Morgan Park, who runs the FOV 90 column at PC Gamer, has set up a single-elimination bracket tournament to determine which FPS mode rules. The contest matches Team Deathmatch against Extraction and Gun Game among others. A staff writer is hosting the reader-vote contest, with the first round open now through Saturday, October 3, at 11:59 PM PDT.
Park’s column looks at both multiplayer and singleplayer shooters, from the oldest titles to the newest, and it sets up a tournament of the genre’s most firmly established, enduringly popular formats. The bracket relies on general mode names, though well-known nicknames are given when they apply — “Slayer”, which stands for Halo’s “FFA,”.
The Modes On The Bracket
Team Deathmatch takes on FFA/Deathmatch, while Battle Royale faces Extraction. Conquest is matched against Domination, and Bomb Defusal goes up against Hostage. Gun Game plays against Payload, Infection competes with Prop Hunt, and VIP squares off against Capture The Flag. The final pairing pits Attack & Defend against King of the Hill.
Park describes the bracket as a carefully chosen collection rather than a complete list. He points out that it covers modes that have shown up across multiple games, while leaving out mode variants — Kill Confirmed is a version of Team Deathmatch, so it does not stand alone on its own.
“This is not an exhaustive exercise, but a curated battle of the most established, enduringly popular FPS formats of past and present.”
What Each Matchup Is About
Two classic modes pit squads against solo players: Team Deathmatch places you on a squad, while FFA/Deathmatch leaves you alone. Two modes so large and complex that they have spawned their own vibrant subgenres are Battle Royale and Extraction. Both Conquest and Domination are point-capture formats, yet one favors large-scale vehicular warfare while the other stays small and fast. Bomb Defusal is the single-life elimination showdown, and Hostage is the escort mission. Gun Game asks you to race through every weapon in the roster, while Payload pushes a cart down a track with a coordinated team. Infection and Prop Hunt are asymmetrical party games. VIP puts one person at the center of the action, and Capture The Flag does the same. Attack & Defend and King of the Hill both involve fighting over a moving point, but one takes turns attacking and defending while the other keeps the point on the move.
How The Tournament Works
Park is asking readers to cast their ballots for which entry they prefer in each matchup. The larger the turnout, the more revealing the outcomes become, so he encourages people to spread the word among their friends. The following week, the publication will reveal the results and move on to Round 2.
Each mode gets just one loss before it’s out, since the bracket follows a single-elimination format where defeat ends participation immediately. The outcome, then, depends on how readers cast their votes throughout the rounds.
The Writer Behind The Bracket
Morgan Park has been contributing to PC Gamer since 2018, initially as a freelancer before moving into his current role as a staff writer. He has also written for Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Prior to freelancing, he devoted most of high school and all of college to writing at small gaming sites that didn’t pay him. He’s very happy to have a real job now.
Park writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he’ll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don’t, though.
Why This Matters To FPS Players
The genre known as FPS is shaped by its modes, with a single game often offering dozens of different ways to play. The very best of these modes have become fixtures of the community. This tournament gives players a chance to rank those modes according to how they’re actually played.
The pairings push you to consider your priorities within a shooter. Are you after disorder and showmanship, or accuracy and cooperation? Would you rather be the target of every player’s focus, or the individual tasked with rescuing everyone else?
Our View Of The Bracket
Dressed up as a serious question, this is really a playful trick, and that’s precisely the correct angle to take. Every mode on the bracket deserves genuine thought, and the voting system ensures the outcome reflects what readers truly care about.
The matchups for the first round are strong across the board. Team Deathmatch stands against FFA/Deathmatch, splitting the experience between playing alone and playing as part of a team. Battle Royale goes up against Extraction, a pairing that has shaped how the genre plays today. Conquest faces off against Domination, testing the difference between large-scale vehicular warfare and small-scale point capture. Bomb Defusal takes on Hostage, forcing a choice between elimination and escort. Gun Game locks horns with Payload, contrasting self-centered chaos with team coordination. Infection squares off against Prop Hunt, narrowing the field to the party games. VIP crosses swords with Capture The Flag, pitting two legendary objective modes against each other. Attack & Defend versus King of the Hill stands as the most interesting matchup of the lot, with one side taking turns while the other chases a moving point.
This list is not complete, and it was never intended to be. Instead, it presents a handpicked group of the most well-established, long-lasting formats, which is the correct approach to this subject. Formats that have shown up in numerous games made the cut, while offshoots such as Kill Confirmed were left out.
The vote serves as the experiment’s core element. The reader’s selection decides the result, and a greater number of tournament votes makes for more compelling findings. This approach relies on fairness and democracy.
Key Facts Box
- Bracket: Single-elimination tournament
- Rounds: First round open now, Round 2 begins next week
- Voting deadline: Saturday, October 3 at 11:59 PM PDT
- Matchups: Team Deathmatch vs FFA/Deathmatch, Battle Royale vs Extraction, Conquest vs Domination, Bomb Defusal vs Hostage, Gun Game vs Payload, Infection vs Prop Hunt, VIP vs Capture The Flag, Attack & Defend vs King of the Hill
- Column: FOV 90, written by Morgan Park at PC Gamer
This little contest matters. It brings readers back to the genre, reminding them why they fell in love with these formats, and giving them something to disagree about when it comes to choosing a favorite. In the end, the outcome will show what the community actually plays, rather than what critics or developers believe should be popular.
This sort of bracket holds worth because it brings people together to discuss games, exchange opinions, and reach a conclusion on a matter with no clear right answer—only the one everyone settles upon.
Source material: “Making our favorite FPS modes 1v1 to decide the greatest of them all,” PC Gamer.
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