Paladins: Champions of the Realm Releases May 8

Paladins: Champions of the Realm’s release date has been officially announced, with the game set to leave early access by May 8.

Paladins: Champions of the Realm is about to leave early access. The free-to-play first-person shooter launches May 8, and developer Hi-Rez Studios is commemorating its release with a month-long celebration.

The Paladins Launch Celebration starts today and features plenty of freebies for players currently in the Paladins beta, Hi-Rez announced in an official news post. For one, the game’s 36 Champions are all unlocked from now until May 7, and any players that log in before May 8 can claim 200 Crystals for free from May 8 to 31. Hi-Rez also plans to host a stream throughout the game’s launch day, giving fans the chance to go up against Hi-Rez developers or just stop by and say hello.

After May 8, Paladins will also have “contests, broadcasts, giveaways, videos, in-game events, and more” planned for the game’s launch throughout May, although Hi-Rez encourages fans to keep an eye out on social media to learn more about Paladins: Champions of the Realm’s official celebration plans. Meanwhile, even though Paladins: Champions of the Realm launches on May 8, Hi-Rez promises to continue tweaking the game even after its release date.

“We are going to keep polishing, keep refining, keep fixing bugs, and keep putting out awesome new content on a regular patch cycle,” Hi-Rez explained in its post. “But what this does mean is that we are planning no more major system changes. We’ve found a formula that works for everyone: Free cards and sweet cosmetics.”

Paladins: Champions of the Realm is available for PC, Mac, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Interested PC players can pick up the game by heading to its official Steam page.