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RPS Staff Shares Weekend Gaming Plans: STALKER 2, Pirate City Builders, and Escape Room Dread
Key takeaways
- RPS deputy editor James Archer published the August 15, 2026 weekend gaming roundup with a reduced team.
- STALKER 2 features as a pick, with concern raised over its demanding GPU requirements.
- An unnamed game under embargo is hinted at, with RPS coverage expected the following week.
The Rock Paper Shotgun editorial team has shared what they plan to play this weekend, offering a candid and sometimes self-deprecating look at the varied tastes across one of PC gaming's most-read outlets. The roundup, published August 15, 2026, comes during a quieter week with several staff members away at preview events or on holiday — some reportedly in Scandinavia, well away from summer heat. Deputy editor James Archer notes the team is thin on the ground, but the games must go on regardless.
Julian is returning home from an undisclosed preview trip and plans to return to Corsair Cove, a pirate-themed city builder he describes as absorbing but admits he's uncertain how much depth remains after five hours of play. Edwin is taking a more niche route, diving into a solo journalling RPG involving an inherited supernatural book — alongside the decidedly un-glamorous task of washing bath towels. Both picks reflect the breadth of games the RPS team explores beyond mainstream releases.
Jeremy, meanwhile, is deep in guide and review work for a game he cannot yet name, hinting that readers should expect enthusiastic coverage in the coming week. The secrecy around the title adds an air of anticipation for whatever RPS has in the pipeline. Callum, for his part, may skip gaming almost entirely — a visiting friend is likely to drag him into an escape room, an experience he describes with vivid reluctance, citing surveillance cameras and helpful-but-humiliating hint systems as particular ordeals.
Deputy editor James Archer closed his contribution with a short, playful verse about STALKER 2, the survival shooter from GSC Game World, expressing both enthusiasm and concern about the game's notoriously demanding hardware requirements. STALKER 2 has had a turbulent development history, launching in late 2024 after multiple delays, and continues to attract attention for its atmospheric open world and GPU-punishing visuals. The lighthearted poem format underscores the informal, personality-driven style that has long made RPS's weekend gaming columns popular with readers.
Three staff members — Mark, Dion, and Ollie — apparently declined to share their picks at all, described as taking that information to their graves. The column ends, as it traditionally does, by turning the question back to readers, inviting the community to share what they're playing. It's a format RPS has run for years, and its durability speaks to how effectively it fosters a sense of shared gaming culture between the publication and its audience.
The bigger picture
Weekend gaming columns like this one might look like lightweight content, but they serve a real editorial function: humanizing a publication's staff and signaling the range of games a outlet considers worth its time. When an RPS editor picks a solo journalling RPG alongside a pirate city builder and STALKER 2 in the same breath, it reinforces the outlet's identity as a broad church for PC gaming rather than a platform chasing the biggest AAA releases. That matters competitively — outlets like IGN or Eurogamer tend to anchor weekend content around mainstream titles, whereas RPS built its reputation on championing smaller and stranger games.
The mention of STALKER 2's GPU demands is worth flagging beyond the joke. GSC Game World's shooter remains one of the most technically demanding games available, and the fact that an editor frames playing it as a gamble on hardware survival reflects ongoing community frustration with optimization. That conversation has intensified as mid-range GPU prices remain elevated heading into late 2026. Any future patches or DLSS/FSR updates from GSC could meaningfully shift how accessible the game feels to a wider audience.
Jeremy's oblique reference to an embargoed review is perhaps the most practically interesting detail here. RPS has a strong review reputation in the PC space, and a teased 'very demanding but very good' game arriving next week is the kind of signal that sends readers checking release calendars. Watch for what drops in the RPS review queue around August 18–22 — whatever it is, the editorial team seems genuinely excited about it.
We run weekend gaming check-ins on LagPing occasionally, and whenever we do, the reader response reminds us that people genuinely love knowing what writers and editors are actually playing in their own time — not for the purposes of a review, just for fun. This RPS column caught our eye because it does that well, and it features a couple of details worth paying attention to: a mystery review incoming next week and a candid admission about STALKER 2's hardware demands. We thought it was worth surfacing for our audience, particularly those who follow PC gaming discourse closely. There's also something refreshing about editorial teams being this honest — escape room anxiety, towel-washing, and GPU anxiety all coexisting in one column. That's real life, and we appreciate when publications let that show through. Keep an eye on RPS next week if you're curious about whatever Jeremy is reviewing.
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