Laser League relaunches itself as the free-to-play Laser League World Arena

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But doesn't look enormously different.

Laser League had a bit of a rough ride of it. Intended as the next big thing from OlliOlli developers Roll7, the fast-paced competitive multiplayer game was released in 2018 and sadly just never found an audience—even though it was really rather good. Wisdom at the time put this partly down to the name, which seemed a naked attempt to ride the coat-tails of Rocket League's success. Whatever the truth of that, the game deserved to land better than it did.

Others clearly thought so too, because Roll7 ended up selling the game and IP to 505 Games, and now CE-Asia has developed and released a tweaked and free-to-play version of the game called Laser League World Arena. Players who own the original will receive a 'welcome pack' in the new game with various cosmetics and some currency, a nice touch.

This may or may not revitalise the game's fortunes, but Laser League World Arena is worth a try if you were never tempted first time around: the game offers 2vs2 or 3vs3 squad fights in an enclosed space with various types of laser-based weapons. It's more a test of manoeuvrability and tactics than anything else, dodging high-speed enemy traps while trying to jam them into inescapable situations.

It's been several years since I played Laser League and having watched the launch trailer for World Arena it doesn't seem drastically different: I may be wrong. The biggest addition seems to be a whole bunch of cosmetics alongside the new free-to-play model, and more in-depth character customisation in general. If you enjoy multiplayer games, and want to try something unusual and well-made, it's hard to argue with free.

Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."