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The curfew was introduced in January after a number of late-night incidents on the tours of New Zealand and Australia.

Following the first Test of the home summer - a win against New Zealand - former Test captain Ben Stokes broke the curfew in a nightclub in London, sparking a series of events that eventually led to his retirement from international cricket.

In the aftermath of the nightclub incident, director of cricket Rob Key considered imposing a total alcohol ban on the England players.

Then-Test coach Brendon McCullum admitted to "ambiguity" surrounding the communication of the curfew, with new guidelines on it and the consumption of alcohol issued to the England players last month.

But before Root's first Test back in charge, against Pakistan at Headingley next week, he has relaxed the rules and said: "Let's be adults."

The curfew has also been lifted for the white-ball team, despite no change in the leadership of the one-day and T20 sides.

Led by coach McCullum and captain Harry Brook, the limited-overs sides will also no longer have to abide by the midnight rule.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Root said: "There's not going to be a curfew. I don't think this needs to be a big deal, to be honest."

A curfew was first put in place during Root's first spell as Test captain, between 2017 and 2022, and introduced after drinking incidents on the Ashes tour of 2017-18.

It was abolished when Stokes took over as captain in 2022, only to then be reintroduced earlier this year.

Now it has been scrapped again as Root begins his second spell as captain.

McCullum has been replaced as Test coach by fellow New Zealander Stephen Fleming, although he will not be in place for the three matches against Pakistan, with Marcus Trescothick acting as the interim coach.

"My view on curfews is that I don't think they work and if you want guys to take responsibility on the field, they've got to feel like they can be grown adults off it and make good, strong decisions off it," added Root.

"And that's for us as a team to manage well, and self-police well, for me and Flem to manage well in many ways."

The curfew was first imposed on the white-ball team in January for their tour of Sri Lanka and the T20 World Cup that followed.

It came after Brook was punched by a nightclub bouncer in Wellington and opener Ben Duckett was filmed, apparently drunk, on England's mid-Ashes holiday in Noosa.

The curfew remained in place for the Test team in the home summer, although there was confusion surrounding the terms and how it was communicated.

Stokes and pace bowler Gus Atkinson were out past midnight following the victory over New Zealand at Lord's, when a member of the England security staff was punched by a Saracens rugby player.

The pair missed the second Test against the Black Caps while the incident was investigated, and were ultimately cleared of wrongdoing. After he returned for the third Test, Stokes announced midway through the match at Trent Bridge it would be his last for England.

Root said: "Ultimately, you're grown adults, you know what it takes to play for England, you know what your responsibilities are off the field and we need to make sure we don't find ourselves with any of those situations, off the field, to manage.

"We should be known for how we play our cricket and what we do on the field. We should be on the back page of the papers, and people reading about that sort of stuff. So, that's as much as I've got to say on it.

"Let's be adults. Look after yourselves, look after each other, create a good, strong culture where you know the right time is to celebrate and enjoy a win, or to have a sensible beer or whatever. And remember you're playing for England."

A statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board added: "We have a Test captain and coach, who are looking at how they set team standards and culture.

"As part of this, the curfew will no longer be in place. We will ensure all players have a clear understanding of expectations when they come together for the upcoming Test series."

The removal of the curfew is a partial U-turn on behavioural guidelines that were issued last month and also recommended no alcohol be consumed on the day immediately before, during or on the day immediately after a match.

If players do choose to drink in the period before, during or after matches, it should not be in public.

They have also been strongly discouraged from drinking in private, in order to aid preparation, recovery and professionalism.

The guidelines apply only to the England senior men's teams. All other England sides - the women, Lions and age-group teams - have their own rules. England women do not have formal rules on alcohol.

Last week, Stokes denied the England team has a problem with alcohol, but instead said "cricket has a drinking culture and that has not changed".

Analysis - Curfew introduced, broken, argued over, clarified and now scrapped

Another day, another change in the rules governing the behaviour of the England men's teams.

This year alone, a curfew has been introduced, broken, argued over, clarified and now scrapped.

It is a poor look for the top level of English cricket that there remains a hokey-cokey over a curfew first introduced almost a decade ago. It's worth reiterating these rules have only ever applied to the senior men - not the pathway or women's teams.

Should grown men and professional athletes require their bedtime in writing? It raises questions about the attitude of cricket as a whole.

Stokes was right when he said last week there exists a drinking culture in the sport, not only the England team.

The reputation of the men's side has taken a severe battering on and off the pitch in the past year.

The new leadership team of Root and Fleming has the opportunity to repair the damage, starting with some wins on the field. The noises from the ECB are that Fleming is a "grown-up" - and England have certainly lacked maturity in recent times.

Although Root's arrival as Test captain presents the opportunity to lift the curfew, the situation around the white-ball team is odd.

The limited-overs side was the first to be placed under the curfew, and their leadership team of Brook and McCullum remains unchanged, so why is that curfew now scrapped?

Clearly it would be odd to have one England side under a curfew and not another, and it's understood McCullum is supportive of this new approach. So, was he therefore not supportive of the curfew being introduced in the first place?

And what kind of behaviour are we going to see from the England team when they meet in Leeds on Monday? What would be the consequences of another misdemeanour?

"Let's be adults," said Root. England have tried that before and failed. What now? %!s()

While most of us will have to stick to watching our favorite race cars cross the finish line from our couches, Honda Racing Corporation’s new Heritage Racing Program gives enthusiasts the chance to buy track-ready historic champion race cars and put them back in the paddock.

The first to get this celebrity pampering under the heritage program is a Sebring winner. The Andretti Green Racing No. 26 AGR Acura ARX-01a won the LMP2 class during its debut race at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2007. Racing legends Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta, and Tony Kanaan piloted the endurance car to victory.

Franchitti says the car “made you feel like a hero, it made you feel like the best driver in the world,” in a video released by HRC. Now, people won’t have to be a legendary driver to experience the thrill of the champion endurance car—they’ll just need to have enough money to buy it.

HRC wants these historic cars to race again. Rather than selling the car with the original, worn parts, the restoration team completely rebuilds the engine and modernizes electronics. The cars end up as close to brand new as they can get, and the team uses original documents, notes, and photos to get them nearly identical to how they worked when they first crossed the finish line. The only deviation from the original formula lies in the electronics and safety features, which are updated to meet modern track and safety requirements.

While the official Heritage Racing Program is new, HRC is well-versed in restoring race cars and putting them back on track. It recently restored several endurance cars that will drive this weekend at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, including the 2019 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 IMSA champion and the 2010 ARX-01c Le Mans LMP2 class winner. These restorations are what originally inspired the Heritage Racing Program.

Each car that’s restored through the program, including the ARX-01a, gets thoroughly track tested by HRC’s engineers. Once a car is sold, the engineers remain available for track support and competition assistance when the new owners get behind the wheel and hunt for a checkered flag of their own.

The ARX-01a is currently for sale and will be displayed at the Quail on August 14 during Monterey Car Week. It’s riding into the weekend with more than 20 Honda and Acura champion cars from Formula 1, IndyCar, IMSA, SCCA, Baja, MotoGP, Dakar, and the Isle of Man, among others, which will be displayed at various places throughout the weekend. A price for the ARX-01a hasn’t been released, but this kind of exclusivity and historic value will surely pick up quite a tab.

Alayna Wilkening grew up reading motorsport magazines and following her grandpa around his Chevrolet dealership's showroom floor. In true Hoosier fashion, her first car was a hot pink custom cardboard "Fiero-vette" for her kindergarten Kindy 500 race. She now autocrosses a 1994 Miata with her dad, which she learned to drive the night before her first event. Alayna went to Indiana University and graduated with a degree in journalism and a minor in graphic design. As a testament to her great taste in cars, her first real one was a metallic orange 2007 Chevy HHR, which she lovingly called "The Dumptruck."   %!s()

Warframe continues to pull a crowd, as was evident at this year's somewhat dystopian Tennocon expo, in which there was a whole auditorium set aside to house the queue for a bunch of T-shirt stands. That popularity gives Soulframe leeway to experiment and screw up, but it also creates temptation for developers Digital Extremes (who are owned by Tencent) to stick with what they know. Still, Warframe won't be a hit forever. As such, Soulframe's creators are trying to walk the line between lifting ideas from Warframe, and luring a new following with combat mechanics that take inspiration from Elden Ring.

According to Soulframe design director and former Warframe design director Scott McGregor, one thematic departure is that Soulframe's universe is relatively hopeful, however troubled. It takes place on a rustic medieval planet that is being colonised by a bunch of evil spacefaring moblins called the Ode, who are governed by a hypnotic Spellsong. As an Envoy empowered by a pact with ancient Fey spirits, you must stomp the Ode's raucous tinhat enforcers and free the moist-eyed critters they've imprisoned or corrupted. All of which reflects a conviction that the real world is going to hell.

"The world's becoming so bleak, and so hard to deal with, and everything seems to be getting so depressing," says McGregor. "And so when we were starting to work on Soulframe, it was looking for something that was maybe a little bit more inspirational, had a little bit more redemption to it than just, you know, more dark and evil.

"Those things exist in the game because you need to show the contrast and the evolution from that point, but for us as a team, it's looking for a happier place and a happier world," he continues. "And I think everyone feels that way right now. Like, the world doesn't feel like it's in a good spot, with the environment, with the political climate and all that sort of thing, so I think looking for an inspirational story or redemption arc is a big part of Soulframe."

Within that fuzzy objective of kindling optimism, the developers are also trying to peel themselves away from the sheer overkill of Warframe's combat. Soulframe has a bunch of projectile weaponry and ranged magic, but it hinges on methodical melee duels. It also doesn't have Warframe's absurd parkour system, which sees the most experienced players blinking through layouts in search of the choicest crafting materials.

"I would say we're still trying to sell that power fantasy to the player, but at a different pace and a different scale," McGregor continues. "Maybe you're a little bit more cosy, a little less bombastic. A lot of our review meetings, the stuff we talk about - we are trying to be very conscious about how explosive the screen is, and you know, how many times certain effects are applied to all of the enemies, or the number that you're engaging with at a single time, in a single fight. Making sure that it doesn't feel overwhelming for a single player, or a player who wants to play a little bit slower."

"I think what's interesting about working on this game from the design perspective is there's a higher skill barrier," he goes on. "Because it is a melee combat game, and there are some more timing-based aspects. You can get good at the game, even at a low level with bad gear and bad weapons. You could actually play at a pretty high level, if you have the mechanical skill… without necessarily having the gear."

McGregor draws a parallel with From Software's work. "You watch some of those Elden Ring players, where they go in there with a diaper on and the worst sword in the game, and they take on the best boss and you're, like, wow," he says. "Having it so that skill levels still matter, I think, is important as well. Warframe has a bit of that, but there's so much AOE room clearing - I'm gonna kill, like, 300 AIs with one button press."

Going by what I've played myself, I'm wary of Elden Ring parallels. Soulframe's melee combat isn't nearly as intricate or testing. Its open world is a sleepy golden expanse of forest glades and Ode camps in which you don't have to think too hard about terrain tactics, though there are some pleasantly enveloping dungeons beneath. Still, it's definitely more stately and precise than its older sister. It's a game of evasive rolls and parries in which you pay less attention to your stats. "It's definitely something that we're consciously always trying to manage," McGregor says, "and make sure that we don't go down that slope into Warframe land, because we definitely do want that contrast."

Like Warframe, Soulframe will live in 'eternal beta'. At the time of writing, the game has entered its 15th "prelude", these being the developer's Wordsworthian equivalents for early access updates. (Soulframe's writing in general is bardish to the point that I sometimes want to throw rotten eggs and tomatoes at it, like a drunken theatre goer in the 1500s). Digital Extremes are slowly adding stories, gear and areas while monitoring player feedback. After 13 years of Warfromage, the devs have learned a thing or two about keeping players glued to a work-in-progress, but they aren't, apparently, just reapplying the same lessons.

"I would say that there are some similarities, but the majority of the path that we're taking is actually quite different from the path we took with Warframe," says Sheldon Carter, studio president. "At least right now, that's what it feels like. One of the cool things, or also sometimes the chaotic things about live service is you're kind of driving the train while you're laying the tracks down." One rule of thumb is not to reveal things too early. Carter gives the example of Warframe's Duviri Paradox update, which was announced in 2019 and belatedly released in 2023. "We had to keep delaying it, because we didn't leave slack for getting punched in the face," Carter summarises, "and we got punched in the face on a few things between."

The major difference with Soulframe is that where early updates for Warframe were more about keeping the lights on, the new game has always been a live service project with a plan for years of significant changes. "I'll say the ambition is bigger on Soulframe from update to update, early in the game than we were on Warframe," McGregor recalls. "Warframe was a lot of really small, quick updates to add more life to the game, to add more content to the game. Soulframe updates so far have been bigger swings. We definitely feel like we've got to get back to those quicker ones, but there's an overall idea of what the story is, what the progression is going to be."

Soulframe's next serious update will add mounts to the game, together with a new pact that allows you to channel the Ode's grotty magic, and a quest about your Envoy's origins that features playable beavers. The most recent update, the aforesaid prelude 15, was more of an overhaul, introducing randomised weapon drops to address complaints about how long it takes to craft them. "Players can now get those weapons easier and try them out, but then, we also added the ability to sort of deeply invest into those weapons," says McGregor. "So, if you do find something you really like, then we added a crafting loop to go deeper with it."

Going by a quick read of the game's forums, players have mixed feelings about this latter update, with some protesting that their existing arsenals are now obsolete. As a business, Digital Extremes surely need to get this right, because Soulframe makes its money via the familiar option to purchase things you can otherwise grind for. As such, players need to feel that their time is well spent, but not so much that they can't be beguiled into coughing up for the occasional progression shortcut. In general, I'd love to get hold of some proper statistical analysis of how Soulframe's monetisation has been shaped by McGregor's desire to give players more opportunity to prevail, even when they're armed with rubbish gear.

Digital Extremes haven't released any real statistical info on Soulframe's players, but according to Sheldon Carter, the team's efforts to differentiate their creation from Warframe are bearing fruit. "There's definitely a huge segment of Soulframe that is a completely different type of player than those who play Warframe," he says. As for those who've come over from Warframe, Carter is fairly confident that they'll put up with a few blunders, as the game takes shape. "We don't take it for granted, but we've definitely earned [some trust] with our community, especially on Warframe - if we were to have a huge miss on something, they're going to be okay with us trying again."

This article is based on a trip to Tennocon 2026, for which the event's organisers covered travel and accommodation. %!s()

Well, with the new Devoid of Liberty update, which sees us battling against a tide of void-mutated enemies the Illuminate have unleashed, the SEAF have also been buffed to better face the battle. To quote the official blog post:

"We have commissioned SEAF platoons to aid in completing operations. They’ll arrive on dropships to fight alongside you and your squad, offering medical support via stims, but also give a boost to your morale when you salute, shake hands, and–of course–hug them."

Yes, that's right, you can now hug the little troopers in blue. I hopped into the game to try it out, and, as you'll see below, SEAF troopers will pause mid shot and accept your offer of a little morale-boosting cuddle. It's only fair to show your appreciation, they do have a tough job after all.

Though, as you can also see at the end of the clip, I'd advise against hugging troopers when you're in the thick of combat, unless you want to share a casket because they couldn't untangle your remains. I've played a few missions in the new update and the SEAF actually amount to a somewhat fearsome fighting force now, with support weapons and increased numbers, and they'll periodically drop in on shuttles to help in the fight.

We'll definitely need the help, too. Those new Crusher enemies don't go down easy and they're weirdly hard to hear coming. The Necromorph-esque Wretch enemies, too, add a fast-moving component that the Illuminate didn't have before, and can really close you down quickly if you're not paying attention.

We've got a tough fight ahead of us, but don't forget to take a moment to stop every now and then to show your SEAF contingent their work is appreciated.

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Sean's first PC games were Full Throttle and Total Annihilation and his taste has stayed much the same since. When not scouring games for secrets or bashing his head against puzzles, you'll find him revisiting old Total War campaigns, agonizing over his Destiny 2 fit, or still trying to finish the Horus Heresy. Sean has also written for EDGE, Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, EGMNOW, and Inverse. %!s()

With Sony ending support for physical discs in the near future, and the heads of Ubisoft and Take Two seemingly not caring very much, you might think the end of physical game media is not far off. Yet there exists a growing movement to push back against this trend. I had a chance to chat to Clemens Istel, the owner of game preservation site Does It Play, about this movement.

He tells me, "Customer rights are almost non-existent in the gaming space, and companies have proven time and time again that honest communication is not their strong suit."

Does It Play is both a physical games media advocacy group and a database dedicated to documenting which games can be played without a download or offline. Istel is also part of the team behind Stop Killing Games. Just last month, we documented Does It Play's reporting, showing that 34% of physical PS5 games and 50% of tested Xbox Series X games don't fully work without a download first.

There are a handful of central reasons one might wish for physical discs to stay around. With games going through so many updates after release, a disc provides a clean way to preserve version 1.0 for future gamers to play and experience. It also means that storefront holders can't have a monopoly over pricing. If you wish to buy a game on PS5, for example, you can buy it directly from Sony, or through any number of second-hand or new physical marketplaces. This gives companies less control over the direct price long-term.

"Less options for people is always a bad thing. Especially if the only option is a future in which your purchased goods can just be taken away or altered whenever somebody else pleases," says Istel.

"For the most part, [over] all these years, it felt like there was an unwritten agreement between companies and players. They provide cool experiences, we buy cool experiences. But in recent years, this symbiosis [has] more and more turned into a one-sided form of exploitation." He continues, "Lobby groups and lawyers attacked preservation efforts, a growing minority of games are released unfinished, even hardware now has online dependencies."

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

Istel points out that the last two Xbox generations can't be set up offline without a Microsoft account, and notes that some games are fully available on disc and still have hard-coded online checks before you can play. "The next step is killing physical media, the last thing you actually had some form of ownership over."

Istel argues that gaming companies have a "stranglehold on players", and that's what Does It Play, and movements like Stop Killing Games have come out of. Istel believes that Sony knew what consumers wanted when it famously made fun of Microsoft's introduction of DRM back in 2013, but it now has "Zero understanding for what their customers want. All that's left is a hyper-arrogant 'take it or leave it' attitude, as far as we can tell."

But Istel says it's not just console players who are affected by this. I'm told the Sony situation is just one step. "It sets another precedent and pushes the distribution further towards the idea of streaming, as recently suggested by Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. Once we reach that point, all hope for customers to ever have control over a product is gone."

Though Istel believes the perspective on game ownership has "only gotten worse" over the years, PC gaming does offer one "glimpse of hope" with the "emergence of more DRM-free stores on PC."

The likes of game marketplace GOG sell many games DRM-free, which means you can download offline backups, play without an internet connection, and can install and play games on multiple computers without any limits. It gives more freedom over bought games, and means losing connection to servers, or servers going down, can't remove your access to the game— assuming it's downloaded already.

PC gaming shifted to digital a long time ago, and even before that, many PC games had physical restrictions in the forms of CD keys, but Istel believes digital DRM is not the same: "Digital DRM that requires you to go online makes you dependent on a third party, while a CD key gives you everything in your own hands to access the game.

"The former will eventually lead to the game becoming inaccessible. At the very least, there needs to be an end of life plan to keep the game working after official support ends."

Still, even if Sony does officially end disc support with the PS6, Istel doesn't think physical media will entirely go with it. He told me, "I firmly believe that physical media will stay, but it will probably never be mainstream again."

Though PC gaming went mostly digital a long time ago, Sony being the creators of the hardware and software on a PS5 gives it ownership over the device to an extent that isn't possible on PC. If you don't like Windows, you can swap to Linux. If you don't like Steam (for whatever reason), you can make do with half a dozen different digital storefronts. And that makes this specific fight so important for console owners. There's no alternative to Sony whilst owning a Sony device.

And, as such, it's a little strange to watch from the comfort of my own rig, given how relatively healthy the digital gaming market is on PC. Steam, its biggest storefront, may not be DRM-free, but the option is there to actually own games for those who want it. As consoles are unlikely to adopt third-party storefronts, that makes physical game discs the final line of defense for actually owning games, and an altogether different ball game compared to our PCs.

James is a more recent PC gaming convert, often admiring graphics cards, cases, and motherboards from afar. It was not until 2019, after just finishing a degree in law and media, that they decided to throw out the last few years of education, build their PC, and start writing about gaming instead. In that time, he has covered the latest doodads, contraptions, and gismos, and loved every second of it. Hey, it’s better than writing case briefs. %!s()