Every Roblox player should be familiar with Blade Ball, the smash-hit user-generated game. In just four months, developer Wiggity has enjoyed more than 1.2 million visits and up to 350,000 concurrent players. As you can infer from the title, you use bladed weapons to reflect balls at opposing players. The one left standing in the arena is considered the winner. But what is the original game that manages to inspire Roblox Blade Ball and lift the hardcore dodgeball idea from obscurity?
The Original Idea(s) of Roblox Blade Ball
Obviously, the original concept of Blade Ball is nothing new. Dodgeball is a simple kind of sport that has been enjoyed by people worldwide. There have been a bunch of dodgeball-themed video games released since the 80s as well.
These include the standard-fair Super Dodgeball to the series of Gundam crossover party games titled Battle Dodgeball. For newer releases, look no further than Lethal League and Knockout City.
But it’s safe to say that the Blade Ball concept originated with a Team Fortress 2 custom game mode aptly called Dodgeball. Instead of grabbing and throwing a ball, rockets and bombs will spawn at a specific location on the map. As Pyros, players will have to deflect the flying explosives using their gun’s airblast ability or risk getting gibbed. The original Blade Ball predecessor was developed by a user named Voogru but then enhanced and optimized by Damizean sometime in 2010.
A harder variant of Pyro Dodgeball was eventually developed. Named Speed Dodgeball, only one rocket appears on the field. But it flies much faster and will speed up every time it gets deflected.
The original grandfather of Blade Ball was recreated in Overwatch‘s Custom Workshop Game as it proved to be popular and competitive. This time, players will have to use the melee-focused character, Genji. Released by Mazawrath in January 2020, Genji Dodgeball features some staple mechanics Blade Ball players should be familiar with:
- The ball is reflected using a bladed weapon.
- When the ball changes color, it means it targets you specifically.
- While there are no customizable special abilities, Genji has a double jump. The play area is also littered with jump pads.
Even in Roblox, though, Blade Ball was not the first of its kind or an original idea. Back in September 2022, Unbound Interactive launched a dodgeball-type game first on the platform called Deflect. Compare that to Wiggity’s June 2023 release.
Just like Blade Ball, a ball will lock on participating players and you have to deflect them before it hits you. Players can also unlock various types of balls to play with. At the time of writing, Deflect has 29 million visits, 30 thousand upvotes, and favorited 95 thousand times with 300-500 concurrent players.
That’s pretty much it for the original games that inspire Blade Ball on Roblox. While Blade Ball is not an original concept by any means, the developer team Wiggity was able to refine it into a global hit. All thanks to their relentless effort of squashing bugs, periodic content updates, and interacting with their fans often.
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