{"id":15512,"date":"2026-10-08T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/its-almost-not-worth-being-number-two-how-live-service-turned-games-into-a-battle-royale-for-the-top-spot\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:30:00","slug":"its-almost-not-worth-being-number-two-how-live-service-turned-games-into-a-battle-royale-for-the-top-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextlevelnews.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/its-almost-not-worth-being-number-two-how-live-service-turned-games-into-a-battle-royale-for-the-top-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s Almost Not Worth Being Number Two\u2019 \u2013 How Live-Service Turned Games Into a Battle Royale for the Top Spot"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Before there was Warzone, Fortnite, or even PUBG: Battlegrounds, there was Minecraft Survival Games. While the exact origin is nebulous, Norwegian YouTuber Dennis Vaeride is credited as launching the first Survival Games server in April 2012, just one month after The Hunger Games\u2019 film adaptation had opened in cinemas. The concept followed the rules outlined in Katniss\u2019 harrowing ordeal: dozens of players would sprint into the middle of a starting circle, gather supplies, and then hunt until the last one standing. <\/p>\n

Little did Vaeride know, he\u2019d just fired the starting pistol on an industry-wide battle royale. Many studios would try to replicate this formula. Few would survive. Those that did would grow fat on microtransactions and spiralling player counts. <\/p>\n