Gaming News

In My Multi-Platform Bargains Haul, These Nintendo Deals Stick Out—I’d Grab Zelda and Mario Fast

If you’ve ever found yourself paralysed by a backlog but still willingly opened your wallet for “one more banger,” we suffer the same disease, my friend. I’ve stared down more digital shopping carts than I'd care to admit, and today's deals haul came back stacked. In case I don't see you, stay safe, save often, and catch you Monday! This Day in Gaming 🎂 In retro news, I'm commemorating the 35th birthday of Magic Sword, an arcade classic. In this Capcom hack 'n' slash side-scroller, you were cast as one of two He-Man types and set loose on 51 floors of mummies, dragons, and...er, Easter Island heads? Nabbing keys and releasing prisoners would add an AI party member who basically acted like a side weapon pod. What hooked me most: the...

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Robert Kirkman Teases Massive Roster of Playable Characters for Invincible VS: 'That's a Spoiler. I Might Get in Trouble for That' | SDCC 2025

We currently know six of the playable characters in fighting game Invincible VS. There will be more, of course. But just how many? Based on comments from Invincible creator Robert Kirkman in an interview with IGN at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Invincible VS will have a massive roster. Invincible VS is the upcoming 3v3 tag fighting game set in the Invincible universe. It’s developed by Skybound Entertainment’s first in-house game studio, Quarter Up. Already confirmed Invincible VS characters include Mark Grayson (Invincible), Atom Eve, Thula, Bulletproof, and Rex Splode. Check out IGN’s Invincible VS preview from June for more. Fresh from his SDCC 2025 panel where he announced Battle Beast for Invincible VS, Kirkman told IGN that if fans...

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The Fantastic Four: First Steps Cast Jokes About Including Invisible Woman's Marvel Rivals Malice Skin in Sequel as Reaction Goes Viral

The cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps recently gathered to try out Marvel Rivals for the first time, and the actors' reaction to Invisible Woman’s skimpy Malice skin has the internet in tears. Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm), and Joseph Quinn (Human Torch) recently gathered to play NetEase Games’ popular hero shooter with YouTuber Loserfruit. The resulting video is quite funny, showing the new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) family as they fumble through a few matches as their in-game counterparts. It's goofy and occasionally hard to watch as Pascal flails his stretchy arms at enemies, but the highlight is no doubt the Fantastic Four cast’s reaction to Invisible Woman’s...

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Invincible Season 4's Dinosaurus Has a Voice Actor, Robert Kirkman Says 7-9 Seasons Needed to Do the Complete Comic Arc, Jokes Season 5 Will Be Out in

During his panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Robert Kirkman announced that Matthew Rhys voices Dinosaurus in Invincible Season 4, and committed to a 2026 release window. Warning! Potential spoilers for Invincible Season 4 follow: Rhys, who played Philip Jennings in The Americans, plays Dinosaurus in Invincible. Dinosaurus is expected to be the next major villain to appear after Conquest, and in the comics seeks to heal the world from the toxic effects of human civilization. Meanwhile, Kirkman said all of Thragg’s lines have been recorded, but stopped short of announcing the voice actor. Grand Regent Thragg is the true main villain of the Invincible saga, and the ruler of the Viltrumite Empire. With Season 4 set for release in...

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Robert Kirkman Reveals Battle Beast as a Playable Character in Invincible VS With Debut Trailer | SDCC 2025

Invincible VS will feature Battle Beast as a playable character. Confirmation comes direct from Invincible creator Robert Kirkman’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, where a new trailer, below, showing Battle Beast in action was revealed. Invincible VS is the upcoming 3v3 tag fighting game set in the Invincible universe. It’s developed by Skybound Entertainment’s first in-house game studio, Quarter Up. Already confirmed Invincible VS characters include Mark Grayson (Invincible), Atom Eve, Thula, Bulletproof, and Rex Splode. Check out IGN’s Invincible VS preview from June for more. Here’s the official blurb on Battle Beast: Warning! Spoilers for Invincible Season 3 follow: In the Season 3 of Invincible, Battle Beast survives a...

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Assassin's Creed Shadows Expansion Claws of Awaji Release Date Revealed

Ubisoft has announced a release date for Claws of Awaji, its first Assassin's Creed Shadows expansion. The major new add-on will arrive on September 16 as a paid DLC, or for free to those who pre-ordered the game. Included within it is a new region — the island of Awaji — fresh gear, abilities, outfits, enemies, and 10 hours of new story content that picks up Shadows' main plotline for those who've now seen the game's main end credits roll. What new revelations lie in wait for Naoe concerning her family? Will Yasuke get to take down some more Templars? There are now less than two months to go until we find out. A fresh roadmap of other content coming to Assassin's Creed Shadows includes a big progession update on July 29, featuring...

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Elden Ring Developer Thanks Fans as Nightreign and Shadow of the Erdtree Top New Sales Milestones

Just in case there was any lingering doubt about the wild success of FromSoftware's juggernaut Elden Ring series, today publisher Bandai Namco confirmed its DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, has sold over 10 million copies, and its co-op spin-off title, Elden Ring Nightreign, five million. The base game itself has now exceeded 30 million copies sold. Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is a single-player DLC expansion for FromSoftware's hit RPG featuring an all-new story set in the Realm of Shadow, complete with new weapons, items, enemies, and boss encounters. We thought Shadow of the Erdtree was a 'Masterpiece', and awarded it a rare 10/10, writing in IGN's Shadow of the Erdtree review: "Like the base game did before it, Elden Ring...

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Out of Words Might Be the Next Must-Play 2-Player Co-op Game

The Josef Fares-directed co-op games from Hazelight have been so good – and crucially, also so commercially successful – that it’s about time we started seeing some other developers trying to get in on that artistically beautiful, mandatory two-player action. And Out of Words, from poet Morten Søndergaard and co-developers WiredFly and Kong Orange, not only fits the mold cast by Fares, but has the potential to be as good as anything the former filmmaker has made so far. It’s purely coincidental that Out of Words has so much in common with Hazelight’s games, but it’s an interesting coincidence nonetheless. Søndergaard, like Fares, is a European artist who came from outside of the games industry. And Out of Words promises an emotional...

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WWE 2K25 Lacks Image Uploading and Community Creations on Switch 2 — and Fans Aren't Happy

WWE 2K25 only released on Nintendo Switch 2 yesterday, July 23, but fans have already noticed that community creations — and the image uploader to import them — are missing from its Switch 2 version. “If you are playing on the Switch 2 you won’t be able to upload or view custom images from other platforms," 2K explains in the game's FAQ. Later on, addressing a different question, the publisher added: "Nintendo Switch 2 players will not see Image Uploader-based Community Creations from any platform or be able to upload their own.” This means the community's popular user-created content, like custom arenas and CAWs (Create-A-Wrestler), will not be available on Switch 2, but are still accessible on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, and even last-gen...

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Heroes & Villains' SDCC 2025 Star Wars Collection Features Items Inspired by Rebel Pathfinders and Battlefront II's Inferno Squad

IGN can exclusively reveal an exciting new Star Wars collection from Heroes & Villains for San Diego Comic-Con 2025 inspired by Rebel Pathfinders and Star Wars: Battlefront II's Inferno Squad. SDCC 2025 marks a big milestone for Heroes & Villains, as the brand took shape on the floors of the con at the Lucasfilm Pavilion 10 years ago with a story-driven approach to apparel and accessories that "focuses on high-quality fabrics and thoughtful representation of fandoms" as opposed to "fast fashion." As for the apparel, which you can see in the slideshow below, it features items inspired by two of the most "daring and iconic military franchises in the Star Wars universe." First up are the Rebel Pathfinders, who were integral in the...

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Killing Floor 3 Review

I keep coming back to the same question with Killing Floor 3: where's the rest of it? I comfortably spent the last week teaming up against waves of mutant clone zombies, and mindlessly hacking and slashing through these Zeds was a lot of fun. But more than once, my teammates and I – many of whom enjoyed Killing Floor 2, myself included – found ourselves asking one another, "Is this the final release, or is it just Early Access?" Whether you like to play online or if you just prefer to go it alone, Killing Floor 3's singular Survival mode is generally a good time, but it’s also a much simpler, more tightly-woven shoot-em-up compared to its predecessors. The weapons and classes it does include are at least a blast to use, and its enemies...

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Painkiller Is a Mindless Co-op FPS, and That’s Just Fine

As the gaming industry buckles under the weight of constantly escalating triple-A expectations – not to mention triple-A budgets and triple-A development times – here comes Painkiller, a roguelike first-person shooter that is so comfortable being the mid-tier, low-stakes game that it is that I feel like it should come with a beer koozie and a cold can of your favorite brew, because that’s exactly what I picture most people having next to them while playing this game in co-op, online, while chatting with friends. Is Painkiller going to be the best first-person shooter of the year? Not while Doom: The Dark Ages exists. Is it going to have the best story of the year? Hell, it’s barely trying in that department – and that’s OK. But the...

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Xbox: The State of Every First-Party Developer - Summer 2025 Update

2025 has not been the best year for Xbox. Microsoft’s recent massive company-wide layoff impacted up to 9,000 employees, nearly half of whom worked at Xbox. Multiple games were cancelled, “AAAA” studio The Initiative was shut down, and countless talented staff lost. It’s a strange and uneasy contrast, then, to see that Xbox has actually had a pretty good year when it comes to games. Its biggest first-party releases so far this year have been Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed, Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight, Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and id Software’s Doom: The Dark Ages. The company has also pushed forward its multiplatform plans with a few ports for the PlayStation 5, including the previously Xbox and PC...

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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Clocks Up 114,000+ Concurrent Player Peak On Launch Day, But Reports Of Poor Performance Dominate Player Reviews

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has launched to 114,000+ concurrent players on Steam, making it one of the biggest launches for a non-FromSoftware Soulslike game yet. It's currently the eighth biggest game on Steam by concurrent player count, smashing through the 100,000 concurrent player barrier and clocking up 114,132 players in the last 24 hours. By comparison, and according to data supplied by SteamDB, Lies of P's highest concurrent peak is a little over 30,000 players, Lords of the Fallen is 43,075 players, and The First Berserker: Khazan is just shy of 33,000. Concurrent players isn't the only metric we should use when measuring how successful a game is, of course, but it's a good starting point, even though it doesn't account for...

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Sony Strikes 'Strategic Partnership' With Elden Ring Publisher Bandai Namco, Acquires 2.5% Stake

Sony has acquired a 2.5% stake in Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco. Sony said the 16 million-share acquisition forms part of a broader "strategic partnership" with Bandai Namco and "will focus on expanding the fan community for IP such as anime and manga around the world and strengthening engagement." Sony said it has "historically collaborated on various projects in the fields such as games, anime, and music" with Bandai Namco, and plans to extend this collaboration "to a broader range of areas." While not explicitly addressed in the announcement, gaming forms a substantial part of both companies, and it's hard to imagine a world where FromSoftware's gargantuan Elden Ring — which Namco Bandai publishes — isn't expanded further...

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Lollipop Chainsaw Sequel Announced, as Publisher Makes Odd Comment About Not 'Imposing Creative Restrictions'

Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a sequel and anime spin-off, more than a decade after the original launched. The new video game is being developed by Dragami Games, successor to the original's Kadokawa Games, which launched remaster project Lollipop Chainsaw RePop last year for PC and consoles. Lollipop Chainsaw won over a cult audience back in 2012 for its cheerleader-starring undead-slicing hack-and-slash gameplay. Notably, the project was directed by No More Heroes' Suda51, and written at least in part by James Gunn. Yes, that James Gunn — long before his days making Superman and running the DCU, and still a couple of years before the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Today's press release states that the franchise has so far shifted...

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Double Fine Honor's Heavy Metal Legend Ozzy Osbourne by Making Heavy Metal Video Game Brütal Legend Free for 666 Minutes Only

Double Fine Productions has made heavy metal video game Brütal Legend free for 666 minutes only to honor heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne, who died this week aged 76. The Black Sabbath frontman passed away on July 22 just a few weeks after he performed at the Back to the Beginning farewell concert. Osbourne voiced the character The Guardian of Metal in Brütal Legend. The character's appearance and personality was based on Osbourne himself. In a post on social media, the Microsoft-owned Double Fine said it had made Brütal Legend free on Itch.io. “But this incredible deal will only last for 666 minutes, as the prophecy foretold,” the studio continued. “So get yourself clicking, before it disappears like a demon in the night…” Brütal...

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AU Deals: Mitts on With the Moza FSR2 Formula Wheel and the Cheapest Ways to Grip One Yourself

I’ve spent serious seat time with Moza’s FSR2, a top-shelf, direct drive wheel that’s dripping in carbon fibre credibility and is clearly designed for open-wheelin’ diehards like myself. This serious sim-head solution is decked out with a huge 4.3-inch digital dash, tactile controls, and it’s built to deliver precise, hand-shaking force feedback on Moza’s higher-end wheelbases. (In my case, the beastly R12.) While the FSR2 doesn’t come bundled with a base or pedals, it slots in perfectly atop Moza’s existing ecosystem for those already running hardware like the R12 or R16 bases. Essentially, if the entry-level R3 was your starter kart, the FSR2 is your Red Bull Racing rocket sled. I'll delve into the finer FSR2 details in a sec, but...

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Bethesda Breaks Silence on Starfield Future, Promises to Share Details on 'Exciting Things' in the Coming Months

Bethesda has broken its silence on the future of Starfield, insisting it’s still working on updates and will share details on the “exciting things” it has planned in the coming months. Starfield players have for some time now expressed their dissatisfaction at the level of communication coming out of Bethesda on the future of the game, with its no-show at June’s Xbox Games Showcase considered the final straw for some. The Starfield community had hoped Bethesda would announce something to do with the game at its show, but while The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76 both got their moment in the spotlight, Starfield skipped proceedings entirely. No DLC, no expansion, no PlayStation 5 release… nothing. Now, ahead of Gamescom in...

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Magic: The Gathering's Final Fantasy Expansion Made $200 Million in Just One Day

Magic: The Gathering's Final Fantasy Universes Beyond expansion was really, really, really popular. It was the fastest-selling expansion in Magic: The Gathering history, per Hasbro. Its Secret Lair collaboration drops sold out in record time, and while stocks of the boosters, starter kits, and decks have improved, there was a period there where it was difficult to get your hands on anything Magic x Final Fantasy-related. The set's popularity even pushed a bunch of non-Final Fantasy cards to higher prices, just because of their excellent synergy with the set. And on top of all that, it apparently earned $200 million in a single day - the same amount that Magic's Lord of the Rings set earned in six months. This is according to Hasbro...

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Xbox U-Turns on The Outer Worlds 2 $80 Price Point, Reverting to $70 and Reimbursing Pre-Order Customers

Xbox has announced that it will not be selling The Outer Worlds 2 - or any of its holiday games, for that matter - for $80 after all. Instead, it will be kept at $70. An Xbox spokesperson shared the pricing changes with IGN today: “We’re focused on bringing players incredible worlds to explore, and will keep our full priced holiday releases, including The Outer Worlds 2, at $69.99 – in line with current market conditions.” Refunds and reimbursements for those who have already pre-ordered the game for $80 will be available via whatever storefront or location the game was bought at. Xbox says that customers should expect refund notifications from the point of purchase, and some sellers may take a few days for refunds to be available...

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Is the Fastest-Selling Gaming Hardware in U.S. History

The Nintendo Switch 2 debuted in June to become the fastest-selling hardware ever in the U.S., shooting spending on games to new monthly records, according to the monthly report from Circana. Spending on hardware was up a whopping 249% year-over-year thanks to the console's debut, reaching $978 million and greatly surpassing the previous monthly record from June 2008 of $608 million. In total, the Switch 2 sold 1.6 million units in the U.S. during its launch month, beating the PlayStation 4's previous sales record of 1.1 million units in November of 2013. Unshockingly, it was the best-selling console of the month both in terms of units and dollar sales. Across both Nintendo Switch platforms, Switch 2-exclusive Mario Kart World was...

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Killer Inn Plays Like a Very Bloody Game of Clue - Killer Inn Hands-on Preview

As someone who has gotten way too into in-person social deduction games in recent years, Killer Inn truly couldn’t have come at a better time. The delightful world of bluffs, social reads, mechanically obtained evidence leading to hidden baddies, and dramatic tension moments before all hell breaks loose is one of the most rewarding experiences in gaming. For this reason, it’s always been a wonder to me that we don’t see more of the genre despite the insane success of games like Among Us, but I have high hopes Killer Inn will be another powerhouse in this underutilized space. By smartly combining core social deduction philosophies with third-person combat and RPG mechanics, this murderous game of investigators and madmen carves a unique...

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Julian LeFay, 'Father of The Elder Scrolls,' Has Died Aged 59, a Week After Stepping Back From Game Development Due to Cancer

Julian LeFay, Bethesda's former chief engineer known among fans as the 'Father of The Elder Scrolls' series, has died aged 59. It was announced last week that LeFay, now co-founder and technical producer at OnceLost Games, had stepped back from game development after a lengthy battle with cancer, in order to spend time with his family and loved ones. A statement from OnceLost Games, published today, has now confirmed LeFay's passing — "with profound sadness and heavy hearts". "Julian LeFay was not just a colleague — he was a visionary who fundamentally shaped the gaming industry as we know it today," OnceLost Games' statement reads. "Known as the 'Father of The Elder Scrolls', Julian directed the creation of legendary titles...

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The 11 Best Lord of the Rings Video Games

Tolkien’s Middle-earth has captured the imagination of fantasy fans worldwide ever since The Hobbit was published in 1937. And although Peter Jackson is the film director who successfully brought the books to life on the big screen, you might be surprised to learn Middle-earth also has a rich video game history that goes back decades. The earliest video game adaptation was created in 1982 by Beam Software, which developed a text-adventure game based on The Hobbit. The game was a huge hit and went on to sell over 500,000 units in Europe, despite middling reviews from critics. Such is the power of Tolkien’s works. In total, there are over 50 video games based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that span numerous genres, like...

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Metroid Dread Developer MercurySteam's Blades of Fire Deemed To Have 'Underperformed'

Blades of Fire, the most recent game from Lords of Shadow and Metroid Dread studio MercurySteam, has "underperformed". Announcing the news, Digital Bros — which owns 505 Games, Blades of Fire's publisher — blamed "challenging competitive dynamics, driven by an oversupply of new releases and increasingly selective consumers." "This confirms the challenges faced by most industry peers and competitors in attracting consumers to new titles, particularly when these are not backed by an established brand driving a loyal player community," the company said in a financial statement, warning of a further decline in its revenue for the fiscal year. It's unclear what, if any, impact this may have on MercurySteam or its development plans. The...

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Fans Think The Game's Age Rating Suggests Premium Content Will Carry Forward From Black Ops 6

Call of Duty fans believe they've discovered proof that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 will let players carry over their Black Ops 6 skins. With the ESRB rating now confirming Black Ops 7 will be rated M 17+ and available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series, and last-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One, a throwaway line in the rating summary reveals there'll be weapons that feature "marijuana/joints/paraphernalia: players' characters inhaling marijuana from a bong-like structure attached to a rifle; players' characters smoking joints or inhaling through bongs as part of execution sequences." Many players are interpreting this as reference to the Dank Days Tracer Pack from Black Ops 6, a bundle that includes a number of skins, finishing moves, and perks like...

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Grimoires Reborn Codes (July 2025)

Last updated July 22, 2025 - Checked for new Grimoires Reborn codes! Want codes for Grimoires Reborn? This is the follow-up to Grimoires Era, so if you're looking for codes for that Roblox game, we've got everything you need to know. This page also explains how to redeem codes if you're unsure of how it works! Working Grimoires Reborn Codes (July 2025) Here are all the current active codes you can redeem in Grimoires Reborn, as well as the rewards you'll get from them: RELEASE! - 5 Grimoire Spins (NEW) FUNZY - 10 Aura Spins, 10 Race Spins (NEW) All the codes above have been tested as working at the time of submission. However, codes with unknown expiry dates may stop working at any time. Spotted a new code we haven't included...

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Grow a Military Codes (July 2025)

Last updated on July 22, 2025 - Checked for new Grow a Military codes! Searching for Grow a Military codes? We've got all the latest active codes for this Roblox experience, so you don't have to find them yourself. Redeem each one for rewards like free units so you can generate money faster. They're especially helpful for getting a quick start. Working Grow a Military Codes (July 2025) Here are all the current active codes you can redeem in Grow a Military, as well as the rewards you'll get from them: UPDATE - Trooper All the codes above have been tested as working at the time of submission. However, codes with unknown expiry dates may stop working at any time. Spotted a new code we haven't included or tried one only to find...

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Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Review

It’s a great time to be a fan of soulslikes. Between the fantastic The First Berserker: Khazan earlier in the year, the excellent Lies of P: Overture DLC last month, and the multiplayer/co-op focused Elden Ring: Nightreign, we have been eating well in 2025 – and you can add Wuchang: Fallen Feathers as yet another course in that meal. This debut game from developer Leenzee Games impressed me from the start with its exciting, fast-paced, and dynamic combat. It also has one of the best skill trees in the genre, along with intricate and interconnected level design that guides us through gorgeous vistas and grotesque sights in equal measure. That said, its difficulty is all over the place, with truly wild dips and spikes that go from a...

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