CHICAGO — Killer Queen Black, the strategic eight-player action platformer from Liquid Bit and BumbleBear Games, triumphantly soars out of arcades and onto Nintendo Switch and PC via Discord and Steam today. The ultimate arcade eSport with millions of play sessions is finally home. (Check out our impressions!)
Combining sports and combat into a thrilling 16-bit competition, Killer Queen Black displays on a single screen like the games of the arcade golden era. Each of the six maps are symmetrical to level the playing field. Both teams have their own hive and the maps are filled with berries, upgrade gates, and a single Snail in the center. Matches place two squads of four against one another, each with three Workers and one Queen.
Workers start off defenseless but specialize in adaptability. Fill up the team’s hive with berries to secure an Economic victory or hop onto a saddled Snail to creep into the goalposts and score a sneaky Snail victory. Or take a berry to an upgrade gate and transform into a Warrior capable of flight and wielding weapons including Swords, Morningstars, and Laser Rifles. Kill the opposing Queen three times to win a Military victory. The first to three victories of any variety wins.
Queens can fly and attack from the start, but they only have three lives. Take the fight to the other Queen directly and try to out-duel her. Defend the hive from pesky Workers aiming for Economic or Snail victories. Capture upgrade gates to stop the other team from transforming their Workers into Warriors.
Play locally with up to four players on either PC or Switch and battle teams online. Connect two Switches in Local Wireless Play and have the ultimate eight-player experience, all in one room. Learn the basics in Tutorial mode, then practice in Unranked mode, where AI opponents will help fill out exhibition matches that don’t affect rank. When ready, play Ranked mode either solo or with three friends (online or local) to climb all the way up to Obsidian rank.
Soon after launch, the best team at any given time will become the Black team, replete with coveted glowing outfits. Every Black team match will be streamed so it’s easy to watch the top competition and learn their techniques. Strive for the top with cross-platform play and chat powered by Vivox, leaderboards, and Spectate mode. And if all that isn’t enough, rock out to a soundtrack courtesy of Powerglove.
“We’ve had eager fans asking where Killer Queen Black was all year, and the reason is that it kept growing and growing,” said Matt Tesch, co-founder of Liquid Bit. ”As fans of the original games ourselves, we wanted to make absolutely sure we did it justice!”
Killer Queen Black is available now in English for $19.99 on the Nintendo eShop, Steam, the Humble Store, Discord, and is free for Discord Nitro Subscribers*. A Switch physical edition created by Nighthawk Interactive includes Nintendo Switch controller skins, a cartridge, exclusive game art on the box and will be available October 25 for $29.99. Physical pre-orders are available at Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop. Killer Queen Black will be available on Xbox One at a later date.
*Available for subscribers with the $9.99 Nitro plan while supplies last
To learn more, please visit the game’s official site, follow the game on Twitter, and join the official Discord.
Related: KILLER QUEEN BLACK Review for Nintendo Switch
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