Looks like Cold Iron Studios has a bit of a surprise for Aliens fans, as it has been revealed that the day one update for Aliens Fireteam Elite will indeed include horde mode along with a handful of visual improvements, and fixes.

Clocking in at roughly 14GB, the Aliens Fireteam Elite Day One update has been pushed out on the PlayStation Network, and with it so has the hefty changelog that details a number of changes and features, including the addition of horde mode. While we confirmed horde mode in our previous hands-on preview, it seems that, at least on PlayStation, it won’t be included on disc but as part of the update that players will need to download at release or part of their digital preload.

Do mind that because this update is released two weeks prior to release, it’s likely that there will be another one added on top of this one. However, these will still be part of the initial update that buyers will still need to download. For those who pre-ordered digitally, this will be included in the initial preload download.

Aliens Fireteam Elite Day One Update

New Features

• Horde Mode
• Horde mode is in! Complete the campaign and then talk to Shipp back on the Endeavor to open up this new gameplay mode.

Kits, Weapons, and Combat

• Balance and difficulty pass for all difficulty levels.
• “Park’s Store” pricing adjustments.

Enemies and Encounters

• Xenomorph AI and pathing improvements
• Population adjustments for multiple campaigns.

Content and Environments

• Balance and difficulty pass for all difficulty levels.
• Additional Polish and bug fixing for the end escape sequence in the final mission of “The Only Way to Be Sure” campaign.
• Targeted GPU/CPU optimizations and performance improvements for PC and all console platforms.
• Environment and lighting visual improvements across all campaigns.
• Numerous environment and lighting bug fixes across all campaigns.

General

• Gameplay and GPU Optimizations
• Matchmaking stability and bug fixing
• AI Teammate bug fixing and improvements Localization
• Support added for:
  • Chinese (Simplified)
  • Chinese (Traditional)
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Portuguese (Brazil)
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Czech
  • Polish
  • Korean

Looks to be addressing quite a few things here, and we’re glad to see that Cold Iron Studio is working very hard to ensure the release goes as smooth as possible. It won’t be long now my Colonial Marines compadres, as soon we will be fending off against a rampaging horde of Xenomorphs. 

Aliens Fireteam Elite is set for release this August 24 on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.