Overwatch, Fortnite, GTA and No Man's Sky drop new, free updates

No Man's Sky – Next brings the base game up to version 1.5 on PlayStation and PC, whereas launches as the base game on Xbox One. — AFP Relaxnews

Four big video games have taken advantage of a mid-year lull in the release calendar by debuting attention-grabbing updates not only in the same week but also on the same day.

A super-intelligent giant hamster in Overwatch, a birthday celebration for Fortnite, a big revamp (and Xbox debut) for No Man's Sky and a solo-style update for multiplayer Grand Theft Auto Online all went live on July 24.

Cute and deadly hamster Hammond is the latest addition to the Overwatch character roster, pilot of a scuttling, rolling, swinging mechanised tank called Wrecking Ball which can attach itself via cable to a nearby wall or archway and use the resulting momentum to hurl itself at enemies.

Hammond's the second anthropomorphic character to join the Overwatch lineup, after advanced gorilla Winston, and Wrecking Ball becomes the third tank-like mechanised armor after D. Va's rig and Efi's AI creation Orisa.

If Overwatch was 2016's breakout, Fortnite has been 2018's leviathan, with over 125 million players not only on consoles and computers but also across Android and iOS systems as well.

Though the free Fortnite: Battle Royale launched in September 2017, its elder sibling Fortnite: Save The World arrived in July the same year – hence the well-timed tie-in, even if the link isn't immediately obvious.

With the event lasting until Aug 7, players can unlock a birthday-themed emoticon, spray, and costume accessory according to their in-game antics.

Elsewhere, the multiplayer component of Grand Theft Auto V received a new update, After Hours, that was reminiscent of a legacy Grand Theft Auto IV add-on, The Ballad Of Gay Tony.

It unlocks a nightclub-themed location and a tranche of business-oriented missions in the company of none other than nightlife icon Gay Tony himself, and could be played more or less solo to boot, indicating that game developer Rockstar is plenty willing to narrow its focus if it keeps players happy and, one must assume, their wallets engaged.

Finally, No Man's Sky made a significant return with the launch – or re-launch – of its fourth big update, subtitled Next, on PlayStation 4 and PC, and a platform debut on Xbox One.

After a difficult 2016 launch after years of hype, No Man's Sky Next could be the update that most comprehensively redeems the ambitious small studio behind it, adding co-operative multiplayer, character customisation and a third-person perspective, expanded base building, the possibility of event-oriented content, and a significant graphical makeover among other things. — AFP Relaxnews