Echo Arena (2017), the futuristic multiplayer sports game from Ready at Dawn and Oculus Studios, is getting into the holiday spirit with an upcoming seasonal Halloween Bash that looks to be a devilishly fun time—a great incentive to get more people to download the game for free before the free download window expires on All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1st).
Starting today, you’ll be able to float around in a newly designed haunted lobby area, play with the gruesome collection of new toys, and unlock 20 new cosmetic styles that you can take with you before they vanish on November 1st.
New cosmetic items can be earned after you complete at least one public match, where you’ll automatically be granted “5 ghoulish patterns, 5 creepy tints, 7 unnerving decals, and 3 eerie emotes.”
Ready at Dawn previously stated that the free 3-month download window, which allows anyone to download and keep the game permanently for free, would end on October 20th, but the studio says in a blogpost announcing the Halloween Bash that its November 1st conclusion “also coincides with the end of the 3-month period where you can add Echo Arena to your Oculus library for free.”
The Halloween Bash begins on October 20th at 12:00pm PST (your local time here). The spooky lobby and the ability to claim the Halloween-themed items will disappear in the afternoon of November 1st, but users can continue to flaunt the spooky items (and smugly answer the question: “where did you get the skull helmet?”) long afterwards.
Download ‘Echo Arena’ for Free
If you haven’t played Echo Arena yet, definitely take the chance to download this zero-g, adrenaline pumping game now for free before it becomes a paid app in November—unless you’re planning on buying the single-player adventure Lone Echo, which gets you the multiplayer Echo Arena for free at any time.
The Tron-like sports game boasts a healthy player base, and while substantial updates may be a little sluggish, the Halloween Bash represents one of the first big changes (albeit temporary) to the game since its last public beta. We’re hoping once the game heads into paid app territory that it’ll bring with it more substantive changes including more maps to keep people coming back for more.