"We have to have free human expression in some capacity": Patreon CEO shares frustrations about getting adult content past payment processors

Patreon CEO Jack Conte has shared his views on the difficulties of working with payment processors and networks such as Stripe and Mastercard, who have the power to enforce their ideas about 'adult content' on stores and platforms by threatening to stop processing customer transactions. As boss of one of the biggest crowd-funding outfits, he's keen to support artists "who are on the edges", but also claims that the likes of Patreon have minimal "leverage" against the payment networks. It's a useful bit of context for the on-going crackdown on NSFW games on Steam and Itch.io.

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Magic: The Gathering Arena devs' union officially elected, following claims Wizards of the Coast were dragging their heels on voluntary recognition

United Wizards of the Coast - CWA, a union Magic: The Gathering Arena developers voted in favour of forming earlier this year, has now officially been elected. The union filed an election petition with the US National Labor Relations Board back in April, while also requesting that Wizards of the Coast voluntarily recognise them. The workers claimed in May that the company were dragging their heels on the latter, having missed a deadline.

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Marathon's mid-season 2 update brings in an experimental PvE mode that will let solo and duo runners take on Cryo Archive

I have something to admit to you all. I'm not very good at Marathon. I like when the guns go pew pew, I like the weird sci-fi vibes, but the second I run into another person I'll be lucky if I make it out with all of my limbs intact. As a result, I had resigned myself to never experiencing Cryo Archive, the game's super duper hardcore map exclusive to both crews and those with the prerequisite skills and loot. But! I bring good news for those of you who stink at shooters like me: Marathon's first proper (experimental) PvE mode utilises Cryo Archive as its point of operation, and you can even play it by your lonesome.

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The seven best anti-Prime Day deals we can find in the UK and US — no Amazon required

Well, the big Prime Day deals bonanza has finally arrived, and we aren't going with it. Well, we are - as James has noted in his big master guide, there is some mutual benefit for talking about deals and all for both you and us, but that's besides the point. None of the deals you're going to find here are Amazon deals - I've gone through the deluge of other retailers you could choose to spend your hard-earned cash at over the next couple of days, and rounded up what I think are some of the best reductions across our fair United Kingdom and the United States of Freedomland.

"Why should you trust me?", I hear you cry. Well, I've written thousands of deals articles for plenty of websites over the years, including this fair site and Eurogamer for many years, and have covered these ridiculous 'deals holidays' in all their glory for quite some time, so like to think I can pick the wheat from the chaff when it comes to what's good and what's not. Too many 'deals' these days are barely worth talking about, and folks have gotten wise to it with all of the price tracking and history tools we've got these days.

So, before I waffle on any further, here are the seven (because ten would have turned this into every other roundup) best anti Prime Day deals I've spotted across both the UK and USA, including a little bit of a writeup on why I think each product is worth your time and money.

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The RPS Anti-Prime Day 2026 deals guide: Cheaper hardware, 100% Amazon-free

If you thought becoming deputy editor would get a man off the hook from sifting through Prime Day deals, you would be incorrect. Apparently. Still, these days I’m especially not in the mood to point people towards Amazon – lest even a single penny continue to bulge the pockets of their anti-press, pro-authoritarian executive chairman, one of the wealthiest men in history and yet so thin-skinned he won’t even let RPG characters be named after him.

At the same time, I will concede that there is a mutually beneficial utility in pointing out PC hardware discounts at a time when PC hardware is suffering an extended bout of overpricing and shortages. Just ask the Steam Machine, eh. It therefore seems like the best way to proceed is to resurrect the RPS Anti-Prime Day deals guide: a curated selection of components and peripherals that are actually worth your cash, all from non-Amazon retailers.

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Civilization 7 finally gets hotseat local multiplayer via a new update out today, which also makes cities moodier and overhauls governments

Following a serious revamp with the Test of Time update, Civ 7 devs Firaxis are ready to deploy the next raft of additions and tweaks to the strategy game. With the ability play as one society through an entire game now in place, this latest update delivers another classic Civ staple - the option to take on your mates on one PC via hotseat local multiplayer games.

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Accidentally thrusting Morrowind to death just got more difficult, thanks to engine reimplemention OpenMW's chunky new update

We've all done it. One moment, you're playing The Elder Scrolls 3. Then, boom, you pass the thrust and everything implodes. Thankfully, the latest update to OpenMW - the open source engine reimplementation that's one of the the best ways to play Morrowind on modern hardware - includes measures to stop this thrusting from accidentally breaking the game.

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CD Projekt boss "knows for a fact" a surge of games made purely with generative AI are coming, but doubts "whether this is really the path to follow"

As AI continues to be shoehorned into game development with more regularity, Michał Nowakowski - joint CEO of Witcher 4 developers CD Projekt - has said he "knows for a fact" games built purely with generative AI are on the way. Mercifully, he's got "doubts" about whether this method's the ideal way forward, meaning there's no need to worry at this juncture that Ciri'll soon be battling hordes of ChatGPThouls.

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The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for sitting by a window in your pants eating cold pasta, as a game of football meanders through its grassy paces on a screen not too far away. Light curtains drawn in an attempt to eliminate any chance for people in the street below to catch a glimpse of your boxers, time slows to a crawl. You're never not moving, but at least in this moment you're being afforded that chance to move slowly. Life never stops, but it does at least occasionally allow the odd evening in cruise control. You're snapped out of your trance by a flurry of activity on the screen. A decision has been made. One team flap around voicing their unhappiness. The referee ushers them away so the ball can be placed and the spot kick taken. The taker steps up. On the back of his shirt, instead of a name, you see a question.

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MonCraft 199X is a creature collecting survival game where the Y2K apocalypse actually happened

Many of you young'uns might hear the term Y2K and think of a vague, all encompassing descriptor of 2000s aesthetics, but us older folk think of it as this apocalyptic event that never came to be at the turn of the new millennium. Because the world didn't end, many thought that it was just a load of hogwash. In reality, there was a genuine computer bug that could have ruined important infrastructure worldwide if it hadn't been fixed leading up to the year 2000. All this to say, here's MonCraft 199X, a Pokemon-esque survival game where Y2K really did happen.

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As EA appear to renew the trademark for Ultima, its creator lies in wait to reclaim the game's copyright next year

It's been a while since there's been a new Ultima! Just about eight years, in fact, and it wasn't even called Ultima (it was Underworld Ascendant, which we didn't review back in the day). Such is the case with many series' that are over 40 years old, they just don't have quite the same steam as they used to. But then earlier this week, it appeared that EA (who have long owned the rights to the series) filed a couple of new trademarks for Ultima this week. And following this, it appears series' creator Richard "Lord British" Garriot is trying to get the copyright back.

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CD Projekt Red's CEO still thinks they need to finish their post-Cyberpunk redemption arc, and he's hoping The Witcher 4 will help

I think despite the mess that was the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, it wouldn't be right to say that CD Projekt Red's reputation was completely tarnished. It is still a game with a lot of cultural relevancy, and nobody can shut up about The Witcher 3 to such a degree that it's even getting a brand new expansion more than 10 years after the last one came out. Even still, it doesn't sound like joint CEO Michał Nowakowski is entirely convinced that the studio has managed to complete its redemption arc.

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Sony say goodbye to PC and hello to AI in their annual business report, which must be a good thing, right?

Back in March, a report emerged claiming that Sony no longer had plans to release the likes of Ghost of Yōtei and other such singleplayer-only games on PC. Sony are yet to explicitly confirm that this is the case, but it certainly seems like that is the case based on their annual business environment and strategy report for PlayStation. Oh, but it does mention how they plan to use AI, so. Yay.

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To make Pragmata's Diana feel naturally childlike, a small group of women dubbed the "Diana Police" was set up to keep things in check

Despite being a dad game, a pseudo-genre that has its fair share of problems in the way it depicts father-child relationships, Pragmata generally seemed to approach all of this fairly well. The consensus seems to be that space man Hugh was genuinely kind of a nice guy, and that his relationship with Diana was actually quite sweet. But as it turns out, the game's lead devs had to get a bit of a helping hand in writing Diana specifically, resulting in a group of women coming in to help as part of the "Diana Police."

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What are we all playing this weekend?

Saturdays are for realising that there are ASMR playlists for Frictional's Amnesia games. ASMR playlists, for games that make use of subliminal crackling noises to suggest mounting delirium, and Shepard tones to create the impression that a life-saving generator is always just about to run out of fuel.

What on earth is wrong with you people? And why can't I stop listening to the Rebirth one? What is it about the sound of a thousand ghoul talons raking a blackboard that goes so well with a bowl of Shreddies? It is too late for me, I fear. Here's what the rest of the team are up to.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Path to Menzoberranzan custom campaign modders offer glimpse of their long-awaited demo level's "dark, ruined dungeon" as environments near completion

Late last year, the modders behind an ambitious Baldur's Gate 3 custom campaign mod called Path to Menzoberranzan pencilled in plans to release a Nautiold-sized demo level during the first half of 2026. That timeline was settled on following a re-think of the project's scope last summer, and with this summer now in full swing, the group have put out a teaser of the level alongside announcing its environments are nearly finished.

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Valve roll out a more detailed timeline for Steam Controller orders, giving you a clearer picture of when you'll hear about your reservation

If you've put in an order for a Steam Controller and are still awaiting its arrival, a new system Valve have rolled out can offer you an estimate of when you should hear from them about your order. While you'll only be given one of three very rough windows, it's at least something to go on if you're wondering where you're at in the queue.

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Epic's plans for their big store revamp over the next year sound like they'll at long last meet the bare minimum

The Epic Games Store is not very good. This is not a controversial thing to say, I'm fairly certain, as the lack of features available within it feels a bit odd also eight years into the thing existing. Sure, there's some free games every now and then (like Citizen Sleeper, right now), but there's a lot of basic things missing. But it seems much of that, including simple things like patch notes, will be coming within the next 12 months.

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God judged me for killing someone in Meaningless Random Numbers but I owe the devil some money so what else could I do?

In front of me is a single die. It costs me a bit of money to roll it, but I get a four, so I get four dollars, so I'm making a profit all the same. It costs me a bit more to roll this time. I do it anyway, and I get a bit more money, and more importantly experience points. After a while, I'm able to add in another die. You know what that means: more money. And I need the money, because I owe the devil a good few hundo. This is Meaningless Random Numbers, an incremental horror game where god is watching you.

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Warren Spector-helmed Thick as Thieves developers OtherSide lay off 17 staff as they cancel multiplayer immersive sim Argos: Riders on the Storm

Thick As Thieves developers OtherSide Entertainment have laid off 17 employees following the cancellation of a multiplayer immersive sim dubbed Argos: Riders on the Storm. The studio's helmed by Looking Glass Studios veterans Warren Spector and Paul Neurath - key figures in shaping the likes of Deus Ex and System Shock 2 - said via a spokesperson that they believe Argos "could have been a huge success in normal times".

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Fortnite boss hopes to take on Roblox's massive everythingverse with a "very different" massive everythingverse, as Epic unveil genAI-infused Unreal Engine 6

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, overseer of a company which fired over 1000 staff just a few months ago, has laid out his vision for the games industry's future during a "time of both crisis and opportunity". As Epic revealed an Unreal Engine 6 packed with generative AI model support designed to "reduce the tedious work" that goes into making games, Sweeney painted a picture of a future in which the threat of Roblox eating the world is combatted by a bunch of game makers working with Epic to create a massive integrated everythingverse that's somehow totally different to Roblox's massive integrated everythingverse.

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Dark Souls 2 seamless co-op mod is "close" to being playtest-ready, having morphed into one of its creator's "most complicated and ambitious projects to date"

Prolific FromSoft game multiplayer modder Yui is "close" to being ready to open up alpha testing of their latest seamless co-op mod, this time for Dark Souls 2. Despite it following the the footsteps of their seamless co-op mods for the likes of Elden Ring, Nightreign, and the original Dark Souls, Yui said this DS2 mod's turned out to be a very different kettle of fish and one of their "most complicated and ambitious projects to date".

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The Guild: Europa 1410 is a medieval strategy reboot that plays like a fussy Kingdom Come boardgame

The Guild: Europa 1410 is a reboot of 4HEAD's strategy game Europa 1400: The Guild from 2002, created by the studio behind the well-regarded World War sim Last Train Home. My first hurdle in the Steam demo is working out who and where the hell I am. The demo treats you to a slice of Kuttenberg, a Czech city made famous to a lot of non-Czech people by Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2: at a glance, it could be the Warhorse RPG with a top-down mod.

It gives you wheel-churned roads among houses of wattle and daub; vegetable patches and windmills and furnaces roamed by dozens of 'living, breathing' folk in authentically muted period attire. All of it basking beneath a day-night cycle and a spread of weather conditions. All of it pleasantly hard to decipher from bird's eye view, though there's a highlighting function to boil away the scene-setting.

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Microsoft reportedly only announced Ninja Theory's new game at Summer Game Fest to try and attract a buyer for the studio

Hellblade developers Ninja Theory are one of the numerous Microsoft-owned studios currently facing a very uncertain future, as the company look to either spin off or shutter a bunch of the developers under the Xbox banner. In Ninja Theory's case, the news that their existence hangs in the balance was made even more jarring by the fact they'd revealed a new game, Senua, earlier this month at Xbox's summer showcase. According to a fresh report, however, Microsoft had already decided they were going to kill or part with the studio prior to Senua's reveal, with that showing aimed - at least in the eyes of Xbox execs - at trying to boost the chances of Ninja Theory attracting some new investors.

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Naoki Hamaguchi explains why Final Fantasy 7 Revelation has that subtitle even if the game's central theme is "Resolve"

When Final Fantasy 7 Remake part two was officially revealed to be titled Rebirth, an immediate question arose for pretty much everyone: what will part three be called? That question has persisted since Rebirth came out, with way too many people suggesting Reunion despite the fact they did that one for Crisis Core (seriously, what's with that). The answer was finally revealed this month to be Revelation at Summer Geoff Fest, and as it turns out, we all found out at the same time as pretty much everyone that's working on the threequel.

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What are we all playing this Steam Next Fest?

Saturdays are for… Wait, wrong game round up post. This isn't a What are we all playing this weekend?, this is where we'll be shouting about the gems (and lumps of coal) we've discovered in this week's Steam Next Fest.

From June 15th - 22nd, Valve are hosting a section on Steam where developers can share demos of their upcoming games. Though, while it's a good opportunity to find games to add to our wishlist, it is also a tad overwhelming. With roughly a gazillion demos to choose from, how on earth can you sift through them?

With the power of collective action!

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Assassin's Creed Shadows' final update adds one last story mission and a wearable Black Flag Resynced advert

Mostly decent open-world ninja sim Assassin’s Creed Shadows is getting its last big update today, as Ubisoft begin the process of shooing players away from the year-old RPG and towards the gleaming, nipple-adding newness of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. The Shadows patch even includes an unlockable outfit based on Edward Kenway’s pirate garb, displaced only 150 or so years out of its appropriate time period for your synergistic brand awareness pleasure.

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Another Xbocalypse begins: Microsoft are reportedly closing or spinning off Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Compulsion

Xbox are reportedly closing or spinning off Psychonauts developers Double Fine, Hellblade studio Ninja Theory, and South of Midnight creators Compulsion Games, as Microsoft commence efforts to yet again "reset" their billion dollar gaming business after already laying off thousands of staff, cancelling games, and closing several studios over the past couple of years.

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Nvidia G-Sync Pulsar monitors can successfully beat biology to hone motion clarity in games - though they're not yet worth the price

Back when I first tried a G-Sync Pulsar monitor at an Nvidia shindig in February, I clung to the hope that maybe, finally, gaming display tech had made its first real breakthrough in years. Dozens, if not hundreds of samey screens would be revealed as incompetent fools in the searing light of Pulsar’s innovative genius; Nvidia’s own frame generation systems would weep in shame that they once tried to mock up the fluidity and motion clarity that Pulsar could deliver for real.

Now, I have one such Pulsar monitor – an identical 1440p, 360Hz Asus ROG Strix XG27AQNGV to the one from that demo – to test at length, and can at last say with certainty: yeah, s'alright. Pretty decent. Doesn’t make much of a difference in some games but it can look quite nice. Probably too expensive, mind. Why can’t I hear any weeping?

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The Witcher 3 online mod adds multiplayer Gwent battles in its latest update, a bit like CD Projekt's Gwent game but with more losers being ridden around by winners

The Witcher 3's multiplayer mod, the world's premier tool for forming big towers of multiple Geralts precariously perched atop each others' shoulders, has added another string to its bow. You can now meet up with some mates at a tavern to play games of Gwent against them, a concept so appealing CD Projekt made a whole game out of it.

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Pumping out new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games faster is reportedly the plan at Xbox, as the spectre of potential corporate rejigging looms

As reports suggesting major changes are brewing at Xbox, likely involving mass layoffs, continue to swirl, the console maker's current boss' plans for the future apparently involve pushing out new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games in speedier fashion. Asha Sharma's desire to whip out new entries in flagship series reportedly comes as Microsoft are considering spinning out or restructuring Xbox as a subsidiary.

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How Croakwood captures the challenge of a townbuilder like Anno but avoids the stress and pressure

If, like me, you walk through this world forever thinking about Chicken Run, you too may expect at any moment to discover the animal kingdom is actually made up of industrious town-building critters. Though, hopefully they're not looking to attack and tie us up if ever they're rumbled. Especially when the towns they're making look as delightful as those in frog townbuilder Croakwood. I could watch their hustle and bustle all day.

The next game from Parkitect developer Texel Raptor, Croakwood puts you in the role of mayor and town planner for a small community of frogs. Hidden under the canopy of leaves and trees surrounding a small pond, the amphibian settlement would be easy to miss as you stroll through their wood. Especially when you consider the frogs themselves are only a few centimeters tall.

But there's more going on in this townbuilder than meets the eye, as the developers have been exploring ways to capture the challenge of a demanding management game without introducing the stress and pressure that traditionally comes with them.

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The Sunday Papers

Sundays are for testing the limits of the hunger for street furniture in your community.

Since moving into the new flat, we've been taking things left behind by the previous owner down to the street one-by-one. A lamp here, a side table there, a splash of shelving. So far, everything has been taken by neighbours and passersby. But, after a week of rain where we couldn't take anything out without it getting drenched (and losing any chance of being taken), we've a glut of things to put out. With my sister coming to stay on Monday, it all has to go in one. Will my neighbors be left unable to choose between an office chair, a wobbly step ladder, and yet more shelving? Time will tell.

Still, while I sit beside the living room window, watching to see if anyone carries off the loose kitchen cabinet unit, I'll need something to read…

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Vanillaware seemingly want their other games on PC too, but if you want that to happen, talk to their publishers

Vanillaware might not be a household name to some of you, but it's got a library that hangs up there with the best of them. Odin Sphere, Dragon's Crown, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, all games that I have seen their biggest supports plead for you to play them on sites like Dwitter and Bluesky. Only problem for us lot is that none of them are on PC. Well, most of them, as just this week it was announced that one of their earlier titles Muramasa: The Demon Blade will finally be coming to PC. And, as it seemingly turns out, Vanillaware would like more of their games to be made available on PC… it's just not up to them.

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Whether you believe it or not, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi says the end's been planned from the start

Generally when a game gets remade, you'll assume that it'll mostly be the same at least narratively, given how not normal can be with works that are considered uncomfortably sacred. That's certainly what many may have guessed about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, only those pesky Whispers to get in the way offering some changes here and there. Rebirth continued that here and there, staying the course in other ways, and Revelation will be out next year with an ending you can't change. And according to director Naoki Hamaguchi, that ending has been planned right from the beginning, more or less.

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Nintendo reportedly look set to net so little from their Palworld lawsuit you'll wonder why they bothered

As with most suits of this nature, the one Nintendo filed against Palworld developer Pocketpair has been going on for a while now. Almost two years, in fact, specifically over infringement of patent rights related to specific mechanics, as opposed to anything like copyright. Nintendo suffered a bit of a loss earlier this year, and now it sounds like the whole thing might only net them what is essentially pocket change (for a billion dollar company, anyway).

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"There's nothing worse than an AI-generated pitch": Bloober, Jagex, 11 bit and indie devs on the bruising hurdle of funding a videogame prototype

Among the worries faced by game developers seeking a publisher is the gamble of a prototype – that is, "a playable build that meaningfully shows what’s good about your game – a proof of concept", in the summary of Suspicious Developments boss Tom Francis. Specifically, Francis says a "prototypable project is one where you can build that in an amount of time you can afford to lose".

Few independent devs have bags of time to lose, and there's no guarantee the labour will be rewarded. And yet, many publishers today won't even come to the table unless they can get their hands on a playable slice of a game. At Digital Dragons in Krakow this year, I spoke to people from 11 Bit, Jagex and Bloober Team, together with a couple of independent teams, about the seeming necessity of prototypes and the associated temptation to knock them together using generative AI.

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What are we all playing this weekend?

The weather has been an unpredictable mess of downpour and blazing sun this week, but Saturday feels like it could be the turn. Another chance for the sun to yank on the starter cord of summer and get that season's engine thrumming.

I simply refuse to have to turn back from another walk around the park because 10 metres from my front door the lovely sunshine is replaced by pelting rain.

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"Pay the gravity tax": In crushing strategy game Asema, your factories will become a vortex if they grow too vast

I like a factory simulation that fervently embraces the basic evilness of factory sims, these games about wrapping a smoking, clanking straitjacket around a realm of organic colours and unsuspecting resource deposits. Or in the case of Asema, around the wonders of the interstellar abyss, and whatever life it contains. "You are old, one of many," goeth the blurb. "There may be an infinite amount of your kind in the cosmos, older than stellar dust. But for you, the only space that matters is the one you can silence."

Gosh, that's a sentence, isn't it? Up there with "Sins of a Solar Empire" in terms of billowing nihilism. What else have you got to offer, Asema? You say you're replacing our beloved conveyor belts with huge railguns, so as to launch resource packages between factory nodes suspended in a 2D gravitational simulation? Yes, I think the grasping starbarons who read Rock Paper Shotgun would enjoy hearing about this.

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Stop Killing Games-backed California bill targeting online game shutdowns "isn't going to be an easy thing" to enforce, says the politician behind it

The main politician behind the Californian bill backed by the Stop Killing Games campaign that's currently making its way through the state's legislature has admitted that ensuring it's enforced likely won't be a walk in the park. Still, Assemblymember Chris Ward is hoping that if passed, the bill - which would see publishers shutting down servers for online games forced to provide full refunds or a version of the game players can keep on playing independently of said servers as part of the process - will have an impact which extends beyond California itself.

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Bounce 2 is a sequel to an Atari "PONG killer" that I'm pretty sure never existed

There's something fishy going on here. Imagine you're me for a moment (sorry, I'm sorry, it'll be over soon). I'm having a browse on Steam, looking for anything a bit different, when you see a vibrant, CRT-interlacing ridden Atari-esque looking game called Bounce 2. I click on, and discover it's a sequel to a 1983 Atari 2600 game called Bounce that was designed to be a PONG killer, only to release during the infamous video game crash. Except I think none of this is true! Well, apart from the bit about Bounce 2 existing.

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Valor Mortis' acrobatic new demo makes me want to believe it's a soulslike prequel to Ghostrunner

I thought I was pretty up to date on Valor Mortis, the Napoleonic first-person fencing soulslike underway at Ghostrunner devs One More Level, but it turns out I’d missed the four seconds of flesh magic hook-grappling in this prior trailer. As such, the swinging and wallrunning elements of the new, much-expanded demo ambushed me like British archers ambushed the French at Agincourt. Yes, I’m aware I’m about four hundred years off that simile being applicable.

Also, there’s another new trailer, and a release date: September 24th 2026. Hang on, that’s the same day as Control Resonant. And Silent Hill: Townfall. And one only one day before Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Which I’m not as interested in as the other two, but still, man.

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Witcher 3 modders are restoring the RPG's massive cut plague questline, just in case CD Projekt's Songs of the Past expansion isn't enough extra Geralt

Those modders, eh? Never ones to be outdone. CD Projekt whip out a surprise extra DLC for The Witcher 3 following months of speculation, revealing it's set to arrive in 2027. Naturally, that's now also the point when a group of the RPG's modders are planning to have an expansion-sized resurrection of a beefy questline CD Projekt cut from the initial version of TW3 fully up and running. They've got a demo out already.

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"Even dry and lost places can flourish with a little care": Waterful is a gentle, beautiful puzzler about drawing rivers that makes me yearn for something overwhelming

Waterful is that most appropriate and disquieting of things, a "nature-builder". It's a soft and colourful chillout game in which you cut rivers through procedurally generated landscapes with a cursor, drawing from a limited supply of water that is topped up by connecting springs.

Importantly, and perhaps dispiritingly, you can dig and refill the terrain as you please. Depending on the shape of the river and the depth of its bed, you'll cultivate different vegetation. The vegetation, in turn, attracts a range of creatures, from butterflies to big-eared foxes. For each creature, you get a sticker. There are also machines you can build to, for example, carry the watercourse over hills. Comparisons given by Berlin-based solo developer Lenja Kaufmann include Dorfromantik, Tiny Glade, Islanders, Terra Nil and Townscaper.

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In Am I Nima, you must find and fuse words to convince your mother you're really her daughter

Oh dear, here's an existentially uncomfortable (and genuinely potentially triggering around themes of abuse) one for you. Am I Nima, shown off this weekend during the Story Rich Showcase, is a visual novel in which you take on the role of the titular Nima, who is trying to convince her mother that she really is her daughter by combining words in her brain.

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Whoops! Sand: Raiders of Sophie's server slam got so slammed it isn't coming out tomorrow anymore

Welp! Just yesterday, Sand: Raiders of Sophie devs Hologryph and TowerHaus shared the release times of the desert-set extraction shooter where you have your own steampunk mobile fortress, which was set for release tomorrow, June 10th. Today, however? That release date has gone out the window.

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Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy devs learned to make melee combat on the job

Give me a game where I can hoof an enemy over the side of the cliff like a cut price Leonidas, and I'm happy. (It seems I'm not the only one.) So, yes, while I was sad to see no swarms of rats in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, I was very happy with the switch from stealth gameplay to scrappy melee. I might have been more worried going in if I knew just how little experience developer Asobo Studio have making combat games.

"Nobody did a combat game before Resonance," lead level designer Valérian Robert told me, and then he explained how they pulled it off.

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Yes, you have a gun in Gen Atlas, but Fumito Ueda doesn't want you to think it's a shooter

Fumito Ueda, creator of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and the Last Guardian, showed off his new game at this weekend's Summer Game Fest showcase. Gen Atlas sees you step into the shoes of a scavenger in a desert world littered with the carcasses of vast robots. It falls to you to piece one of these machines back together and… well, what your aim is exactly is unclear. However, as stark as the landscapes of the dead world, was that your character has a machine gun slung across their back and, judging by a couple of sequences in the trailer, they're not afraid to use it.

This might not sound surprising, games have had guns since Spacewar!, but Ueda's games have either steered away from doing violence or, particularly in the case of Shadow of the Colossus, made you feel ruddy awful for killing something.

But, have no fear, reader: Fumito Ueda says he's not become trigger happy in his old age.

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Just like Luftrausers before it, Wind Runners is proving I'm too careless a pilot to survive a bullet-hell dogfight

I've been a fan of dogfighting games since playing Elite with my dad on his old Acorn computer. He'd do the flying and I'd fire the weapons. Maybe that division of labour is to blame for my biggest weakness as a pilot: knowing when to pull out of a strafe. Once I've my gunsights on an enemy I'll continue flying at them with my guns firing until either they explode or I do. In roguelite dogfighter Wind Runners, that cavalier approach is proving my downfall over and over.

The Wind Runners demo popped up on Steam over the weekend and I've been trying to complete a single run of its bullet hell dogfighting since then.

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El Paso, Elsewhere 2 invites you back into its moody, supernatural neo-noir world with sick flips and Frankenstein

There are very few studios with an output as varied as Strange Scaffold's. They've got games about trading organs and babies, NSFW clicking, cooking delicious meals for kaiju, and, soon enough, sending pedestrians into a fantasy world to help an elf girl level up by running them over with your car. As it turns out, however, as revealed during today's PC Gaming show, Strange Scaffold have another, slightly familiar card up their sleeve: a sequel to El Paso, Elsewhere.

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