As promised, the content train keeps chugging along!

This time, we're *finally* replacing one of the oldest and most outdated pieces of kit in the game, the trusty Opel Blitz!

With the addition of the new model, we've also added many additional different skin variants. Have a look below!

This is another step in our long quest to upgrade the quality of all the content in the game to a higher standard.

• Updated Opel Blitz assets.

• Players can no longer fire guns (anti-tank guns, tank guns etc.) when the barrel is obstructed by solid geometry. This will stop exploits where AT guns with long barrels could shoot through solid walls.

• Downscaled and compressed a large number of textures that were needlessly large. This should reduce the incidence of VRAM related crashes that have been reported on the new Italy maps.

• Squad member numbers are now displayed next to the name of squadmates using using microphones.

• The local player's squad member number now overlays on the player's "self" icon on the map.

• Renamed "Dynamic Fog Distance" to "Dynamic View Distance" to improve clarity.

• Carentan Causeway has been reclassified as a "small" map. This should prevent it from being voted in on a full server.

• Fixed incorrect map icons for some guns and vehicles.

• Fixed a typo in the name of the Effetto Pronto shell name.

• Fixed missing localization for Soviet "Sniper" role name.

• Fixed camera clipping issues on some vehicles.

We've also been cooking up a new *counter-battery* system to add more depth to the on-map artillery (i.e., mortars, howitzers) system that will give more of an advantage to smart placement and use of mobile guns.

The technology to triangulate enemy heavy gun fire was developed during World War 1 and further improved in World War 2 with the use of networked listening stations. We considered adding listening stations as constructions that could increase the accuracy of counter-battery marks, but ultimately decided aginst it to keep things streamlined, since builders already have a lot on their plate.

The system is inspired by RTT games like Nival Interactive's Blitzkrieg[en.wikipedia.org] series. When an enemy artillery gun fires, a *counter-battery mark* will indicate an approximate area that the gun fired from, with the accuracy of the mark dependent on the size of the gun (i.e., the larger the gun, the more accurate the mark).

If the enemy gun is stationary and fires enough rounds, a keen-eyed observer can develop an estimation of the gun's location and then mark it for counter-battery fire. This makes things like clumped-up mortar and howitzer batteries especially susceptible to counter-battery fire, especially when out-ranged by larger guns.

This should give more of an advantage to spreading out artillery guns and keeping them mobile when possible!

We will continue to refine and test the system, and will aim to roll it out later this month.

See you on the battlefield,

Darklight Games 🕷️

We have been overwhelmed by the positive response to the Italy Expansion!

The release trailer has garnered tens of thousands of views, and on release day we hit the highest player counts in over a decade!

To all our new players, welcome to the family! And to all our veteran players, please help our new recruits feel at home.

We're striking while the iron is hot, and as promised, we are coming in hot with another big update! Here's the TL;DR, with the full change log below:

• 🚗 Added Sd.Kfz. 124 "Wespe"[en.wikipedia.org].

• 🇪🇸 Added Spanish localization.

• 🪲 Numerous minor bug fixes.

• 🗺️ Map balancing pass.

The German 105mm "Wespe" was a self-propelled howitzer built on the Panzer II chassis and was one of the most successful self-propelled gun designs fielded by any side. At last, the Germans now have an answer to the M7 Priest!

You can find the Wespe on the following maps:

• Armored Balaton Advance

• Armored Freyneux Advance

• Armored Fruhlingserwachen Clash

• Armored Raid to Bastogne

• Armored Suedwind Advance

• Barashka Advance

• Bridgehead Advance

• Butovo Advance

• Jurques Advance

• Kommerscheidt Advance

• Les Champs de Losque Advance

• Putot en Bessin Advance

• Valko Advance

The game has been completely localized to Spanish!

In order to use the Spanish localization, set your Steam Client Language to "Spanish".

Please note that "Latin American Spanish" is not yet recognized by the game, so please use "Spanish" in the meantime until we can come up with a way for the game to recognize Steam's "Latin American Spanish" setting.

• Mortars are now automatically levelled after being rotated.

• Prompt interactions (e.g., team kill forgive prompt) no longer overlap.

• Autocaretta OM32 and OM36(OP) now use the appropriate truck icons on the map.

• The "need to bolt" state of weapons is now preserved when dropping and picking them up.

• Fixed numerous Wz.35 issues where the player could interrupt reloads & bolting.

• Fix for inconsistent fonts on various menu elements.

• Fixed rendering issues on some vegetation on Sicily maps.

• Fixed a bug where handheld mortars had an incorrect map icon.

• Carcanos now correctly load 6 bullets from the stripper clip instead of 5.

• Added missing resupply attachment on the DUKW.

• Fixed a crash that could occur when switching seats in the CV-33.

• Fixed Italian and Polish radio voice lines not working in multiplayer.

• Fixed missing ammo pouch attachments on some Italian roles.

• Mortar and gun limits have been adjusted on a number of maps.

• Renamed German Village to Renthem.

• Fixed boat blocking volumes blocking DUKWs.

• Fixed Higgins and DUKWs on spawn menu being initially active. They now activate when setup phase ends.

• Decreased amount of Pakwagen spawns from 2 to 1.

• Added a Jagdpanzer IV for Axis.

• Added two new objectives and changed the location of others.

• Added several new areas and opened up several buildings in and around the objectives.

• Further tightened Axis logistics allowance.

• Added no build zone to the fields at last objective.

• Removed PaK 43 from last objective.

• Added more cover around the map.

• Replaced some older barricade statics with more aesthetic versions.

• Ticket increases for both teams.

• Changed Panzer IV model to a later version with side skirts.

• Improved Axis main spawn protection.

• Increased Axis tickets slightly.

• Fixed Allied spawn locations being too far away from the first objective spawns.

• Fixed issue where spawn protection minefields would not be deactivated correctly.

• Increased Axis tickets slightly.

• Increased Axis tickets.

• Fixed a bug where players could hear water sloshing noises at random locations across the map.

See you on the battlefield,

Darklight Games 🕷️

At long last and after much anticipation, we are proud to announce the release of the Italy Expansion for Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbk7gSZIYrw

This expansion adds the Italian faction to the game, as well as a bevy of new vehicles, weapons, and maps.

This has been a huge undertaking for our team, and speaking as the team lead, I'm very proud of everything that we've accomplished. We know that all the content we've created for this update is by far the best we've ever made, and think you'll agree.

Coming out of the crucible of World War I, Italy did not fare very well. Although it had ostensibly been victorious, its ambitions of vast territorial expansion had been thwarted by post-war treaties, leaving the political landscape of Italy in turmoil.

The rise of Benito Mussolini and the fascist party in the 1920s saw a renewed interest in military expansionism, culminating in the successful Italian invasions of Ethiopia and Albania in the 1930s in an attempt to restore the lost glory of the Roman Empire around the Mediterranean Sea (the "Mare Nostrum", lit. "Our Sea").

Italy declared war on the Allies in 1940 during the invasion of France, launching a very unsuccessful attack through the Alps. Soon after, it launched a disastrous invasion of Greece in 1940. What was expected to be a quick victory against a relatively weak opponent turned into a prolonged and costly campaign, requiring German assistance to stabilize the front.

The war dragged on, and following the Axis' stunning defeat at Stalingrad in February of 1943, Axis territorial gains in the east were being erased with increasing speed. The Axis forces had been pushed out of North Africa in May of 1943, undoing virtually all of the Italian conquests of the previous decade.

It is amidst this backdrop that Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, began in July 1943.

This update sees the addition of 9 brand new vehicles to the game; 8 of which are unique to the Italian faction.

The Autoblinda 41 armored car is a fast and extremely maneuverable vehicle that's excellent for scouting and anti-infantry. Its 20mm cannon is capable of destroying light vehicles with ease, but will be dramatically less effective attempting to engage even lightly armored tanks head-on.

It is also unique in that it is the only vehicle in the game with a rear-facing machine-gun, allowing it to defend itself from enemy infantry attempting to flank it.

The Autocaretta OM 32 and 36P are light trucks used for both transporting troops and supplies. Despite its small size and under-powered engine, the OM 36P can transport 10 men, and the OM 32 can carry a half load of supplies (1000 supplies instead of the normal 2000).

One of the smallest armored vehicles fielded by any nation during the war, this tankette is nimble and lightly armored and armed with two 6.5mm machine-guns. Despite it's diminutive stature, it excels at scouting and harassing enemy infantry and light vehicles while keeping a very low profile.

The Fiat 508CM is a light utility vehicle used mainly as a scouting and staff car. One unique feature of the Fiat 508CM is that it has a working radio in the back seat, allowing squad leaders to call in artillery strikes from the front lines.

The workhorse hauler of the Italian army, the Fiat 626 is capable of carrying a large number of troops and supplies. It has no armaments, so like any light vehicle, it is vulnerable to all manner of enemy fire.

A light tank armed with a 20mm cannon and a 8mm machine-gun; the majority of these were destroyed or captured by the Allies during the North African campaign. It can excel at engaging lightly armored vehicles and unsupported infantry, but will struggle against anything with more than a few millimeters of armor.

The most produced Italian self-propelled gun of the war, the Semovente 47/32 is armed with a 47mm cannon capable of penetrating most enemy tanks from the side and rear. It's low profile and good maneuverability make it an excellent ambush vehicle, but thin armor and an open-topped turret make it extremely vulnerable to enemy fire.

A self-propelled gun sporting a devastating 90mm cannon, the Semovente 90/53 is capable of easily destroying any enemy vehicle it encounters. This power comes with a pretty dramatic drawback, though, since the small chassis can can only carry 8 extra rounds. The gun crew is also exposed to enemy fire from its rear. However, with good positioning, accurate gunnery, and logistical support, it has the potential to be the deciding factor in any battle.

The DUKW is a versatile amphibious vehicle used by the United States landing forces in Sicily to transport troops and supplies to the landing beaches and beyond. It's enormous size and poor maneuverability makes it difficult to use inland, so it's better suited for the open sea.

The Cannone da 47/32 is a light 47mm anti-tank gun capable of decent penetration, though it will struggle against heavier tanks like the M4 Sherman, especially from the front. Despite this, it's very low profile makes it difficult to spot, especially when the wheels are removed.

The most successful mortar of the Italian armed forces during the war. Based on the French Brandt Mle 27/31, the Mortaio da 81/14 mod. 35 is a medium 81mm mortar capable of firing a variety of rounds, as well as an ultra-heavy high-explosive round.

This compact semi-automatic pistol was the standard sidearm of the Italian army. Despite it's relatively underpowered .380 ACP cartridge, it's small size and light weight made it a popular choice for officers and other personnel who needed a sidearm that was easy to carry.

There are many things that have been said about the Breda mod. 30; most of them not very flattering. Intended as a squad light machine-gun, it's heavy weight, low effective rate of fire, and unique loading mechanism made it extremely ineffective in it's assigned role. We've taken great pains to make sure that the Breda modello 30 is as historically accurate as possible (including animating ammo being spilled out on reloads), so players will be able to experience the same boiling frustration that the Italian soldiers did.

The Carcano mod. 91 was the standard issue bolt-action rifle of the Italian army. It's 6.5mm cartridge is comparatively underpowered compared to the standard issue rifles of other nations, but it's light weight and good handling characteristics made it a popular choice for the Italian infantry.

In addition, certain roles will have access to the Carcano mod. 91/38, a short barreled variant with a foldable bayonet.

Developer Highlight: When chambering the final round, you can hear the distinctive sound of the en-bloc clip being ejected from the bottom of the rifle.

Originally of Polish origin as the Wz. 35, the Fucile Controcarro 35(P) is a bolt-action, magazine-fed anti-tank rifle with an impressive high-velocity cartridge capable of penetrating most light tanks from the side and rear.

This sub-machine gun was a very effective weapon owing to it's great handling and high rate of fire. Unfortunately, it was issued almost exclusively to Blackshirt divisions that were attached to larger army groups. As a result, it was rarely seen in the hands of regular infantry units.

This weapon can be found exclusively in the hands of the Italian "Camicie Nere" (Blackshirts).

Additionally, the later mod. 38-A/42 variant can be found in the hands of late war German troops on the eastern front.

Kicking off the the theme of extremely dangerous impact fuzed grenades, the OTO Tipo L is a large anti-tank grenade with a powerful 1.5kg explosive charge useful for destroying or immobilizing vehicles. Since it's heavy and can't be thrown far, make sure to throw this from cover!

Dubbed the "red devil" by the Allies, the SRCM Mod. 35 was one of the standard hand grenades used by the Italian army. Unlike the standard grenades used by other nations, it uses an impact fuse, making it extremely dangerous to use in close quarters. The impact fuzes had a habit of failing to detonate when landing on soft ground, leaving a live grenade on the ground that could blow up if disturbed.

The SRCM Mod. 35 (Incendiary Smoke) is a variant of the standard hand grenade that produces a thick cloud of white phosphorus smoke when detonated. In addition to it's typical use as a smoke screen, the white phosphorus can cause severe burns to anyone unfortunate enough to be near the detonation, as well as being a potentially lethal choking hazard.

The Italy expansion sees the addition of 5 brand new maps.

The new maps in this first Italian expansion are focused on Operation Husky[//], the invasion of Sicily in 1943. They follow the historical progression of the Battle of Gela[en.wikipedia.org], where US 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions landed against the Italian 4th Infantry "Livorno" Division and the German 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring. Their goal was to secure the town of Gela, then push inland to capture the critical airfield at Ponte Olivo.

The town of Gela was one of the main landing points for the invasion of Sicily due to its proximity to the Ponte Olivo airfield.

The invaders will have to fight their way off the beaches, ascend through a dense urban area, then push outwards into the sprawling Sicilan countryside.

Niscemi is a hilltop town that was used as a staging area for counterattacks against the invading Allies immediately following the invasion.

The Allies will have to fight an uphill battle against fixed Italian defensive positions to reach the outskirts of the town.

Capturing the airfield at Ponte Olivo was critical to the success of the invasion of Sicily, both to deny the German and Italian forces the ability to use it, and to grant the Allies a staging ground for their own air operations further inland.

This is the largest map in the update and features almost all of the new vehicles and equipment.

This popular map has been completely re-imagined for the Italy expansion. The original map allegedly took place in the Italian countryside, though it certainly didn't look the part!

This is a fictional scenario set during the full-scale retreat of the Italian Livorno Division to more defensible positions once the Allies had established unassailable beachheads.

This map is a fictional representation of a palatial estate in the Sicilian countryside. It is a small, infantry-only map with a focus on close-quarters combat in and around the villa and its gardens.

The game has now been fully localized to the following languages:

• Polski (Polish)

• русский (Russian)

• українська (Ukrainian)

As a result, players are now able to type in Cyrillic and Polish characters in the game's chat.

Historically, the game only had partial localization support for German. However, the localization had never been updated after its initial release well over a decade ago.

We have developed a system that will allow us to add localization for more languages in the future as well as keep the existing ones up to date as the game continues to evolve. We hope that this will make the game more accessible to players from all over the world.

Please note that in order for the game to show up in these languages, your Steam Interface Language must be set to one of the supported languages. This is because the game's engine code predates Steam's ability to set languages on a per-game basis.

If you'd like to help us localize the game into your native language, please visit our localization portal[weblate.darklightgames.com]!

• 82-BM-36 Mortar (Soviet Union, Poland)

• Granatwerfer 34 (Germany)

• M1 Mortar (United States of America)

• Ordnance ML 3-inch Mortar (Britain, Canada)

The map icons for vehicles and stationary weapons have been completely overhauled to be more accurate to the equipment that they represent.

To help with battlefield awareness, friendly guns & vehicle icons are now color-coded to indicate their status. For example, unoccupied anti-tank guns will now be colored grey, while occupied ones will be blue, or green if the occupant is a squadmate.

In addition, the icon used for vehicle spawn points has been modified so as not to obscure the icon for the vehicle itself, so you should have a better idea of what kind of vehicle you're spawning into.

Finally, all friendly vehicles will now be visible on the map at all times. We will monitor if this has a negative impact on the usability of the map, and will adjust as necessary.

To accommodate the localization efforts, all the game's fonts have been completely overhauled!

We have tried to keep the original aesthetic of the fonts while making them more readable and consistent. For example, drop-shadowing is now applied more consistently across the UI, making the text easier to read.

In addition, text will scale more consistently based on the resolution. As a result, players using higher resolutions (e.g. 2K) will be pleased to find that the game's fonts are no longer unreadably small.

• The Platoon HQ has been renamed to Command Post.

• Panzerfaust crates now contain 4 Panzerfausts instead of 2.

• The M45 Quadmount has been removed from the default available constructions. This gun was being massively overreppresented on the battlefield in ways that were glaringly ahistoric. It will still be available as a pre-placed gun.

• Increased the resupply count of vehicle resupply constructions from 15 to 25.

• Resupplying vehicles and guns now works more consistently. When a vehicle resupply tick happens, it will attempt to distribute a set number of rounds evenly among the available ammunition types. This allows for generally faster and more consistent resupplying.

Players can now select different variants and skins for guns placed in the world.

For example, the Cannone 47/32 has two variants, one with wheels and one without, this selection affects how high the gun sits.

Skins are also selectable, although winter skins will only be available on winter maps.

The construction loadout system has been overhauled to allow for easier and more fine-grained control over what each team can build on a map.

In the past, constructions could only be limited by "category" (e.g., light anti-tank guns, heavy anti-tank guns, etc.), and had to be defined per-level, which was a manual and time intensive ordeal that was prone to human error and oversight.

Now, we have per-nation default construction loadout limits, as well as retaining the ability to further restrict or add individual constructions on a per-level basis, depending on historical accuracy and balance considerations. This should dramatically reduce the amount of over-the-top "gun spam" that can occur.

In addition, there are now hard limits on the amount of total constructions that can be built, whereas before there was only a soft limit that could be fairly easily bypassed. This new behavior mirrors the total & active limitations in the vehicle spawning system.

• Players can now capture and use enemy stationary weapons. However, these weapons cannot be resupplied by the capturing team.

• Squad leaders and assistant squad leaders are now given wire cutters by default.

• The artillery response delay has been standardized to 15 seconds for all teams instead of relying on the length of the request sound effect.

• Reduced or removed role respawn penalties for some roles (e.g., sniper, light-machine gunner etc.)

• Increased the default pistol rate of fire from 4 per second to 5 per second.

• Players directly under a landing mortar will no longer hear the incoming whistling sound, mirroring real-life behavior of how the sound propagates.

• The threshold for surrender votes has been increased from 50% to 60% to combat excessive early retreating.

• Radios will now be in a "calibrating" stage during the setup phase.

Changes to the signalling (in-world fire, move, spotting markers) system:

• The signal transparency is now smoothly modulated based on timing & the viewing angle.

• The duration of signals has been reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.

• Signals will now be fully transparent if the player's viewing angle is within 2 degrees.

• The signal recipient radius has been reduced from 50 meters to 25 meters.

These changes should alleviate the exploitation of signals to accurately shoot through vegetation that the gunner they cannot see through either solo or with the help of others.

• Vehicle passengers may no longer use vehicle voice commands intended for crew members only.

• Removed non-standard gunner positions on the StuG and StuH that made operating the cannon awkward.

• The scoreboard can now be visible even when the HUD is hidden.

• Range indicators on vehicle cannons are now hidden when the HUD is hidden.

• The "self" color has been changed from orange to gold. This better differentiates the local player from enemy markers.

• Rocket weapons now display a small readout of the current range after toggling the range setting.

• Increased the default FOV from 85 to 90 degrees.

• The option to spawn with a bayonet already attached is now on by default.

• Vehicle occupant list is no longer displayed if the player is the sole occupant.

• Vehicle occupant numbers are now white instead of black, making them easier to read.

• The rally point status icon is no longer displayed while in a vehicle.

• Improved the appearance and extensibility of control prompt messages.

• Some scopes have had the reticle updated to be less chunky and view-obscuring.

• Scoped weapons have been zeroed consistently for 100m.

• FG42 now has slightly less recoil and a flatter recoil curve, making it more controllable.

• Removed the requirement to be stationary in order to fire infantry anti-tank weapons (e.g., Panzerschreck, Bazooka)

• Removed additional patron voting power. This was disabled on all official servers already, but custom servers would have this on by default.

• American flag texture now uses the historically accurate 48-star version.

• A hint is now sent to the driver of Higgins boats on how to raise and lower the ramp.

• Squad names are now reset to the default when a new squad leader is assigned. This is to ensure that squad leaders can't be blamed for bad squad names set by their predecessors.

• The near-clip distance of the camera has been doubled from 2 units to 4 units. This should reduce the prevalence of z-fighting.

The following maps have been removed due to unpopularity or redundancy.

• Armored Brenus Clash

• Armored La Feuillie Advance

• Gorlitz Push

• Grain Elevator

• Nuenen Clash

• Watrange Push

• Grenades that have a "spoon" will now have the spoon fly off when the grenade is thrown (e.g., Mk. II grenade, F1 grenade etc.)

• Grenades impacting surfaces now have unique sounds depending on the type of surface hit.

• Mortar and grenades now have new and unique explosion effects.

• Grenade scorch decal changed to be more realistic.

• A team-specific delay to spawning during the setup phase can be added using the new TeamAddSpawningEnabledTime property in the DHSetupPhaseManager.

• Roles can now be locked and unlocked by firing events to the new DH_ModifyRole actor.

• Spawn points can now be set to only allow vehicles to spawn using the new ESPT_VehicleOnly spawn point type (previously, ESPT_Vehicle spawn points would allow tank crewmen to spawn on foot).

• Spawn points can now be set to only spawn boat vehicles using the new bBoatSpawn spawn point property.

• New PhaseEndEventName added to DHSetupPhaseManager to call an event when the setup phase ends.

• Added StopArty console command to stop all artillery spawners while debugging.

• Added DH_ModifyVehiclePool actor that can be triggered to modify the properties of vehicle pools.

• Voice command audio sources will now be properly attached to the player pawn instead of the location of the player when they issued the command.

• Voice commands will no longer continue to play after the player has died.

• Patron spotting signals will now be properly displayed in-world and send a voice command.

• Fixed a bug where it was possible for boat vehicles to become immobile if the driver ever left the driver's seat.

• Tracer rounds for some weapons (Bren, ZB30 etc.) will no longer be misaligned with the barrel from the perspective of the gunner.

• Fixed a bug where the pre-launch-trace would suppress tracer rounds from being spawned when firing at nearby targets.

• Vehicle friendly fire beeping sound no longer plays when no damage is done (i.e., meleeing a friendly truck)

• Fixed a bug where the pitch of the mortar whistling sound would always be incorrect while spectating.

• Fixed a bug where mortars that hit things on ascent (e.g., nearby trees) wouldn't explode immediately.

• ToggleSelectedArtilleryTarget command now has a default keybind set.

• Fixed an issues where the default graphics settings we set incorrectly (they are now set to Highest setting).

• Fixed a bug where map marker cooldowns (e.g., mortar spotting marks) would be broken after the round was reset.

• Fixed an issue on Freyneux & Lamormenil where tanks could drive through some buildings.

• Fixed a bug where the gun rotation projector looked opaque on BSP surfaces.

• Fixed a bug where the "open the hatch to exit" message would be erroneously sent to players when there was no hatch to open.

• Fixed a bug where spawn protection would not be applied to players that spawned on vehicles.

• Fixed issue where AP shell ground impacts could be heard from extreme distances.

• Fixed an issue where player jumping and landing sounds would not work on sandbags, bricks and other custom surface types.

• Fixed a bug where the "join a squad" nag message could be sent twice in rapid succession.

• Fixed primary weapon selection drop-down box being too small.

• Fixed bug where SL & ASL nameplates would not have their associated icons if they were in a vehicle.

• Fixed a long-standing bug where players would take half-damage from their own explosives.

• Fixed missing sleeve textures for some Soviet rifleman roles.

With such an enormous project now in the rear view mirror, we are excited to switch back to the more incremental update release schedule that we are used to.

We have a fairly large backlog of projects that are complete or nearly complete that we will be rolling out shortly after we make sure the release is stable and any salient bugs are dealt with.

In the near future we plan to add:

• Additional Italy maps

• Sd.Kfz. 124 "Wespe"[en.wikipedia.org]

• PaK 36[en.wikipedia.org]

• Fiat-Revelli mod. 35[en.wikipedia.org]

• Breda 20/65 mod. 35[en.wikipedia.org]

• Remake of the Opel Blitz

• Remake of *every* anti-tank gun

• Remake of the M2 60mm mortar

On a slightly longer time scale, we have started building the necessary groundwork for stationary machine-guns for every faction, remaking all of the Allied player models, specialized squad types and much more!

The Darkest Hour development team is made entirely of volunteers, and we receive no compensation other than from our generous Patreon supporters, whose donations fund game server costs and development infrastructure.

If you like what we're doing, and want to help us build even more, please consider joining our Patreon[www.patreon.com]!

https://www.patreon.com/darkesthourgame

See you on the battlefield,

Darklight Games 🕷️

We are proud to finally announce that the release of the Italy update will be July 11th 2025, the same day that Operation Husky[en.wikipedia.org], the Allied invasion of Sicily, began in earnest.

For those not in the know, the Italy update will include:

• Brand new faction (Kingdom of Italy)

• 9 new vehicles

• 9 new weapons

• 5 new mortars

• 5 new maps

• Lots more!

It's been a long-running joke that we wildly overshot the original 2023 release date that we had set for ourselves. As we continued development and research, we quickly realised we would need to expand the scope of the update quite a bit to properly represent the battles and units involved. As a result, this will be the single largest update the game has received in its history in terms of new content.

It's been a long and hard road, and the team is excited (and relieved!) to finally have a date set for when we will be storming the beaches of Sicily alongside all of you.

See you on the battlefield,
Darklight Games 🕷️

P.S. On the day of release, we will be releasing a full trailer and comprehensive change log.

• Haunted Pariserplatz Survival
  
• Haunted Flugplatz Survival
  
• Haunted Inferno Verde Survival
  
• Haunted Hattert Clash
  
• Haunted Fury Advance

• Mad Man role. He's faster, stronger, and more resilient survivor with a focus on melee.
  
• A new melee weapon: Glass Bottle.
  
• Reworked first person animations for maces.

• Gorlitz Defence been added to the map roster. Apart from the change of the game mode, this new rendition of the classic map now features Poland (LWP).

• Fixed some minor historical inaccuracies in roles.
  
• Moved Allied setup phase boundary back to prevent potential spawnkilling issues.
  
• Adjusted vehicle respawn timers to be more in line with other maps.

• Reworked the From Rahier, Farm and Crossroads objectives.
  
• Increased all Allied objective lockdown timers by 80 seconds.
  
• Added a static radio in Allied main spawn.
  
• Added some additional cover in the fields around the Farm objective.
  
• Reduced Axis StG44 availability significantly: Corporal can now only choose between G41 and G43, rather than G43 and StG. Axis Assault Trooper roles were reduced from 5 to 3.

• Removed time gain award from all objectives and instead set the map to a static 25 minute round timer.

• Added a new objective.
  
• Removed ticket bleed from the German team.
  
• Significantly increased starting tickets for the German team.

• Removed a fence panel behind the Post Office objective to allow easier access to the objective.

• Turret Schürzen now provides protection against AP bullets (PTRD) and HE shells under 8.5cm in caliber.
  
• Turret Schürzen now only defeats HEAT projectiles if the angle of incidence is over 45 degrees.
  
• Added protection to the rear of turrets where appropriate (mid to late-war Panzer IV and Panzer III models). Previously skirts on the rear of these vehicles was purely cosmestic and offered no benefits.

Soldiers of the US 1st Infantry Division storm the beaches of Gela, 1943.

• All new player models have been completed.
  
• All new vehicle models & animations have been completed.
  
• New maps are being finalized and polished after a number of successful internal playtests.
  
• Italian voice lines have been recorded, edited and completed. You can hear a sample of some of the voice lines below!

The gunner of the Semovente 47/32 is fully animated cranking the yaw wheel in multiple positions.

• Les Champs de Losque
  
• Stoumont
  
• Dead Man's Corner
  
• Carentan Causeway

• Flakturm Tiergarten

Developer's Note: This is the first weapon in the game to have both a bipod and a scope!

• Reworked Axis spawn.
  
• Added second street at the beginning of the map
  
• Detailed and expanded the courtyard/park
  
• Detailed the original street around the first objective.
  
• Added new building Apartment 5031 which serves as a new initial objective, grouped with reworked building Logistics Bureau.
  
• Added new buildings across the map, replacing many old static models with new ones.
  
• Significantly improved terrain detail with new textures and decolayers.
  
• Reworked South and West Commons locations with new trenchworks and dugouts.
  
• Reworked Administration Building and added new rooms and details.
  
• General detail pass across the map to increase visual fidelity and improve gameplay.
  
• Reworked objective layout and added 3 new objectives.

• Fixed floating props at the Trenches objective.

• Improved lighting.
  
• Added some additional statics around the map for more cover.
  
• Removed ticket bleed from Axis.
  
• Removed ticket capture bonus from taking the first objective to compensate for removal of ticket bleed.
  
• Reduced number of tanker roles on both teams to match the number of max tanks.
  
• Reworked tank loadouts:
  
• Increased Sovet max active tanks from 2 to 3.
  
• Increased KV1-E max spawns from 2 to 5.
  
• Removed the Panzer IVs.
  
• Increased the max active Tigers from 1 to 2.
  
• Increased the max spawns of the Tiger from 3 to 6.
  
• This rework is based on the actual units present in the battle (Olkhovatka was mainly a Tiger battle, with support from StuGs, StuHs and Panzer IIIN).

• The far east broken bridge is no longer passable by infantry. This was basically the case before, but it would allow you to pass to the other side, but then be stuck inside a minefield from which there was no escape.

• Fixed a bug where players movement would be hobbled after going from prone to standing when holding the ZB-30.
  
• Fixed missing sleeve textures for some Soviet Rifleman roles.

• Fire and Move signals have had a number of changes to address exploits and usability:
  
• The signal transparency is now smoothly modulated based on timing & the viewing angle.
  
• The duration of signals has been reduced from 15 seconds to 10 seconds.
  
• Signals will now be fully transparent if the player's viewing angle is within 2 degrees of the signal.
  
• The signal recipient radius has been reduced from 50 meters to 25 meters.

• Fixed a Danger Zone issue that could allow Allied squad leaders to rally on the German side of the bridge solo.
  
• Fixed an issue with the recapture behaviors of the Town Hall and Corner House objectives.

• Increased Axis tickets slightly.

• Removed NW Farm cap.
  
• Tank balance changed.
  
• Fixed some floaters.
  
• Re-designed last cap.
  
• Added progressive spawns for both teams.

• Added Sherman M4A3E8 for Allies and an extra Panther for Axis.
  
• Fixed Pak43 that were leaning to the side because of bad placement.
  
• Rebalanced some roles.
  
• Reduced +30% ratio to +5% as this had greatly imbalanced the map.

• This map makes a return!

• Fixed a bug where turrets and cannons would spontaneously rotate on entering them if they were used by another player earlier.
  
• Fixed a bug where players who disconnected from the game as spectator would be automatically assigned to the Axis upon rejoining.
  
• Fixed an exploit where it was possible to place constructions in invalid locations by switching to a smaller construction in the menu during the placement process.
  
• Fixed a bug where active objective spawns could be calculated incorrectly when the objective was linked to multiple active objectives.
  
• [Server maintenance] Fixed a number of errors that would spam the server logs.

• Slightly increased the BT-7 HE shell velocity (it was about ~10m/s slower than it should have been, according to sources).

• Changed blocking boundaries in setup phase to delay Soviet tanks at the first objective.
  
• Reworked tank progression (Soviets will have fewer tanks at the final village, while some other Soviet models like the KV-1E and S will unlock earlier in the game).
  
• Added the Panzer IIIN as an additional fire support option for the Germans.
  
• Increased respawn timers on most Soviet tanks by 20-30 seconds.
  
• Removed Soviet objective spawn from the final village.
  
• Reworked objective Danger Zone influences around the final village.

• Removed Axis ticket bleed from all objectives.
  
• Increased max active Panzer IIIJs from 2 to 3.
  
• Reduced respawn timers for Panzer IVF1 and BT7 tanks by 20-40 seconds.
  
• Reworked all objective Danger Zone influences.
  
• Reduced Axis and Allied tanker slots to match number of active tanks.

• Changed round time to 20 minutes.
  
• Removed time gain awards from capturing objectives.
  
• Reduced simultaneously available Soviet tanks from 2 to 1.
  
• Reduced respawn timers on all Soviet tanks by 30 seconds.
  
• Changed team balance ratio to be even.
  
• Added additional cover and spawn protection to final Axis spawn.

• Reworked NW, Eastern Road and Church objectives to unlock in a new order: Now when either road is taken, the Church will be unlocked and is grouped with them.
  
• Increased lockdown timers for the above objectives from 250 to 600 seconds.
  
• Reduced initial unlock timer for the Church to 60 seconds.
  
• Removed map-placed Axis HQ construction.
  
• Reworked all objective Danger Zone influences.
  
• Removed Allied ticket bleed from all objectives.
  
• Updated objective spawn locations to offer better cover.