Get your roller skates on! Ubisoft announced a new game, Roller Champions, during their presentation at E3 2019.

Roller Champions is a new multiplayer game inspired by roller-derby sports. Two groups of three players compete to win in a thrilling skating arena. The premise of the game is that players race around the field, trying to keep possession of a ball. The more laps your team has possession of the ball, the more points you can earn per goal. One lap equals one point, two laps equal three points, and three laps equals an impressive five points. But be careful out there – the lap resets if the opposing team gets possession of the ball during your run. To win the game, you must have the most points after a 7-minute match, or if you have five points in total, you automatically win the game.

The premise sounds similar to Rocket League. Teams must stay in possession of a ball to have a higher chance of scoring more goals. There are opportunities to pass the ball to your other teammates, and also ram into opponents to stop them from scoring. It’s a neat idea transferred into a sport that rarely sees the videogame spotlight. In our time with the demo, skating through the vibrant skating arena requires speed and precise maneuvering. Accelerating up the curved edges and then ducking to gain speed makes all the difference when avoiding decks (pushes or shoves) from the opposing team.

But decking other players, while you don’t have the ball, is incredibly satisfying. It can serve as both an offensive or defensive strategy. Decking players from behind can stop them from gaining momentum and help protect your teammates. But coming around clockwise and decking a player in possession of a ball fronton can quickly turn the game around. For most of my game time, I rarely had possession of the ball and was happy to help my teammates by decking as many players as I could.

The passing system is a bit of a hit and miss. While your teammates are in a good position for you to pass the ball, often than not players miss catching the ball and end up losing your team’s lap counter. It turns out, aiming is essential not just in scoring, but in passing the ball around. It’s one of those systems where voice chat can help, as coordinating with your teammates can minimise silly errors. But as your team successfully skates through laps of one, two or three, scoring feels richly satisfying.

As of now, there is no in-game soundtrack during your playthrough. The main menu hosts a lively, upbeat radio station from various artists including Purity Ring and The Chainsmokers, so if that’s anything to go by, then the gameplay’s musical experience is much to look forward to. We’re also looking forward to the further customisation options that will be available post alpha.

Roller Champions is free-to-play and is scheduled to release in 2020. Players can access the free alpha demo via Uplay until June 14, 9 PM GMT on PC.

Have you played the Roller Champions demo? Let us know your roller derby tactics in the comments below.

For more news on Roller Champions, stay tuned to Nerd Bacon.