Made-in-India Battle Royale Indus Is Getting a Closed Beta This Diwali Season, Watch Trailer

Pune-based developer SuperGaming has confirmed that its upcoming battle-royale title Indus is getting a closed beta, this festive/ Diwali season. In celebration, the studio has dropped a trailer featuring key operators in the game, and some clues regarding consumable items. Keys for the closed beta will be available in limited supply, and the only way to ensure a chance of access is by pre-registering for Indus on the Google Play Store. Yes, an Apple iOS release is imminent, but it appears the first beta period — akin to internal playtests — is dedicated to the more populous Android player base only, for now.

The Indus closed beta cinematic throws our key operators into the floating map of Virlok, as they battle for control over Cosmium, a rare, natural-born mineral that can canonically alter space and time. Its in-game significance, however, is that claiming it instantly grants the player victory, regardless of how many other survivors are left on the field. Interestingly enough, it features some familiar voices, ranging from Olympic pistol shooter Heena Sidhu, popular content creators Magsplay and GamerFleet, and leading gaming YouTuber Techno Gamerz, the last of whom also collaborated with SuperGaming on Battle Stars to bring a skin resembling his likeness to the game.

“The Indus Closed Beta trailer is our attempt at showcasing the Indian Gaming Industry by involving aspirational real-life icons from culture, sports, and content creation as a part of it,” SuperGaming founder and CEO Roby John said in a prepared statement. “With over five million pre-registrations so far and the support of a vocal community, we firmly believe Indus is at the forefront of building India's gaming revolution.” While the Indus trailer is largely cinematics, we can gather a bunch of mechanics from what's being shown, starting with a resurrection injector that can be used on downed teammates — akin to Warzone's revive kits.

As mentioned before, the victory-guaranteeing Cosmium randomly spawns on the map, but it's not simply a matter of reaching it on time and grabbing it. It appears as if the mineral first makes contact with the ground sealed within a care package, which takes some time to unlock. That means its location will be a hotspot for players to zone in for battle before a skilled (or lucky) one claims it in time.

Other clues reveal consumables such as smoke bombs, which can be used as cover so you can knife blinded players in the back. While the cinematics do show the peacock-themed operator Mor-Ni smoothly executing them, it's unclear whether similar animations will be seen in-game. As our heroes make their way towards an activated  Cosmium, the slender Sir-Taj pops out of nowhere and tosses an explosive grenade. All this action is being observed by the vigilant leader of the COVEN, an intergalactic syndicate, who orders more Mythwalkers to extract the mineral.

Pre-registration for Indus is now live on the Google Play Store. For more details on closed beta key drops, it is recommended that you join Indus' official Discord.