Battle Realms
Battle Realms is a fantasy RTS game developed by Liquid Entertainment and was released in November 2001. An expansion pack, Winter of the Wolf, was released in November 2002. The game was relaunched on the Steam platform in 2019 as Battle Realms: Zen Edition.
The game was one of the last RTS games that became popular in the Philippines in the 2000s.
Popularity and legacy
Battle Realms, like StarCraft, was one of the most installed PC games in internet cafés in the Philippines.
Battle Realms is the last game in the Philippines that was popular strictly for its RTS gameplay. In 2003, Level Up! released the MMORPG Ragnarok Online which pushed PC and internet café players toward live service games. Another major RTS, 2002's WarCraft III, would eventually become more popular for its community-created custom-modded maps, which include DotA-Allstars. The availability of custom maps helped push the market away from RTS gameplay and move it towards MOBA's single-unit control gameplay.
Battle Realms was popular enough that it is a frequently-mentioned title when discussing early 2000s PC games in the Philippines.[1][2][3][4]
Esports
Unlike StarCraft and WarCraft III which had Philippine players participate in the World Cyber Games, Battle Realms did not have a notable competitive scene and the game mostly relegated to casual play sessions in internet cafés.
References
- Unboxing a Relic Video Game from the Past: Battle Realms. May 21, 2022 at 11:44 AM (UTC+0). Erwin Bantilan. GamingPH. Retrieved on 2023-11-16.
- 10 Internet Café Games We Played in the Early 2000s. March 26, 2023. Christa I. De La Cruz. Spot.ph. Retrieved on 2023-11-16.
- Five PC Games That Redefined Your Childhood. November 7, 2015. Jade Bryan Jardinico. Manila Shaker. Retrieved on 2023-11-16.
- Remembering video games that made our childhood awesome. March 12, 2021. POP! Creator Community/Viking Ulanday. POP! INQUIRER.net. Retrieved on 2023-11-16.