Verdun's Christmas Truce Event Is Active Until Early January

1 week ago 7

Jaime Tugayev is the News Editor for DualShockers with over a decade of experience, and a much longer love for fantasy, shooters and strategy games.

Just over a century ago, two of the world's mightiest militaries fought one of the bloodiest battles ever fought in Europe.

The Battle of Verdun cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of French and German soldiers, and it inspired the first-person shooter Verdun, widely recognized as one of the most horrifying war games ever. However, even in the grim trenches of northeastern France, there is room for some joy and Christmas cheer.

Developer BlackMill Games has brought the Christmas Truce to Verdun, continuing one of the most heartwarming traditions in the gaming industry

Christmas Comes to Verdun

The Christmas Truce is a recurring special event that has graced the joyless fields around Verdun, and it tries to give players a glimpse into the unique story of the 1914 Christmas Truce.

To access the mode in Verdun, select Play in the menu and pick Christmas Truce. This will transport you into a familiar battlefield transformed into a winter wonderland.

[...] even in the grim trenches of northeastern France, there is room for some joy and Christmas cheer.

The fortifications and battle scars still dot the land, but it's hard not to smile when you see the fields covered in snow, and the guns are silent.

In keeping with the real events of 1914, the Christmas Truce mode lets soldiers on both sides enjoy football matches, have a warm chat by the fire, and even engage in the most gruesome activity of all: snowball fights.

Soldiers who partake in this year's Christmas Truce event will be awarded a special medal commemorating the occasion. The Verdun Christmas Truce is active until January 5th.

From Snowy Verdun to the Beaches of Gallipoli

Verdun celebrates the season with the Christmas Truce event, but it is just months away from gaining a third younger sibling in the BlackMill Games WW1 franchise.

The 2013 early access release of Verdun was followed by Tannenberg in 2017, with the franchise taking a long break until Isonzo came out in 2022.

Late last year, BlackMill confirmed its flagship series would be getting a new game centered around the Gallipoli campaign. Keeping up with traditions, the game is aptly titled Gallipoli, and it seems to be a marked departure in visual fidelity over its predecessors.

New WW1 Shooter Lets You Blame Churchill

WW1: Gallipoli boasts a new gamemode for the series, and a host of graphical improvements

The new title will cover the bloody battles around the Gallipoli campaign, where ANZAC soldiers attained legendary status due to their bravery in one of the worst Entente defeats in World War I.

On top of that, Gallipoli will also be the first major depiction of the Mesopotamian front, which was active during the entire war and culminated in the defeat and partition of the Ottoman Empire in 1918.

Gallipoli is set to come out in 2026 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.