It’s the holiday season (the holiday season), and that means that there are tons of new games that are going to be in our consoles (or PCs) soon. However, the season of giving also applies to games we already own. It is common for games to get patches and updates after release, but it is rare that three games are getting big updates in such a short span of each other. Luckily for fans of Overwatch, Rocket League, and Battleborn (hat’s off to you if you’re still playing Battleborn), there are plenty of gifts coming your way.
You're invited! pic.twitter.com/MQZPZOW4Y1
— Overwatch (@PlayOverwatch) December 6, 2016
Overwatch to Start Holiday Event December 13
Overwatch has done two special events so far in its first year out. We’ve seen events for the Summer Olympics and Halloween, which have provided us with some of the coolest items and fun modes (Lucioball, anyone?) for heroes. The next event was all but confirmed until yesterday on the Overwatch Twitter account (seen above), and the holiday season special event starts on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on December 13.
Blizzard has already given us a little tease of a winter version of one of their current maps, and there was an image posted to their Twitter account during development of Torbjörn dressed like Santa Claus. In the Public Test Realm, PC Overwatch players have been testing out a new map, Oasis, as well as a redone Symmetra.
Rocket League Goes to Space
Last week at the third annual Game Awards, Psyonix announced a new update for the Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars sequel car soccer game. The update rolled out earlier today, and features a new map, a new car and several other features. Psyonix posted an “inside look” for the update, which shows it in action.
The new map, Starbase Arc, is set in outer space and is in the shape of an octagon. This might remind players of one of the newer maps seen in the Rocket Labs mode. There is also a new car, the Vulcan, that costs only $2. Two maps, Wasteland and Utopia Coliseum, are getting night and snowy variations, respectively. The last visual changes comes to the X-Devil and Gizmo cars, which are getting free redesigns (which stinks since I like the Gizmo design), as well as a “color blind mode,” which adds high-contrast orange and blue shades for color blind players.
For Steam players, Psyonix added Steam Workshop support. This means that anyone with an Unreal Engine 3 Developer’s Kit can create mods for the game. This will not effect competitive play, but can add some awesome customization to a game that has great customization options already.
The last two features in this huge update include the new series of Championship Crates, as well as a voting system for maps. The voting system gives players to “like” or “dislike” maps, which affects their likelihoods of appearing in later matches. The new series of Championship Crates are just like the old crates, which means you have to pay real money to unlock them, and all the money earned goes to Rocket League eSports initiatives.
BattleBorn Getting PS4 Pro Support & More
Even though BattleBorn did not see great sales (thanks to Overwatch releasing around the same time and doing tremendously), but Gearbox is still dedicated to improve its game and support its fans. This new update does not have a specific release date, but it packs a punch.
The most shocking change comes to the character system. Originally, players would have to progress in the game to unlock all of the characters, but this new update will have all 25 characters available from the start. This is the approach that Overwatch has used from the beginning, and although it isn’t fair to compare the two, it could be some of the reason that Gearbox decided to make the switch.
A new mode called Draft Mode is coming as well, and it gives teams turns to take for which heroes they want, and which heroes they don’t want the other team using.
The last feature of the update is to give the game PS4 Pro support. Owners of the new Playstation console can choose two modes: 1080p graphics running at 60 frames-per-second (fps), or 4K graphics at 30fps.
For those interested in seeing the update before it’s released, Gearbox will be doing a live stream tomorrow (December 8) at 5pm EST.
