Mechwarrior Online releases Spider Mech ahead of double-XP weekend

The engineers at Piranha have been hard at work at their latest robot warrior for free-to-play battler Mechwarrior Online. Disappointingly, the Spider Mech isn't an octolegged monstrosity that traps its flitting opponents in webs of hardened steel. Instead it promises to be the fastest, most maneuverable addition to the Light class - with eight jumpjets to bump up the agility.

In addition to the Spider, which is available now, the game will be holding its first double XP weekend from Friday. "Scheduled to run the duration of the weekend, MechWarrior pilots will hunker down at home in order to defend and conquer in the InnerSphere." The XP increase will stack with other boosting bonuses, such as Founder benefits and Premium Time.

"After a much-needed break over the holidays, we're raring to go with exciting 2013 content updates," says Piranha's creative director, Bryan Ekman. "The addition of community-focused features such as the Double XP event, new Mechs and performance tweaks let's us kickoff the New Year in a big way. This is just the beginning of a huge year for MechWarrior fans."

Pilots can also look forward to the Death Knell on January 22nd - another small, fast Mech with four arm-mounted lasers. Boy, they really go over-the-top with their Mech naming conventions, don't they. I guess when it comes to massive robotic killing machines, subtlety stops being a priority.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.