From the shadow of Fortnite, Epic is reviving its forgotten MOBA

Epic Games is set to revive its long-forgotten third-person MOBA Paragon after four years and will be rebirthed as Paragon: The Overprime, a free-to-play action MOBA.

Paragon was a third-person MOBA that was first released in March 2016 for PC and PlayStation 4 as a pay-to-play early-access title. The Epic Games MOBA operated similarly to Hi-Rez’s Smite, in that players would control their heroes through a straightforward view, instead of an overhead view used in League of Legends and DOTA 2.

At first, the game appeared as if it was set to break through into the MOBA space, but was shut down in 2018 before by Epic Games so that they could place more priority on Fortnite.

Now, however, it appears Paragon is making a comeback in early access. 

“Paragon: The Overprime is a free team-based TPS Action MOBA. Choose one of the many powerful heroes with unique skills and work with your teammates to conquer the Prime battlefield,” The official game description read on the Epic Game Store.

“Speed across the battlefield with the heroes of Prime and feel the thrill of the action.”

South Korean-based video game company Netmarble is responsible for Paragon’s revival, which was made possible due to Epic releasing $12 million worth of assets of the game for free in the Epic Game Store. Netmarble is a video game publisher that predominantly does work in the mobile gaming space, most notably for publishing Arena of Valor in Korea. While Paragon was initially released as a console/PC title, it will be interesting to see how Netmarble incorporates Paragon’s revival into its portfolio of titles.

Those interested in trying out Paragon: The Overprime can apply for early access through this link. Interested participants will need to go to social media and post images, alongside a Steam or Epic Games Store URL with a personal comment about their excitement for the game. 

As of writing, there is no official early access start date for Paragon: The Overprime as the game is currently in its “Final Test”, which will conclude on Nov. 7, 2022. If all goes right, a rough estimate given by Netmarble was that it could come as early as Nov. 2022. For now, it is a waiting game for Paragon: The Overprime.

Before Paragon was shut down in 2018, there were 36 playable heroes in the game. It is currently unknown if that number will increase or decrease with this revival.