What’s the longest you’ve ever waited for a big game patch? Maybe a few weeks? Months? Years even? How about over two decades? That’s exactly what happened with Worms Armageddon, an artillery game that was released on PCs in 1999. Its developer, Team17, released the 3.8 update (rather fittingly) on July 17. The patch includes numerous bug fixes and adds streamer mode, but the most notable change is the implementation of popular mods as permanent features, like physics mod RubberWorm. The update also allows for more customizable gameplay, windowed mode, and smoother animations. On top of all this, the game is still compatible with the original Windows 95 and other older operating systems.
There’s a method to the madness – 2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the original 1995 Worms game, which was released on now ancient platforms like the original Macintosh and the MS-DOS. Over the years the Worms franchise has garnered an impressive fanbase, leading to games being released as recently as 2016. While some may question the point of Team17 releasing an update for a 1999 release with such a big release in development, the 3.8 update serves to show how they understand and appreciate the fanbase of their older games – a precedent that other studios with large backlogs will hopefully emulate.
Recently, however, Team17 has been focusing on the development of Worms Rumble, their newest entry in the series. While Worms games have fundamentally always been turn-based games with a heavy emphasis on tactical combat, Rumble will instead feature real-time combat, as well as a battle royale mode that supports up to 32 players. Players can queue solo or in teams of three, using new and returning weapons, battling “across the biggest Worms maps to date“.
Worms Rumble just entered closed beta on Steam, which started on July 15 and will end on July 20. While there’s no solid release date, it’s slated to be launched on Steam, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 somewhere in late 2020. You can wishlist it on Steam here.