April Fools Day 2020 round-up: God of War, Overwatch, and more
Googly eyes are the perfect addition to any game
April Fools Day 2020 is here, and you know what that means. Pranks, as far as the eye can see, whether it's game developers, streaming services, or general prank stories, we're here to help you sift through the best, the weirdest, and the one's that are too good to be true.
Spotted any April Fools Day shenanigans that we've missed out on? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter.
Right, let's check out the fools...
April Fools Day 2020 round-up
Cory Barlog gets all blushy at a God of War sequel
Aside from a few teasers, Sony's Santa Monica Studio has said nothing official about making another God of War game. That didn't stop one fan from impersonating the studio to show off this impressive (fake) poster for a sequel, featuring a climactic clash on the World Serpent. Normally we wouldn't include fan pranks, but Barlog's shocked reaction pushes it over the edge.
Blushy face indeed!
Dying Light's got it on block
The grim realism of Dying Light gets an injection of Unturned's grim, uh, cartoon-ism with this limited time crossover event. On top of all the zombies becoming blockheads, you can also craft Unturned weapons that come with extra-high durability and extra-low stamina cost.
It's April Fool's Day, but zombies with Unturned-like heads are no joke!Grab those fresh and almost unbreakable "low-poly" weapons to show who the boss is! And putting jokes aside: the event is PC only, but the bundle for consoles will be coming in late April. pic.twitter.com/fE2D22QsScApril 1, 2020
The special event is only playable on PC, though consoles will get to pick up the crossover bundle later this month.
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Guild Wars 2 is invaded by giant cats
Guild Wars 2 first came out in 2012, and it's been around for its share of April Fools' pranks. This year it decided to go for something that's both alarming and subtle all at once: a giant cat invasion, as spotted by our sister site PC Gamer.
The cats have shown up around the world near social hotspots for players. You can also open your in-game mail to find a stack of potions that cause might-bestowing cats (regular sized ones) to appear in the world around you.
For Honor gets tiny
Last year Rabbids invaded For Honor, replacing the generic infantry with hordes of shrieking lagomorphs. This year For Honor is going for something simpler, but no less effective: you're tiny.
Things are about to get a whole lot...smaller. The For Honor: Mini Edition is available today only! #ForHonor pic.twitter.com/4EnH77g427April 1, 2020
The weapons are still quite big (maybe not original size, but big), instantly converting For Honor to an anime battle simulator the likes of which is rarely seen outside of JRPGs. The grunts are still their usual size too, so you get to enjoy cutting through them like a superpowered lumberjack through a forest.
Pokemon Go brings in the tricksters
As if the world wasn't already confusing enough, Pokemon Go is full of Pokemon that look like other things right now. Voltorbs and Foonguses are roaming around all lookin' like Pokeballs, Sudowoodos are doing tree impersonations everywhere. Then there's Aipom and Ditto being their usual tricksy selves.
Are you a class clown? 🤡 A trickster? 🤪 A jokester? 🃏 An event featuring some well-known Pokémon pranksters and masters of disguise is coming your way, Trainers! https://t.co/bhKRMZANRA pic.twitter.com/88DNNwpikYMarch 31, 2020
Make sure you to go to take some pictures (while you're playing safe from home), because you also might find your shots photobombed by some unexpected pocket monsters.
Overwatch
Overwatch is starting the April Fools' Day 2020 foolin' strong with one very simple yet strong addition to the game: googly eyes.
Launch Overwatch on your platform of choice right now and you'll find that every single character has googly eyes (or one eye, in Ana's case) attached to their face, across every skin, across every mode. Even Zenyatta, who doesn't really have eyes per se, gets to join the celebration with a pair of physics-enabled cartoon eyeballs.
Certain character props such as Reinhardt's shield and Hanzo's Dragonstrike have also been visited by the spirits of foolish April.
#Overwatch put googly eyes on everyone and we're here for it pic.twitter.com/946NpVoZrbMarch 31, 2020
Not Ashe's friend Bob, though. Bob does not have time for these shenanigans.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty is no stranger to April Fools Day pranks, but this is one of their better ones. The infamously small map Shipment can now be played as a 10v10 team deathmatch. It's not quite as exciting as Prop Hunt, but it certainly makes for an even more frantic experience. Best of luck in this one, solider.
10v10 shipment lmao. Might only be here for april fools day. If you need any challenges or weapon xp... pic.twitter.com/ya1wDtfefvApril 1, 2020
The (Good) Boys
While we all patiently wait for The Boys Season 2, Amazon Prime has had a little fun by announcing a new spin-off for the show... with an exclusively canine cast. Don't lie, you'd absolutely watch The Boys if every character was played by a dog. And look how cute they are as well. They are good boys.
Dog lovers rejoice! New Boys spin off series on Prime coming soon. We're sat patiently waiting for this TV treat like good boys pic.twitter.com/V3lBChGxh2April 1, 2020
DuckTales Quackshots
Okay, so, this one might actually be real. FDG Entertainment, who also developed Monster Boy, tweeted that their new project is going to be a DuckTales game and produced four screenshots that look brilliant. Check them out down below.
Surprise! We're happy to announce our new game project #DuckTales QuackShots together with our #MonsterBoyGame development partner Game Atelier! pic.twitter.com/iQfmnwLcPHApril 1, 2020
We're taking this one with a vat full of salt for now. After all, it would be a peculiar way to announce a pretty major project for the indie studio. We've reached out to the developer to see if they'll shed any more light on it, but for now, we're calling this as a pretty impressive April Fools.
Zombie Army Trilogy
Zombie Army Trilogy and Zombie Army 4 might already be on Nintendo Switch, but why stop there with the ports? The official account has "revealed" which Nintendo console will be the next one to get a Zombie Army port and to be honest, we'd actually like to see how that would work...
The team at @Rebellion North have been working hard bringing #ZombieArmyTrilogy to #Nintendo pic.twitter.com/KGeM4xOQwgApril 1, 2020
PlatinumGames 4th Announcement
Remember how PlatinumGames had been teasing a fourth reveal since announcing The Wonderful 101 Remastered, a new game, and their new studio? Well, it's an April Fools. The video above is teasing a new version of a long forgotten arcade called Terra Cresta (no, we don't remember it either). If you were in any doubt about it being an April Fools jape, the video has a handy April Fools hashtag.
See what is on the horizon, for real, with our guide to the best upcoming games of 2020.
Ben Tyrer is a freelance games journalist with over ten years experience of writing about games. After graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism he's worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as 12DOVE (hey, that's this website!) as a news editor. He's also contributed to Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. His game of the year - no matter the year - is Rocket League.