Oasis Games have announced a futuristic sports game Steel Circus that looks reminiscent of Rocket League, although it is played in isometric point of view. The game will feature several characters, and no pay-to-win or loot boxes.
According to the info on the official website, Steel Circus will be a competitive multiplayer hero sports game set in a dystopian background in the year 2350. The first vibes you get from it will likely be those of Rocket League since the art style is fairly similar and players work with their teams and unconventional means of scoring goals.
The titular Steel Circus refers to the championships that the players will participate in, with the lore dictating that the champions will represent their ethnic groups in hopes to bring honour and glory to them. Speaking of which, four champions have been revealed so far - Shani, Lochlan, Schröder and Cap-x02.
Shani is the most prominent character in the trailer above, and she will excel at quick movement, while also making what seem to be light constructs to help her navigate the field. Lochlan is a sturdy Scottish man whose family enjoyed sports for generations, and Schröder is a mysterious person that is said to be the only one that has left Saturn in over 50 years.
The remaining revealed champion is the robot, Cap-x02, that seems to be a sturdy machine built for taking a punch. This hints at Cap being a defensive player, possibly even serving as a goalie in some situations.
When it comes to the business model, it felt heartwarming reading the official FAQ that stated even though the final draft is not done yet, the developer and the publisher are looking to stray away from pay-to-win practices, as well as loot boxes.
Considering it will be a hero sports game, more heroes will likely pop up in the future and allow for many customisation options, which should be the source of microtransactions. The game will initially not be free to play though, but the price tag is yet to be set.
Oasis Games
Purchasing the game will unlock all champios, as well as any upcoming ones, so even if Steel Circus goes free to play at some point, it might adopt Paladins' business model - with all champions unlocked for those who bought the game, while free to play users will need to grind the in-game currency to unlock them.
The exact number of champions is still unknown, but the FAQ does say that there are plans for about 20 champions, with seven of them already in the pipeline. It is not clear whether these seven include the four champions described above.
Steel Circus will pop up on Steam Early Access in early 2019, at least according to the projections by Oasis Games and Iron Mountain Interactive. If you can't wait that long, you can sign up to be an Alpha Tester.
