What are the best PS5 battle royale games? Battle royale games took the free-for-all concept from classic shooters and turned it on its head. The first battle royale games, notably H1Z1 and DayZ, revolutionized gaming in 2015 by merging the deathmatch formula with large-scale battles. It led to a beautiful abomination of a genre that features open world gameplay and classic arena shooter mechanics across multiple genres, and many of the best PS5 battle royale games exemplify this.
The replayability of the best battle royale games makes them great, and many of them are free shooting games too. So whether it’s your first or your hundredth, here are the best games to download right now if you’re looking for a battle royale game on PS5.
The best PS5 battle royale games are:
1. Call of Duty: Warzone
Technically a sequel that has now dropped the numerical ‘2’ from its name, Call of Duty: Warzone took the world by storm when the original dropped in 2020, and now, the latest iteration is bringing back that solid battle royale gameplay thanks to Call of Duty MW3’s release.
There are a fair amount of Warzone maps now – including the MW3 Urzikstan map, which brings a large 100-player location for Warzone fans to enjoy. And while you may want to purchase the full experience after reading our Call of Duty MW3 review, you can use the best MW3 loadouts in Warzone without opening your wallet.
And if the standard 1v99 gameplay isn’t your style, Warzone has a range of game modes, from different squad sizes, to Resurgence, to limited-time modes, and more.
2. Apex Legends
Respawn Entertainment’s Apex Legends was released in 2019 and became an overnight sensation. The game’s player base has been growing steadily over the years and is possibly the highest skill cap battle royale in the market right now – something you can test for yourself by climbing the Apex Legends ranks.
The game is set in the Titanfall 2 universe and, while you don’t get to mow down enemies with Titans, you do get access to some of the best movement mechanics in the industry.
Just like Warzone, the game is entirely free-to-play and is monetized via battle passes and cosmetics. When it comes to game modes, you have Duos, Trios, Arenas, and several limited-time modes that come and go. The game does not have a solo mode and is heavily reliant on teamwork.
3. PUBG: Battlegrounds
While H1Z1 and DayZ helped introduce gamers to the battle royale genre, it was PUBG that made the genre. The game was previously only available on PC and, in its first year, it sold over 30 million copies. It then moved to a free-to-play model and got a visual upgrade in 2022 for the PlayStation 5.
Unlike a lot of other games that have fancy mechanics and futuristic elements, PUBG is an old-school shooter at heart. If you want a classic, more realistic experience, PUBG is the way to go. The game gets maps and updates more frequently than a lot of other competing titles, so if you want a no-frills experience with a heavy focus on mechanical skill and tactical play, you should give PUBG a try.
4. Fortnite
Despite releasing back in 2017, Fortnite is still an absolute monolith to this day. While the original experience introduced an animated battle royale experience with the unique mechanic of getting resources and building structures, it has since introduced a huge variety of modes that alter the core gameplay loop.
From Zero Build, a permanent mode that removes the mechanic entirely, to new games within the experience like LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, there’s plenty to enjoy. And if you played back in 2017, it is almost an entirely new game with a wide range of QoL improvements, visual upgrades, and more.
Finally, with the introduction of the Creative mode back in 2018, further upgraded by the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, there’s an incredible amount of player-created game modes to enjoy. The best part? The only monetization in the game is the battle pass and the skins in the Item Shop, meaning you don’t have to pay anything to enjoy the full Fortnite experience.
5. Fall Guys
Unlike the above entries where shooting is key to winning, Fall Guys takes a different approach to the genre. As a customizable bean, you’ll play against other players in a range of obstacle courses or survival mini-games, contending to become the last bean standing (or the first bean to reach the crown and secure victory).
Originally a premium experience, although it was released as part of the PS Plus free games when it first launched, Fall Guys is now fully free to play. There have been plenty of updates since release too, with new courses, and a level editor for player-created rounds.
If you want to get away from the gritty gunplay of the other games on this list, Fall Guys is the perfect break from competitive experiences.
6. Naraka Bladepoint
Battle royales can be more than just shooters, and nothing epitomizes this better than Naraka Bladepoint. 24 Entertainment’s hand-to-hand fighter offers up a vast roster of characters that can be visually customized to your liking. And it’s not just human characters, either, as demonstrated by June 2024 collaboration with mecha designer extraordinaire Kunio Okawara – absolute fire.
Traversing each of Naraka Bladepoint’s gorgeous maps is an absolute treat, thanks to the mixture of parkour and your trusty grappling hook. You can also use the terrain to your advantage when engaging opponents, adding an extra tactical layer on top of the combos you have at your disposal.
7. CRSED
Once known as ‘Cuisine Royale,’ CRSED blends real-world weaponry with magic, making for a pretty amazing mash-up of realism and the supernatural. In CRSED you can be firing an AR at a target one second, before turning and yeeting a hex bag at another. It’s absolutely wild, and a welcomed switch-up of the standard formula.
One of CRSED’s most interesting features is that you can manipulate the weather and environment under certain circumstances. For example, you can flood the map, making the trusty frying pan a deadly sub-aquatic weapon, or even cause the sun to eclipse. So, if you’re bored of the ordinary, CRSED could become your new go-to BR on PlayStation.
8. Super Animal Royale
Nature can be metal as hell, and Super Animal Royale proves exactly why it’s a good thing that most of the animal kingdom didn’t evolve with opposable thumbs.
This frenetic, top-down 2D BR will have you embody one of your favorite customizable creatures as you set out across the game’s island setting. Of course, claws and beaks are so last millennia, so developer Pixile Inc. has ensured there are plenty of guns and other projectile-pumping weapons jotted about the place for you to pick up and play with. And if you want to be a little more… authentic, then you can even mow down enemies in a giant hamster ball, or make your way up the pecking order atop a ginormous emu.
And that concludes our picks for the best PS5 battle royale games. While these games will keep you busy for the foreseeable future, the genre is the gift that keeps on giving, so keep checking back to see what might appear on the list soon. For now though, while you’re downloading these titles, why not have a flick through the best PS5 games or even the best PS5 co-op games – there are plenty of options.
