Discussing Seasonal Game Updates

With the Christmas period just passed, online multiplayer games like Overwatch, Fortnite and Apex Legends have just had their winter events end. These have become widespread recently in gaming, with developers adding new game modes, new loot and a festive coat of paint to their game for the month. Many of them are incredibly cute, charming and cozy, but have they become an excuse for developers to push players to pay for seasonal loot through microtransactions?

Seasonal updates aren’t just limited to online shooters though, as the concept has made its way into almost every genre. The Animal Crossing games have a variety of special events that take place throughout the year, such as ‘Bunny Day’ for Easter and ‘Toy Day’ for Christmas. Among Us decks The Skeld with decorations for December. And even mobile games like Clash of Clans release new festive-themed troops and clan wars in the winter.

Some of these updates do feel genuinely sincere – a thank you to the fans from the developers and a chance to celebrate the holidays together. But at the same time there’s been such a rise in seasonal updates that just feel desperate to make some money off the players. Valorant is a clear-cut example of this, adding on a tacky snowball fight mode to cover up the fact that they only want you to buy the new set of Christmas skins.

This is undeniably a result of the damage microtransactions have done to the gaming industry. Games are no longer a ‘one-and-done’ purchase, with DLC, cosmetics and sometimes even unlockables that improve your gameplay hidden behind a paywall. And even for games that are free, many players will end up spending more on them than they did on a £60 purchase thanks to the constant slew of cosmetics the main menu shoves in your face.

My first memory of playing a seasonal update in a videogame was during Overwatch’s “Winter Wonderland” event in December 2016. Me and my friends laughed and played Mei’s Snowball Fight for hours. The festive map updates were all really cool to see, and the excitement of getting a legendary Christmas skin from a loot box was unmatched. But with the 2023 event, there hasn’t been an original game mode idea since 2020. And loot boxes are gone now, replaced by a new ticket system that limits players to only unlocking one, non-legendary skin (unless they’re willing to pay, of course).

Unfortunately, most seasonal updates have been ruined by greedy developers. It makes me sad that kids nowadays won’t get to have the same experiences I had – whether it be wrapping up in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate to play a Christmas event, or turning off the lights and immersing myself in a spooky Halloween update. Publishers are never going to stop with micro transactions, but it’s a shame to see they value the extra cash over the happiness of their player base.