MPL-backed Mayhem Studios kicks off closed beta for Underworld Gang Wars

Underworld Gang Wars has been developed specifically to incorporate Indian elements not only in the theme and characters but also features game hotspots that are deeply rooted in India

Mayhem Studios, the studio backed by skill-gaming unicorn Mobile Premier League (MPL), on January 30 announced the closed beta of Underworld Gang Wars (UGW), its first game that was announced more than 18 months ago.

The battle royale title, where online players fight to the death until only one remains, is the company's first AAA title. It claims to have over 7 million sign-ups since opening the pre-registration in May 2022.

AAA games are titles that have big budgets for both development and marketing purposes.

The closed beta announcement comes after Mayhem Studios recently concluded its Alpha playtests and its first community playtest attended by gamers and content creators like Dynamo Gaming (Aditya Sawant) and Rawknee (Ronodeep Dasgupta).

The company says the title has been developed specifically to incorporate Indian elements not only in the theme and characters but also game hotspots that are deeply rooted in India.

The game will be played in the first person perspective and allow people to play across all 16 unique hotspots like a fort, ghats and a mandi that will represent Indian locations in a AAA game for the first time, the company said.

The game also has weapons such as a katta (country-made pistol) and hammer. Users can join as members of two gangs — The Velvets or the Bhokal Toli — to go ahead with the gameplay.

Mayhem Studios also released a new cinematic trailer for UGW that gives a sneak peak into the game, the lead characters and the hotspots.

"We are excited to make the game available to a larger audience. We look forward to seeing the reaction of UGW fans who have shown us great love and support ever since we announced the title" Mayhem Studios CEO Ojas Vipat said.

The goal is to not only develop high-quality games and gaming related IP in India but also build unique titles that make a substantial impact on the gaming industry, both domestically and internationally. "UGW is the first step towards this direction” he said.

MPL launched Mayhem Studios in May 2022 to develop AAA mobile games for domestic and global markets. In 2023, Mayhem Studios raised about $20 million from investors such as Peak XV Partners (previously Sequoia India), Steadview Capital, Truecaller and Hashed Emergent.

Pune-based rival game development studio SuperGaming is also building a made-in-India battle royale game called Indus. The game is available to select users and is expected to debut on mobile, PC, and consoles later this year.

The genre is dominated by Krafton's Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), and Garena's Free Fire, with other players including Epic Games-owned Fortnite and Microsoft's Call of Duty.