At least once a year, the stars line up perfectly, and all multiplayer shooters have a major update at the same time. This year, the stars have decided it’s March. Everywhere I look, an FPS I’m excited about or want to get back to beckons me with promises of new gadgets, maps, exclusive betas, or jaw-dropping weapons to be produced within a week.
Some of the biggest hitters, like Call of Duty: Warzone 2 and Apex Legends, missed the entire March memo and had their first big updates for 2023 in mid-February. Overwatch 2 Season 3 is also in full swing, but without a new hero is not much to get excited about this time around. I’m fine with it because I’m busy enough checking out the latest operators from Rainbow Six Siege and Valorant, plus the closed beta for The Finals, a promising destructive FPS from ex-DICE developers.
Another theme for March is redemption: both Battlefield 2042 and Halo Infinite kick off new seasons this week. Lessons are officially back in Battlefield, and Halo can finally fix its mappool problem with Forge. Have the hugely criticized shooters of Fall 2021 finally done enough to recoup their goodwill?
Here’s the lowdown on every major FPS update this week.
The Final Closed Beta (March 7-21)
- Sign up for the beta on The Finals’ Steam page (opens in new tab)
- Three classes: Light, Medium, Heavy
- Two cards, multiple times of the day
- Two modes: quick play and tournament
Our most anticipated FPS of 2023 is holding a closed beta this month. We played for a few hours (opens in new tab) of The Finals during a press preview session and loved experimenting with the fully destructible maps. It’s definitely early, and you should be ready for performance issues, but it’s worth playing if the powers allow you.
Halo Infinite Season 3: Echoes Within (March 7)
- Three maps (two Arena, one Big Team Battle)
- A new weapon (M392 Bandit, actually the DMR)
- New Mode: Escalation Slayer (It’s Gun Game)
- New equipment: Shroud Screen (shoot a dome of no-see-me)
- Battle pass with 100 levels
- Ray tracing
Alongside last year’s addition of Forge mode (which technically holds the potential for all maps of the known universe), this might be Halo Infinite’s biggest update to date. A selection of new maps, a new weapon(!), a mode that resembles a shooting game, and a 100-level battle pass that never expires. I still think Big Team Battle’s card pool is too shallow, but step by step.
Battlefield 2042 Season 4: Eleventh Hour (February 28)
- Classes are back
- One new 32v32 folder: Flashpoint
- New specialist: Blasco
- Four guns: RM68 assault rifle, RPT-31 LMG, AC9 SMG, Super 500 Shotgun sidearm
- New vehicle: CAV-Brawler, a light armored transport with a great shotgun
- Battle pass with 100 levels
Yes, Battlefield 2042 sneaked out just before March in its final season, but I’m guessing you’re just now finding out. Here’s the thing: I think Battlefield 2042 is really good now? I had a good time at launch, but I’m impressed with the maps and specialists that have been added since then. By far the biggest change, however, is the (re)introduction of classes. Specialists and the gadgets they have access to are now hard-locked to their class. In addition to the unique properties of individual operators, classes also have passive bonuses relevant to their role.
Rainbow Six Siege: Operation Commanding Force (March 7)
- New Operator: Brava (hacks defenders’ gadgets with a special drone)
- Immersive reload
- Anitcheater “Mousetrap” on consoles
With no new map or significant changes, Siege’s Year 8 kick-off is pretty minor, but Brava’s absurdly interesting Kludge drone is enough to get me excited. Her Kludge drones can sneak into bomb sites and hack defenders’ gadgets from a distance, switching allegiances. We’ve already seen some really impressive plays (opens in new tab) using it.
Valorant Act 2 Episode 6: Revelation (March 7)
- New resource: Gecko
- Input latency improvements
- Bug fixes
A lighter update compared to other games on the list, but that’s just how Valorant rolls. Sometimes you get a card, sometimes an agent, sometimes both. It’s been almost six months since an agent’s release, so Gekko’s arrival is kind of a big deal. Their equipment is largely what I expect from Valorant at this point: minor variations of stun grenades, smoke grenades, and grenade grenades. But their Wingman ability is intriguing: Gekko deploys a little alien dude who can carry the spine and even plant it.