The 2021 Holiday Update is the 50th update of Asphalt 8: Airborne.
Announcement
In order to ensure Asphalt 8 runs as smoothly and seamlessly as possible, we've successfully made lots of improvements for pure performance and high stability. And yes, by popular demand, the "Claim All" icon is finally live.
So... ready! Steady! Go!
WHAT'S NEW
- Experience Improved:
- Major optimisation of game performance and stability
- Improved stability on devices that previously had issues
- Fixed major causes of freezes
- Optimised FPS in pre-race and post-race showcases
- UI/UX Improvement:
- By popular demand from the community, a "Claim All" icon has been added to the Festival and it allows you to gather rewards for all completed tasks at once.
- Improved sorting and visual clarity of events in the Events section of the Play menu.
- Tuning kit effect is now properly indicated in the Garage section.
- Free coins and special offers can now be found in the "More Coins" section in the Festival.
- You can access the Festival directly from the main menu using a new dedicated shortcut.
- Many other bug fixes and improvements
New Vehicles
- Class B
- Class S
The new cars will need the following cards:
Techrules AT96 Track Version Kit – Last checked: Dec 3, 2020 Sale value: 200 Rarity: Rare (Class B) Vehicle: Techrules AT96 Track Version (160 to upgrade) Availability: Festival Premium reward |
Aston Martin Valkyrie Kit – Last checked: Dec 10, 2021 Sale value: 300 Rarity: Legendary (Class S) Vehicle: Aston Martin Valkyrie (160 to upgrade) Availability: Festival Premium reward |
Game Changes
Gameplay Changes
- The following cars have been rebalanced:
- The following cars have had their Season 9 race locations changed:
- Arrinera Hussarya: From Dubai to Barcelona Reverse
- Nissan 370Z Special Edition: From Dragon Tree to Ipanema Showdown
- TVR Sagaris Special Edition: From Clifftop Run to The Dragon's Den
- Festivals
- There is a "Claim All" button for unclaimed quests.
- Coin packs are no longer individually claimable unless only 1 quest has been completed.
- Coin packs can now be claimed from the pause menu of a race.
- Unlike the coin packs claimed from an event, the game does not show the player how many coins were received.
- If more than 10 coins were obtained, the game will only show it as "+10" next to the counter. The actual number of coins received will be added and the counter will be updated.
- An icon in the main menu allows for immediate access to the event.
- If there are quests that can be claimed, the icon will only go to the quest screen, not the main screen.
- A new section called "More Coins" that contains the free daily coin pack and festival bundles.
- There is a "Claim All" button for unclaimed quests.
- iOS Replaykit has been removed.
- The Inventory icon is now greyed out until the game connects to the servers.
- A new avatar outfit called "Royal Contender" (as seen in the profile section) has been added, alongside a corresponding 2D avatar with the same name. The outfit includes a crowned racing helmet, a three piece pinstripe suit, and buckled shoes. The tie, waistcoat buttons, gloves, and buckles are in gold.
- The avatar set is obtainable from an offer that also includes the Bugatti La Voiture Noire (at stock). The offer costs US $30 and is being marketed as a part of the Black Friday sales. As the offer is based around the car, it is only available for non-owners.
- It is no longer possible to include set-exclusive items in a custom avatar outfit. Previously, it was possible to mix items from the "Spooker" avatar set, a set that requires all 5 items to be equipped at the same time, with items from the original 16 sets by first equipping the avatar set before selecting the individual items the player wants. The game now shows the default "Airborne" set if the player scrolls through an item type.
- Sets that allow for individual item customization will show the symbol for all 5 types.
- Since the onesie in the Spooker's outfit went down to the shins, players were previously able to see that the "socks" in the outfit were the pants and by selecting a different torso, there would be a gap between the hips and the socks.
- The December 17, 2021 hotfix gave each avatar item and outfit a rarity rating. The prices were also adjusted accordingly.
- Common
- Uncommon
- Rare
- Epic
- Legendary
Cosmetic Changes
- The player's ID number now appears on the loading screen when launching the app and can be copied to the system clipboard by pressing the icon beside it. This same number can also be found in the game's Info > About section, under the current version's build number.
- The Tuning Kit and its boosted stats are now shown in the garage again, following their removal during the Eighth Anniversary Update.
- The cycling animation shown in milestone Ads can now be skipped.
- This is done by tapping on the reward list during the cycling animation.
- This prevents the milestone bar from being updated visually until the player goes to a different screen. The milestone reward will still be awarded.
- This is done by tapping on the reward list during the cycling animation.
- Red dots are now used to indicate new items/events.
- During the Eighth Anniversary Update, green dots were introduced for the first time; the red dots have replaced the green dots.
- In races that have a class or manufacturer restriction, the game defaults back to the last vehicle used in that class or manufacturer whenever the selection screen is entered.
- In races that have a recommended rank, a vehicle's upgrade screen shows it as "Required Rank".
- Festival quests were redesigned:
- The text has been moved to the far left and overlaps with the symbol indicating the quest type.
- The "Tap to Go" has been changed to a chevron arrow.
- The "i" has been removed and tapping on the coin pack now brings up the "Contains up to 8 Festival Coins!" description.
- When a time-limited event can be claimed, "Claim Reward" now appears in the event's listing.
- The pre-race cutscene now features ambient sound effects, including audible footsteps from the driver avatars and distortion to the in-game music.
- In time-limited events, the box showing the player's position no longer has the line separating their position as a percentile and the exact standing.
- Cars that only feature a single default paint colour no longer display the paint colour as a disc when inspected in the Garage (i.e. it's invisible, as was the case before the Eighth Anniversary Update).
- Various pieces of text across the game interface have been restyled (i.e. colour, font, etc).
- The Fuel bar is now visible on the outside of the Events (TLEs) screen.
- Starting on December 15, Alps, Tokyo, and Iceland are decorated with Christmas scenery objects.
Events
- Techrules AT96 Track Version Festival (December 3-13, 2021)
- Aston Martin Valkyrie Festival (December 13-23, 2021)
Gifts
- Players who had any of the 3 cars that had a performance reduction were given a complementary gift that was available from November 10 onwards during the Eighth Anniversary Update.
- Nissan 370Z Special Edition
- 80,000
- 1x 15-Min Nitro Starter
- 1x 15-Min Tuning Kit
- 1x 15-Min Extra Tank
- Arrinera Hussarya
- 160,000
- 1x 1-Hour Nitro Starter
- 1x 1-Hour Tuning Kit
- 1x 1-Hour Extra Tank
- TVR Sagaris Special Edition
- 560,000
- 1x 8-Hour Nitro Starter
- 1x 8-Hour Tuning Kit
- 1x 8-Hour Extra Tank
- Nissan 370Z Special Edition
- The Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 was given as a gift for logging in. Players who already had the Essenza SCV12 were shown a pop-up saying they would receive 30 of its kit card instead, but no kit cards were given.
- Between November 25 - 28, 2021, as part of Thanksgiving, players were given the following gifts for logging into the game:
- Day 1: 150,000
- Day 2:
- Day 3:
- Day 4: Morgan Aero GT ( 350,000 if already owned)
- Between December 22 - 31, 2021, as part of Christmas, players were given the following gifts for logging into the game:
- Day 1: 8x Wild Card - Optimal
- Day 2: "Grandma's Gift" avatar item (torso)
- Day 3: Festival Coin Box
- Day 4: 300
- Day 5: 8x Wild Card - Prime
- Day 6: "Cozy Mittens" avatar item (hands)
- Day 7:
- Day 8: 100,000
- Day 9: 8x Wild Card - Superb
- Day 10: "Snow Globe" avatar item (head)
Bugs / Glitches
- Inaccessible milestone ads and social network connection: Many players reported that the Milestone Ads are unable to be watched and social network connections are bugged.
- This was fixed in the 2021 Christmas Update.
- In Exclusive Metal Events on San Diego Harbor, the sliding walls do not appear.
- The texture for the Ferrari FXX K's rear diffuser is bugged and appears as white with a carbon fiber weave.
- The TVR Sagaris Special Edition's left mirror has gone missing, leaving it with just its right mirror.
- This was mostly fixed in the 2023 Lunar New Year Update. However, a small portion of the left mirror, a little bolt on the underside, is still missing.
- If the player pauses and quits the race during the pre-race cutscene with the driver avatars, the sound effects in the menu will have an echo applied and be at a lower volume.
- In multiplayer, the game may be unable to update the player's points after a race with the post-race results being stuck on the loading icon. The race will not count towards the daily streak or the player's total number of races.
- Another version can happen where the game shows that the player's points have been updated but after the next race, the game will only count the points from the second race. This can be checked by noting the player's total race count between races.
- The Techrules AT96 Track Version is incorrectly placed in Class A despite being a Class B car.
- This was fixed on December 17, 2021.
- Bugs that still persist:
- The new pre-race cutscene still shows Azure Coast's original name.
- Game crashes are still frequent on Windows PC.
- Players losing some or all in-game data on multiple platforms.
- The Pagani Huayra BC's built-in decal (a set of stripes running down the middle of the car) has been corrupted ever since the Halloween period of the Eighth Anniversary Update. During that period, the Huayra BC was granted with three decals, the first decals it has ever had. The Huayra BC was presumably not able to equip decals beforehand, and the developers likely corrupted its built-in decal by accident in the process.
- The incorrect ad reward that arose in the previous update where 2 would be given instead of the intended reward started occuring again on November 29.
- Some non-owners did not receive the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 despite clicking on the banner to obtain it. Despite uninstalling and reinstalling, the game still does not recognize that such players stated are still non-players.
- The following bugs have been fixed:
- All exclusive decals were inaccessible during the Eighth Anniversary Update, although any decals that had been equipped beforehand would remain visible. This bug was fixed in this update.
- Gameloft falsely claimed on Discord that the decals bug had been fixed several weeks prior to the launch of this update, in a hotfix patch.
- Two decals of the Pininfarina Battista debuted with swapped thumbnails during the Halloween period of the Eighth Anniversary Update. The decals briefly became invisible before being swapped to the correct thumbnail in this update.
- When the World Series Master Season was introduced in the 2021 Summer Update, it debuted with a banner that depicted a Bugatti La Voiture Noire and Koenigsegg Regera racing in Dubai. This banner was subsequently replaced by the banner of the Classic Season in the Eighth Anniversary Update (i.e. the Master and Classic seasons had the same banner). The original Master Season banner has since been restored in this update.
- All exclusive decals were inaccessible during the Eighth Anniversary Update, although any decals that had been equipped beforehand would remain visible. This bug was fixed in this update.