Steel Circus is the bastard son of Rocket League and Speedball 2

Chinese publisher Oasis Games and developer Iron Mountain Interactive have just announced Steel Circus, a new competitive online futuristic sports game. Judging by the announcement trailer, Steel Circus looks like the bastard son of Rocket League and Speedball 2. It's undeniable that this is a game with true competitive/eSports ambitions.

The Closed Alpha Test phase is coming in the first half of 2019 and it should include 5-7 champions to choose from. The goal is to have at launch somewhere between 15 and 20 champions or more, gradually introduced to the game. There will be 5 to 10 factions in Steel Circus, with each faction having at least one themed arena. Different layouts and gameplay elements are planned for the arenas, so you shouldn't expect every single arena to be like the one introduced in the trailer.

The Steel Circus Steam Early Access is planned for early 2019 and the game page is already live – you can also sign up at the official website.

The business model is yet to be finalized, but there will be a one-time payment to get into Early Access, and in-game transactions focused on cosmetic content. The idea is to “put the game first and the business model second”, so we'll keep following Steel Circus until we know more about this.