A tough stance on cheaters, bots and key-resellers. In-depth training modes. For a traditionally inaccessible genre, Valorant seems to be trying its hardest to be as welcoming as possible – and now, that means making sure people can play nice on their battlefields. After one of their own was hit with sexual harassment, Riot have promised to find a lasting solution against bad actors in their fledgeling hero shooter.

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Regretfully, Tropico 6 has become extremely online. “Big mood”, as the kids say. “Same”. This week’s Spitter DLC adds the faux-social network of the same name to Tropico’s banana republic management sim, letting your despotic leader post their way into fame, fortune, followers, and the lingering resentment of a population that wishes their state figurehead could just, for once, log off.

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Sundays are for, yep, staying at home. It’s OK, though, as there are videogames there. And the best writing about them from the past week, which you can find assembled below.

RE:BIND have published Skeleton’s take on the Final Fantasy 7 remake. And there are few things I care less about than the Final Fantasy 7 remake, which is why you should listen to me when I say Skeleton’s piece is worth reading anyway.

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If there are two things you probably shouldn’t be sick of going into SnowRunner, it’s trucks and snow. They’re sort of essential parts of the chilly Spintires: MudRunner follow-up, right? But if you do get tired of ’em after heading into Saber Interactive’s frosty truck sim, fret not. When it launches next week, SnowRunner should launch will full mod support – letting you get behind the wheel, handlebars or fleshy appendages of whatever modern 3D modelling packages can cobble together.

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It’s absolutely roasting out right now, but it might’s well be December for all my ability to go outside and enjoy it. No, let’s hunker inside, shutter the blinds, and chill out with some cold-blooded murder with Project Winter. Other Ocean’s glacial backstab ’em up is currently free ’til the end of the weekend, and offering cold-blooded betrayal for keeps at a brutally slashed price.

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We did it, team. The war’s almost over. The lads at Battlefield V HQ have declared that it’s time to sign some treaties, shut down the factories, and put an end to this virtual war. Before you start hanging up the red, white and blue bunting, though, there’s one last operation to get out of the way – bringing “new content, weapons, and game tweaks” to BFV in one final airdrop this June. That’ll keep the fires of war burning for a good while longer, then.

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Take a drive down memory lane with me, readers. For this weekend’s field trip, we’re heading to Auto Museum 64, a free “educational showcase” of late-90s game art – a fascinating study of the Nintendo 64’s slickest racecars, rally trucks and high-performance hovercraft brought together under one roof. Get there early, mind. Parkins spaces fill up fast.

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When the historians of the future cast their cyber-eyes over the deluge of stupidity we encrusted upon the primitive internet, they will see that our fables, our moral storytelling, was mostly conducted with flashing colours and double-jumps. Yes, videogames have adopted the moralistic finger-wagging of fairytales and Victorian novels, for better or for worse. They have taught us a lot about ourselves and our place in the world. Here are 13 of the “best” moral lessons from PC games. Yes, you may take notes.

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Hey there, Priceless Gang. How are you doing? Are you getting enough sunlight? Going for your government-sanctioned walks? The weather has been getting warmer here in California, but the beaches are still closed. Sometimes I will walk all the way to the beachfront balustrades, give the ocean a little nod, and then turn around and walk back home. It’s nice to see that it’s still out there, not giving a damn. Enviable, tbh.

Here’s a quick little instalment of the latest free games on the ‘net that I think are worth your while. Ephemeral blink-and-you’ll miss it games, games with gardens, and games about the woods. Be good out there.

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There’s more than a bit of metal in Doom Eternal. The rhythmic bass blasts of super-shotguns, tinny chaingun power solos, verses punctuated by gory breaks and technical fingerwork. It’s only natural that Doom’s soundtrack contains a little bit of hell in kind. But beyond all the blood and bass and demonic incantations, audiophiles have found Doom 2’s cover art embedded in the very roots of Mick Gordon’s heavy metal soundtrack.

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