Headbangers Rhythm Royale is a musical battle royale featuring funky pigeons

Headbangers Rhythm Royale, developed by Glee-Cheese and published by Team17, has been exclusively announced with a world premiere trailer at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase Powered by Intel, and after seeing it you might have trouble getting those funky pigeons out of your head!

Rather than chasing down and eliminating opposing players in a battle royale to become the last pigeon standing, Headbangers Rhythm Royale will instead pit you against your rivals in a series of rhythm-based mini-games. Through these you'll need to demonstrate your dancing skills and dedication to the beat, in order to progress through the rounds and ultimately be crowned the Master Headbanger. There's a real party game vibe to proceedings, so it's likely we'll see power ups and other modifiers during these head to heads to spice things up while gaining a tactical advantage over your rivals.

It's clear from this initial reveal that character customization will play a big part in Headbangers Rhythm Royale, with a wide variety of avian appearances to choose from. Whether you want to be a Tyrannosaurus rex, a Day of the Dead Mariachi, a snail, a punk, or a blinged-up cowboy, there will be a look available to match your mood. To add to the fun, the quirky trailer is also crammed with references to iconic music videos, including Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody grouping, The Beatles' Abbey Road crossing, and Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball – did you spot them all?

Headbangers Rhythm Royale will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch, and is targeting a release date some time this year.

If you’re looking for more excellent games from today's Future Games Show, have a look at our official Steam page.

Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 500 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.