Generation Zero's next update concludes its story after five years

Generation Zero's Showdown Update revamps the base defense system, adds new experimental weapons, and finally brings the story of this PS Plus gem to a close.

Jamie Sharp

Published 27 Nov 2024

The Generation Zero Showdown Update has been officially announced, giving fans a renewed excuse to hop in and grab those final few Generation Zero trophies for their collection. While we doubt this is the final update the game will get, having a story you can play through from start to finish will certainly make this title a serious contender for our list of the best PS4 games.

Showdown Update for Generation Zero is your final face-off with FINX

Generation Zero was initially released on March 26, 2019
The Showdown Update's trailer shows off a new island location and huge boss machine housing the AI FINX
The game was a PS Plus Essential title in September 2023

Developers Avalanche Studios and Systemic Reaction recently announced Generation Zero's Showdown Update with a brand new trailer (embedded below). The information provided in the video is quite high-level but offers a decent look at what to expect from what looks like a meaty new slice of content to play alongside game-wide improvements and changes.

For those who haven’t spent much time with the game, Generation Zero is an open-world sandbox set in an alternate history Sweden in 1989 — one overrun with sentient machines set on wiping humans out. The game launched on PS4 back in 2019 and has been growing steadily since, especially after it hit PS Plus Essential in 2023.

The two main takeaways from the trailer we can immediately see are that FINX is back, having risen from the ashes of the exploding bunker, and there's a new island location coming with the Showdown Update. We also catch a glimpse of a rather large machine somewhere underground that I presume is FINX's new body, one we'll need all the firepower we can get our hands on to take down for good.

In addition to a conclusion to the game's story, we're going to be getting three new experimental weapons, new companion armors and cosmetics, dance emotes, vehicle skin paint, and a slew of bugs and fixes. However, it's the improved base defense experience that interests me most, though.

Base defense missions are repeatable and pretty self-explanatory. Any improvement to these gives players a reason to stick around after completing the main story. The beauty of Generation Zero is that you can largely ignore the story if you want and do something as silly as race on bicycles from one end of the map to the other. More activities to keep you playing with interesting mechanics will only make it more immersive.

However, the Showdown Update's name and premise suggest it could be the last one for Generation Zero. Indeed, a few fans are already talking about how they'll see everyone in "Generation One," the fictional sequel. That said, considering the game was a PS Plus Essential title in September 2023, I suspect that there will be plenty of PS5 and PS4 players around to keep this game alive for some time yet.

We should first wait for this update to get a release date before speculating about how the franchise moves on from here, but it would certainly make sense for a new entry to hit current-gen consoles and do something fresh.

I've had a lot of fun with this game and think it would be worthy of a spot on our best PS5 open world games list if a PS5 version were to ever be released. Will you be jumping in to tackle the latest and potentially final content update? Let us know if you're going in solo or with friends in the comments.

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Written by Jamie Sharp

Staff Writer Jamie has been playing PlayStation for over 25 years and a games journalist since 2019. He writes about upcoming PS5 games like Monster Hunter Wilds and ongoing shooters like Helldivers II. Jamie’s favorites include Metal Gear Solid and Horizon, horror like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and indies with unique mechanics that make you appreciate the art form!