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Roller Champions release date slips into 2021

It's not time to roll just yet, as Ubisoft's free-to-play roller jam game, Roller Champions, has been pushed back to 2021.

Ozzie Mejia

September 10, 2020 6:15 PM

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It's been a while since Ubisoft first revealed its take on roller derbies. Roller Champions was first unveiled way back at E3 2019 and the publisher had every intention of bringing it out in 2020. However, it does not appear that the full version of the game is going to roll out this year. Prior to Thursday's Ubisoft Forward presentation, it was revealed that Roller Champions would arrive in early 2021.

Product Manager Stephane Drapeau delivered the news during a video update. Roller Champions has been in closed alpha for quite a while, which Drapeau notes has allowed the development team to focus on areas that they hadn't previously thought about. In an effort to appeal to a wider casual audience, as well as a competitive one, the development has focused on adding and tweaking various moves on top of adding new assets and testing potential new game modes.

While there hasn't been a lot of news in the past year or so regarding Roller Champions, Ubisoft is seeking to change that in the weeks ahead. Today's video noted that the development will start providing more frequent updates as part of something they're calling the Blueprint Initiative. Look for dev diaries, interviews, and more in-depth looks at the upcoming roller jam title.

For the uninitiated, Roller Champions is a 3v3 team game centered around holding a ball and completing a full lap around a closed track before scoring in a designated goal. It's possible to earn more points by completing more laps before attempting a goal, but if the opposing team knocks you over and steals the ball, your team gets nothing. The game will feature stadiums from around the world, as well as numerous customization options.

Look for Roller Champions to come to PC in early 2021 as a free-to-play game. There was a lot more coming out of today's event, so be sure to check out our full Ubisoft Forward recap.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?