Power Rangers: Battle for the Gridis set to be the first notable Power Rangers console game since the mediocreMighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battlereleased in January 2017. That being said, there has been one big change to thePower Rangersbrand since then: Hasbroacquired the rightsto thePower Rangersfrom longtime holder Saban. nWay previously worked with Saban on its mobile gamePower Rangers: Legacy Wars. Now, the developer is working with Hasbro to bring Power Rangers: Battle for the Gridto fruition.
DualShockers recently talked to Jesse Cherry, Senior Product Manager a nWay, aboutPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid. One topic that came up during the discussion was how good of a partner Hasbro has been as during theBattle for the Grid’sdevelopment. According to Jesse, Hasbro has been super helpful and “really supportive” ofPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridoverall.
Hasbro apparently just has “even more resources to help [nWay] out” when compared to Saban, which proves beneficial in the long run when developing a game. “They’ve been awesome at listening, asking questions, and letting us give them information,” Jesse told me. “For the most part, they’ve let us do our thing.” While many licensed games can getcaught up in corporate bureaucracy, the partnership between nWay and Hasbro seems to be a smooth and productive one.
The developers also seem to think that Hasbro has been very good for the community. “Hasbro has been really good to the brand and taking the time to see what their fans want rather than coming in with ideas,” stated Jesse Cherry. They have also been very good at ensuring that everything withinPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridis accurate to the brand and the respective seasons the Power Rangers featured come from, which should please fans:
“Of course, they verify that we get the right placement of things. Say, when we are creating a models, they’ll make sure we aren’t missing anything that the fans would call out. They’ve just been really supportive, getting us references, and other aspects like that when we need it.”
While Saban’s reign overPower Rangerswas somewhat divisive, according to nWay Hasbro is a nice and helpful owner of the franchise that cares about the fans anddidn’t just greenlight a simple mobile port. This accuracy to the brand will likely carry over intoPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid’sstory mode,which we still don’t know much about.
We can expectPower Rangers: Battle for the Gridto hit PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch sometime in April. The game will then make its way to PC later in the year. The PC, Xbox One, and Switch versions of the title and itsDigital Collector’s Editioncan currently be pre-orderedon the game’s website. As for what will happen after the game is out, nWay’s Jesse Cherry says thatpost-launch support and a potential esports sceneare dependent on whatPower Rangers: Battle for the Grid’scommunity wants.
