Super People, the 'PUBG with superpowers' battle royale that closed in 2023, is somehow back from the dead and doing a closed beta test in June

Rather like the Death of Superman, it appears that the death of Super People was not as permanent as it was presented. After being shuttered for good in mid-2023, the 'PUBG with superpowers' battle royale has sprung back to life, and is planning to hold a closed beta test in June.

Super People, developed by Korean studio Wonder People, first came on the scene in 2021 and made a splash with gameplay that seemed a little more grounded than, say, similarly hero-focused battle royale Apex Legends. It also borrowed a bit from MOBAs by enabling players to level up during their adventures with experience earned primarily through defeating enemies, encouraging aggressive action over run-and-hide tactics.

An appearance at the PC Gaming Show in 2022 announced a final beta set for August of that year, and an early access launch followed in October. In December 2022 the game was renamed to Super People 2 for some reason, but by May 2023 it was all over: Wonder People announced that Super People would be shut down on August 21, 2023.

Well, that happens—it happens a lot, unfortunately. What doesn't happen so often is a comeback, and yet that's what we're looking at here. On May 2, a new Super People listing appeared on Steam, along with a message from game director Hur Min saying the team is trying again.

The Super People comeback "is not just a restoration" of the old game, Min wrote, but rather "our promise to confront the moments when we were at our best and to bring the excitement and emotion of those memories back to life."

Which sounds pretty grandiose in the context of a videogame that flamed out pretty quickly, but the team seems serious: In a subsequent update, Min touched on Wonder People's priorities for the resurrected Super People, including efforts against cheaters, achieving better character and weapon balance, improving the sense of progression (and avoiding the frustration of sudden loss), and making the game more accessible to newcomers.

The first look at how that work is coming next month: The first Super People closed beta test is set to begin at 3 pm PT/6 pm ET on June 18, and—barring catastrophe or changed minds—will run until June 26. If you'd like to check it out, head around to the Steam page and hit the "Join the Super People playtest" button; there's no guarantee you'll get in, but I can guarantee you won't get in if you don't.

Eventually, the goal is to put Super People back into early access on Steam—there's no time frame for that, but the developers said more news about the plan beyond this closed beta test will be shared soon.