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Blog entry by Luisa O'May

Thanks, Game Devs, For Helping Me Stay Sane Through A Crisis

  • Luisa O'May
  • Saturday, 6 December 2025, 2:23 AM
  • 5 min read

The easiest fix would be to play only with players one trusts. However, one key issue is that my friends range from far better to me to far worse than me, which poses challenges with skill-based matchmaking. Even though my K/D is below one and I have a win rate of 5 percent, squadding up with my higher-skill friends means there will almost certainly be Apex Predators in our lo

Big names in gaming like Apex Legends , FIFA , Fortnite , League of Legends , Valorant , Rainbow Six Siege , and more have a worldwide following with servers everywhere except Africa. As an African gamer, I find it insulting and hypocritical that these companies force us to read Black Lives Matter messages every time we start a game, yet most black people aren't allowed to get the best experience from

Ultimately, it seems bigger thing driving these development teams is a sense of collective duty. It stems from the developers' passion for the game itself, love for their fanbases and deep appreciation for the communities that support their work. Development teams, including the project leaders, designers, writers, marketing teams, and executive leaders, understand they have a responsibility in these difficult times. They inherently recognize they're providing refuge for people who might otherwise be putting themselves in positions to spread a terrible illn

It's ridiculous that publishers don't realize the potential of African gamers. This untapped market could drastically increase their revenue and add to the already booming esports industry. African gamers relentlessly soldier on despite being shunned by publishers, and are at a constant disadvantage. If they had a level playing field, they could easily give other teams in the world a run for their mo

Is it worth $10? Absolutely. The most recent battle pass included 6 new exclusive skins each with its own additional unlockable styles, and most have their own pickaxes and back bling, on top of a handful of emotes, loading screens, and player icons. If Fortnite does one thing right it is its cosmetics. The battle pass offers players a plethora of items to unlock that are each unique and worth the grind and the extra challenges extend the life of the game and give players a reason to hop back in every w

While the character skins which are unlocked through the battle pass aren't that great, the weapon skins and emotes in Apex Legends are amazing. What Apex lacks in character skins they make up for tenfold in weapon skins, and almost every weapon skin in the battle pass is gorgeous. There are also plenty of quality voice lines, emotes, calling cards, and stat trackers. On top of all of those rewards, there are rare materials which can be used to craft skins as well as high tier Apex Packs only obtainable through the battle p

The Off The Record skin for Loba happens to be of her four extremely rare cosmetics. It has a sister skin that keeps much of the same shape and Star Wars Jedi Sequel looks but changes the entire color scheme of the outfit. Off The Record focuses on a red, black, and white look that seems to just be a combination that always looks good. This skin makes Loba look like she's the main character in a cyberpunk game or maybe even a high-end assassin. She tends to walk the line of femininity and intimidation, but this skin is 100% the lat

The lack of servers creates a vicious cycle. Publishers don't have African servers because they think there aren't enough players, but without servers, how is the player base expected to grow? The impact of this policy has had a truly detrimental effect on the African gaming community. Many games have "World" Cups or "World" Championships, and it's evident that Africa isn't part of their "World." No matter how good African players are, there's no way of getting involved in many of the sanctioned leagues without moving to another contin

Now let's talk about the other color variant of the Bootlegger skin. This one is mostly gold and black and goes by the name Gold Standard. The pinstripes on this skin are a lot more subdued and at a glance, it simply looks like Loba is wearing a gold and black jacket. If the other skin is a created character in Red Dead Online , this one might be an end-game outfit you unlock after hours of grinding and/or gathering resources. It visually brings back the images of Loba as a child, growing up in a life of wea

If this list was simply about ranking the names of all of the Season 5 weapon skins, you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than the Bad Mojo skin for the Spitfire. The Spitfire is a large and powerful light-machine gun that was once highly coveted but has recently fallen off due to players preferring other weapons in its weapon cl

As a non-pro player, I’ll always make mistakes. I’ll try to revive a teammate when I should be fighting, and I’ll miss shots that I know aren’t difficult for good players. But I’ve put around 1500 hours into Apex Legends , and yet I can’t recall a time I’ve ever become vocally frustrated with a teammate without obvious provocation. Those I play with will also sometimes run out ahead just to get downed or will push fights they have no chance of winning, but I trust they are doing their best and aim to support them as teammates no matter their choi

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