SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2026
The MOBA genre hasn't had a genuine structural shake-up in fifteen years. League of Legends and Dota 2 defined the formula — pick a champion, lane, teamfight, push — and every challenger since has been a variation on the theme. Ubisoft's March of Giants is the first big swing at redesigning the foundations, and as of this week, anyone can test the claim for free. The Pioneer Playtest is live on Steam now through October 18.
Here's the pitch: it's 4v4, and each player controls not just a champion but a giant — a supernatural battlefield commander — plus an army of soldiers. You rally troops from offensive waves, move them through lanes, scout terrain, gather resources, kill enemy giants and capture key positions. The goal: destroy two of your opponent's three bastions while defending your own. It's a MOBA, but the unit count and the command layer make it feel like something else entirely.
The soldier system is the whole game
The main difference between March of Giants and other MOBAs is the soldier system, and it's not a gimmick. Soldiers aren't ambient creeps — they're a resource you actively command, and managing them alongside your giant's abilities is the core skill the game tests. Add the Battleworks system, which lets you reshape the arena mid-match with trenches, Titan Destroyer bunkers, cavalry and air support, and you've got a game where the battlefield itself is a variable. Matches become about logistics as much as mechanics.
The WWI-inspired setting isn't just set dressing either. The industrial-warfare fantasy — trenches, artillery, grinding advances — gives the game a visual and tonal identity no MOBA has tried. The giants themselves are described as supernatural beings born from soldiers' collective dreams and nightmares, which is a more interesting origin than most of the genre's roster can claim.
How to get in (and what you get)
Joining is simple: open the March of Giants Steam page, hit ‘Request Access’ under the playtest section, and wait for Steam's notification. If you were in the September 2025 closed alpha, you're already invited — check your Steam library. The test is open to North America and a long list of European countries, with dedicated servers in both regions. You'll need a Ubisoft Connect account, and Ubisoft warns invitations may pause periodically while they scale server capacity.
There's a real incentive beyond curiosity: the Pioneer Status track. Earn 1,000 points across the playtest (100 per PvP win, 50 per loss) and you unlock a profile badge, a permanent Giant unlock, and a free premium Early Access pack — rewards that carry forward. Ubisoft is also offering point boosters through Twitch viewing and Discord, plus a Giant Token for subscribing to select creators. And there's no NDA, so streamers can broadcast everything.
Why now, and why Ubisoft thinks it can win
The MOBA landscape has been frozen for a decade and a half: League of Legends and Dota 2 own the genre, and challengers — from Heroes of the Storm to a dozen forgotten contenders — have either settled for niches or shut down. What’s changed is the audience. A generation raised on battle royales and extraction shooters expects bigger maps, higher stakes and more things to manage at once. March of Giants bets that MOBA players are ready for that too: instead of last-hitting minions, you’re managing supply lines.
The giants themselves are the other half of the fantasy. Each is a distinct supernatural commander with abilities that evolve across the match — think ultimate abilities, but tied to a unit the size of a building. The interplay is the game: your giant breaks the line while your soldiers exploit the gap, or your soldiers pin the enemy giant while yours flanks. It’s the kind of tactical layering that makes replays worth watching, which — with no NDA on the playtest — Ubisoft is clearly counting on.
The Ubisoft of it all
The backstory here is worth knowing. March of Giants — originally March of the Giants — started at Amazon Studios before Ubisoft bought the rights and the entire development team in December 2025, bringing it under the French publisher's wing. It's now positioned as a major free-to-play bet, with Early Access slated for summer 2027. For a company that spent the last few years retrenching around its biggest franchises, a new-competitive-IP swing this ambitious is notable in itself.
One more reason to pay attention this week: with no NDA, the playtest is effectively a public audition. Ubisoft scheduled a YouTube premiere with developer commentary on playable Giants and Battleworks, and it’s offering point boosters for Twitch viewing — the company wants this test watched as much as played. Expect gameplay footage to flood feeds within days of servers going live, and expect the takes to be strong. A fifteen-year-old genre doesn’t get challenged quietly.
The playtest runs through October 18. If the soldier system clicks the way Ubisoft thinks it will, the MOBA conversation is about to get interesting for the first time in a decade and a half.
Pioneer Playtest, Oct 7–18, Steam. None — streaming allowed.
