Hi everyone! I’m the newest writer with GamesBeat, and I’m now officially cool enough to try my hand at my own column. Here, I’ll highlight the most interesting news of the week. I’ll also give you some ideas for what games to play — either ones that just launched this week or ones that have just dropped on subscription services. Stay safe, everyone!
The biggest news this week in gaming is the same as the biggest news in the rest of the world: Ukraine. Game companies are taking sides following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An appreciable number of game companies — including Microsoft, EA, and CD Projekt Red — have announced that they will no longer sell products in Russia. Others have announced their intentions to donate to pro-Ukraine charities. We’re either seeing responses like this or conspicuous silence — with no in-between.
In other news, Elden Ring has apparently satisfied its fans’ expectations and then some. After years of overhyped games from other developers falling flat, FromSoftware’s latest succeeds by keeping its promises and delivering an open-world take on the Dark Souls formula. Honestly, I’m the gamer equivalent of a golden retriever when playing From games: I have no idea what’s going on, but I’m happy to be there.
Also, the Steam Deck has officially launched. My colleague Jeff Grubb managed to snag one for review, and he seems to be enjoying it. For the record, if you want to reserve one now, the Steam store estimates it’ll be delivered sometime after Q2 this year.
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What to play this week
New games:
- Gran Turismo 7 (GamesBeat score: 4.5/5)
- Triangle Strategy
- Far: Changing Tides
- Elex II
- Shadow Warrior 3
- Babylon’s Fall
Subscription services new additions:
- Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox Game Pass)
- Ark: Survival Evolved (PS Plus)
- Team Sonic Racing (PS Plus)
- Ghostrunner (PS Plus)
- Ghost of Tsushima: Legends (PS Plus)
- Adam Wolfe (Stadia Pro)
- Dawn of the Monsters (Stadia Pro)
- Race with Ryan: Road Trip Deluxe Edition (Stadia Pro)
- Darksiders Genesis (Stadia Pro)
- Darkwood (Stadia Pro)
- Phogs (Amazon Luna’s Prime Gaming Channel)
- Devil May Cry 5 (Amazon Luna’s Prime Gaming Channel)
- Flashback (Amazon Luna’s Prime Gaming Channel)
- Observer: System Redux (Amazon Luna’s Prime Gaming Channel)
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