Life (as I was cruelly reminded recently) is full of ups and downs. It's taken a lot of hard work and sweat from everyone here at Square Enix to rebuild FINAL FANTASY XIV to be the best game it can possibly be and the game that fans deserve. With the fantastic support of the Square Enix Community we took the time to celebrate the end of one chapter by recounting our favourite moments and looking longingly towards the excitement that awaits us in FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. But that wasn't the only big news last week. Grab yourself a cuppa tea and join us for another weekly recap.

• More Sleeping Dogs Content Coming Soon! - You asked for it, so we're delivering a tonne of new content to Sleeping Dogs fans over the coming months. From outfits, weapons and cars, to new story-based content, there's something for everyone.
• New Hitman: Absolution "Agent 47" ICA File Video - Leaving the best ICA file until last, it's time to uncover Agent 47's background.
• Gamer Chat: The End of an Era - The FINAL FANTASY XIV servers have closed and preparations are underway for the launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. As we look forward to this new beginning, we take discuss your fondest memories and join the community in celebrating the experience so far.
• Play Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for Free - Adding to its ever-increasing library of free on-demand games, CORE ONLINE brings Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light to browsers, free-to-play for both Mac and PC.
• Scott Derrickson to Direct Deus Ex Feature - CBS Films and Square Enix are proud to announce that Deus Ex is making its way to the big screen with Scott Derrickson (Sinister) attached to direct.
• New Hitman: Absolution Launch Trailer - How many people would you kill to save just one? Jump on the hype-train as we count down the last few days before Hitman: Absolution's impending release.
• Hitman: Absolution - CONTRACTS mode free for everybody! - Hitman CONTRACTS no longer requires an Online Pass and will be available to everyone at no extra cost. Read the blog post for more details on how to grab it for free.
• Beauty Shots for European Survival and Collector’s Editions Revealed! - Not long ago we announced the special editions and pre-order bonuses that were available to Tomb Raider fans. Now we're pleased to reveal the first pictures of the Survival and Collector's Editions.
• Steam Details Tomb Raider Survival Edition - Pre-order through Steam and save yourself 10%.
• Video Game Awards - Sleeping Dogs has been nominated in the 'Best Action Adventure Game' category and in the 'Best Performance by a Female' category for Emma Stone's performance as Amanda Cartwright. Tomb Raider has also been nominated in the 'Most Anticipated Game' category. Who wins? You decide… So get voting now!
• It's Hip to be Square - Preview the Sleeping Dogs Square Enix Character Pack in these videos of Wei Shen dressed up as Agent 47 (Hitman) and Adam Jensen (Deus Ex: Human Revolution).
• Meet the Mercenaries - Introducing the latest Gameglobe content update, the devious mercenary enemy class. But it's not just a brand new enemy to plonk into your level - you also get a wealth of brand new props too, from sentry guns to saw blades! 
• Updating weather & light settings - The upcoming build of Heroes and Generals features brand new environmental settings. For a bunch of deliciously pretty screenshots head to the H&G blog. Don't forget to sign up to the beta while you're there.
• H&G Newspaper 4th edition - The team behind Heroes and Generals looks at the War 85 aftermath, the 1 day wars; 86,87,89 and 90, interviews with forum mod Jumana, and this week's featured video from Striker_2012.
• Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV & Q&A Summary - Community Q&A and subtitled Letter from the Producer LIVE Part IV video are now live! If you weren't able to watch the live stream, or if you just want to watch it over and over again, click the link!

In the news

• Best Game 2012 - Videogame Deathmatch (G4TV)
• Pre-purchase Hitman Absolution on Steam and get six free items in Team Fortress 2 (Steam)
• Clueless Gamer: Conan Reviews "Hitman: Absolution" (TeamCoCo)
• Square Enix releases first Dragon Quest VII 3DS screens (Geek.com)
• Square Enix Rewards Fans That Buy Dragon Quest VII Directly With Special Sword (Siliconera)
• Core Online Beta Does Ad-Supported Games Right (GameSpy)
• App Of The Day: Mensa Academy (GameTrailers)
• Battle Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada In Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Siliconera)
• Square Enix releases their 3D puzzle game Motley Blocks... onto Amazon? (DroidGamers)