Hello fighters!

The end of 2023 is here. We're very happy that you've shared many great moments with us and participated in the important events of the game this year. Together we were excited about the release of new updates, eagerly awaited the premiere of trailers, and cheered for the victories of our favorite teams at the tournaments.

2023 turned out to be an incredibly busy and diverse year. Therefore, we want to review everything and recall a few important events that took place in Standoff 2 over the past year in this article.

On January 1, 2023, the account level system that existed in the past changed completely. The players were able to level up indefinitely, and Veteran progress became independent of overall experience.

What's more, a new Elite Gold medal was introduced this very year. It became an intermediate one between gold and platinum.

April 3 marked the beginning of Season 5 — Fireborn. This update brought a lot of novelties and useful changes to the game. For example, it was in 0.23.0 that players were able to walk around the updated Province and fight on the new Lakeside map.

It was in April 2023 that we saw Berettas, a stiletto knife, and the long-awaited Molotov cocktail. Some had doubts whether we could technically implement the "burn-bottle" in Standoff 2 — as you can see, everything is possible!

In addition to that, the balance of weapons was updated, the radar became more convenient, "Arcade" evolved into "Free-for-all" mode, and Pattern skins were created. Now it's difficult to imagine any collection without them.

And the Season trailer delighted the fans of conspiracy theories and the game's lore, as it's where Beholder first appeared…

Standoff 2 celebrated its sixth birthday on April 17. Yes, there was no special update or event in the game this time around, as Fireborn came out relatively close to that date.

Nevertheless, in honor of the birthday, we released commemorative shields and graffiti, and produced a themed phonk track (this was a very unusual task for our composers).

And, of course, we launched a themed contest that could get you an in-game item as a prize — for the first time in the history of Standoff 2!

In May, we decided that we wanted to answer your questions more often and tell you about our plans and decisions. That's why on May 25 we released the first short video on the official YouTube channel where we talked about how updates are created.

As of this writing, there are already 25 videos on YouTube, TikTok, and VK clips (that's one video every 10 days) where we cover a particular issue our community is concerned about. And we're definitely not going to stop in the new year!

Beholder's experiments continued in the open space. Summer themed update Space Vision was a nice treat after the busy Season 5. The temporary Citadel and Space Station maps, Carnage mode, and temporary weapons allowed us to immerse ourselves in the nostalgic atmosphere of old shooters.

The 0.24.0 update also introduced the gyroscope, which is now a very important tool for some players. New filters were added to the marketplace to search for items with stickers or a specific pattern number, as well as an optional downloadable content (DLC) feature.

On the first day of June, the Standoff 2 developers showed off their skills for the first time by playing against a team of bloggers. It was an incredible confrontation that's still remembered not only by the participants, but also by the audience.

And the Grand Finals of Standoff 2 Major by Infinix took place on June 26. Despite the forced postponement of the event, it turned out to be grandiose and spectacular, and MTC Live Hall welcomed more than a thousand fans of esports!

On June 30, the first EPIC tournament series kicked off — these regular events have become an integral part of Standoff 2 esports. By December 2023, six Seasons had taken place, and the epic spectacle made the fans happy.

Sunstrike update was released on August 30, and it extended the summer with its hot desert atmosphere.

Sunstrike added a new Dune map to the game for Competitive mode, and we're very happy that players are enjoying the new location. Along with it came three maps for the new Duel mode that also didn't go unnoticed by the community.

Season Six graced us with a lot of nice new things, including the Fang knife, Position markers, random skins feature, Desert Eagle "Aureate" for the Nameless Collection, Flow graffiti pack, and more.

In the fall, we decided to help beginner players and launched our own series of instructional videos. On October 4, the Standoff 2 Cybersport YouTube channel released its first grenade guide.

Now the series has two videos — the first is about grenades, and the second is about shooting. And we'll surely continue the series in the new year.

In October, we brought you the spookiest holiday of the year. The preparations began with two themed contests. The participants carved pumpkins inspired by Standoff 2, and also recreated the scenes from iconic horror movies in the game.

Subject X, the Halloween themed update was already brought to life on October 28. Players were able to try on the guise of creepy monsters or fight these monsters in Possessed mode, and the Province was once again at the center of events.

The monster battles continued on the special dueling Lab map in the Monster Duel mode. On top of that, a few useful changes were added to the game, such as the ability to apply a random skin to the knife and gloves, an updated Spin appeared, and new anti-scam measures were taken.

Two Majors in one year — like two Seasons — is historic for our game. The Winline EPIC Standoff 2 Major finals were held on December 10, and Saints were victorious. More than 3,000 spectators came to watch the professionals play live.

This Major was the end of the "Tablet era" in the official Axlebolt tournament series. In the New Year we're expecting even bigger and more intense tournaments and, thanks to the transition to smartphones, new professional players.

This update was released on December 21. Frosty Chaos is imbued with the spirit of Christmas miracles and festivities, and the decorated Village and two themed modes created a New Year mood for many players.

The update introduced the Shine stickerpack and new sticker effects: Reflex and Shine. In addition to this, the Sandstone graphics update also pleased many users.

You can still enjoy all the Frosty Chaos content now, and after that you'll have plenty of new stuff to look forward to next year! Thank you so much for being with us in 2023 — your support and attention are really important to us. Thanks to the community of the game, we find motivation to evolve and become better.

Happy New Year 2024!