For the past few days, PowerWash Simulator developer FuturLab has been sharing short videos teasing the free update that dropped today. The videos had people guessing that players would be cleaning Santa’s Workshop, and that’s exactly what we got! Today’s update is rooted in its new map, but there are some other bits involved. It launched today for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox; it won’t launch for Nintendo Switch until early 2024. As a Nintendo Switch player, I’m just going to say this is extremely frustrating: first the game was broken (not saving progress and actually actively deleting past progress) for several months, and now it’s the one platform lacking the update. It almost feels like the developer is about to just completely abandon the Nintendo Switch version of the game.
But back to Santa’s Workshop! Santa and his elves have clearly been up to no good, because how else would the workshop get so grimy? The whimsy is completely hidden by muck, soot, and – unexpectedly – ice cream. Players will discover the story behind the mess from one of the elves while cleaning. The update also includes a new festive power washing suit, new gloves, and a festive washer skin.
In PowerWash Simulator, each level is comprised of a long list of items that need cleaning. For example, if you’re cleaning a house it will includes every gutter, every wall, every window pane, every door frame, every bit of roof, etc. When you complete an item, the game goes “ding!” It’s really satisfying for reasons I don’t quite understand. The Santa’s Workshop map includes more dings than any level before: 500! I’m betting there are a lot of small items that need to be cleaned, so maybe each present is an individual ding?
Since its launch in May 2021, PowerWash Simulator has introduced many new levels. This year alone has brought paid SpongeBob SquarePants DLC, paid Back to the Future DLC, and a pretty big Muckingham update. The game has also been released for VR platforms, but this update does not apply to that version of the game.
Developed by FuturLab and published by Square Enix Collective, PowerWash Simulator is available now for PC via Steam/Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One. As I wrote earlier, Santa’s Workshop is available now for all of the above minus Nintendo Switch – it will launch for that on January 8, because who doesn’t love being festive two weeks after Christmas?
