Extraction shooters are older than you’d think and they stand to only become more commonplace (Embark Studios/Bungie/Metro)
GameCentral examines the current state of the extraction shooter genre and what sort of impact Arc Raiders’ success could have on it.
The games industry loves to chase trends. That’s always been the case, but it’s never been more obvious than since so many of them started pumping out live service games, with Sony and Ubisoft in particular trying (and failing) to release a mega multiplayer hit.
Any time a new video game manages to prove even marginally successful, you can count on other publishers eventually releasing their own alternative, just as Fortnite helped spark a surplus of battle royale games.
As such, the recent success of Arc Raiders has made it, and extraction shooters in general, the hot new genre to copy, but whether Arc Raiders will become a trendsetter or a one hit wonder remains to be seen.
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What is an extraction shooter?
Since there aren’t that many of them, and they’ve only recently come into the spotlight, there’s no strict definition of what an extraction shooter is, but put simply it’s a game where you have to escape a map rather than shoot anything, or anyone, in particular.
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Typically, the games are shooters (often first person) with PvPvE gameplay, which means player versus player versus environment. Or to put it in actual English, you have to combat, or avoid, both human-controlled opponents and computer-controlled enemies.
There’s typically resources and/or loot involved too, which you can take back to your extraction point with you. If you’re playing in a team, and depending on the game, this can sometimes be used to determine who won a match. Although often merely escaping is the only achievement you need.
Escape From Tarkov is undeniably popular but Arc Raiders is arguably closer to a mainstream success (Battlestate Games)
When did the extraction shooter genre start?
Despite feeling like a new concept, extraction shooters are much older than you might think. One of the most famous examples, Escape From Tarkov, has been around since early 2017 but it was by no means the first.
It is the one that helped to popularise the genre, though, resulting in similar military themed extraction shooters, like 2024’s Gray Zone Warfare and 2025’s Delta Force.
Curiously, there doesn’t seem to be a common consensus on what the first extraction shooter actually was. There’s arguments in favour of Ubisoft’s The Division from 2016 (which has an extraction shooter style post-game in its Dark Zone mode), elements of 2012’s famous DayZ, and even 2008 zombie shooter Left 4 Dead.
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None of these games explicitly advertise themselves as extraction shooters, but then this list of extraction games available on Steam includes many other titles that don’t either.
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We wouldn’t call Helldivers 2 a dedicated extraction shooter, but it does involve reaching an extraction point once you clear a mission in order to reap any rewards, which is apparently enough for it to count.
Similarly, Dark & Darker is billed as a fantasy dungeon crawler, but despite the lack of guns, it too is counted as an extraction shooter since you form a squad with other players to gather loot, and you don’t get to keep it unless you successfully escape from the dungeon.
What are the best extraction shooters?
Although there have been a lot of extraction shooters over the years very few examples have come from any of the big name publishers, with most being indie titles.
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There was Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Extraction from 2022, but that wasn’t much more than a professionally made mod and didn’t have much impact.
Instead, publishers have tended to include extraction modes in already existing games. EA had something like that in Battlefield 2042, with its Hazard Zone mode, and its current Battlefield Redsec battle royale spin-off has extraction missions as part of its Gauntlet mode.
Activision, meanwhile, added its own extraction shooter mode, titled DMZ, to 2022’s Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It was only ever labelled as a beta and effectively abandoned just a year later, but DMZ’s influence can be felt in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7’s PvE Endgame mode (one of the few enjoyable things about the game). Plus, insider TheGhostOfHope previously claimed DMZ will be brought back for this year’s instalment.
2019’s Borderlands 3 received a battle royale mode as DLC, where you need to use a loot extractor to keep any loot you obtain, while 2024’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has a squad-based Operations mode that requires you to reach an escape ship upon completing missions.
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How popular can extraction shooters get?
It seems many publishers feel there’s merit to the extraction shooter genre, but not necessarily enough to warrant full games.
The only noteworthy exceptions are Arc Raiders (developer and publisher Embark Studios is a subsidiary of South Korean company Nexon), Arena Breakout (which comes from Chinese conglomerate Tencent), and Bungie’s upcoming Marathon reboot.
Sony and Bungie obviously settled on turning Marathon (an otherwise single-player series of shooters) into a multiplayer extraction shooter long before Arc Raiders dropped, but after years of only half-attempts, perhaps the tides have shifted and made publishers less hesitant to commit to the genre.
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A success like Arc Raiders is undeniably going to have turned heads. As a reminder, it has sold at least 14 million copies since its October launch (proof that such games don’t need to be free-to-play) and has remained consistently popular, currently sitting among the top 10 most played games on Steam at sixth place.
Arc Raiders was even outperforming Battlefield 6 at one point (Embark Studios)
Most importantly, Nexon is happy with Arc Raiders’ performance, bragging that it has maintained six million active players weekly across all platforms. What’s more, Embark’s CEO Patrick Söderlund was recently given the new role of executive chairman so he can help spearhead Nexon’s entire games business.
‘Patrick and I are fully aligned on transforming Nexon,’ said Nexon CEO and president Junghun Lee, ‘He’s built studios, attracted the industry’s best people to work with him, and shipped massive global hits. That’s exactly what Nexon needs right now.’
Arc Raiders’ success could also be to the benefit of Marathon since it has helped introduce the extraction shooter genre to a wider audience. Few have seemed confident in Marathon’s chances, given Sony’s track record with live service games, the troubles within Bungie, and Marathon being a niche IP, but it looks like it might start off strong after all.
Not only was its free open beta popular, but the game shot up Steam’s best sellers chart in the US to the number three spot, ahead of its full launch this week (Thursday, March 5), overtaking Arc Raiders and only losing to Valve’s dominant multiplayer shooter Counter-Strike 2 and the recently released Resident Evil Requiem.
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If Marathon manages to at least rival Arc Raiders in popularity, that’s not only a win for Sony but a sign to the rest of the industry that a lot of people enjoy extraction shooters. And if they remain popular over a long period of time, publishers will be encouraged to not just make extraction-lite modes in their shooters, but whole games.
All signs point to a strong start for Marathon, but will it maintain that pace? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The 9 best extraction shooters you can play right now
Arc Raiders
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
The obvious first choice, Arc Raiders’ current popularity means there’s no shortage of people to play with, but you are free to scavenge the ruined future Earth and fight giant robots solo.
The PvP can be annoying if you’re not looking to fight other players but developer Embark has made efforts to downplay that aspect, with no plans for competitive leaderboards and the like. The AI generated voicework may be a dealbreaker for some though.
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Escape From Tarkov
PC
Although it’s technically been around for almost a decade, Escape From Tarkov has spent most of that time in beta and only saw a full launch last November, when it became more widely available via Steam.
Aside from the core multiplayer, it has a story campaign, but its more realistic military sim style approach to combat means the whole game is considered brutally difficult by even ardent fans and thus hard to get into for newcomers.
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Arena: Breakout Infinite
PC, iOS, and Android
Another one for the military sim sickos, Arena: Breakout Infinite’s high learning curve makes it a hard sell, but it’s one of the more technically impressive examples of the genre, boasting strong visuals and good performance.
It was previously decried for being pay-to-win, since you could obtain better weapons with a premium currency you could buy for real money, but that currency has since been removed.
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Delta Force
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, iOS, and Android
Like Marathon, Delta Force was a series of single-player shooters that vanished for years until suddenly coming back as a multiplayer game. It only launched last year and is a solid, if uninspired shooter, but it must be doing something right to be the seventh most played Steam game at the moment. Being free-to-play probably helps.
Hunt: Showdown 1896
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
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A personal favourite of ours, even if we haven’t played it much lately. This one’s unique not only for its supernatural setting, but for its premise of gathering clues to locate and hunt one of six ferocious bosses.
Even if you fail to hunt the boss, you can kill the player who did and steal their bounty, making for a more novel and oftentimes unpredictable experience compared to other extraction shooters.
Helldivers 2
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
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Helldivers 2 is the one live service game success Sony has and it didn’t even make it, only publish it. While it’s long past its honeymoon period, Helldivers 2’s consistent content updates have kept things fresh and interesting, and the extremely chaotic nature of its harder missions, combined with friendly fire, lend themselves well to unintentional comedy.
It’s also an extremely rare instance of a Sony published game being ported to Xbox, with strong word of mouth leading to it selling new copies faster than it did on PlayStation 5.
The Division 2
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC
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It may not necessarily be billed as an extraction shooter, but The Division 2 is one of the best examples thanks to its very well thought out Dark Zone mode and endgame content.
You do need to beat the main campaign to access it, but it’s arguably the best part of the whole game and worth reaching. It’s seen years of updates since launchand will likely be keeping fans occupied until The Division 3 eventually comes out.
Escape From Duckov and Zero Sievert
PC
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While the extraction shooter genre is tailor made for multiplayer games, there have been some attempts at catering to those who like the formula but don’t want to deal with other players.
Escape From Duckov, despite its status as an Escape From Tarkov parody, is one such example, being a top-down shooter where you play as a cartoon duck trying to build a spaceship and escape a hostile planet.
Alternatively, there’s Zero Sievert, which offers pixel art graphics and some roguelike DNA in its randomly generated maps. Its numerous weapons and items help keep each playthrough fresh, although it may be too challenging for some.
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Marathon
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Technically this isn’t out until March 5 but the beta (or *Server Slam* as developer Bungie call it) has made a strong first impression, with Marathon fanson Reddit praising the gunplay and visuals.
The one downside is that the game won’t be free-to-play and is being sold for £34.99, but it’s already charting well on Steam, purely on pre-orders, so it looks like Sony doesn’t need to worry about another Concord level disaster.
York Stage has announced its biggest-ever theatre giveaway, in partnership with Heritage Collection Travel, as part of its upcoming production of Come From Away which will run at the Grand Opera House from April 10 to 18.
Every ticket holder will be automatically entered and the winner will be revealed live at the end of one of the performances.
A Golden Seat moment will take place at the Grand Opera House York. (Image: York Stage)
One seat in the auditorium will be randomly selected in advance, and whoever is physically sitting in that chair on the night will win return flights for two to St. John’s, Newfoundland in Canada.
The prize is being gifted by independent York-based travel company Heritage Collection Travel, known for its personalised service and strong roots within the local community, as part of a unique local partnership with York Stage.
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It is in celebration of the show’s powerful true story and its real-life connection to Newfoundland.
Come From Away is a musical that tells the true story of 7,000 airline passengers who were unexpectedly diverted to the small town of Gander, Newfoundland on 11 September 2001, and the extraordinary kindness shown by the local community.
In the following days, the people of Gander opened their homes, schools and halls to complete strangers. Lifelong friendships were formed. Annual reunions began. Many of those stranded passengers returned to Newfoundland years later to say thank you. What started as an emergency response became a global example of humanity at its best.
The ripple effect of that kindness has continued ever since, inspiring countless pay it forward moments around the world.
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York Stage says the Golden Seat giveaway is their way of continuing that legacy.
Nick Briggs, producer and director at York Stage, said: “Come From Away is a story about strangers helping strangers.
“It’s about compassion when it’s needed most. The kindness shown in Gander didn’t stop when the planes left. It created a ripple effect that’s still felt today. The Golden Seat is our way of paying that forward and giving something meaningful back to our own community.”
Kevin Coundon, marketing director at York Stage, said: “This production is about more than what happens on stage. It’s about real people, real places and real acts of generosity. Partnering with Heritage Collection Travel allows us to connect York directly to Newfoundland in a tangible way. We hope this moment inspires people to carry that spirit of kindness beyond the theatre.”
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Tickets for Come From Away are selling quickly, making it one of York Stage’s fastest-selling productions to date.
Michael Davies, managing director of Heritage Collection Travel, said: “As a local independent business, supporting initiatives that bring people together is
incredibly important to us. The story of Gander is one of humanity and hope. We’re proud to gift this prize in conjunction with York Stage and help send one l lucky audience member to experience Newfoundland for themselves.”
The Golden Seat performance will be pre-selected before the run begins, with the winner announced live during the show.
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Tickets re available via the Grand Opera House York website.
The proposed introduction of a permanent order prohibiting the overnight parking of motor caravans in Sandsend and North Bay in Scarborough has divided coastal councillors.
It comes as an “overwhelming” portion of responses to North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) consultation on its Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) objected to the scheme.
At a meeting in Whitby, councillors said the scheme had successfully addressed issues caused by an “unacceptable level” of motorhomes using certain streets, including impacts on visual amenity and safety.
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Cllr Janet Jefferson said it was a “relief to not get texts and messages every weekend about the number of campervans, which had started to look like a shantytown”.
Speaking at the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee on Monday (March 2) Cllr Eric Broadbent added that the number of emails he received had “halved because a majority were complaints saying that too many motorhomes are parking on Marine Drive”.
However, since its introduction, thousands of residents have reportedly also complained about the “displacement effects” of the order.
Cllr Rich Maw said that the ban “doesn’t remove demand, it displaces it” and that his email inbox was “stacked out with correspondence”.
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He told the meeting: “I have received volumes of complaints, I’ve held public meetings and raised these concerns, but I’m not being heard.
“The campervans are relocating to residential areas, and locals are waking up to campervans outside their windows, disposing of grey water, and hanging up laundry on their hedges.”
He added that “the more proportionate response would be to reinstate parking with charges, police distances, generate revenue, and allow enforcement while protecting residential amenity.
“We need to ask if we’re solving the original issue or just displacing the problem.”
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The ETRO was introduced to restrict overnight parking at Sandsend, Royal Albert Drive, and Cayton Bay, but the council has not been able to use data from the latter location as signs at Cayton Bay were subjected to vandalism.
Cayton division councillor, Roberta Swiers, said: “In my area, my emails have doubled, the number of photos I’m getting has doubled, and obviously it’s not been a success.”
North Yorkshire Council has been undertaking a consultation on the “impacts of the prohibitions and needs” to determine a way forward in advance of the ETRO expiring in May.
A decision on the future of the scheme will be made in April .
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“With more than 3,000 responses to the consultation, there are many subject matters covered which are outside the scope of the ETRO and the decision whether it should be made permanent,” according to a report prepared for the meeting.
Richard Marr, a council area manager for highways, said the authority would look at the displaced parking in future parking reviews.
He added: “There are plans to examine how we identify impacted locations, and rather than a piecemeal approach that pushes parking to the next street, we are considering a wider view to how we deal with motorhomes across the county”.
“We need to consider this with the council’s tourism department, because there’s quite a strong demand from the motorhome caravan fraternity and there are many benefits as well”.
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Councillors echoed that they did not want Scarborough to have a reputation of being “anti-motorhome because they bring money and investment and we do need to ask, where will they go”.
David Render underwent numerous procedures carried out by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Leslie Irwin between 2018 and 2022.
Mr Irwin practised at Spire Washington Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital during that period.
David said several procedures were often carried out during a single operation, leaving him at times unsure “exactly what had been done”.
David Render (Image: SUPPLIED)
On two occasions, he claims screws were left protruding from his fingers following surgery, requiring emergency removal.
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He first sought medical treatment in 2017 after damaging his wrists in a fall.
Initially treated by another surgeon, he was referred to Mr Irwin the following year.
Over the next four years, he underwent repeated operations at Spire Washington Hospital on his wrists, fingers and elbows, including extensive tendon and ligament surgery.
Since then, David, from Washington, says he has struggled with daily life.
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Leslie Irwin (Image: SUPPLIED)
Once a keen photographer, he has been unable to return fully to his hobby and says ongoing pain and restricted movement in his arms make everyday tasks difficult.
He also believes the physical and emotional toll of repeated procedures contributed to the breakdown of his marriage.
Although he regarded Mr Irwin, who has since been banned from practising by Spire, as his “saviour”, David was contacted unexpectedly last year by Spire Washington Hospital, raising concerns about some of the procedures he had undergone.
Following an investigation into Mr Irwin’s work, Spire acknowledged there had been “no clinical indication” for at least one of David’s operations.
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Sunderland Royal Hospital (Image: Stuart Boulton)
Concerns were also raised about the standard of surgery, including the use of a thermal wand, described as a technique not accepted practice, which caused damage to his wrist.
“I honestly thought Mr Irwin was amazing, I worshipped him,” David said.
“I believed things would have been far worse without all the operations he carried out.
“When he did several procedures in one go, I thought he was saving time and money, and I trusted him completely to fix what was wrong.
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“But knowing what I know now, it feels very different. It has been such a shock, especially as nothing has actually been put right despite all those operations.
“When Spire contacted me, I assumed it was routine. Finding out what had happened made me very angry. I thought he was a brilliant surgeon and a lovely man. To discover there are so many others affected is awful.”
Mr Irwin who worked for the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust between 2001 and 2023, retired in 2022, but a selection of his patients have been contacted directly by Spire over potential issues with his work.
Mr Irwin relinquished his role with the General Medical Council (GMC) in May 2025.
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Spire Healthcare suspended Mr Irwin in August 2023 and withdrew his practising privileges in September 2024.
Spire Hospital in Washington (Image: Stuart Boulton)
The private practice started recalling patients who were operated on by Mr Irwin during his time at Spire Washington Hospital in the summer of 2025.
The South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said that it had “liaised with Spire to understand the scale of their patient recall and to help inform our next steps as a Trust”.
A spokesperson for the Trust added: “We are currently working through the details of which patients we may need to review and will contact those people directly and as a matter of priority.”
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The Care Quality Commission (CQC) confirmed that it inspected Spire Washington Hospital in October last year after concerns were raised with it, and would be publishing its findings in due course.
Mr Render said he had always believed he was receiving the best possible care and, even after the incidents involving screws protruding from his fingers, would “never have dreamed of complaining”.
“Had Spire not contacted me, I would never have known,” he said.
“I would have assumed this was the best outcome I could expect after my accident. I am grateful for their openness and transparency.
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“But there are still so many questions, for me and for other patients and for me. We need to understand what happened and why things have gone so terribly wrong.”
David is being supported by law firm Slater and Gordon, which has been investigating cases involving Mr Irwin for several months. An increasing number of former patients are said to have come forward.
Ayesha Hussain, a clinical negligence solicitor representing David, said: “David placed his full trust in his surgeon, as any patient would, believing he was receiving the highest standard of care.
“To discover that this may have fallen significantly short has been devastating for him, particularly given the regard in which he held his doctor.
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“He is entitled to answers about what happened and why, and we will support him in seeking those answers.
“This is an extremely concerning situation, and we are hearing from a significant number of people with similar concerns. We would urge anyone worried about their treatment to come forward.”
Spire Washington says they have been in touch with patients and are reviewing specific procedures undertaken by Mr Irwin.
A Spire spokesperson previously said: “We are currently reviewing specific procedures that were provided to a select cohort of patients of Mr Leslie Irwin, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who previously practised at Spire Washington Hospital.
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“We are in direct contact with all relevant patients to review their care and offer support.
“The review is being run in accordance with NHS England’s National Quality Board: Recall Framework, which Spire Healthcare helped to develop.”
Mr Irwin has not responded to requests for comment by The Northern Echo.
‘The US Mission to Saudi Arabia has issued a shelter in place notification for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and are limiting non-essential travel to any military installations in the region’
The US Embassy in Saudi Arabia has been struck by multiple missile strikes, authorities have confirmed.
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Multiple sources at the scene initially reported witnessing multiple blasts which caused the fire. The attacks have since been confirmed by the Saudi Defence Ministry, two drones attacked the United States Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday night.
Later, US officials confirmed the attacks to Fox News. Also confirmed were two new explosions in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter following the earlier drone attack against the US embassy.
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Per initial estimates, minor material damage was done to the building, and a limited fire broke out.
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The US Embassy Riyadh has issued a statement to American citizens in Saudi Arabia, urging them to shelter in place as the risk of missile attack remains high.
“The US Mission to Saudi Arabia has issued a shelter in place notification for Jeddah, Riyadh and Dhahran and are limiting non-essential travel to any military installations in the region – we recommend American citizens in the Kingdom to shelter in place immediately,” the Riyadh US Embassy statement said. “The US Mission to Saudi Arabia continues to monitor the regional situation.”The embassy urged any Americans who may be in those areas to monitor official information sources and to follow the instructions of local authorities.
The consulate building was empty at the time of the Iranian drone strike, an official has told Fox News. A third drone is en route to US. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, per FOX.
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As the widening war between Iran and the US and its allies has entered its fourth day, the Assistant US Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar urged Americans in countries including Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel to “DEPART NOW” using any available commercial transportation.
Namdar’s words came as an evacuation order for the US Embassy in Jordan was also issued, with the consulate evacuated “out of an abundance of caution”.
US president Donald Trump has said that strikes against Iran are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that”.
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He said US forces were determined to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, and to stop the country from obtaining nuclear weapons. The President added that the US also seeks to ensure that Iran cannot continue to support allied groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which fired missiles at Israel, drawing retaliatory airstrikes.
“This was our last, best chance to strike, what we’re doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
Iran has long threatened, if attacked, to drag the region into total war, including targeting Israel, the Gulf Arab states and the flow of crude oil crucial for global energy markets. All of these came under attack on Monday.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack from drones, with defences downing the incoming aircraft, a military spokesman told the state-run Saudi Press Agency. The refinery has a capacity of more than half a million barrels of crude oil a day.
A drone also targeted an oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, killing one mariner, the sultanate said, while debris fell on an oil refinery in Kuwait. Several ships have been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil trade passes and where Iran has threatened attacks.
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
What’s in store for you today? (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Today’s Total Lunar Eclipse in Virgo is a chance for reset. It’s a fresh slate for hard truths to be written on.
Aries, Gemini and Cancer, you will realise that something in your life is no longer serving you as it used to. Don’t be afraid to outgrow your past selves.
This is a tough Lunation, but know you have the courage to get through it. Channel the confronting energy and make necessary shifts towards your truest form.
Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Tuesday March 3, 2026.
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The Lunar Eclipse in Virgo shines a revealing light on your work and wellness routines and your to-do list. What is not effective becomes impossible to ignore, whether it is a habit, a health choice or a desire to be perfect that is holding you back. You are offered a chance to release the unrealistic and embrace the sustainable. You do not have to go to extremes to be enough.
Your zone of creativity, romance and joy is lit up by a major lunation, revealing what is no longer fun or functional. A project may be ready to evolve, or a romantic chapter could shift in surprising ways. This is less about drama and more about divine editing. If it does not light you up, let it go. Reconnect with what brings you pleasure, not just what looks good on paper.
The spotlight shines on your foundations of home, family, roots and emotional security. Something you have outgrown in your private life may be ready to depart, whether it is a physical space, an old issue or a dynamic that has quietly worn out its welcome. Let go of the pressure to keep holding it all together. Today’s Total Lunar Eclipse says establish yourself in truth, not obligation.
Today’s potent lunation occurs in your communication zone, shaking up how you think, speak and connect. Outdated ideas, habits of over-explaining or mental clutter may be ready to go. It asks if you are being honest or revising for comfort. You do not need all the answers, just embrace novelty over certainty. A conversation, contract or mindset shift could mark a turning point.
Your sector of money, values and self-worth is illuminated, bringing financial truths and personal priorities into sharp focus. If something has been draining your resources or dimming your confidence, it is time to cut ties. Let go of impulsive spending or trying to prove your worth through performance. Today’s Moon phase offers an audit, so prepare to embrace your true value
The Lunar Eclipse in your sign is a mirror reflecting the truth of who you are now, not who you were trying to be. Something personal is coming full circle, such as a habit, identity or narrative that no longer fits, and it may be ready for release. You are allowed to change, soften and rewrite your story. Eclipse energy is potent, so give yourself space to feel before you move into action.
Cosmic messages for Cosmic messages for Virgo today
Libra
September 24 to October 23
Something behind the scenes, perhaps a belief, secret or quiet habit, is ready to be liberated. You are wrapping up a chapter that has been running in the background far too long. Let go of guilt, perfectionism or the need to hold it all in. Solitude is sacred, so embrace stillness without apology. A key lunation means insight can arrive through dreams, a hunch or even a brief nap.
Your sector of friendships, future goals and group dynamics is lit up, shaking loose what no longer aligns with your vision. A team, goal or social circle may be shifting, and that is okay. Do not cling out of loyalty to outdated plans. Today’s Eclipse energy clears space for meaningful connections and aspirations. It is time to ask whether certain people and pursuits still inspire you.
Is a role, goal or reputation you have outgrown ready for retirement? Today’s Moon Eclipse is more about changing course than collapse. You are refining what success means, as this lunar phase clears space for more aligned achievements. Let go of trying too hard or being too nice in your public life. The world does not need a saintlier version, it needs the real you, quirks and all.
Something you once stood firmly behind, whether a worldview, a goal or a well-worn truth, may no longer fit your evolving self. This is your celestial cue to release outdated philosophies and make space for a more inspired path. Do not be afraid to admit you have changed. A course of study or mindset shift could be coming to a close, bringing with it a surprising new direction.
A potent lunar phase dives deep into your sector of transformation, intimacy and shared resources, and the vault of your emotional and energetic investments. Something hidden may come to light and be ripe for release. This is not superficial, but it can prompt deep spring cleaning. Let go of control, trust the process and know that surrender is not weakness, it is wisdom in disguise
The Lunar Eclipse shines its revealing light on your relationships, asking you to get real about what and who you are committed to. A partnership, whether romantic, professional or platonic, may shift, end or evolve in surprising ways. This is not about loss, more about alignment. If something needs alignment, this is your cue to recalibrate. Release the need to fix or be too accommodating.
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Hironobu Sakaguci, one of the creators of the long-running Final Fantasy game series, once observed: “The game itself is fun to play, but its strongest characteristic is the visual entertainment the game provides.”
This aesthetic appeal is a big part of the enjoyment players take from their favourite games. Far from the simple graphics of early games, players can now explore photorealistic forests in Kingdom Come Deliverance II (2025), cross neon-drenched cities in Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), or explore alien planets in No Man’s Sky (2016) – all while taking pictures of them.
Players have long documented their adventures in virtual worlds. The practice of taking “screenshots” – still images captured from the screen during gameplay, like a single frame from a film – predates today’s culture of live streaming. At the turn of the millennium, players were already sharing screenshots on forums and early social media platforms. Some wanted to show how they had overcome a difficult section of the game, while others highlighted interesting locations, or captured funny moments.
Game developers noticed, and over time “photo modes” became a standard feature in many games. These allow players to pause the action and take pictures of the game as if they were using a virtual camera.
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Australie/Australia (2025) from Death Stranding 2 (Kojima Productions 2025). From the book Photography, Video Game, Landscape by Pascal Greco. Courtesy of Pascal Greco
This feature is implemented in different ways. In Grand Theft Auto V (2013), the player character can equip the camera like any other in-game item. They can frame the shots and tune the settings as in a real camera, and export the images from within the game world. Western game Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) even equips the player with a period-accurate 1898 Kodak camera.
Other games still provide a photo mode without tying it to the in-game world. A camera appearing in the inventory of the 13th century samurai of Ghost of Tsushima (2020) would be out of place. But with the powerful photo mode, the player can still modify numerous image settings, and also the game world itself, such as time of day, weather and the character’s facial expressions, to get the “perfect shot”.
In-game photography as art
Video games are a visual medium, and promotional screenshots remain central to how they are advertised. But several artists have now turned in‑game photography into a serious artistic practice, with radically different approaches.
British in-game photographer Duncan Harris is a pioneer. Already active in the early 2000s, his photographic works are collected in the blog Deadendthrills. Harris also produces promotional imagery for major games-publishers. His images push game-engines to their limits, often using custom tools to showcase impressive graphics of detailed characters and sweeping vistas.
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Other artists have taken more critical or experimental approaches. Dutch artist Robert Overweg takes pictures from impossible angles: inside a wall, underground or inside buildings that are not meant to be accessed by players. His series Flying and Floating, showing visual glitches and the impossible structures of the 1950s Chicago-like city of the game Mafia 2 (2010), was exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2015.
Los Angeles-based artist Kent Sheely adopts a documentary approach and subverts the gameplay accordingly. For his DoD series, inspired by war photographer Robert Capa, he modified the second world war online shooter Day of Defeat (2003). His character carried no weapons, no user interface cluttered the screen, and the “shoot” button was converted into a screenshotting key, as if he were an actual war photographer on the field.
Swiss artist Pascal Greco occupies yet another position between documentary and the avant-garde. A self-taught filmmaker, cinematographer and photographer, Greco has staged live performances in which he plays Death Stranding (2019) while capturing in-game photographs in front of an audience. His photobook Photography, Video Game, Landscape (2025) presents pristine virtual natural landscapes, devoid of human elements, interjected by glitches – fragmented vistas of these landscapes, between the sublime and the abstract.
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Tales From The Real World by Mélanie Courtinat & Pascal Greco.
Questions of authorship
In 2024, the first academic conference dedicated to in-game photography was held in Milan. Among the key topics was authorship. Who owns the rights to in-game photographs: the photographer who takes the picture, or the developers who created the game?
The work of Italian artist Leonardo Magrelli is emblematic in this regard. His photobook West of Here (2021) collects screenshots taken by other players in Grand Theft Auto V. Magrelli edited them into a black-and-white photobook, echoing the traditions of American documentary photography and appropriation work such as Sherrie Levine’s After Walker Evans (1981).
The project provoked strong reactions from online users, who argued that Magrelli had no right to use images he had not personally captured. Subsequent legal enquiries suggested that, in principle, only Rockstar Games – the developer – could pursue legal action regarding the use of its intellectual property. At the time of writing, no such action has been taken.
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In-game photography is an innovative artistic medium that sits at the intersection of play, technology and artistic expression. It is not merely an aesthetic exercise, but rather an experimental terrain where the barrier between spectator and creator is removed, and players become artists, chroniclers or archivists of ever-changing virtual universes.
That’s Donald Trump’s dilemma as the war escalates with Iran.
He says there could be weeks more to go, so is he serious and can the US last that long?
Ahead of the war, in highly unusual leaks Pentagon commanders warned the force being assembled in the region would have enough firepower for a week or two at most.
Image: President Donald Trump and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. Pic: AP
The clock may be running faster for America’s allies in the region. Well-sourced reports claim Gulf states are already begging the US presidentto end this soon, not least because their stocks of air defence missiles are dwindling worryingly quickly.
This war is asymmetrical. As unbalanced as using Ferraris against e-bikes it’s been said. A multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art Patriot missile for instance will bring down a drone worth only thousands, but doing so indefinitely is not sustainable.
Iran’s strategy to lash out in multiple directions has surprised many. It should not have. They have long warned they would take the gloves off if they faced an attempt to change their regime.
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What’s happening inside Iran?
It could cost them. Gulf states and Saudi Arabia will now be considering joining the fight against Iran with their own forces.
But for now, the strategy is already working putting pressure on the US from vital regional allies to end this war but also forcing their attackers to deplete their stocks of astronomically expensive weaponry.
There are unknowns. How quickly can the US reinforce its fighting capability and crucially what is happening on the ground. Is Israel softening up parts of the country from the air to enable regional uprisings armed by agents in the field?
That could take the war in a very different direction – the fragmentation of Iran and internal civil war.
There is no sign of that yet. In the absence of such strategies the regime will most likely survive a few weeks of aerial onslaught however ferocious.
This war is asymmetric in another way too, that of desired outcomes. To win Israel and America must bring about regime change because that is their objective. To declare victory the regime therefore needs only survive, for as long as it takes.
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And maintaining the pace of their attacks on Iran indefinitely for both the US and Israel is not an option.
More US pilots will be shot down, or troops killed on the ground, the impact on the global economy will be too great, regional allies and stability will be too punishing. Domestic support for another foreign war will continue haemorrhaging.
For whatever reason this war will have its limits and if the Iranian regime still stands when it reaches that point, what happens then?
Holi celebrations in the north Indian town of Mathura filled the air with music, dance, and clouds of colored powder.
Hundreds of men and women gathered at a temple in the north Indian town of Mathura, believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, one of the most revered Hindu gods with whom this festival is closely associated, to celebrate the festival marking the arrival of spring.
Their faces smeared with colored powder and their wet clothes hanging to their bodies, they swayed to the rhythm of beating music. Holi colors represent spring’s bounty and the festival is seen as a time to forget old grudges and renew friendships.
On a large stage behind the revelers, folk actors recreated scenes from Krishna’s life and his playful flirting with his consort Radha.
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The dark-skinned god is believed to have smeared color on Radha’s fair cheeks to make her look more like him, setting off a tradition in which people smear colors on each other’s cheeks to mark the festival of colors. The divine couple is a favorite subject of the traditional Indian miniature paintings.
Actors then gear up to play another Radha-Krishna episode to the delight of the merry crowd.
In Mathura and other places linked to Krishna’s life, the celebrations last for several days, but March 4 marks the main day of Holi and festivities spread across the country.
When South Korean doctors launched a nationwide thyroid cancer screening programme, diagnoses shot up 15 fold. Yet the death rate from thyroid cancer didn’t budge. More patients were being created than lives were being saved.
It is a clear illustration of a problem that is quietly reshaping how doctors think about cancer: overdiagnosis. Not misdiagnosis but the accurate detection of tumours that would not actually harm the patient.
Modern cancer screening is rightly celebrated as one of medicine’s great achievements. Finding cancer early saves lives. But as technology has become ever more sensitive, are we sometimes doing more harm than good?
Better detection
A cancer doesn’t spring from a single rogue cell flicking a switch. It develops through multiple steps, and many clusters of abnormal cells never complete that journey.
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Some sit quietly in the body for decades. Only a fraction ever become life threatening. The problem is that once an abnormality is detected and labelled as cancer, it triggers a chain reaction – anxiety, aggressive treatment, serious side-effects – for a condition that might never have caused the patient any trouble at all.
Twenty years ago, many of these abnormalities would have been impossible to find. Today, state-of-the-art imaging and highly sensitive detection tests can identify tiny clusters of abnormal cells, faint genetic changes, and the smallest growths. As that technology improves, the boundary between a dangerous cancer and a harmless biological quirk becomes increasingly blurred.
This raises an uncomfortable question about rising cancer rates, particularly the well documented increase in diagnoses among the under-50s. Is this a genuine biological shift – cancers becoming more aggressive and appearing earlier in life – or is it partly a reflection of the fact that today’s younger adults are being screened, scanned and monitored far more intensively than previous generations?
Thyroid cancer is the starkest example. In South Korea in 2011, that 15-fold surge in diagnoses came almost entirely from screening, not from any real increase in disease. Researchers and clinical bodies eventually revised their guidelines in 2013, moving away from screening slow-growing lesions and towards monitoring rather than immediate surgery.
Prostate cancer tells a similar story. The introduction of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test produced a large jump in diagnoses, but death rates stayed flat – suggesting many men were being treated for cancers that grow so slowly, they never would have become life-threatening.
The consequences were serious. Surgery left many men incontinent or impotent, with no improvement in survival. Guidelines now favour active surveillance for many prostate growths.
For these two types of cancers, also those of the colon, the evidence increasingly points in the same direction: “watchful waiting” is often safer than immediate intervention. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy all carry significant risks and long-term side effects. Exposing a patient to those risks for a tumour that was never going to threaten their life is difficult to justify.
None of this means early detection should be abandoned. For fast-moving cancers – pancreatic, lung, some breast cancers – finding the disease early remains critical. The challenge is learning to distinguish between the cancers that demand urgent action and those that can safely be watched. That requires not just better technology, but better judgement about when to use it.
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Fairness and transparency
Shifting towards a risk-based approach to screening also raises difficult questions about fairness and transparency. Who gets screened, how often and on what grounds? Those decisions carry real consequences, and they deserve a more open public debate than they currently receive.
What is becoming clearer, though, is that the old logic of cancer screening – find it, remove it – is no longer sufficient on its own. Overdiagnosis is a genuine harm, even if it is a less visible one than a missed diagnosis. For some patients, learning to live carefully with a monitored cancer may turn out to be safer than trying to eliminate it entirely.
Overall shop inflation fell slightly to 1.1% from January’s 1.5%, in line with the three-month average of 1.1%, as fierce competition between retailers kept price rises in check and customers benefited from promotions across health, beauty and fashion, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and NIQ.
