Survive the Arena Shrouded in Darkness: Every fighter must fend for themselves as the darkness creeps in ever closer... Countless will fall and only one will ultimately rise victorious on the fields of the Shadow Arena.

Master the visceral, real-time action to both land attacks on enemies and evade their blows to become the last spirit standing.

Shadow Arena pits 40 players against each other in a ruthless fight to be the last person standing on the battlefield. Players can choose from nine playable characters in the beta, each with their own unique fighting style. To climb to the top of the pack, players must slay monsters and collect loot to upgrade their gear and gain buffs. However, impeccable skill execution and well-timed evasive tactics are critical in securing victory.

Shadow Arena launched on Steam Early Access ahead of its full release later this year.

Early Access includes 10 heroes, a new skill level, and a quest system. Early Access will also feature six game modes: Solo, Team, Dueling Grounds, Custom, Normal, and AI matches. While the AI and Normal modes return from the open beta testing, players will have four new modes to explore during Early Access. The new Ultimate skill level enables players to level up above level 3 and have more lethal skill. 

During Early Access, there will be 10 heroes available to play, including Jordine Ducas, Orwen, and Badal the Golden. New hero Venslar introduces a new combat style that can be very aggressive or very defensive. Players can enjoy the tactical gameplay by choosing to focus their skill sets on either style of gameplay.

“Shadow Arena is a testament to Black Desert’s amazing and dedicated fanbase, a standalone game that lets fans experience this universe like never before,” says Kwangsam Kim, the lead producer of Shadow Arena,“During this Early Access period, we’ll be listening closely to player feedback and perfecting it for launch.”

Early Access will also include Beta Seasons, where players’ results in ranked matches will be recorded so they can compete to achieve higher tiers and ranks. Top players will earn prizes such as special hero skins when the Beta Season ends. Pearl Abyss plans to support the competitive aspect of Shadow Arena through events and tournaments. More information about these events will be announced in the future. 

Shadow Arena was originally a game within Black Desert, but eventually evolved into its own stand-alone game. While Shadow Arena does draw from Black Desert, it has created its own unique style, drawing from the MOBA, battle royale, and MMO genres to create an arena fighter. Shadow Arena has two gameplay modes: solo and team. While players can boast their skill in the solo match, complex strategic gameplay is required in the team mode. Players can also enjoy a distinctive co-op mode with a new style of PvP action.

Shadow Arena will be released in the first half of 2020 for PC first and console later.