Rubber Royale: Everything We Know

To commemorate Rubber Bandits’ millionth unit sold on PC, developer Flashbulb Games has announced a new type of venture—a battle royale extension, of sorts, to compliment the physics-based party IP. If all goes according to plan, then this new project, aptly titled Rubber Royale, will launch on PC at some point in 2024.

“We believe a casual royale with all the chaos and wackiness from Rubber Bandits was the next logical step,” said Flashbulb Games in a press release. And in all fairness, it is indeed the most logical step, what with the arrival of Party Animals recently stepping on Rubber Bandits’ toes and rivaling it for the apex of the food chain. But that’s another story altogether.

So, what more do you need to know about the so-called Rubber Royale ahead of its 2024 launch? Well, here’s what we’ve been able to gather on the project since first catching wind of its existence a little earlier this month. Rubber Royale: what is it, really, and when can we expect to draw first blood? Let’s dive right in.

What Is Rubber Royale?

In case you missed the prelude of the IP, Rubber Bandits is a physics-based party game in which up to six players battle it out for loot over a series of wild and wacky arenas. To put it short, Rubber Royale is an extension to that rubber-centric realm—a sequel, in ways, that will look to wrangle upwards of 16 players for a brand-new selection of standalone free-for-alls. It’s Rubber Bandits 2.0, essentially, but with grander playgrounds, and an even wider roster of characters to choose from.

In Flashbulb Games’ own words: “Rubber Royale is a silly, high-energy 3rd person ragdoll shooter / brawler with destructible arenas and various game modes. 16 players contest to become the top player! Join now for non-stop action and let the madness begin!”

“Experience wacky and chaotic gameplay featuring loveable wobbly idiots in a high-speed knock-out setting,” the description continues. “Rubber Royale is easy to pick up and learn. Just jump in, customize your character, and battle strangers or friends in a variety of different game modes with the last man standing being the victor in this crazy royale fiesta of a game.”

“But be warned. This is the kind of game that will make you scream at your best friend after they just threw a toilet roll on you and made you faceplant right in front of the finish line, not qualifying for the next round. So get ready to try to apologize to your disgruntled friends while holding back tears of laughter.”

Story

If you’re hell-bent on seeing a story of some kind formulate from the roots of the upcoming sequel, then you might be in for a bit of disappointment. Not that this comes as much of a surprise, mind you, what with Rubber Bandits also having next to no narrative nodes whatsoever. But who knows? If we’re lucky, then we could see those elastic thugs sprout up in a whole new adventure mode. Fat chance, what with it being a battle royale game at heart — but who’s to say it won’t happen? Only time will tell on that one.

Gameplay

The gameplay in Rubber Royale won’t be all that different from Rubber Bandits. As such, several players will have a common goal of outplaying other characters, and working to survive until the bitter end and all but one thug remains. Rather than having to score enough loot to progress, however, Rubber Royale will instead cast its focus on combat, and thus, force each player to confront others and engage in a free-for-all battle.

In addition to the core game mode, Rubber Royale will also make room for “knock-out, king of the hill, racing, and more!” As for whether or not there’ll be any extra modes is unclear, though from the looks of what’s been shown so far, it seems the base version will launch with roughly four or five classic online modes.

Development

Flashbulb Games first teased Rubber Royale earlier this year, at which point the team announced that the next entry in the series would heading to PC at some point during the forthcoming fiscal year. A concrete release date has yet to be confirmed.

The good news is, those eager enough to experience the latest chapter in the party IP can, in fact, get ahold of a demo over on Steam right now. Interested? You can download a preview of Rubber Royale here. You can also keep track of the dev log over on the studio’s website here.

Trailer

RUBBER ROYALE DEMO IS LIVE! 🗣️

Download it for free:https://t.co/ikwWjeGLQt pic.twitter.com/BRyPcCFxqc

— Rubber Royale (@TheRubberRoyale) September 5, 2023

While Flashbulb Games has yet to post an announcement trailer on its official streaming handles, you can still catch a sneak peek at some of the gameplay footage over on its Steam page here.

Release Date, Platforms & Editions

Rubber Royale is currently scheduled to go live on PC via Steam at some stage in 2024. Does this mean it won’t be on Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch? At the moment, yes. That said, as Rubber Bandits did manage to find its way to consoles in the aftermath of its global debut, there’s a good chance that it’ll release on additional platforms in the weeks, months, or perhaps even years following its initial launch.

Interested in staying up to date with Rubber Royale? If so, then be sure to check in with Flashbulb Games’ official social handle for all the latest updates here. If anything changes ahead of its release, we’ll be sure to fill you in on all the key details right here on gaming.net.

So, what’s your take? Will you be picking up a copy of Rubber Royale when it releases next year? Let us know your thoughts over on our socials here.