That slimy slug known as Giradda the Hutt is back once again in Star Wars: The Old Republic’s (SWTOR) 2.4 update. Giradda, previously known for his mind-numbing game of Huttball, will be bringing three new PvP Arenas of Death in the update. The arenas are set up on Corellia, Tatooine, and an Orbital Station and are designed for small 4v4 combat in a last-team-standing style of rule set.

That sounds like fun, but how do you deal with a team of stealthers running out the clock? Glad you asked.

But what happens when a group of four stealthers decide to just make a stalemate of a given round, trying to figure out a way to cheese the system? Well, Giradda is not a patient Hutt and grows bored very quickly. After a certain timed limit in a round has been met (in internal tests we are using 5 minutes but this is highly subject to change so don’t expect it to remain the same when 2.4 hits PTS/Live) Giradda will start Sudden Death! Sudden Death will consist of a toxic gas cloud at the boundaries of the Arena area that will slowly close in until the entire Arena is covered and have a few different effects on anyone unlucky enough to get caught in it. The toxic cloud will take the user out of stealth, place him in combat and deal apply a Damage-over-Time effect. Once this effect is on the character it can be dispelled only by leaving the gas cloud. Last Team Standing rules still apply during this Sudden Death and the team that remains standing longest wins!

2.4 will also bring some minor changes to the PvP Queue Window and completely remove 8v8 ranked PvP. Ranked will instead come in two flavors: Solo, which will match solo players up with others of the same rating to compete in Arenas only, and Group, which will match a premade groups of four players against each other.

There’s also some other good news on the horizon beyond the 2.4 update. Along with additional Arena maps planned for development after 2.4, BioWare also announced plans to remove the free-to-play restriction from Warzones, and a teaser screenshot for what appears to be another Huttball map.

Source: SWTOR Developer Warzone Update