Indie development studio Bulkhead Interactive has released the first mid season update for its shooter game Battalion 1944. The update is already available on live servers.

The update is the first mid season update following the season update four weeks ago and includes several noteworthy changes for both casual and competitive players.

The most significant change for competitive players is the introduction of the new smoke effect that is said to improve blocking of crucial information to prevent opponent advances. The new smoke now also prevents players from rotating their camera to turn the edges of smoke to see through it.

The update also sees the expected weapon balance tweaks: STG and Bar reduced hipfire accuracy to buff the Thompson and MP40 and a shotgun rack time decrease.

Casual players will appreciate the addition of a game mode and map voting menu at the end of every match in Arcade Mode, the introduction of the Free For All game mode and the return of Rifles Only. The special event this time around is unranked Wartide to test the revamped Invasion map before it is added back to the competitive map list.

In terms of quality of life changes, the update tweaks the main menu to more easily see BattleRank and challenge progression and adds a VOIP status icon and a coin donation request button on the weapon buy screen to more easily communicate with team members.