With most games that Electronic Arts publish these days, I tend to just assume that there will be some form of extra content or microtransaction lying in wait for me. I’m pleasantly surprised, however, to discover that’s not the case with Star Wars: Squadrons. The spacey flight sim came out last week, and what we got was the whole package, because EA says they have no plans to add post-launch DLC in the future.

“Never say never, so to speak, but as far as our philosophy goes we’re not trying to treat the game as a live service,” creative director Ian Frazier told UploadVR.

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AMD are unveiling their next generation of Ryzen CPUs today, and you can watch it happen right here. Taking place at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST today, October 8th, AMD will be giving us a deep dive look at both their new line-up of Ryzen desktop processors, as well as the new Zen 3 architecture that powers them.

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Steam’s Game Festival: Autumn Edition is now in full swing, and it’s offering us lucky lot the chance to play hundreds of free game demos until next Tuesday, October 13th. I’ve had a good rummage through the store and plucked out Demon Turf, a stylish 3D platformer with 2D characters where you play as Beebz, a raucous young demon with an attitude. Your main aim? To crush all the demon nasties and become the Demon Queen.

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Riot Games have announced Valorant‘s next agent will be arriving a little later than planned, so they can prioritise getting their cold new map ready for the beginning of Act 3. This Act kicks off on October 13th, with the new character joining the tactical FPS a couple weeks later on October 27th. The devs have even given us our first look at her – at least, I’m pretty sure that’s her above. It’d be weird for them to just whack in an image of a rando.

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The Crucial MX500 has been my favourite budget SATA SSD for absolutely yonks, and right now you can pick up a 250GB model for an all-time low of just £30 over at Amazon. That’s even lower than it was a couple of weeks ago, and an absolutely stonking SSD deal if ever I saw one. If you’re looking to pick up a SATA SSD on the cheap, it doesn’t get any better than this.

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Fleet Battles is the main game mode in Star Wars: Squadrons, and it’s a pretty tricky mode to wrap your head around. There are Capital Ships, there are Flagships, there are AI ships and player ships, there’s Morale and you’re constantly switching between attacking and defending… Our Fleet Battles guide looks to straighten things out once and for all, explaining exactly how Fleet Battles work and also clearly illustrating how to take down Capital Ships with ease.

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Ghost hunting simulation Phasmophobia has certainly scared up a rising player base. Despite the somewhat janky quality of its early access version, folks seem to be pretty possessed by the supernatural spooks. It’s been climbing in concurrent Steam players and Twitch viewers this month, leaving even known weenies like me curious enough to consider playing with friends.

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If there’s one thing I want more of in this world it’s Halloween games. No, not horror. Halloween—the heavily consumerist version they sling in department stores with plastic pumpkins, green witches, and ghost lawn ornaments. I’ve had my eye on Pumpkin Jack, to that end, and am happy to hear that the 3D platforming spookfest is launching this month. Beyond that, it’s in the current Steam Game Festival: Autumn Edition where you can give its first level a try.

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The year of digital festivals continues with yet another Steam Game Festival. For its autumn edition, Steam is once again offering hundred of free game demos for you to play paired with livestreams and developer Q&A’s throughout the week. The festival is on now and will run through next Tuesday, October 13th.

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We should have been playing Destiny 2: Beyond Light by now, but while the expansion’s delayed to November we can at least gawp at some of its gear and imagine how cool it might be to use. The answer is: quite cool. Bungie today detailed the new Exotic-quality weapons and armour coming in Beyond Light, and some sound powerful, some sound like they’ll open up new tactics, and some just sound great fun. A sniper rifle summoning lightning? Warlock punches spreading contagious poison? My Hunter’s dodge becoming a blink>? I’m game.

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