Some of the former leads on games like League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics left Riot Games to strike out on their own, forming a new independent development studio called Odyssey Interactive. Today they are debuting their very first game, drawing inspiration from the multiplayer-centric titles they worked on in the past. This new game is called Omega Strikers, and they describe it as “a free-to-play cross-platform 3v3 knockout striker for the next generation of players." Is “knockout striker" a genre? If so, I was not aware of it, but in the case of Omega Strikers it is used to describe a sport that’s somewhere in between soccer and air hockey, but with the goal-focused objectives, team-based strategies, and character depth of those big competitive online multiplayer games like League of Legends. Oh, and maybe a bit of Smash Bros. mixed in for good measure. It seems like a winning combination in the game’s first trailer.

I’m really digging the look and the entire concept of Omega Strikers so far, and if you’re feeling the same, you can try for a chance to win a key to the game’s closed beta on PC by watching it on its Twitch channel. The closed beta is happening right now, with plans to launch the iOS and Android versions before the end of the year and then launch on all major consoles in 2023. Omega Strikers will feature cross-platform multiplayer between all versions, and the team is hoping to apply what they’ve learned about doing free to play games the right way in League of Legends and the like by not offering any pay-to-win advantages and ensuring that all characters are able to be unlocked through regular play. The in-game purchasing will be centered around battle passes and cosmetic-only items. You can keep track of the game by Wishlisting it on Steam and look for Omega Strikers to launch on PC and mobile sometime this year.