On May 6th, DarxDev officially released Retail Royale for free on Steam. The game generated a following in its Early Access phase by hosting tournaments. Retail Royale is a multiplayer first-person shooter where the player is thrown into battle to the death — inside an IKEA store (stylized within the game as IDEA). The game is already popular, racking up over 3,500 reviews in just a day since it dropped.
In Retail Royale, players engage in “a chaotic Battle Royale inside a furniture store where everything is a weapon.” Inside IDEA, the massive furniture with a familiar blue and yellow logo, “16 players will take part in a battle to the death using anything at hand to secure a kill – from guns to literal couches.” The battle mechanics of the game are extremely in-depth. Retail Royale features melee combat, and players are not restricted to traditional weapons. “If you can see it, you can throw it,” DarxDev said. DarxDev also describes the game as similar to The Culling in terms of mechanics.
At IDEA, players can also loot, recycle, and craft supplies and Retail Royale contains practical multiplayer options like voice chat, match events, and duos/FFA modes. Additionally, Retail Royale adds authenticity to its IKEA setting with the inclusion of the furniture store’s famous Swedish meatballs.
Retail Royale has received positive reviews since its Early Access phase. “There’s something about wandering around an IKEA that makes ordinary happy couples want to tear each other apart,” said Alpha Beta Gamer, “so it should make for great battle royale setting. It looks like a lot of fun and it’ll be nice to get a chance to wreck those pristine furniture displays!” TechRaptor compared it favorably to The Culling, writing “As you can see from the gameplay footage, it’s fairly similar to the ill-fated The Culling, but it has its own twist on the gameplay and theme. Still, players will have to scavenge for weapons and loot while recycling materials that can be used to craft better gear, so it’s not that much different. Just more Swedish.”