The first of smash hit roguelike Ball X Pit's three major free updates adds a falconer who fires balls out of her two pet birds

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Two new characters, eight new balls, new passives, and a "surprise we don't want to spoil just yet".

A horde of enemies in an ice level in Ball X Pit.
(Image credit: Kenny Sun)

After the huge success of the game's launch, Ball X Pit developer Kenny Sun and Friends announced three big updates to come in 2026. Now the first of the trio has been dated—and we've had a glimpse at what it's set to include.

The Regal Update is due January 26, so it's not long to wait at all. It's adding two new characters, eight new balls, "several" more passives, and a "nice surprise we don't want to spoil just yet"—which all in all seems like a very robust set of features.

(Image credit: Kenny Sun)

While they don't sound too revolutionary, the two characters seem like fun additions to the roster. The Carouser's power is that when his balls return to him, they spin in a circle around him, which should make him particularly powerful at close range. Meanwhile the Falconer fires her balls from two birds on either side of her, who seem to sit against the walls of the stage and shoot inwards—a bit like a remix of the Cohabitants.

The true Ball X Pit fiends among you will already be thinking of possible combos with other character powers. I'm wondering about using the Carouser with the Repentant for quick-returning balls to keep the spinning wheel of death going as much as possible, and for pure brain-off carnage the Falconer with the shotgun blasts of the Spendthrift has got to be a good time.

(Image credit: Devolver Digital)

I do wonder how much longevity these extras will add without some new levels to play through or new progression systems to tackle, but more variety is definitely welcome. Eight new balls in particular is a substantial widening of the arsenal, which should make late-game runs a bit less samey.

After this, we can still expect the Shadow update in April and the Naturalist update in July, assuming all goes to plan. Given how well the game has sold, I wonder if there might be a full paid expansion planned for the second half of the year—but that's just pure speculation on my part. Either way, it looks like there'll be plenty of reasons to keep relapsing into a ball-bouncing fugue state in 2026.

Robin Valentine
Robin Valentine
Senior Editor

Formerly the editor of PC Gamer magazine (and the dearly departed GamesMaster), Robin combines years of experience in games journalism with a lifelong love of PC gaming. First hypnotised by the light of the monitor as he muddled through Simon the Sorcerer on his uncle’s machine, he’s been a devotee ever since, devouring any RPG or strategy game to stumble into his path. Now he's channelling that devotion into filling this lovely website with features, news, reviews, and all of his hottest takes.

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