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Ah, April 1st. A day of nonstop confusion and anxiety as you have to double-check each post to make sure if what you’re reading is actually fact or fiction. This is, of course, because April 1st is April Fools Day, and it’s tradition on April Fool’s Day to mess around, prank your friends and family, and for corporations to make up fake announcements or add some silly easter eggs to their games. For 2024, these corporations went crazy with their April Fool’s pranks, and here are some of our favorites:
An Overwatch Googly Eyes Tradition
Last year, Overwatch copypasted googly eyes on all of their heroes, allowing you to waltz through all the game’s different maps and modes with some silly cosmetics. But more fun was a special game mode they released where they performed some crazy balance changes on all of their heroes, some actually feeling reasonable, others going absolutely off the walls.
This tradition is carried over to this year, with some new balance changes to the mix and an overabundance of googly eyes. One of my favorites is mini Mauga, who was turned into the size of a hamster as he runs around causing havoc. Another good one is an enlarged Brigitte, who truly turns into a tank with more health, a stronger shield, and a bigger hitbox. (You can check out all of the balance changes here.)
Gotta Catch ‘Em All in League of Legends
League of Legends‘ cosmetic game is always on point, and one of these cosmetics includes the mighty Little Legend. These are cute critters you utilize in Teamfight Tactics, another game from the Riot Games team that is accessed through the same client. For April Fools this year, the Riot Games team decided to have a mini crossover, allowing you to walk around Summoner’s Rift while hunting for these adorable creatures.
There are other festivities, too, including a big choo-choo train you can ride across the map and some fun April Fool’s skins that will drop on Wednesday this week after the Version 14.7 patch. You can check out the new skins here.
Palworld Has a New Dating Sim
I remember physically wrenching when I first saw this trailer, and then subsequently thanking my lucky stars that the date was April 1st. Yes, the game that took the world by storm, Palworld, knows its audience. And its audience ate it up. Fortunately, I probably don’t have to tell you that this game isn’t real. But if it were real, you could theoretically go on dates with a shy Chillet, a mysteriously ominous Katress, and a seriously disgusting Black Marketeer.
To be honest, the trend of turning a beloved game or IP into a dating sim is a bit tiring at this point. We already have actual, real games like the Dead by Daylight dating sim and the classic, I Love You, Colonel Sanders! Pocketpair should honestly just pull the trigger and go for it.
A Sleepy eSports Event With Pokemon Sleep
Pokemon is rich in the eSports scene, with multiple layers of competitive Pokemon battling, online trading card events, and even a foray into fighting games with Pokken. So, fittingly, the Pokemon Company saw fit to extend this grapevine to Pokemon Sleep. Pokemon Sleep gamifies sleeping by allowing you to catch Pokemon after a long night’s rest, and this eSports event judged how well the contestants slept…I guess.
Of course, the tournament was fake, and Pokemon Sleep does not have a bustling eSports scene. This is somewhat sad, as I think I could compete extraordinarily well in a competition of who can sleep the best.
DLC? Try CLC with Sonic the Hedgehog
DLC practices are getting on everyone’s nerves, nowadays. Naturally, SEGA saw fit to make the concept of DLC even worse, with the innovative “CLC.” CLC stands for Cartridge Loadable Content, and the idea is you can stack a special “CLC” cartridge onto an existing game to access extra content.
Modeling this superb idea is Sonic the Hedgehog, who demonstrates the CLC concept with several cartridges stacked high into the sky. With the CLC, Sonic now has a huge head. Er, yeah, that’s it, I suppose. I guess most DLC nowadays are cosmetic, so…