Themed events coming in the future.
Gears of War 4‘s March update will add two new maps, ranked lobbies, and other gameplay improvements, The Coalition announced toady.
Diner, the first of the two maps, is a brand new map “developed over the course of the last 18 months,” according to The Coalition. The map will be based around “a lone neon-lit Diner in a dusty wasteland” where combat is “intense and claustrophobic” inside and more focused on ranged combat outside.
The update will also add Old Town, a re-imagined map from Gears of War 3 that will take place in a snowy UIR Costal town. The map still features “clearly defined three lanes and asymmetrical elevation change from low to high,” but is evolved due to new weapon swaps.
Both Diner and Old Town will be available today for season pass holders in the Developer Playlist and on March 14 in the standard rotation.
Ranked Lobbies for Core and Competitive playlists, which improve “the flow of matchmaking,” are also coming as part of the March update. Once placed in a pre-game lobby, players will be able to vote on maps, select bounties, and tinker with customization options. After a match, players will automatically return into the Lobby search without having to manually restart.
In addition, the update will also improve the close-range consistency of the Gnasher. Other small improvements can be found at The Coalition’s website.
Going forward, new monthly events are coming to Gears of War 4 starting with a Versus themed event the weekend of March 24 followed by a Horde-themed event the weekend after starting on March 31.
Last month, Gears of War 4 got its its first ever Horde variant playlist. For more on Gears of War 4, be sure to check out IGN’s Gears of War 4 review.
Michael Passalacqua is a freelance writer for IGN. Feel free to chat with him on Twitter about your March Madness sleepers.