Did you know in Crusader Kings II you can make a horse become ruler of the Roman Empire? And if that doesn't convince you to pick up a copy of the game for free this weekend, then I don't know anything that will. More details on that below, plus Assassin's Creed: Origins adds cheat codes, Shadow of War deep-sixes loot boxes, Path of Exile temporarily goes battle royale, Lawbreakers studio Boss Key starts work on a new project, and maybe some Shaquille O'Neal news too. This is gaming news for April 2 to 6. As I said up top, this week's freebie is a big one: Crusader Kings II, the massive and ever-popular grand strategy game from Paradox, is free (to own) on Steam until early Saturday, Pacific Time.

Happy video game news this week: Someone's making a miniaturized Commodore 64, Hollow Knight's getting its third free expansion, Avernum 3 was remastered, and Rainbow Six Siege teased...aliens? Also, Paragon and Gigantic are both shutting down. This is gaming news for January 29 to February 2. Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed this week to October, which is big news everywhere but here because Rockstar still hasn't confirmed a PC version. Those looking to celebrate the classics though should jump on the Humble Rockstar Bundle. The Grand Theft Auto games are bound to draw the most attention-- III and Vice City in the $1 tier, San Andreas in beat-the-average, and $15 for GTAIV. But the real aficionados know Max Payne, Max Payne 2, and Bully are the best games in this bunch.

Let that sink in a bit--and then read on because the story gets even weirder from there. That news, plus The Banner Saga 3 and Pillars of Eternity II nail down release dates, DICE talks overhauling Battlefront II's multiplayer progression, Anthem (probably) gets delayed, and Humble hands out copies of Amnesia: The Dark Descent--replacement pants not included. The Sea of Thieves closed beta is also in full swing. This is gaming news for January 22 to 26. That's copies of Frictional's horror classic Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the more relaxed follow-up Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs from The Chinese Room.

When the new Star Wars video game, Battlefront II, was made public in a final testing session before a general release, it didn't receive quite the reception its publisher, Electronic Arts, was hoping for. It featured a confusing mixture of virtual collectibles and randomised rewards that could be used to unlock characters within the game, meaning it would take 40 hours of continuous play to access just one top-tier character such as Luke Skywalker. The system, though, could be shortcut with cash: players were able to spend real money buying so-called "loot crates" full of the required rewards and credits. Just a few thousand dollars was all it would take to unlock every character in the game. A bargain! What's more, these loot crates were also randomised, with users not knowing what they were getting before buying. The fan backlash to this system, on social news site Reddit and elsewhere, was immediate and furious.

Free, it turns out, can be a great business. When Shigenori Suzuki played video games in high school, he spent a few hundred dollars a year on titles like "Final Fantasy." Now the 42-year-old Tokyoite plays free games including Sony Corp.'s "Fate/Grand Order" -- but spends more overall. Players like Suzuki have transformed the video game industry in recent years, giving companies from Sony to Electronic Arts Inc. new ways to profit without charging upfront. Companies give away games, then sell digital goods and services through so-called microtransactions.

It's been a few weeks since I've done a news wrap-up, thanks to a knee-deep pile of review games I'm still slowly churning through. But my Total War sensors went off this week, so it's time to return. Also up this week: Pillars of Eternity 2 hits beta, Thermaltake's new gaming chair cools your butt off, the end of Marvel Heroes, the start for Verdun sequel Tannenberg, and of course all the internet (and real-world) drama surrounding loot boxes. This is gaming news for November 13 to 17. We've got two free-to-try titles this weekend, with both available for steep discounts if you wind up enjoying the games. For strategy fans it's Endless Space 2, launched earlier this year and updated with new diplomatic options this week.

Janina Gavankar plays an Imperial special forces officer in a story mode set after the events of'Return of the Jedi' in the new video game'Star Wars: Battlefront II.' Electronic Arts Janina Gavankar plays Iden Versio, commander of the Empire's Inferno Squad unit in the video game'Star Wars: Battlefront II.' (Photo: EA) Even the evil Empire in Star Wars had its own heroes, and actress Janina Gavankar is giving life to a great one. In this week's episode of The Mothership, USA TODAY's geek culture podcast, Gavankar comes aboard to talk about her voiceover role as Iden Versio in the video game Star Wars: Battlefront II (out Nov. 14). Versio is commander of the Imperial special forces unit Inferno Squad and has to deal with the aftermath of the Rebels' stunning defeat of the Empire at the end of Return of the Jedi. And in our Nerd Alert segment, Brett and Brian discuss the departure of longtime Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis to rival DC Comics and ponder what icons Bendis should tackle in his new gig. Have thoughts about the podcast?

It's hard to talk about EA's multiplayer Star Wars shooter without accidentally stumbling over your words and mentioning the company's other large-scale war series: Battlefield. Long before Disney gave Electronic Arts the exclusive rights to create Star Wars video games, the Battlefront series was taking notes from DICE's own shooter -- draping science fiction trappings over the WWII game's vehicle combat, large battlefields and even its name. When EA took over the franchise its own game inspired, however, the resulting game was accused of being gorgeous, but shallow. Fortunately, the company seems to have heard player complaints. According to Star Wars Battlefront II executive producer Matt Webster, the next game in the series could play like a more accessible, but still sufficiently deep Battlefield title. Hints of this were all over the game's E3 reveal: a revamped multiplayer mode with character classes, a point-based progression system and, perhaps most importantly, the promise that all online DLC would be free.

A convention center packed with video games large and small. E3 is a magical week for anyone who likes to spend their free time pushing buttons on plastic gamepads. It's like the Super Bowl, the Oscars and a presidential election rolled into one. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo stand out as the hardware heavyweights, while EA, Ubisoft and Bethesda lead the third-party-publisher tussle. Throw in Square Enix, Activision and the occasional Capcom appearance, and you have the makings of a truly special show.