Frontrunner Season

> The journey has begun, Harvest Runners are finding their way to the Line and begin the push towards a safer Los Angeles. With more hands on deck, new areas are explored, but new threats will rise as well.
> Progress brings new tools; gear up and use these and join this generation of Frontrunners in paving the way for the future of After the Fall.
>
>

The **Frontrunner Season** is the first season of content drops for *After the Fall*. It was announced prior to the game's launch and began on March 10, 2022.

## New Content

### Game Modes

* Horde (PvE), released March 10, 2022
* Free-For-All (PvP), released April 28, 2022

### Maps

* Boulevard (Harvest Run), released March 24, 2022
* Stockpile (Tundradome), released April 28, 2022
* Junction (Horde), released March 10, 2022
* Highway (Horde), released March 10, 2022

### Items

* Revolver, released March 10, 2022
* Tommy Gun, released April 28, 2022
* LMG, released March 24, 2022
* Rage booster, released April 28, 2022
* Warhead, released April 28, 2022
* Shockwave, released April 28, 2022

### Other

* Player customization and player outfits
* Additional weapon skins

## History

Starting with the game's launch, Vertigo had been teasing the content players should expect to drop with the game's first season. The early access news post on December 7, 2021 on the *After the Fall* Steam store page featured a graphic announcing the upcoming Frontrunner season, calling attention to Boulevard as an upcoming Harvest Run map (as "Hollywood Boulevard"), Stockpile as an upcoming Tundradome map (as "Warehouse"), "Hordes spotted" in "Highway & Chinatown", as well as a new kind of snowbreed and new weapons. The Revolver was subtly teased in this material via use of its weapon icon. An animated version of this promotional graphic was also posted to the game's description on the Steam store, and the same graphic was posted to the FAQ channel in the game's official Discord server giving a release window of Q1 2022.

On February 11, 2022, TamTu posted an update on the PlayStation Blog that gave more insight and detail into the content coming with the season. The post confirmed the upcoming release of Horde mode, revealed the new Free-For-All Tundradome mode, revealed the Skimmer as the new snowbreed mutation, and confirmed the Revolver's existence as well as teasing one more new weapon.

On February 22, 2022, Jamie Feltham of the website UploadVR posted an article reporting on the content coming with the season, embedding an image of a more complete roadmap for the season as well as a video from Vertigo's YouTube channel featuring TamTu explaining some of the upcoming content with a little show and tell. The video reiterated many known points, but also revealed what looks like a light machine gun, a revolving magazine for the Pump Shotgun, what appears to be a laser-based combat device. The roadmap image also teased what appeared to be a light machine gun modeled after the FN M249, an SMG modeled after the Thompson M1 (a.k.a. the Tommy Gun), a new type of booster shot, and a new type of throwable weapon. Vertigo also sponsored content creators Virtual Reality Oasis, Rhys Da King, Gamertag VR, and Matteo311 and gave them early access to Horde mode to preview publicly.

On March 1, 2022, a tweet was posted to *After the Fall*'s official Twitter account announcing Vertigo's stance on the evolving Russia-Ukraine conflict. To this, there was backlash from the community. For one, the community expected the first content drop to come at the end of the month as per the previously released roadmap. In addition, many had viewed this as the company using the conflict as an excuse to justify further delays rather than being transparent, especially considering that team members had previously mentioned in the official Discord server that the release was ready to go earlier in the week, a fact later confirmed by the official Twitter account. A follow-up message was posted on March 4, 2022 attempting to clarify the March 1 announcement, making a claim that "both [their] partners and [them] felt a pause from promoting *After the Fall* was appropriate" and assuring that the development team "continued to be hard at work developing the March content update and adding fixes to the game." In addition, while Vertigo was not based in or near the conflict zone, partners important to the release process were, such as localization and publishing offices. A rescheduled release date was promised for the following week.

On March 10, 2022, patch v1.3.35721 was released as the "Horde Update," officially kicking off the start of the season. A trailer was released alongside the announcement, showing off higher resolution images of the things teased in prior reveals. The release added Horde mode and the Revolver, and the announcement in the official Discord server reminding players that Boulevard's release was coming up later in the month. The official website was also updated with a new layout and updated information including a news archive with all patch notes and all information currently released about the season.

On March 18, 2022, TamTu posted to the official Discord server a photo of himself pointing at YouTuber Beardo Benjo in a VR headset at an event held the DNA VR arcade in London on March 17, explaining that he was holding the LMG. On March 22, the official *After the Fall* Twitter account posted a sneak peek of the upcoming patch, teasing the release of Boulevard and the LMG and officially announcing its release "[that] month." The next day, TamTu posted a message in the official Discord server saying that the next update "will very likely drop tomorrow," and YouTuber Paradise Decay posted a video of his time at the London event to his channel, which showcased gameplay on Boulevard with an LMG with infinite ammo.

On March 24, 2022, patch v1.4.36404 was released as the "Boulevard Update," bringing the LMG, player skins, and the Skimmer to the game, as well as the aforementioned map, all of which were briefly showcased in a short trailer posted to Vertigo's YouTube channel.

On April 1, 2022, a new Lore Blog was announced on the game's official website, offering "more glimpses into the world of After the Fall and its characters," and teasing a story about "Michael, Jen, and Malia on a scouting mission, discovering a new enemy." This turned out to be something of an early April Fool's joke, as the story led to the three discovering Jimmy transformed into a brute, complete with accompanying art. Due to the timing of the story's release and the events of it, it's assumed that this lore blog is not canon.

On April 28, 2022, patch v1.5.37145 was released as the "Shock & Awe Update." As with prior releases, a trailer was released which briefly showcased all of the new content, and officially declared the season as complete. In addition to adding the Tommy Gun, Free-For-All, and Stockpile, the previously teased, unnamed gear was identified and added to the game: the shockwave combat device, the rage booster, and the warhead. There were also new player skins added,

## References

1. ↑ "The Snowbreed are waiting, Early Access is live!" Steam News. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
2. ↑ "New maps, guns, enemy, and more for After The Fall’s Frontrunner season revealed" PlayStation.Blog. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
3. ↑ "Watch: After The Fall’s Horde Mode, New Maps Revealed In First-Look Video." UploadVR. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
4. ↑ "A message from the ATF team." Twitter. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The February content update has been ready since last week..." Twitter. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
6. ↑ "All the while, our team has continued to be hard at work..." Twitter. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
7. ↑ "Think about publishing and localization offices for those regions" -Vertigo\_TamTu. Discord. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
8. ↑ "We are currently working with our partners to realign on a release date for next week..." Twitter. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
9. ↑ Discord message in #atf-chat by Vertigo\_TamTu. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
10. ↑ Discord message in #atf-updates by Vertigo\_TamTu. Retrieved 28 April 2022.