Multiplayer online battle arena game Vainglory will no longer be a mobile-only title. Developer Super Evil Megacorp is switching to a cross-platform system with its Vainglory 4.0 launch in early 2019. A Windows and macOS version of the game will be released early next year, with console support coming in late 2019. The developer also announced a “strategic partnership” with Chinese internet company NetEase to support the game’s launch in China.
Cross-platform gameplay with competitive parity is what Super Evil Megacorp is looking to bring to the MOBA genre. “We saw just how powerful it was to play on any platform [with the launch of Fortnite],” Super Evil Megacorp CEO Kristian Segerstrale told Dot Esports. “But it’s less awesome if you’re handicapped by what platform you’re on.”
Most games suffer from a competitive standpoint on mobile; it’s just not as easy to play a first-person shooter on mobile against keyboard and mouse players. Segerstrale said that Vainglory doesn’t have that problem, thanks to Super Evil Megacorp’s “competitive mindset” toward balance. “It was important to [the team] to refine control mechanics so they’re equally competitive with mobile.”
Vainglory launched in 2015 as a purely mobile MOBA experience. But Segerstrale said the game was built on a cross-platform engine with a focus on console-quality graphics, gameplay depth, and precision controls. Super Evil Megacorp believes in the competitive parity of Vainglory so much that it’ll allow crossplay for all of Vainglory’s esports events in 2019. At the Vainglory 2018 World Invitational event on Dec. 16 in Los Angeles, Super Evil Megacorp and tournament host ESP Gaming will hold a PC vs. mobile showmatch to kick-off Vainglory’s cross-platform competitive future.
When it launches on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android in early 2019, Vainglory 4.0 will be free with a re-worked user interface, improved communication, and event-based gameplay modes. A PC open alpha period is available now. Segerstrale stressed that Super Evil Megacorp wants hardcore PC players to try out Vainglory and “tell us what we’re doing wrong.”
There’s no official launch date for Vainglory 4.0.
