. Brendan “PlayerUnknown” Greene made a “Battle Royale” mod for DayZ in 2013, remade it for Arma 3 in 2014, and later designed PUBG: Battlegrounds (2017); Kotaku said in 2017 that Greene invented the genre “or at least… played a huge role”. Before that, in 2012, Minecraft players built a “Hunger Games” plug-in, later called Survival Games, after the film of that year.

Where the edges are

Who invented it, Greene or the Minecraft plug-in makers, is still argued, as is how much PUBG and Fortnite each owe the film. Battle royale modes have spread to racing and puzzle games, from Forza Horizon 4’s Eliminator to Tetris 99. The extraction shooter is the genre’s nearest relative: one winner against many survivors.

Key battle royale games

Each game links to its article; the last column links to the source that puts it in the genre.

Related genres: Extraction shooter, Hero shooter.

At a glance

Named after

Battle Royale (2000 film)

Origin

DayZ mod by Brendan Greene (2013)

Breakthrough

PUBG: Battlegrounds, Fortnite Battle Royale (2017)

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026.

1. Battle royale game — Wikipedia
2. The Modder Behind PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, A Game That Just Sold A Million Copies — Kotaku
3. PUBG: How Battle Royale Was Born — IGN
4. The Creator of 'PUBG' on Where Battle Royale Started and Where It's Going — Vice
5. What Is an Extraction Shooter, and What Was the First One? — Antihero Studios
6. A History of Extraction Shooters — Gfinity Esports