But not so fast! Now, Xaviant has announced that The Culling will return to Xbox One this Thursday, 14th May, for its third attempt at success, and while the core battle royale experience remains the same, the new version features improved visuals and AI, plus a completely overhauled - and somewhat eyebrow-raising - pay-per-play monetisation model.
New players will initially be expected to pay $4.99 USD, which will grant them a one day trial period. Should they wish to continue playing after that, they'll need to spend match tokens for anything beyond a single free match per day. Match tokens can be earned by winning an online match, but Xaviant will also be offering them in packs purchasable with real money.
Packs start at $.99USD for three match tokens and go up to $4.99 for 20 tokens. Alternatively, players can choose to purchase seven days unlimited access for $1.99 or 30 days for $5.99, roughly equivalent to $70 (just shy of £60) for a year. The loot crates seen in The Culling's previous free-to-play iteration will, however, be dropped.
It's certainly a bold monetisation approach in a battle royale market dominated by free-to-play juggernaut offerings such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends, but Xaviant says it has spent "a great deal of effort" streamlining its backend systems to reduce costs and improve efficiency so that it can "keep the game alive indefinitely". A PC version of the new-look Culling will launch at a later date.
