Turn-based tactical squad shooter Frozen Synapse 2 should launch some time in August, developers Mode 7 Games announced today, seven years after the first came out. The sequel is still focused on squad-based tactical action where all units and sides play their turns out simultaneously, but now it’s built into an overarching strategic level of protecting a whole procedurally-generated futurecity and placating its many factions. Mode 7’s Paul Kilduff-Taylor nods to X-Com: Apocalypse as an inspiration in a new half-hour gameplay video, while also showing off the turn-based murders and faction-juggling. Here, watch it below.

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When AMD launched their 2nd Gen Ryzen+ CPUs earlier in the year, they made a pledge that their AM4 motherboard sockets would continue to receive support until the year 2020. To that end, AMD have just announced a brand-new mid-range chipset for AM4 motherboards, the B450. Read below for the full low-down.

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This week’s Fortnite Battle Royale is a real double blammy, re-adding the exiled guided missile launcher and launching a new event mode filled with explosives and jetpacks – always a sensible combination. 100 players leaping and rocketing around while launching rockets, piloting missiles, and phlunging grenades makes for some silly fun, from the rounds I’ve played. And I’m not just saying that because long-dormant Quake skills have re-emerged to rocketmurder many more people than I usually bag in a round. But that does help.

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Chasm is that dungeon ‘sploring action-adventure game set in a Metroidvanian mining town where all the civvies keep disappearing, dragged into the depths by bad things. You play as a knight who is investigating this unsettling trend, descending into the caverns and catacombs to see what s up. It first dug itself in on Kickstarter in 2013 but it s finally finished and has crawled out of its rocky hole, covered in pixels. Come on, clean yourself up, mate.

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I love the smell of updates in the morning – especially when they include sweeping changes that improve a game I already like. Patch 1.7 for Battlerite, the fighting man’s MOBA, smells delicious. Round times have been shortened from two minutes to ninety seconds, which means the teal zone of death encloses sooner and encourages everyone to play less passively.

Today also marks the start of competitive season three, bringing with it a new cosmetic item and balance tweaks along with “broader changes to general systems and mechanics in the Arena”.

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Valve might want to reconsider their planned ‘anything goes’ approach to content on Steam, after Abstractism – a game that had been apparently lurking around on the store since March 15th – had to be pulled from sale after a flurry of bad press. As reported by YouTuber SidAlpha in the video below, the game was being identified by many virus scanners as dangerous, and was devouring far more CPU & GPU power than intended, hinting at possible cryptocurrency mining. Beyond that, it was definitely> generating sketchy Steam Marketplace items, some of which seem likely intended for use in scams.

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We all have our defences at least a little bit raised when meeting someone new. In Heaven Will Be Mine, a new visual novel released late last week, those defences are just a little bit more literal, and far larger. I guess it’s easier to flirt confidently when you’ve got energy shields and a giant humanoid metal hull capable of shrugging off meteorites. Set in a bizarre anime-inspired alternate 1980s, it’s the story of three ace mecha pilots on a mission, although there’s every chance they’ll drop it all to get their smooch on.

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It is not terror which compels me to write this, though it s true my world has become little more than a nightmare. Rather it s that I need to record these facts (or what I believe to be the truth) to prove that some semblance of sanity remains. It may be I have previously attempted to catalogue my experiences, but, if so, the memory eludes me. I can recall the beginning of this accursed journey, though exactly when that was, I cannot say. Or perhaps, it is that on some level I have tried to hide the truth from myself; that to truly know how long I have been on this road would to be further invite in madness.

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It’s all change over at Origin today. Not only have they retired their On The House freebie giveaways, but they’re rolled out their Origin Access Premier subscription service, first announced at E3. For a not-insignificant 15/$15 a month (or 90/$100 a year), you can get access to the usual Origin Access games (now known as ‘Basic’), plus get early and full access to EA’s big upcoming games to play so long as you’re subscribed. Problem is there’s not many of them yet.

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Fantasy shopkeeping adventure Moonlighter has had a busy couple months since its launch in May. Not content to just let stock sit on the shelves, developers Digital Sun have been quick to bring in new goods and renovate its dungeons, and today’s update has been its largest yet. Among other things, the ‘More Stock’ update bulks up environment variety and offers additional rewards for those returning to already-cleared dungeons, expanding further on a formula which John greatly enjoyed.

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