Glyph Worlds released a new update for War Selection, the free-to-play real-time strategy game in Steam Early Access, on October 17, 2026. In War Selection, players evolve from a stone age tribe to an industrial nation. The update adds a new Arena mode to matchmaking and private games and brings a redesigned main menu to the game.
Arena Mode Changes the Match Flow
Arena mode gives War Selection players a battle format without base construction or advancement. Each Arena battle uses an identical, randomly composed army of land units for every player, and no building or development takes place during the match. The last player standing wins. Because the armies are identical and there is no economy or tech progression, each round tests army control and tactics. The mode is available in both matchmaking and private games.
War Selection’s standard matches revolve around building a base and advancing through ages, a loop it shares with historical real-time strategy titles such as Age of Empires II: The Viking Sagas. Arena mode sets that loop aside.
Main Menu, Selection, and Social Tools
The redesigned main menu separates single-player and multiplayer sections, gives windows a new look, and adds smooth transitions. Players returning from the previous War Selection update will see the revised layout when they open the game.
Private match rooms now include participant chat. Glyph Worlds also added Steam invitations so friends can join a squad or private match. Unit selection now supports two shortcuts. Alt + left-click on one of your units on the map or its icon in the interface selects all units of that type across the map, and Shift + Alt + left-click adds them to the current selection.
Glyph Worlds has added automatic restrictions on access to team matches for accounts that frequently leave games in ways that harm allies. Before searching for a team match, a warning appears if another such departure could lead to a restriction. The update also improves interface rendering performance.
Balance and Bug Fixes
One balance change affects the Eastern Asia Springald. Damage taken from bullets and arrows is reduced from 100% to 60% before armor is subtracted.
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Arena mode | Added to matchmaking and private games, with identical randomly composed land unit armies, no building or development, and last player standing wins. |
| Main menu | Redesigned with separate single-player and multiplayer sections, a new look for windows, and smooth transitions. |
| Unit selection | Alt + left-click selects all units of that type across the map, and Shift + Alt + left-click adds them to the current selection. |
| Steam invitations | Friends can be invited to join a squad or private match. |
| Team-match leaver restriction | Automatic restrictions on team match access for frequent harmful departures, with a warning before searching if another such departure could lead to a restriction. |
| Springald balance | Eastern Asia Springald damage taken from bullets and arrows reduced from 100% to 60% before armor is subtracted. |
| Bug fixes | Fixes crashes tied to unit transformation, pathfinding, out-of-bounds visual effects, and Windows exit hangs, plus minimap fog of war, match history loading, chat reconnection, and F1 statistics overlap issues. |
