When South Korean indie studio Nimble Neuron launched the open beta for Eternal Return: Black Survival in November of 2020, tens of thousands of players flocked to its one-of-a-kind experience. Combining the champion based combat of League of Legends with the survival elements of Fortnite and draping their own anime-inspired intellectual property over it seemed like the perfect way to capitalize on the games at the top of the Twitch Charts. But according to localization developer Travis “Aesop” Walton, those numbers dwindled due to the game’s rough feel. The developer’s chance to build the next, big gaming craze could have been in jeopardy.
Armed with a long list of changes to make and a strong commitment to churning out new content, Nimble Neuron spent the next months showing players ERBS would keep improving. Starting with such a large user base opened the team up to significant criticism, but Aesop said the double-edged sword was necessary for the game to reach its current state.
“If we didn’t have all of those people giving feedback and suggestions, would we have the same game that we have now?” Aesop asked.
Almost a year later, Eternal Return: Black Survival is poised to offer players something new, with esports tournaments already cropping up despite the game only being in early access. The game’s future is still a work in progress, but here is how the game went from mobile game sequel to potential heavy hitter.
Welcome to Lumia Island
Before ERBS, there was the hybrid, survival-battle royale, developed in 2016 — Immortal Soul: Black Survival. The first game introduced the cast of characters now featured in ERBS, and Aesop said the sequel’s gameplay has benefited greatly from drawing on these initial concepts.
Eternal Return: Black Survival takes place on Lumia Island, a location where researchers can conduct various experiments on test subjects. Players start the game by selecting one of more than 30 characters, each with unique move sets and weapon choices. Similar to other Battle Royales, players can choose which zone they want to spawn in. Once on the ground, they start with just two pieces of bread and two bottles of water. According to Aesop, this effectively makes the game “a mix of a Battle Royale, a MOBA, a survival game and an anime TV show.”
From there, players loot locations around the map and gather materials and items to create weapons and armor. In the process, they gain experience and level up their abilities. Killing NPCs around the map expedites this process, and once a player has their weapons and armor completed, the goal is to eliminate the other 17 survivors.
As the game goes from day to night and back, zones around the map are blocked off, forcing the survivors to fight each other. Combat plays out much like in League of Legends or DOTA, but instead of full-on teamfights, many fights are pure, ego battle 1 v 1s. Eliminate another player and gain the ability to loot their dead body. But be careful, because other players may strike when least expected. And if you die once, the game is over.
