Today sees the release of the Arc Raiders Cold Snap update, which douses the popular sci-fi extraction shooter in glittering snowfall. Ah, how gorgeous the flakes twinkling above the Spaceport gantries. How beautiful the frozen lakes of Dam Battlegrounds. It’s definitely a mite nippy all of a sudden, though, isn’t it? Best take shelter in that bunker before your fingers and toes turn Uncommon green and Rare blue.

Oh dear, there’s another player inside that bunker and she won’t let you in. Still, perhaps if you start shouting the patch notes through the door she’ll relent out of curiosity? Very good, let’s begin.

As described last week, the Arc Raiders Cold Snap update buries the game’s four default maps in the white stuff. “Snowstorms sweep across Speranza as winter conditions take hold of multiple raid locations,” explains a press release. “Snowfall reduces visibility, lakes freeze over, and the open surface becomes more dangerous than ever — turning every raid into a high-stakes survival run.”

In particular, you will now have to worry about frostbite, or at least, a slow health drain mechanic called frostbite, while rambling outdoors. You won’t run the risk of losing any appendages to gangrene, I think. “Raiders must rethink their loadouts, ensuring they can heal themselves or their teammates and plan their extractions with care, finding shelter if needed,” comments the press release.

The temperature drop accompanies a modest blizzard of Arc Raiders add-on content. There’s the Goalie Raider Deck, the second of the game’s Raider Decks, which is yours for free come 26th December, and will be permanently accessible with no time limits. It includes new items and player feats to perform for Raider tokens, cosmetics and such.

Pride of place goes to the hockey-inspired Raider outfit with matching hockey stick raider tool. I myself used to play (grass) hockey and have, in fact, played hockey in blizzards so thick you could barely see the opposing goal. This was during my grim Yorkshire childhood, when everybody knew that the only way to make kids grow up right was to nearly murder them with bad weather. I’ve still got my old stick, propped over the door in humiliating mimicry of a World War heirloom. I’m pretty sure it’ll break if I touch it, let alone brain a rival scavenger for a bagful of batteries.

Expect two time-limited seasonal events in the course of the Cold Snap. On December 16th, there’s the Flickering Flames Event, which boasts 25 levels of new gear, customisation elements and Raider tokens. These are earned by way of Merits, gained from XP in rounds. On December 26th, please gird your loins for the Candleberry Banquet Project, which sees you collecting Candleberries to earn rewards, and is broken into five stages, each with a new banqueting scene. Polish off stages to earn further rewards, including Merits for the aforesaid Flickering Flames event. God, remember when all you had to do in games was gather coins and not die.

Last but not least, this December brings the opportunity to prestige your current character – sorry, I mean, send them on an expedition. This lets you pay a bunch of resources to reset much of your progression, including your player level and inventory. Why would you do this? Because starting over freshens up the experience and makes you feel like Maximilian Gamer, Destroyer Of Worlds. Also, you’re awarded a few perks in return to help you begin a fresh character, such as increased XP gain, bonus skill points, and more stash space. Expeditions give you eight weeks to prepare, and the first one “leaves” on 21st December.