After launching into open beta on PC earlier this month and riding Overwatch comparisons to a steady spot on Steam’s ‘top games by player count’ list, Hi-Rez’s hero shooter Paladins is gearing up for its PlayStation 4 and Xbox One debut.
Fun fact: I played Paladins long before I got my hands on Overwatch, so the accusations of cloning that led to an extended Reddit “nuh-uh” from developer Hi-Rez tickled me to no end. Either way, the videos and cries of ‘Overwatch clone!’ seem to have gone pretty well, all things considered. The free-to-play arena shooter is in good company on the aforementioned Steam list, and has been since last week.
Now the game will be joining Hi-Rez Studio’s other successful title, Smite, on current generation consoles. Paladins was developed from the beginning with console play in mind, so it should be a pretty smooth transition. Interested players can sign up for closed beta access on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One today.
Paladins is an online shooter in which a mix of fantasy and sci-fi characters battle over objectives in the name of earning points to open treasure chests. Those chests contain skins and collectible cards that can be used to personalize a character’s look and skill loadout. Only most of that description also applies to Blizzard’s wildly popular Overwatch, but at this point putting its name in a Paladins’ headline is pretty much required.