MechWarrior Online launches, celebrates with special events

MechWarrior Online has come out of open beta and officially launched; Piranha Games is hosting a couple of special events to mark the occasion, so it's a good time to get on board the free-to-play battlefield sim.

The first event is called Operation 24, and challenges players to engage in 24 games before October 1. Win, lose, or draw, you'll receive an exclusive cockpit item.

The official Launch Event is a part at The Mezzanine in San Francisco on September 26. You can't go, I'm afraid, but you can watch the event on Twitch. More details are available here.

MechWarrior Online has been in the works for just over two years, and has been patched 29 times since going into open beta in October 2012, introducing hundreds of new features. It has attracted 1.3 million players, and will be updated semi-monthly "for the foreseeable future", with additions like a new user interface, private matches, new game modes, and much more.