20 March 2020

Visual Transfer Learning for Robotic Manipulation




The idea that robots can learn to directly perceive the affordances of actions on objects (i.e., what the robot can or cannot do with an object) is called affordance-based manipulation, explored in research on learning complex vision-based manipulation skills including grasping, pushing, and throwing. In these systems, affordances are represented as dense pixel-wise action-value maps that estimate how good it is for the robot to execute one of several predefined motions at each location. For example, given an RGB-D image, an affordance-based grasping model might infer grasping affordances per pixel with a convolutional neural network. The grasping affordance value at each pixel would represent the success rate of performing a corresponding motion primitive (e.g. grasping action), which would then be executed by the robot at the position with the highest value.
Overview of affordance-based manipulation.
For methods such as this, the ability to do more with less data is incredibly important, since data collection through physical trial and error can be both time consuming and expensive. However, recent discoveries in transfer learning have shown that visual feature representations learned from large-scale computer vision datasets can be reused for deep learning agents, enabling them to learn faster and generalize better in video games and simulated environments. If end-to-end affordance-based robot learning models that map from pixels to actions could similarly benefit from these visual representations, one could begin to leverage the vast amounts of labeled visual data that are now available in order to more efficiently learn useful skills for real-world interaction with less training.

In “Learning to See before Learning to Act: Visual Pre-training for Manipulation”, a collaboration with researchers from MIT to be presented at ICRA 2020, we investigate whether existing pre-trained deep learning visual feature representations can improve the efficiency of learning robotic manipulation tasks, like grasping objects. By studying how we can intelligently transfer neural network weights between vision models and affordance-based manipulation models, we can evaluate how different visual feature representations benefit the exploration process and enable robots to quickly acquire manipulation skills using different grippers. We present practical techniques to pre-train deep learning models, which enable robots to learn to pick and grasp arbitrary objects in unstructured settings in less than 10 minutes of trial and error.
Does first learning to see, improve the speed at which a robot can learn to act? In this project, we study ways in which we can transfer knowledge learned from computer vision tasks (left) to robot manipulation tasks (right).
Transfer Learning for Affordance-Based Manipulation
Affordance-based manipulation is essentially a way to reframe a manipulation task as a computer vision task, but rather than referencing pixels to object labels, we instead associate pixels to the value of actions. Since the structure of computer vision models and affordance models are so similar, one can leverage techniques from transfer learning in computer vision to enable affordance models to learn faster with less data. This approach re-purposes pre-trained neural network weights (i.e., feature representations) learned from large-scale vision datasets to initialize network weights of affordance models for robotic grasping.

In computer vision, many deep model architectures are composed of two parts: a “backbone” and a “head”. The backbone consists of weights that are responsible for early-stage image processing, e.g., filtering edges, detecting corners, and distinguishing between colors, while the head consists of network weights that are used in latter-stage processing, such as identifying high-level features, recognizing contextual cues, and executing spatial reasoning. The head is often much smaller than the backbone and is also more task specific. Hence, it is common practice in transfer learning to pre-train (e.g., on ResNet) and share backbone weights between tasks, while randomly initializing the weights of the model head for each new task.

Following this recipe, we initialized our affordance-based manipulation models with backbones based on the ResNet-50 architecture and pre-trained on different vision tasks, including a classification model from ImageNet and a segmentation model from COCO. With different initializations, the robot was then tasked with learning to grasp a diverse set of objects through trial and error.

Initially, we did not see any significant gains in performance compared with training from scratch – grasping success rates on training objects were only able to rise to 77% after 1,000 trial and error grasp attempts, outperforming training from scratch by 2%. However, upon transferring network weights from both the backbone and the head of the pre-trained COCO vision model, we saw a substantial improvement in training speed – grasping success rates reached 73% in just 500 trial and error grasp attempts, and jumped to 86% by 1,000 attempts. In addition, we tested our model on new objects unseen during training and found that models with the pre-trained backbone from COCO generalize better. The grasping success rates reach 83% with pre-trained backbone alone and further improve to 90% with both pre-trained backbone and head, outperforming the 46% reached by a model trained from scratch.
Affordance-based grasping models trained from scratch can struggle to pick up new objects after 60 minutes of training (left). With pre-training from visual tasks, our affordance-based grasping models can easily generalize to picking up new objects with less than 10 minutes of training, even when evaluated with different hardware (middle: suction, right: gripper).
Transfer Learning Can Improve Exploration
In our experiments with the grasping robot, we observed that the distribution of successful grasps versus failures in the generated datasets was far more balanced when network weights from both the backbone and head of pre-trained vision models were transferred to the affordance models, as opposed to only transferring the backbone.
Number of successful grasps out of the first 50 attempts using: a random initialization of weights, backbone and head pre-trained on ImageNet, COCO pre-trained backbone only, and backbone and head trained on COCO.
These results suggest that reusing network weights from vision tasks that require object localization (e.g., instance segmentation, like COCO) has the potential to significantly improve the exploration process when learning manipulation tasks. Pre-trained weights from these tasks encourage the robot to sample actions on things that look more like objects, thereby quickly generating a more balanced dataset from which the system can learn the differences between good and bad grasps. In contrast, pre-trained weights from vision tasks that potentially discard objects’ spatial information (e.g., image classification, like ImageNet) can only improve the performance slightly compared to random initialization.

To better understand this, we visualize the neural activations that are triggered by different pre-trained models and a converged affordance model trained from scratch using a suction gripper. Interestingly, we find that the intermediate network representations learned from the head of vision models used for segmentation from the COCO dataset activate on objects in ways that are similar to the converged affordance model. This aligns with the idea that transferring as much of the vision model as possible (both backbone and head) can lead to more object-centric exploration by leveraging model weights that are better at picking up visual features and localizing objects.
Affordances predicted by different models from images of cluttered objects (a). (b) Random refers to a randomly initialized model. (c) ImageNet is a model with backbone pre-trained on ImageNet and a randomly initialized head. (d) Normal refers to a model pre-trained to detect pixels with surface normals close to the anti-gravity axis. (e) COCO is the modified segmentation model (MaskRCNN) trained on the COCO dataset. (f) Suction is a converged model learned from robot-environment interactions using the suction gripper.
Limitations and Future Work
Many of the methods that we use today for end-to-end robot learning are effectively the same as those being used for computer vision tasks. Our work here on visual pre-training illuminates this connection and demonstrates that it is possible to leverage techniques from visual pre-training to improve the learning efficiency of affordance-base manipulation applied to robotic grasping tasks. While our experiments point to a better understanding of deep learning for robots, there are still many interesting questions that have yet to be explored. For example, how do we leverage large-scale pre-training for additional modes of sensing (e.g. force-torque or tactile)? How do we extend these pre-training techniques towards more complex manipulation tasks that may not be as object-centric as grasping? These areas are promising directions for future research.

You can learn more about this work in the summary video below.
Acknowledgements
This research was done by Yen-Chen Lin (Ph.D. student at MIT), Andy Zeng, Shuran Song, Phillip Isola (faculty at MIT), and Tsung-Yi Lin, with special thanks to Johnny Lee and Ivan Krasin for valuable managerial support, Chad Richards for helpful feedback on writing, and Jonathan Thompson for fruitful technical discussions.

A week later, Trump’s national coronavirus screening website is still nowhere to be found


Last Friday, President Trump, together with Vice President Pence and White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Brix, announced that we would soon see a new website go up that would be at the core of the government’s testing strategy.

This website, which was supposedly being built by 1,700 Google engineers, was meant to help direct people to testing locations and “be very quickly done.” Now, a week later, that site, whether built by Google or not, is still nowhere to be found.

While a number of companies and other organizations have set up basic screening websites that let you check your symptoms, the nationwide website is still missing in action.

What we do have is Verily’s relatively small pilot project in the Bay Area, which is the closest to the project the government promised last week, but it’s not nationwide. We asked Verily for data about how many people its service has sent to testing sites so far. The company has not yet responded to our request, but The Guardian staked out the testing sites earlier this week and saw very little activity there.

“I want to thank Google. Google is helping to develop a website,” Trump said last Friday. “It’s gonna be very quickly done — unlike websites of the past — to determine whether a test is warranted and to facilitate testing at a nearby convenient location. […] Google has 1,700 engineers working on this right now. They have made tremendous progress.”

Earlier this week, Trump also said that “the head of Google,” Sundar Pichai, called him to apologize. We have not been able to confirm this call actually happened and neither Google nor the White House wanted to share any details, so it remains unclear what Pichai apologized for.


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Instagram founder launches gift card site for quarantined restaurants


Coronavirus quarantines are hurting local businesses, but Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger wants to help them keep revenue rolling in. Krieger and his wife Kaitlyn this week launched SaveOurFaves, a directory of Bay Area restaurants selling gift certificates to offset lost income amidst ‘shelter in place’ orders across the region. Users can search for restaurants or browse by neighborhood, and then click through to buy gift certificates straight from the eateries with no added fee from SaveOurFaves.

“We’re no longer going out because of COVID-19 (San Francisco is under a “shelter in place” ordinance), so we started buying gift cards to help support our favorite cafes and restaurants during this unpredictable time” write the Kriegers. “SaveOurFaves is our simple way to make it easier for people to help local businesses.”

For now the plan is for SaveOurFaves to focus on the San Francisco Bay Area that the Kriegers call home. It’s currently listing 700 restaurants and coffee shops, and getting 50 submissions per day. Similar sites for other locations are quickly popping up, including Help Main Street in New York, and Give Local and Rally For Restaurants that provide directories for multiple cities.

“It’s been heart-wrenching”

The Kriegers got the idea for SaveOurFaves after a call with Zack Schwab, Mike’s sister’s partner and co-owner of SF restaurant The Snug. “How long could he keep the restaurant afloat with sales plunging?” Kaitlyn tells me. The couple says there are 12,000 small businesses that employ more than 350,000 people in SF alone. The problem was too big to fix with one-off donations.

But then they saw an Instagram post about how NYC restaurant Atomix was asking their community to support them through gift cards, and set out to build SaveOurFaves with Kaitlyn doing design while Mike coded. They crawled the web for a list of local restaurants, and hired people through Fiverr to hunt down their gift card links. Next they want to open source the code and expand the site to include other types of businesses.

“I’ve lived in the Bay Area for over 15 years, and one of the reasons I fell in love with it was the vibrant community of shops, restaurants, cafés, and other businesses” Mike tells me. “It’s been heart-wrenching to see the immediate effect that the shutdown has had on the people working at these places. While there’s no one single thing that will solve the problem, I’m hopeful SaveOurFaves is one of many initiatives to help.”

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 11: Josh Constine, Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom speak onstage at Interactive Keynote: Instagram Founders Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger with Josh Constine during the 2019 SXSW Conference and Festivals at Austin Convention Center on March 11, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Saucedo/Getty Images for SXSW)

Krieger and his co-founder Kevin Systrom resigned from Instagram and Facebook in November 2018 following tensions regarding Insta’s dwindling autonomy. The pair told me they plan to start something new together during a talk at SXSW a year ago, but are still exploring opportunities. That’s given Krieger the time to build out SaveOurFaves with his wife.

Restaurants need all the help they can get. “This is like armageddon” SF restaurant China Live’s chef and owner Geroge Chen told Eater’s Luke Tsai, referring to the three-week shelter-in-place order issued in across California.

While restaurants can still offer delivery and take-out, higher-end spots with large dining rooms or that usually only offer dine-in are being hit hard. China Live cut its workforce from 200 to 20. Oakland’s Brown Sugar Kitchen laid of its whole staff of 50 except for three full-timers. The SF Mission’s Prubechu went from 20 to employees to just 5 managers who also took pay cuts, according to Eater.

Brown Sugar Kitch and Prubechu are now two of the many restaurants listed on SaveOurFaves. If users discover one of their favorite haunts is missing, they can submit them via a form to have them added or to have SaveOurFaves reach out to recommend selling gift certificates. The site even recommends how restaurants can contact their point-of-sale provider like Square or Toast to start selling gift certificates, or make their own gift cards on GiftUp or GiftFly.

More ways to help

SaveOurFaves is just one of many efforts spearheaded by local techies to address the health crisis and the subsequent financial fallout of social distancing. Crypto startup MobileCoin‘s Joshua Goldbard helped create The Safety Net Fund, which has raised $145,000 to provide living expense grants to Bay Area artists who’ve lost income due to event cancellations. Investor Ryan Sarver of Redpoint Ventures and friends are running an #SFHospitalMeals program where people can donate $1000 to buy meals from local restaurants for hospital staff of SF’s emergency rooms and intensive care units. You can click through those links to donate.

The Kriegers hope the government will do more too. That includes “Big, immediate, and lasting cash transfers to Americans” as well as zero-interest loans for small businesses that need representation in the conversations about stimulus efforts. “We are also advocating for a reduction in prison & jail density, because those populations are exceptionally vulnerable to a pandemic like this” Kaitlyn tells me.

In the private sector, they support the idea from Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Peter Eckersley for Apple, Google, and other mobile operating system vendors to create an opt-in, privacy-preserving feature for contact tracing. That could notify people if they’ve been near someone who tested positive for the virus. And when the crisis subsides, the couple note that we’ll need ways to smoothly reconnect people with stable jobs.

“There’s been a lot of talk about ‘flattening the curve’ of the coronavirus outbreak — slowing the spread to reduce the burden on our healthcare system” Mike concludes. “We hope SaveOurFaves will help ‘flatten the curve’ of lost income for restaurants — giving them the resources to make ends meet and preserve the livelihood of wage earners during this difficult time.”


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Tinder waives Passport fee to help users connect virtually around the world


Dating may be proving next to impossible for many during this era of mass social distancing, but Tinder’s hoping to leverage an existing feature to help bring people closer together. Virtually, at least.

The dating app is waving fees for Passport, a feature designed to let premium users connect with people outside of their dating radius. The offer kicks in next week for all users and runs through April 30. Tinder is hoping that it will be adopted for virtual socializing beyond dating.

Our hope is that you use the Passport feature to virtually transport yourself out of self-quarantine to anywhere in the world. You can check in on folks in their hometown, college town, or sister city, and find those across the world who are going through the same things. If nothing else, you can learn how to say “hey” in another language.

Users can “visit” one location at a time. The move comes as competing services like Hinge, The League and Tinder’s parent company Match.com have turned to video chats to help maintain some sense of normalcy for people looking to socialize through dating.

“Within dating apps, users can still be active by matching and messaging without actually meeting up in-person,” App Annie writes in a recent trend report. “The gamification of ‘swiping’ in dating apps slots into this behavior to find avenues to pass time and entertain, so we could expect to see a level of resiliency there.”


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Waymo suspends all self-driving services in light of coronavirus pandemic


Waymo has extended the partial suspension of its autonomous vehicle service pilots to include fully driverless vehicle testing, the company confirmed on Friday. While Alphabet-owned Waymo had already stopped operation of the autonomous driving vehicles in its fleet that have safety drivers on board, in the interest of minimizing the potential spread of coronavirus, it was still going to go ahead with rides in its fully driverless test vehicles.

These fully driverless vehicles are used in its Phoenix pilot program for public ride-hailing customers, as well as for its local delivery services. The company’s decision to cease even these operations likely reflects the consistently heightened nature of the COVID-19 situation in the U.S., which has resulted in increasingly strict travel and working restrictions across various states since Waymo made its original decision on Tuesday.

Along with Waymo, other companies that have paused their AV testing include Cruise, Argo AI, Pony.ai, Uber and others.


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Go ahead, dream about the future | Charlie Jane Anders

Go ahead, dream about the future | Charlie Jane Anders

"You don't predict the future -- you imagine the future," says sci-fi writer Charlie Jane Anders. In a talk that's part dream, part research-based extrapolation, she takes us on a wild, speculative tour of the delights and challenges the future may hold -- and shows how dreaming up weird, futuristic possibilities empowers us to construct a better tomorrow.

Click the above link to download the TED talk.

YouTube goes SD streaming by default in Europe due to COVID-19


YouTube has switched to standard definition streaming by default in Europe.

We asked the company if it planned to do this yesterday — today a spokeswoman confirmed the step. The move was reported earlier by Reuters.

It’s a temporary measure in response to calls by the European Commission for streaming platforms to help ease demand on Internet infrastructure during the coronavirus crisis.

Users can still manually adjust video quality but defaults remain a powerful tool to influence overall outcomes.

A YouTube spokesperson confirmed the switch, sending us this statement:

People are coming to YouTube to find authoritative news, learning content and make connections during these uncertain times. While we have seen only a few usage peaks, we have measures in place to automatically adjust our system to use less network capacity. We are in ongoing conversations with the regulators (including Ofcom), governments and network operators all over Europe, and are making a commitment to temporarily default all traffic in the UK and the EU to Standard Definition. We will continue our work to minimize stress on the system, while also delivering a good user experience.

Yesterday Netflix announced it would default to SD streaming in the region for 30 days for the same reason.

In recent days the EU’s internet market commissioner, Thierry Breton, has held discussions with platform executives to urge them to help reduce the load on Internet infrastructure as scores of Europeans are encouraged or required to stay at home as part of quarantine measures.

The Commission is concerned about the impact on online education and remote work if there’s a major spike in demand for digital entertainment services — and is pushing for collective action from platforms and users to manage increased load on Internet infrastructure.

Breton met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcick to press the case for lowering the quality of video streams during the coronavirus crisis.

Today he welcomed YouTube’s move. “Millions of Europeans are adapting to social distancing measures thanks to digital platforms, helping them to telework, e-learn and entertain themselves. I warmly welcome the initiative that Google has taken to preserve the smooth functioning of the Internet during the COVID19 crisis by having YouTube switch all EU traffic to Standard Definition by default. I appreciate the strong responsibility that Mr Pichai and Mrs Wojcicki have demonstrated. We will closely follow the evolution of the situation together,” said Breton in a statement. 

Google’s spokeswoman told us it hasn’t seen much change in regional traffic peaks so far but said there have been changes in usage patterns from more people being at home — with usage expanding across additional hours and some lower usage peaks. (The company routinely makes traffic data available in the Google Traffic and Disruptions Transparency Report.)

YouTube, along with other major social platforms, has faced scrutiny over the risks of their tools being used to spread coronavirus-related misinformation.

Although, in the case of Google, the company appears to have taken a proactive stance in suppressing bogus content and surfacing authoritative sources of health information. YouTube’s spokeswoman noted the homepage directs users to the World Health Organization for info on COVID-19 or other locally relevant authoritative organizations, for instance.

She also noted the company is donating ad inventory to governments and NGOs to use for education and information — pointing to a blog post earlier this month in which Pichai discussed some of the measures it’s taking to shield users from misinformation that could be harmful to public health.

YouTube will be rolling out a campaign rolling across Europe that encourages people to follow health authorities’ guidance and stay home, she added.

Google’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic looks to be a far swifter and more aggressive to the threat posed to public health than its approach to other types of content that can also be harmful to people’s health — such as anti-vaccination content, which YouTube only moved to demonetize last year.


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Twitter Starts to Combat Coronavirus Lies


As COVID-19 spreads around the world, the misinformation about coronavirus also spreads. Some people are spreading outright lies, while others are using the pandemic to spread propaganda for political reasons or trying to make money off the back of it.

When people start spreading misinformation, we need the platforms they’re using to step up and combat the lies. Which is exactly what Twitter has committed to doing. And it has outlined the rules it has strengthened in order to combat coronavirus lies.

Twitter Cracks Down on Coronavirus Lies

On the Twitter Blog, the company gave an overview of the rules it’s employing. The company’s main weapon is a broadening of its definition of harm. This will enable Twitter to purge tweets that could “place people at a higher risk of transmitting COVID-19.”

This addresses content that goes “directly against guidance from authoritative sources of global and local public health information.” The company will “enforce this in close coordination with trusted partners, including public health authorities and governments.”

Twitter then lists some of the types of tweets it will be asking people to remove, including:

  • “Social distancing is not effective.”
  • “Use aromatherapy and essential oils to prevent COVID-19.”
  • “Drinking bleach and ingesting colloidal silver will cure COVID-19.”
  • “Coronavirus is a fraud and not real – go out and patronize your local bar!!”
  • “If you can hold your breath for 10 seconds, you do not have coronavirus.”
  • “If you have a wet cough, it’s not coronavirus – but a dry cough is.”
  • “People with dark skin are immune to COVID-19 due to melanin production.”

These tweets all contain outright lies or misinformation about coronavirus and COVID-19. And by putting them out into the world, people are obfuscating the facts and helpful advice that legitimate experts are trying to impart. Hence the need to remove them.

Don’t Believe Everything You Read Online

We would hope our readers are intelligent enough to have questioned every single one of these claims. Unfortunately, not everyone on Twitter is capable of that, and would rather believe something they’ve read online than information from a reliable source.

Choosing your sources of information now is more crucial than ever, as the middle of a pandemic isn’t the time to play with the truth. Even in jest. To help you out, we have compiled a list of unbiased news sources free from censorship.

Read the full article: Twitter Starts to Combat Coronavirus Lies


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Anthony Levandowski pleads guilty to one count of trade secrets theft under plea deal


Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who was at the center of a lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, has pleaded guilty to one count of stealing trade secrets while working at Google under a plea agreement reached with the U.S. District Attorney.

While Levandowski still faces a possible prison sentence of between 24 to 30 months, the outcome is much rosier than it could have been. In August, federal grand jury indicted Levandowski on 33 counts of theft and attempted theft. He was looking at a protracted legal fight and a trial that wasn’t expected to begin until 2021.

“Mr. Levandowski accepts responsibility and is looking forward to resolving this matter. Mr. Levandowski is a young man with enormous talents and much to contribute to the fast-moving world of AI and AV and we hope that this plea will allow him to move on with his life and focus his energies where they matter most,” his attorney, Miles Ehrlich said in an emailed statement.

Under the plea agreement, Levandowski admits to downloading thousands of files related to Project Chauffeur, the Google self-driving project that later spun out to become Waymo. Levandowski was an engineer and one of the founding members of Project Chauffeur, which launched in 2009. Scroll down to read the plea agreement.

He said that in 2015, prior to leaving to start his own self-driving trucking company, he downloaded 14,000 documents from an internal Google server and transferred it to his laptop. Levandowski specifically pleaded guilty to count 33 of the indictment, which is related to taking what was known as the Chauffeur Weekly Update, a spreadsheet that contained a variety of details including quarterly goals and weekly metrics, the team’s objectives and key results as well as summaries of 15 technical challenges faced by the program and notes related to previous challenges that had been overcome, according to the filing.

Levandowski said in the plea agreement that he downloaded the Chauffeur Weekly Update to his personal laptop on or about January 17, 2016, and accessed the document after his resignation from Google, which occurred about 10 days later.

“Mr. Levandowski’s guilty plea in a criminal hearing today brings to an end a seminal case for our company and the self-driving industry and underscores the value of Waymo’s intellectual property,” a Waymo spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Through today’s development and related cases, we are successfully protecting our intellectual property as we build the world’s most experienced driver.”

Levandowski left Google and started Otto, a self-driving trucking company that was then bought by Uber. Waymo later sued Uber for trade secret theft. Waymo alleged in the suit, which went to trial and ended in a settlement, that Levandowski stole trade secrets, which were then used by Uber. Under the settlement, Uber agreed to not incorporate Waymo’s confidential information into their hardware and software. Uber also agreed to pay a financial settlement that included 0.34% of Uber equity, per its Series G-1 round $72 billion valuation. That calculated at the time to about $244.8 million in Uber equity.

The plea deal puts an end to any criminal charges. However, Levandowski still faces a civil matter. An arbitration panel ruled in December that Levandowski and Lior Ron had engaged in unfair competition and breached their contract with Google when they left the company to start a rival autonomous vehicle company focused on trucking, called Otto. Uber acquired Otto in 2017. Earlier this month, San Francisco County court confirmed the panel’s decision and order Levandowski to pay $179 million.

Ron settled in February 2019 with Google for $9.7 million. Levandowski had disputed the ruling. The San Francisco County Superior Court denied his petition, granting Google’s petition to hold Levandowski to the arbitration agreement under which he was liable. Levandowski himself may not have to pay the money personally, as this sort of liability may fall to his employer depending on his contract or other legal quirks. However, Levandowski personally filed March 4 for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, stating that the presumptive $179 million debt quite exceeds his assets, which he estimates at somewhere between $50 million and $100 million.

Anthony Levandowski plea agreement by TechCrunch on Scribd


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What Is Abandonware and Is It Legal?


Websites that offer formerly paid software for free do so with little to no illusion of legality. However you feel about torrents and warez sites offering paid software and media, it is clear that they are illegal in most countries.

There is one type of site that manages to avoid most scorn. Abandonware sites, like Abandonia, offer all manner of games, free to download. Many of these sites have been up and running for years, which begs the question: is abandonware legal?

What Is Abandonware?

The term “abandonware” refers to software that no longer has active support, or the copyright is no longer enforced actively. Software usually becomes abandonware because the company that owns the rights to it has gone out of business or has been sold to a new owner who’s not interested in continuing development.

abandonia download page quarantine game

With that said, some software becomes abandonware through an official announcement or by cooperation by its developers. Source code for the video game Descent, for example, was released by the game’s developers in 1997. Numerous other games have had similar treatment.

Is Abandonware Legal?

So, is abandonware legal for download?

The simple answer is no, abandonware is not legal. Even if the creator abandons a copyrighted work, it does not become public property automatically. The copyright on the work exists until the copyright expires, the duration of which varies from country to country. Typically, the copyright on a video game will last at least 70 years, and up to 125 years.

How, then, do sites like Abandonia stay up and running? Surely there is a constant stream of litigation landing on their digital doormat? Like most laws, punishment only occurs if you get caught—and the opposing side is willing and able to make the charge stick. Herein is why although abandonware is illegal, it straddles a delicate gray enforcement area.

The majority of content on abandonware sites no longer have an owner to enforce the copyright actively, so no one can sue. In other cases, the owner still exists but does not enforce the existing copyright. For example, you can find classic action-adventure game, System Shock, on heaps of abandonware sites, yet the current copyright holder, Electronic Arts, does nothing about it.

Is It Legal to Download Abandonware?

To answer that specific question, no, it is not legal to download abandonware. But are you likely to find the authorities knocking at your door? Or, end up in front of a judge for breaking copyright? That’s highly unlikely.

Despite the illegality of abandonware, there are no court cases relating to it. At least, none that I could find prosecuting someone for downloading and playing an abandonware title. Companies enforcing existing copyright tend to send a cease-and-desist letter before filing a lawsuit.

When that happens, the abandonware site takes down the offending title in response. There is little use in taking a publisher to court.

Those abandonware sites that continue to offer every abandonware title imaginable skirt international law, using hosting services in countries with a relaxed approach to piracy, copyright enforcement, and so on. For example, abandonware site Home of the Underdogs was founded in Thailand, while Abandonia is based in Sweden.

Of course, if a developer releases software for free, the story is different. Though rare, several games have been released under General Public License, Creative Commons, and other publicly available licenses. Once a game is released in this way, it can’t be reclaimed—but the developer might still hold copyright on new or altered versions of the game.

Another reason for the lack of legal precedent may be a desire for goodwill. Electronic Arts have the legal resources to remove every free copy of System Shock on the market. But what would be the point? Legal action could turn into a public relations disaster.

Similarly, on titles they do care about, like the Ultima series, you no longer find those on abandonware sites (see the section below on Good Old Games for further explanation).

Because of the obstacles laid out above, abandonware appears relatively safe from a legal standpoint. Those who distribute abandonware are unlikely to end up in court, so long as they comply with any cease-and-desist notices.

Is Abandonware Safe?

There are numerous abandonware sites, all offering a very similar list of old titles for download. With so many sites, surely downloading abandonware is safe?

The answer lies with the site you are downloading from. Major abandonware sites like MyAbandonware and Abandonia are safe, serving thousands of users every day. These sites also host almost every abandonware title, so you don’t need to head into the unknown depths of the internet looking for a title on a sketchy website.

Check out the best sites where you can safely download an old PC game for free.

Reasons For Abandonware Sites and Downloads

Abandonware is illegal. That is understood. But there are other reasons why abandonware is an overall positive.

The primary reason is preservation. Abandonware sites preserve old games for anyone to access when many would simply disappear into the digital ether.

Although there are some efforts to protect old games and their source code, such as the Internet Archive or the efforts of the British Library, these projects are selective. Having the abandonware site option keeps even the more obscure titles alive.

The other thing to consider is the wishes of the game developers.

“Is it piracy? Yeah, sure. But so what?” says Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions (responsible for Grim Fandango, Day of the Tentacle, and many other classics).

“Most of the game makers aren’t living off the revenue from those old games anymore. Most of the creative teams behind all those games have long since left the companies that published them, so there’s no way the people who deserve to are still making royalties off them. So, go ahead—steal this game! Spread the love!”

What Is the Difference Between GOG and Other Abandonware Sites?

The interest in abandonware titles remains strong. Generations of old gamers want to boot up their favorites. Younger gamers are uncovering the old classics through abandonware sites.

But there is another site that has perhaps done more than any other in promoting and protecting abandonware titles: GOG.com.

gog.com abadonware site homepage

GOG.com was formerly known as Good Old Games but updated its branding to reflect the sale of modern titles. Under the name Good Old Games, the site sold titles previously abandoned, turning abandonware into a successful business. Rather than offering abandonware titles for free, Good Old Games worked with the copyright holders to republish the games.

In a way, the success of GOG has threatened the future of abandonware. Many titles that might have been abandoned are now sold for profit by whoever holds the rights to them. More often than not, it isn’t the original developer. The potential for profit from old games gives owners a reason to fight for their property.

GOG’s success also highlights the illegality of abandonware. The only difference between what’s on GOG and what’s on Abandonia is the threat of a lawsuit. Some justifications, like age or incompatibility with modern systems, no longer seem as strong.

Abandonware Is Illegal

But you probably won’t get into trouble for downloading an old game, firing it up in an emulator, and playing the heck out of it. If you’re unsure about how to do that, here’s a quick guide on running old games on Windows 10.

The issues and gray areas of abandonware legality won’t change because of copyright law. And where possible, you should always seek out the paid version of an old game on a site like GOG.com.

Wondering which old games still hold up today? Check out our list of the best old PC games worth playing right now!

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The 3 Best VPNs for Torrenting: ExpressVPN vs. CyberGhost vs. Mullvad


best-vpn-torrent

VPNs are useful for hiding your browsing data away from the eyes of ISPs and governments. By extension, therefore, VPNs also make ideal companions for anyone who downloads a lot of torrents. The practice is frowned upon by many. You could face speed throttling—or worse, legal threats—if you don’t use a VPN.

But with all the choice out there, which is the best VPN for torrenting? Keep reading to find out.

How to Choose a VPN for Torrenting

If you’re looking for a VPN for torrenting, there are some specific criteria that will need to be met if you want a smooth experience.

Speed and Bandwidth

Torrent files can be massive. If you’re downloading a lengthy 4K video, its file size could reach upwards of dozens of gigabytes. Therefore, a VPN for torrenting needs to do two things:

  • Provide faster-than-average download speeds.
  • Provide unrestricted bandwidth on your connection.

Security

VPN security comes in many forms. Of course, the more secure your plan, the better. Encryption should be a standard, but people who torrent should also sign up for a plan with a kill switch and DNS leak protection.

A kill switch will protect you if you unexpectedly lose your VPN connection, while a DNS leak can reveal your identity and undermine the purpose of using a VPN in the first place.

Privacy

Ideally, you should never sign up for a VPN that logs your browsing habits. However, for torrenting, it’s especially important. A lack of logging means the VPN provider cannot be hacked, forced, or coerced into giving up your data to media companies and government authorities.

Shared IP Addresses

Using a VPN provider with shared IP addresses adds an extra layer of anonymity to your torrenting. Because you’re sharing with hundreds of other people, it is more difficult for bits of traffic to be traced back to your specific machine.

The 3 Best VPNs for Torrenting

So which VPN providers are best for torrenting?

1. ExpressVPN: Fastest VPN for Torrenting

express vpn servers

Our first pick is ExpressVPN. Let’s look at the service in light of the criteria we discussed above.

Firstly, speed. ExpressVPN is fast. Independent testing has shown that it averages more than 100Mbps on international servers in North America, Europe, and Asia. In total, the company boasts more than 3,000 servers in 160 cities across 94 countries. Just as importantly, ExpressVPN does not limit, throttle, nor restrict your bandwidth usage; it is unlimited.

Unfortunately, the company does do some minor logging, but only to record the amount of bandwidth you use and your timestamps—presumably to help with internal resource management. It does not log your traffic, DNS requests, or IP addresses in any way.

The company is based in the British Virgin Islands. The country is not directly part of the Fourteen Eyes information-sharing alliance; however, it’s a British Overseas Territory, and the UK is part of that group.

ExpressVPN offers robust security and privacy features. They include 256-bit AES encryption, DNS and IPv6 leak protection, a kill switch, and split tunneling. Split tunneling is useful for torrent users: it lets you put your torrent client on the VPN network while leaving the rest of your web traffic untouched.

MakeUseOf EXCLUSIVE: Save 49% on our recommended VPN

2. CyberGhost: A VPN With Unlimited Torrenting

cyberghost muo deal

CyberGhost’s biggest forte is its safety and security. The company is based in Romania, and Romania isn’t part of the Fourteen Eyes alliance. There isn’t even a tenuous link, as there is with ExpressVPN.

The VPN is entirely log-free. It does not keep records about your traffic, DNS requests, timestamps, bandwidth, or IP address. It even offers shared IP addresses for an extra layer of anonymity. The service comes with both a kill switch and DNS leak protection.

CyberGhost also claims to have more servers than ExpressVPN, with 7,000+ in total. It does, however, only offer 91 different locations. More locations are slowly becoming available over time.

To keep your traffic flowing as freely as possible, CyberGhost offers two of the fastest VPN protocols, L2TP and IKEV2.

With CyberGhost, you have access to unlimited, unthrottled bandwidth.

3. Mullvad: Best Torrent VPN According to Reddit

mullvad vpn homepage

There are quite a few subreddits where you can find VPN recommendations. Two of the best are /r/VPN and /r/VPNTorrents, but you can also check out /r/Piracy.

After painstakingly reading endless posts on those subreddits, our entirely unscientific methodology has determined that Reddit’s best VPN for torrenting is Mullvad. Mullvad might not boast the brand recognition that some of its more well-known competitors can, but it matches them in terms of quality.

Like CyberGhost, it does not log any data, not even for troubleshooting purposes. It is also one of the fastest VPNs. Testing saw it boast an average download speed of around 90Mbps.

Security-wise, Mullvad uses AES-256 encryption for all your web traffic. The SSL handshake uses RSA-4096 encryption. The service also offers a kill switch and DNS leak protection. The privacy mantra extends beyond the service itself. Mullvad is also one of the few VPN providers that accept payment in cryptocurrency. It accepts both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

The service has two downsides. Firstly, Mullvad is based in Sweden. Sweden is a Fourteen Eyes member. However, because the company does not keep any logs, the issue is partially mitigated.

Secondly, because the Mullvad is based in Sweden, the price is listed in Euros. If you’re based in the US or UK, the precise amount you pay each month will change with currency exchange rate fluctuations.

Bonus: The Best Free VPN for Torrenting

Before we talk about the best free VPN for torrenting, let us be clear. This is not a strategy that we recommend. Using a free VPN is fraught with possible issues, logging issues, botnets, and data leaks are all commonplace. If the content you are downloading is from The Pirate Bay or its alternatives and in a “grey area” legally, a free VPN for torrenting might not provide the security you need.

However, if for whatever reason you want to press ahead, you should check out one of the free-tier services from one of the sector’s most well-known names. Companies like Hotspot Shield, Windscribe, or ProtonVPN. They are some of the best free VPNs to protect your privacy.

And the Best Torrenting VPN Is…

For us, it’s a tossup between ExpressVPN and Mullvad. ExpressVPN has the edge thanks to its non-Fourteen Eyes jurisdiction, but Mullvad’s complete lack of logging will appeal to heavy torrent users who fear reprisals. Mullvad also wins on cost, but non-European users might not appreciate being unable to budget a fixed amount for the service every month.

If none of these three services appeals to you, you can always check out our broader list of high-quality paid VPNs.

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Is Popcorn Time Safe? How to Watch Safely


popcorn-safety

Popcorn Time is a revolution in the world of torrents. An app that presents movies beautifully, just like Netflix, but with one crucial difference: they’re all streamed illegally using torrent technology. Popcorn Time is just a really pretty torrent streaming client.

I’m not here to preach though. It’s obvious that streaming or downloading movies without paying for them is illegal. But since you’re going to do it anyway, I just want you to be safe.

Not sure what torrents are? Read our free guide to torrents

The Truth About Popcorn Time and Its Clones

Popcorn Time set the internet alight when it was first released. It offered a Netflix-like experience, but one key difference: all the movies and TV shows you could possibly want. And it was completely free.

The original project was shut down rather quickly, but with the code being open source numerous clones were developed.

However, some users are completely ignorant of where the content actually comes from. There is, after all, no indication in the app itself that you’re doing anything illegal (though newer clones added warnings). It looks just like a streaming service, with nice DVD covers and a great looking interface.

Even users who were aware that the files were obviously of dubious legal origin weren’t necessarily also aware of the underlying technology, believing it to work like any other streaming internet movie site.

The truth is that the app itself (and all the clones) is based entirely on torrents. When users stream media, the app downloads a torrent file, joins the swarm, and immediately seeds the file back out to everyone else.

From the perspective of anti-p2p organizations and the companies hired to monitor torrents, this is a problem. It’s no different to anyone heading over to the PirateBay and downloading it using a traditional torrent client. Popcorn Time is a just very pretty media index and torrent client in one package.

You are still downloading from a torrent. 

Is Popcorn Time safe?

Don’t be under the illusion that you’re protected simply because you’re using Popcorn Time-based apps to stream content instead of downloading in a traditional torrent client. It is exactly the same thing underneath with a pretty interface on top, so every precaution you should take when downloading a torrent still applies when using these streaming applications.

But before you even get to that point, you’ve got to make sure you download the right Popcorn Time.

Which Popcorn Time Should I Download?

The problem with a project becoming open source is that anyone can then make a copy, tweak the app name, and release it as a brand new application. But guess what: they might also have injected some nasty bonus code in the process.

In fact, they may not even have changed the app name. You might think you’re downloading Popcorn Time, but you’re actually downloading something that’s going to work the same as Popcorn Time, all the while secretly running a crypto mining script on your PC.

It’s easy: Popcorn Time isn’t a virus, but “Popcorn Time” is. That’s because you downloaded Popcorn Time from PopcornTime.xx instead of the official site.

But there is no official site anymore. The official site was shut down. The only thing left is the clones. Thankfully, one project emerged as the preferred client, and their code can be inspected and verified.

Okay—so you’ve downloaded the new official open-source client. So that’s safe to use, right? Not so fast. Remember, this is all still based on torrents. Your ISP can see exactly what you’re doing, and if a torrent monitoring company sees your IP in the swarm, it’ll get your info from your ISP and potentially lead to a lawsuit.

The solution, as with many privacy concerns, is to tunnel your traffic through a Virtual Private Network, or VPN.

Always Use a VPN with Popcorn Time

The very nature of peer-to-peer torrent technology means that everyone who attempts to download a file is given a list of everyone else doing the same: you become both the downloader, and uploader. Even if you’ve set your client to never upload, you’ll still be on the list as a peer.

It should therefore be obvious that anti-p2p organizations could do the same thing to figure out who is downloading a specific file. Companies are paid to monitor specific torrents by the copyright owners, which they do by downloading it themselves, checking the swarm, and keeping a record of every IP address they see.

Your IP address is cross-checked against a known list of ISPs. Your ISP is contacted, and they may be forced to pass on the details of the customer associated with an IP at a specific date and time, or asked to take action themselves. Fines, and possible disconnection await repeat infringers.

Using a VPN is the only safe way of having any contact with torrents, period. Tunnel your connection through a torrent-friendly VPN that won’t keep records of who was using the service and when.

This video from CyberGhost VPN explains the concepts.

Good VPNs cost money. Yes, you can find free VPNs, but they aren’t secure for doing anything. There’s a reason they’re free.

We maintain a list of best VPNs, but not all of them are friendly toward torrents. Private Internet Access is the most commonly recommended for p2p users, but even then, you’re asked to restrict your torrent usage to servers located in specific countries.

Good VPN providers are “logless”, meaning they do not keep logs of who does what. Even if local law enforcement were to subpoena them for information on a specific user, they would have no information to give.

Peerblock/Peerguardian Doesn’t Do Anything

It’s often been recommended that anyone dabbling in torrents should run Peerblock or Peerguardian. These apps work like a firewall, maintaining a list of “bad IPs” that belong to anti-p2p organizations, universities, and law enforcement agencies.

The app then prevents those from connecting to your machine. The theory goes that if they can’t connect to you, you won’t end up on their naughty list.

In reality, they don’t need to actually connect to your machine in order to see you’re in the torrent swarm and actively downloading or uploading a file. Peerblock is utterly useless.

Does Peerblock help you stay safe using Popcorn Time?

In fact, these apps often prevent useful peers from seeding a file to you because their IP is unlucky enough to be in a block owned by a certain company or university. The app provides a false sense of security and will not provide any protection when using torrents.

Use a VPN instead.

Malware Risks of Popcorn Time

It is possible to embed malware inside movie files, but it’s extremely rare, and only works on specific media players.

As long as you play standard video file types like MP4, using an up-to-date version of VLC (or through Popcorn Time) you’re safe. Windows Media Player has been exploited in the past through the Digital Rights Management extensions.

A more common attack vector is to make you think you’re downloading a movie, but actually, it’s an executable file. Never randomly double-click a downloaded file.

Or you attempt to play a movie, and it consists of a single screen that instructs you download a different player or Codec pack in order to watch it, which turns out to be a virus. The malware is almost never in the movie file itself.

Beware fake codec popups when using Popcorn Time

Software and games, on the other hand, are always executable files, and as such can easily contain executable malware code. There is no safe way to run pirated software. Instead, get software and games from legitimate sources.

I don’t condone downloading copyright materials, nor can I make any guarantee you won’t get in trouble even after following all this advice—but if you’re going to anyway, these tips are going to give you the best chance of not getting in trouble.

Just remember that those Popcorn Time videos are all courtesy of the BitTorrent network. If you’re thinking about cutting out the middle man, use these “reputable” BitTorrent websites.

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The 11 Best Free PC Games to Play in 2020


free-pc-games

PC gamers have never had it better. Not a day goes by without a new game hitting the market. Sounds expensive, right? But not to worry, as there are some amazing free PC games available.

In fact, there are so many free games to play, it’s difficult figuring out where to spend your time. Here are the best free PC games in 2020. And the “Genre Alternatives” are all free too.

1. Fortnite

Epic Games’ Fortnite Battle Royale took the world by storm in 2017. It hasn’t let up, attracting more players, more viewers, and launching on more video game platforms since the initial launch.

The free-to-play battle royale space is hotly contested. No matter what other development teams bring to the table, Fortnite’s combination of hectic cartoon-style action and ease of access beats the opposition out.

Also, Epic Games keeps Fortnite fresh. There is a constant stream of new content arriving in the game, luring players to find better skins for their in-game character, the weapons, and, of course, Fortnite’s trademark winning dances.

Not only that, but Epic Games is constantly evolving the Fortnite world, pushing forward the narrative of the game through changes to the map.

For example, part of the way through one season, an enormous meteor appeared in the sky above the game map. The meteor gradually approached, before crashing into an area of the map known as Dusty Depot, changing the area into Dusty Divot, and sprinkling the rest of the map with smaller craters.

Since that time, the Fortnite storyline has continued to evolve, with Epic Games receiving a constant stream of praise for its innovative storytelling techniques.

If you’re intrigued and want to get started with Fortnite, check out our Fortnite essentials cheat sheet. You could become a pro-streamer in no time!

Download: Fortnite for Windows or macOS (Free on Epic Games Launcher)

Genre Alternatives: H1Z1 Battle Royale | Darwin Project | Apex Legends

2. Dwarf Fortress

Dwarf Fortress is probably the most intriguing, enchanting, and infuriating game ever made. Developers, Bay 12 Games, continues to update Dwarf Fortress for free. So, what is it?

You can play Dwarf Fortress as a roguelike, a management sim, an exploration tale, and more. That’s because the possibilities are endless as you attempt to keep your colony of dwarves alive, happy, fed, and working.

The original graphics set is off-putting. There’s no beating about the bush. It makes the extensive (and sometimes fiddly) controls challenging to get to grips with. However, numerous wonderful community tilesets turn the original Dwarf Fortress into a colorful, more accessible proposition.

Download: Dwarf Fortress for Windows | macOS | Linux (Free)

Genre Alternatives: Brogue | Nethack

3. Path of Exile

Path of Exile is one for fans of Diablo and other dungeon-crawling RPGs. Originally released back in 2013, Path of Exile continues to receive regular updates and is now a top ranking free-to-play game.

The storyline isn’t fantastic, hitting those classic RPG tropes: washed up, lost, clothed in rags, fight to become the ultimate beast slayer. However, Path of Exile does create a unique identity with its extensive skill trees, an incredible range of loot, and the new bosses, game systems, and play styles regularly arriving.

Download: Path of Exile for Windows (Free on Steam)

Genre Alternatives: Path of Diablo | Neverwinter

4. Magic: The Gathering Arena

Magic: The Gathering Arena is the free to play digital collectible card game that brings Magic: The Gathering (MTG) to your PC.

MTG Arena is far from the first digital iteration of the phenomenally popular tabletop battle card game. It is, however, the first digital version of MTG that follows the meta of the tabletop version, allowing players to create decks that match the expansions of the physical game.

In that, MTG Arena closely resembles a physical game of MTG, too. You still play land cards to build mana, build a personal deck, and open packs to find new and rare booster cards.

While MTG Arena is free-to-play, it uses a freemium model that allows microtransactions and booster pack purchases. You might encounter someone with a premium deck every now and then, but there are huge amounts of MTA Arena players sticking to free decks, booster packs, and so on.

Furthermore, although the game closely resembles the physical game, you don’t need any experience to start playing. The game includes plenty of tutorials that explain how the various game systems work, along with some basic strategies.

One other MTG Arena feature we really like are the animations. For years, MTG was a static tabletop game. Now, MTG Arena brings your cards to life with awesome explosions and swirling summons.

Download: Magic: The Gathering Arena for Windows or macOS (Free)

Genre Alternatives: Hearthstone | Gwent | The Elder Scrolls: Legends | Legends of Runeterra

5. Destiny 2

Destiny 2 went free-to-play in 2019, opening Bungie’s online-only first-person shooter up to the masses. At the same time, developers Bungie reworked weapons, armor classes, content drops, and the power level cap to encourage players old and new to plow into the new content. As well as this, new Destiny 2 game modes appeared, as well as new interplanetary locations to explore.

The result is an expansive space-shooter, taking on three different factions, all vying to control the Destiny 2 universe. If it’s all new to you, check out our beginner’s guide to Destiny 2.

Even if you don’t dive deep into Destiny 2, it is worth exploring for the often mind-boggling landscapes and extraordinary dungeons you wind through. Oh, and the Sparrows are awesome to whizz around on, too.

Download: Destiny 2 (Free on Steam)

Genre Alternatives: Planetside 2

6. StarCraft II

In 2017, Blizzard released StarCraft II for free. Which means one of the best real-time strategy (RTS) games of all time is now free-to-play. The free-to-play offering covers the original StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty single player campaign, but not the follow-ups, Heart of the Swarm, Legacy of the Void, or Nova Covert Ops.

The free version of StarCraft II also allows you to access the ranked multiplayer league tables. We’re not sure why you would subject yourself to such a torturous ordeal, but each to their own.

Download: StarCraft II for Windows | macOS (Free on Battle.net)

Genre Alternatives: StarCraft | Total War Battles: Kingdom | OpenRA | Twisted Insurrection

7. Heroes of the Storm

From Blizzard’s all-conquering RTS to the game Blizzard doesn’t classify as a MOBA. If it isn’t a MOBA, Heroes of the Storm sure has all of the core characteristics of one: five-on-five, lanes, a massive array of heroes (taken from other Blizzard titles), and a focus on four specific roles.

Heroes of the Storm is much easier to get into than its more esteemed (or notorious) competitors, League of Legends and Dota 2. The fanbase is seemingly more open, the roles are more comfortable to learn, and the game modes bring variance to each battle to keep it fresh.

Download: Heroes of the Storm for Windows | macOS (Free on Battle.net)

Genre Alternatives: Dota 2 | League of Legends | Smite | Magic Duels

8. Planetside 2

Planetside 2 is an MMOFPS, where you battle to secure different areas across continental maps. With up to 2,000 concurrent players taking part in the battle, Planetside 2 knows a thing or two about epic scale. You can take part in a single fight for hours, log off for a few hours, then log back in to find the same battle waging.

The biggest difference players coming from Battlefield or Call of Duty will find is the time it takes to master and level up weapons and skills. It certainly takes longer to increase those specific skills. However, it isn’t a grind as the battles ebb and flow, and you are not restricted to approaching the battle from a single direction (or vehicle, for that matter).

Download: Planetside 2 (Free on Steam)

Genre Alternatives: None. Nothing touches the scale of Planetside 2 without a price tag.

9. Forza Motorsport 6: Apex

To coincide with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update back in 2016, Microsoft brought the sublime cars, circuits, and environments of Forza Motorsport 6: Apex to Windows 10. Forza Motorsport 6 was the first time Forza appeared on desktop PCs. Previously, Forza was an Xbox exclusive.

The Forza series has a strong reputation for sweeping circuit designs and fantastic car models, and Forza Motorsport 6: Apex doesn’t disappoint. There are 63 cars in total to race, across 12 different events.

Download: Forza Motorsport 6: Apex for Windows (Free on Microsoft Store)

Genre Alternatives: Track Mania: Nations Forever

10. Warframe

For a free game, Warframe packs in a substantial amount of content. Not least the hoverboard skating mode. But in terms of running and gunning (as compared to Path of Exile’s hacking and slashing), the incredible range of weapons, loadouts, and play styles, there is a lot to take in.

There are massive open world areas to explore, an extensive storyline, and the game receives regular content updates. The volume of content can actually become a little overwhelming, at least to begin with. Learning the numerous game systems takes some time, and figuring out crafting and blueprinting can also feel a bit confusing.

Thankfully, the Warframe community is one of the friendliest around, so don’t be afraid to ask a question. Someone is bound to have asked it before.

Download: Warframe for Windows (Free on Steam)

Genre Alternatives: Double Action: Boogaloo | Brink | Dirty Bomb | Team Fortress 2

11. EverQuest

Head back to one of the oldest MMOs around to build your characters through 110 levels, over 500 zones, and countless questlines. Yes, EverQuest is still going strong 20+ years on.

As a testament to the game, The Burning Lands expansion was the 25th content expansion, introducing new zones, raids, quests, and spells. It hit the market in 2018—19 years after the original game.

The graphics may look a little dated, but EverQuest holds up in so many other areas. You and a group of friends have thousands of hours of questing across Norrath ahead.

Download: EverQuest for Windows (Free on Steam)

Genre Alternatives: EverQuest II | Rift | Guild Wars 2 | Runescape | Maplestory 2

Are These the Best Free PC Games?

This is a substantial list of the best free PC games available to play in 2020. It covers a vast range of genres, and, with the alternatives offered, you have almost 50 games to consider.

We believe these are the best free PC games money can’t buy, but perhaps you want to play something a little older? If so, check out the old PC games still worth playing to this day. You might also enjoy the PC games you can play for five minutes at a time.

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