Westwood Studios has today released details on the features that will be introduced by its December update for Earth & Beyond. The update, which will be available for download soon from the official Earth & Beyond Web site, will add a team-based player vs. player mode to the game.

　　The new team-based mode will take the form of gladiator-like games played in three specially created arenas. Each game will last for 15 minutes and support six teams of up to six players each, regardless of their class or level within the Earth & Beyond universe. The games themselves involve each of the six teams attempting to harvest and transport the most orbs within the time limit, and depending on the classes of players on any given team, there are a number of ways they can go about it. Explorers, for example, can use their prospecting skills to carry out the actual harvesting of the orbs, while tradesmen can use their larger cargo holds and fast engines to transport them. Warriors, on the other hand, will be able to attack and possibly disable players from other teams and even steal orbs from opponents.

　　"PvP has been one of the most requested features from the Earth & Beyond community," said Craig Alexander, vice president and executive producer for the game. "We plan to take this implementation and build on it for even more variations of PvP for our players in the future."

　　Earth & Beyond is a futuristic online RPG in which players take command of their own starships and have the freedom to explore an entire galaxy along with thousands of other gamers. For more information and a full review of the game, which was released in September, check out our previous coverage .