Vigor

Key art of Vigor

***Vigor*** is a free-to-play online looter shooter game by Czech studio Bohemia Interactive originally developed for the Xbox One. As of July 2020, it is also available on the Nintendo Switch. Initially released as an early access title in August 2018, the game fully released on 19 August 2019. A PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 port was released on December 9, 2020.

## Gameplay

*Vigor* is an online free-to-play looter shooter game set in post-apocalyptic Norway. The goal is to stay alive and build a shelter that will protect the player against the harsh environment. Players called Outlanders have to seek resources and better equipment during Encounters with other players. Every Encounter has a map which shows players all the exit points, as well as some POIs (Points of Interest) like a radio tower, transformer station, some hideouts, outposts, houses. etc. The POIs can offer valuable resources to help players upgrade their Shelter and get it to the max level. Doing that will generate more materials and food to use as well as reducing the crafting time for weapons and consumables.

An important aspect of any Encounter is the Air Drop. It's basically a crate containing valuable loot such as weapons, blueprints, resources, weapon skins, and even a few Crowns (in-game currency). The map shows the location where the Air Drop is supposed to happen but there are options to change the location by using the Comm Station. It happens at a predetermined time, so there's nothing the players need to do to trigger it. When a player decides to go for the Air Drop, their location will be revealed on the map to enemy Outlanders as soon as they pick it up. The Comm Station can also be used to buff or debuff the Air Drop. For example, it can be buffed by adding extra loot and resources, or debuffed by making it radioactive. That means the player that touches the Air Drop will be poisoned by radiation and will have little time to make it out alive.

In every Encounter, a radiation cloud sweeps the area after a certain amount of time, so players have to be quick and evacuate before they die from radiation.

If players survive the Encounter, anything they've looted will be added to their inventory. But if they die, all of their loot will be lost, as well as any weapons and/or ammo they brought with them.

From Season 4, Outlanders can enjoy multiple different game modes - such as Shootout or Elimination.

### Shootout Mode

It involves a fast-paced solo combat where players have to scour the map to find better weapons and take down the other Outlanders. If players die, they will be respawned with a new weapon and ammo. The way Shootout works is with scores, which means the more Outlanders the players eliminate, the higher the score they get. The whole match lasts 10 minutes and the players with a higher score, receive better rewards.

### Elimination Mode

It is a 5v5 tactical, round-based team fight. In other words, players have to work together with their team to eliminate the opposing team. Another way to win, is to capture the opposing team's flag. Similar to Shootout, the same random loadout is assigned to all players of each team at the start of each round, players are respawned upon dying. The first team to reach the score limit wins the match.

### Seasons

Each new season is intended to bring with it new weapons, consumables and purchasable cosmetic items.

Associated with seasons are time-limited battle passes that reward players with new cosmetic items, weapons and consumable blueprints should they reach certain levels in the battle pass. Alongside new cosmetic items, seasons can also bring additional gameplay elements.

## Development

Bohemia Interactive announced Vigor on 11 June 2018 during E3. The game launched in Xbox Preview on 31 July 2018.

It was in the Xbox Preview until 19 August 2019. That day, Vigor was released as a free-to-play title on Gamescom - it was featured in the Inside Xbox Show.

The Nintendo Switch version was announced in a Nintendo Direct on March 26 2020. The closed beta ran from April 9 to 16 and the game was fully released on July 8 2020.

The game released on December 9 2020 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. After a week, it was reported that over 1 million players had joined the game.

## Reception

The game was played by more than 700,000 players during Early access. After the game was released it became one of top 20 most played Xbox One titles as it was played by over 1,200,000 players.

The game was nominated for 3 Czech Game of the Year Awards including categories Main Award, Best technological solution and Free-to-play.

In 2019, the game was nominated for an award in the technology category in the Central & Eastern European Game Awards (CEEGA).

## External links

* Vigor official website
* Vigor on Discord
* Vigor on Reddit
* Vigor on Facebook
* Vigor on Instagram
* Vigor on Twitch
* Vigor YouTube channel