Battle royales exploded into the gaming scene when the likes of Player Unknown Battleground (PUBG) and Fortnite started getting traction around 2017. The genre is relatively new and companies have either made massive successes out of it or have crumbled horribly. It is a genre that was arguably pioneered by PUBG, but if you’re seeking a little more out of the straightforward themes that PUBG introduced, here are the top alternative battle royale games.  What Is a Battle Royale?  Before diving into the list, it’s important to know how battle royales has set itself apart from first-person and third-person shooters. At its very core, players are dropped onto a large location (island, cityscape, etc) and are forced to gather weapons and resources upon landing. When the looting phase is over and the player is well stocked, he or she will begin roaming around the map in search of other players to eliminate. In the end, the last one standing wins - quite simple.  The catch is that different games have different takes on weapon styles, items, player numbers per game and so much more. The variables are plentiful and make for a relatively competitive market that spoils players for choices. Many of the most popular Battle Royale games offer two to four men teams so that friends can link up and survive the entire game together. To speed things up, the map shrinks every “turn” which means encountering enemies will be inevitable.  Even though the mechanics are vastly between the different titles, the genre is extremely satisfying when players beat the odds and conquer their entire lobby - certainly no easy feat.  Read Effects of Video Game: Benefits, and risks of too much gaming Best PUBG Alternative Multiplayer Games in 2021 Fortnite  It’s impossible to talk about battle royale titles without uttering Fortnite. This title broke through the gaming community and attained pop-culture relevance for a good number of years, especially in 2018. Goofy dance emotes from all over the internet, crossover events with Marvel, Marshmello, and many more were recipes that brought in more mainstream audiences. Even when looking away from the commercial marketing front, the game boasts an in-game “building” mechanic that has players harvest resources in the game during the looting phase in order to build structures to fortify themselves as the game progresses.  Read Best free online games for girls With all of this combined, it sets a very bright, PG tone that has an impressive amount of flexibility that makes it possibly one of the most palatable battle royale games out there. Much like PUBG, both games have a third-person mode that allows you to see the majority of your avatar’s model as you traverse around the map. But if you are a newer PUBG player and prefer the FPS element of the game, you will be out of luck in Fortnite. Fortunately, transitioning between the two modes can be an enjoyable experience, and Epic Games’ regular updates to maps and weapons make this ever-evolving game a possible long-term alternative that could satisfy your needs the way PUBG can. Fortnite is available on PC, consoles, and mobile devices. Also Read: Top 10 Best Cricket Games For Android Apex Legends The Titanfall series by Respawn had a healthy fanbase and was praised within the community for its intuitive gunplay and breathtaking graphics. The game company took the elements that made their previous projects great and created Apex Legends. This first-person battle royale takes a page from the Hero Shooter genre and introduces different characters with unique abilities that change the way each player adapts to the battlefield. The graphics are slightly more realistic and military-focused, so PUBG players will feel right at home in that regard. Read PUBG New State Android Game: Features and Winning Tricks You Need to Know Like other successful Battle Royale games, Apex Legends is updated fairly frequently and releases tons of new characters and maps every season. While Fortnite brings PUBG players out of their comfort zone with the building mechanic, players will have to discern their playstyle and pick a hero that best represents that playstyle in order to succeed. Elements like character synergies and balance patches may introduce more changes than PUBG players are used to, but the game is fast-paced, action-packed and completely free to play. It does not come on Mobile, but is available on all consoles, which makes the title fairly accessible. Read Top 10 Best Football Games for Android Battlelands Royale Exclusive to mobile, Battlelands Royale doesn’t set its sights on goals of the same magnitude as its competitor, but it has mastered simplicity and excels as a Battle Royale. With basic controllers designed for mobile and straightforward in-game mechanics, this is possibly one of the best picks for beginners to video games. Granted, PUBG is a tougher game to get the hang of, but if playing with mobile was a must and PUBG mobile isn’t an option, Battlelands Royale is definitely worth a try. It may seem catered to kids at a glance, but its ability to allow character customization and lobby of 32 players per game (down from the usual 100 players per lobby) make it so that each game is condensed and paced even faster. Read Top 10 Best Car Racing Games for Android Call OF Duty Mobile Call Of Duty may arguably be the face of Shooter games. The series has developed a solid fan base over the years for its quality and refreshing take on shooters with every iteration. Its transition to mobile does not disappoint and provides players with anything they’d need from the shooter. Naturally, the soldier theme of this title parallels PUBG the best and it also supports a 100-player Battle Royale game mode. The graphics are slightly more intense and the controls may frustrate players who are not used to mobile FPSs, especially when transitioning from consoles - which means some elements of seriousness would be necessary to pick this game up as it might take a huge toll on older phone models. If Battle Royale isn’t for you on mobile, but Call Of Duty’s gameplay is to your liking, traditional FPS modes are available. These modes are held on different maps where players will simply shoot the enemy team until certain points are achieved. Regardless, Call Of Duty is a titan in the gaming industry, which means its popularity will guarantee you enough players in lobbies and demand for balanced updates. Also Read: Update on Annihilation: First Ever Bangladeshi Competitive Multiplayer Game

On Monday, Apple faces one of its most serious legal threats in recent years: A trial that threatens to upend its iron control over its app store, which brings in billions of dollars each year while feeding more than 1.6 billion iPhones, iPads, and other devices. The federal court case is being brought by Epic Games, maker of the popular video game Fortnite. Epic wants to topple the so-called “walled garden” of the app store, which Apple started building 13 years ago as part of a strategy masterminded by co-founder Steve Jobs. Read Also: Apple's iPhone privacy clampdown arrives after 7-month delay Epic charges that Apple has transformed a once-tiny digital storefront into an illegal monopoly that squeezes mobile apps for a significant slice of their earnings. Apple takes a commission of 15% to 30% on purchases made within apps, including everything from digital items in games to subscriptions. Apple denies Epic’s claims. Apple’s highly successful formula has helped turn the iPhone maker into one of the world’s most profitable companies, one with a market value that now tops $2.2 trillion. Privately held Epic is puny by comparison, with an estimated market value of $30 billion. Its aspirations to get bigger hinge in part on its plan to offer an alternative app store on the iPhone. The North Carolina company also wants to break free of Apple’s commissions. Epic says it forked over hundreds of millions of dollars to Apple before it expelled Fortnite from its app store last August, after Epic added a payment system that bypassed Apple. Epic then sued Apple, prompting a courtroom drama that could shed new light on Apple’s management of its app store. Both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney will testify in a Oakland, California federal courtroom that will be set up to allow for social distancing and will require masks at all times. Neither side wanted a jury trial, leaving the decision to U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who already seems to know her ruling will probably be appealed, given the stakes in the case. Much of the evidence will revolve around arcane but crucial arguments about market definitions. Read Also: Apple signals return of right-wing free speech app Parler Epic contends the iPhone has become so ingrained in society that the device and its ecosystem have turned into a monopoly Apple can exploit to unfairly enrich itself and thwart competition. Apple claims it faces significant competition from various alternatives to video games on iPhones. For instance, it points out that about 2 billion other smartphones don’t run iPhone software or work with its app store — primarily those relying on Google’s Android system. Epic has filed a separate case against Google, accusing it of illegally gouging apps through its own app store for Android devices. Apple will also depict Epic as a desperate company hungry for sources of revenue beyond the aging Fortnite. It claims Epic merely wants to freeload off an iPhone ecosystem in which Apple has invested more than $100 billion over the past 15 years. Estimates of Apple’s app store revenue range from $15 billion to $18 billion annually. Apple disputes those estimates, although it hasn’t publicly disclosed its own figures. Instead, it has emphasized that it doesn’t collect a cent from 85% of the apps in its store. The commissions it pockets, Apple says, are a reasonable way for the company to recoup its investment while financing an app review process it calls essential to preserving the security of apps and their users. About 40% of the roughly 100,000 apps submitted for review each week are rejected for some sort of problem, according to Kyle Andeer, Apple’s chief compliance officer. Epic will try to prove that Apple uses the security issue to disguise its true motivation — maintaining a monopoly that wrings more profits from app makers who can’t afford not to be available on the iPhone. Read Also: Epic Games complains about Apple to UK competition watchdog But the smaller company may face an uphill battle. Last fall, the judge expressed some skepticism in court before denying Epic’s request to reinstate Fortnite on Apple’s app store pending the outcome of the trial. At that time, Gonzalez Rogers asserted that Epic’s claims were “at the frontier edges of antitrust law.” The trial is expected to last most of May, with a decision to come in the ensuing weeks.

Epic Games submitted a complaint Tuesday about Apple's alleged “monopolistic practices" to the U.K. competition watchdog, which is investigating the iPhone maker over concerns it has a dominant position in app distribution. The move by the maker of the popular video game Fortnite is the latest salvo in its bitter battle over Apple's App Store. Epic Games has also filed legal challenges in the United States and Australia, and an antitrust complaint in the European Union against Apple. The game-maker's complaint accuses Apple of anti-competitive behavior and setting strict rules on app distribution and payments in alleged violation of U.K. rules. Apple said it wasn't surprised by Epic’s U.K. complaint “as we have seen them use the same playbook around the world.” The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed it received the complaint and said it would be considered as part of its investigation opened last month into whether Apple's practices result in higher prices or less choice for consumers. The dispute stems from Apple taking a 30% cut from some purchases made through apps, which music streaming service Spotify and other apps have also taken issue with. Epic tried to bypass the App Store with a direct payment system, but Apple responded by dropping the Fortnite app from the platform. “By kneecapping the competition and exerting its monopoly power over app distribution and payments, Apple strips U.K. consumers of the right to choose how and where they get their apps, while locking developers into a single marketplace that lets Apple charge any commission rate they choose,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. “These harmful practices lead to artificially inflated costs for consumers, and stifle innovation among developers, many of whom are unable to compete in a digital ecosystem that is rigged against them,” Sweeney alleged. Epic said it's not seeking monetary damages but wants regulators to come up with fixes to prevent market distortion and manipulation. Apple said Epic Games became hugely successful thanks to the App Store and now "wants to operate under a different set of rules than the ones that apply to all other developers. The result would be weakened privacy and data security protections for our customers, and we think that’s wrong.”