The anniversary of Ubisoft's "For Honor" is coming with a patch that will change the game. The upcoming update "Season 5: Age of Wolves" will feature the game's transition from match-made hosts to dedicated servers.
Ubisoft announced in December that they would be starting live tests for their dedicated servers on "For Honor." In an article published last week, they announced the feature's official release bundled with their anniversary update coming this Feb .15.
The most notable change coming with the update is the game's transition from match-made hosting to dedicated servers. The update also includes a combat overhaul, with changes to the global fighting mechanics, along with hero re-balancing. A few heroes will be getting new move sets, such as the Kensei, and Conqueror, while significant updates are also rolled out for the Nobushi, the Berserker, and the Highlander. Ubisoft has also confirmed updates and re-balancing for all the other heroes in future updates.
"For Honor" launched on Feb. 14, 2017 and was a target of much criticism, receiving mixed reviews both good and bad. Most of the positive reviews highlighted its ground-breaking gameplay and combat mechanics, while most of the negative reviews were about its matchmaking system and match-made hosts.
The game suffered from "Strict NAT" issues with modems, a known issue for match-made hosting. The issue stems from built-in network security on common modems, and closed ports. While this is not entirely Ubisoft's fault, and is more of the hosts' fault for not configuring their modems, the game suffered endless feedback for it. There has been public outcry for dedicated servers to address this issue.
Finally, Ubisoft takes a cue from its community and is shifting to dedicated servers. This will allow more players to find matches easily and play together, unrestricted by their NAT or port status. The update will also allow for better latency and ping rates for the more competitive player.
