Atlas 'Mega Update' includes a new cooperative mode, more islands, and a submarine

Massively multiplayer pirate game Atlas received a 'Mega Update' today, which fills the world with '40% more' islands and unique land masses, and changes the layout of the map. There are also new deep sea environments and submarines to explore them with, plus giant crabs to battle and eventually tame. A trailer for Atlas 1.5 is above.

"In 'Colonies,' hosted on a fresh new network, players claim 'Island Settlements' where they can set customized PvP hours to have the much-coveted 'offline raid protection.' Anyone can build - with specialized rules - on other settlers' islands, and players benefit from cooperating with other settlers within an island to reduce its 'upkeep' cost."

It's possible this new game mode might be more appealing for solo players and smaller groups, who will have less to worry about when it comes to being completely overwhelmed by larger pirate collectives. The original PvP mode is still in place, now called Empires.

You can read the full patch notes for Atlas 1.5 here. The update is currently live.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.