Splitgate's season 0 adds battle pass, new mode, new map and more

Splitgate was due to launch out of beta this month, but instead a massive uptick in popularity for the free-to-play shooter caused its developers to place the game in indefinite beta. Now they've launched "Season 0", including a new map, a new mode, and free and premium challenges for those who buy a battle pass.

Here's a trailer for season 0:

The update, which is available now, adds Contamination mode, in which one player is only able to use melee weapons and contaminates others by killing them. Contaminated players then switch sides and are able to contaminate others, while the dwindling number uninfected fight against them.

It also adds Karman Station, a new map set in outer space with an open central area and a sniper tower in the periphery.

While those additions and some quality of life improvements are available to all, you need to purchase the season 0 battle pass to get access to 100 levels of challenges through which you can unlock exclusive armors, weapon skills and cosmetic items for the game. The battle pass comes in two variants - Premium, which costs $10, and Premium+20 Levels which costs $20.

Splitgate is a little bit new and a little bit old-fashioned, in that it's a scifi arena shooter with lots of maps and modes but it feels fresh due to the inclusion of Portal-style portals. People call it "Halo meets Portal" a lot, but I prefer to think of it as CliffyB Envy Simulator 2021. If you'd like to give it a try, have a read of Ollie's Splitgate tips first.