Joe Donnelly is a sports editor from Glasgow and former features editor at GamesRadar+. A mental health advocate, Joe has written about video games and mental health for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform. His book Checkpoint considers the complex intersections of video games and mental health, and was shortlisted for Scotland's National Book of the Year for non-fiction in 2021. As familiar with the streets of Los Santos as he is the west of Scotland, Joe can often be found living his best and worst lives in GTA Online and its PC role-playing scene.
Latest articles by Joe Donnelly

This terrifying horror game about OCD helped me understand conditions different to my own
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE Mental Health Awareness Week | Neverending Nightmares illustrates the uglier side of OCD as it aims to enlighten and inform

No GTA 6 trailer, but the Take Two earnings report all but confirms the GTA 6 release window
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Take-Two's latest earnings report appears to confirm when we might expect GTA 6

Outlast's greatest achievement isn't its poop-your-pants horror, it's staying relevant for a decade
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature Opinion | On the cusp of The Outlast Trials' introduction to Early Access, it's worth remembering the series' roots

Getting help is hard – these games helped me make first contact with mental health professionals
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE Mental Health Awareness Week | These two games from Eli Piilonen are simple but so, so effective

Actual Sunlight, a game about an everyman struggling with depression, changed my life
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature Mental Health Awareness Week | Actual Sunlight is a relevant now as it was 10 years ago

It's Mental Health Awareness Week – here's my video games and mental health story
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE Mental Health Awareness Week | This week, May 15-21, we're talking about video games and mental health

Redfall proves it's time to press pause on tired squad-based shooters
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Are squad shooters still connecting with players?

The Hollow Knight Silksong delay underlines the importance of communication
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | As if it wasn't obvious before, the most important part of Silksong's delay is dialogue

Everyone should introduce at least one person to video games in their lifetime
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature Sharing the virtues of video games can be a wonderful feeling

I've played over 2000 hours of GTA Online and, somehow, have only just discovered this handy grenade trick
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE Worse still, I'm now down the rabbit hole of other things I might have missed

The Last Case of Benedict Fox review: "A detective Metroidvania that's its own conundrum"
By Joe Donnelly published
Review

I found my original 26-year-old copy of the best Simpsons game, and it still rocks
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE "Seedy ROM": Having the best time with the best Simpsons game a quarter of a century later

After Us is like Journey meets Inside with a splash of Dark Souls in an apocalypse of our own doing
By Joe Donnelly published
FEATURE Hands-on | The follow-up to Arise: A Simple Story is almost here, and it's great

Breath of the Wild's worst feature returns in Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, but the workaround is ace
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Tears of the Kingdom won't have us climbing the walls, and I'm delighted

This unreleased 10-year-old platformer is the most ingenious game you've never played
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature The story of Chroma – a wonderful yet ill-fated passion project that was once hotly pursued by Sony

Zelda Tears of the Kingdom preview: It's bigger, bolder and more inventive than Breath of the Wild
By Joe Donnelly published
Hands-On Link's latest adventure is imaginative and innovative, and already feels like a Game of the Year contender

Stranded Alien Dawn boss celebrates game's 1.0 launch: "Humans are story-telling animals"
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature Stranded: Alien Dawn leaves Early Access and shoots for the stars

I asked a psychic leading questions about the GTA 6 release date, and it was wonderfully weird
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature A trip to Vice City? "I just can't see it happening this year"

Forget a Bloodborne remake, we need Yharnam's ludicrous trick weapons in Elden Ring
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Returning to Bloodborne has only made me think of Elden Ring in a new light

The Resident 2 and Resident Evil 4 remakes are masterpieces, but which is better?
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Both games illustrate the best of survivor horror, but each means different things to the GamesRadar+ team

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's stance on fast travel is awesome, and more new games should follow suit
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Survivor has been built "without fast travel in mind", and that's a great thing

Endless Dungeon brings the twin-stick shooter up to speed with stunning style and substance
By Joe Donnelly published
PREVIEW Preview | Nine years on, Amplitude is back to reinvigorate the twin-stick shooter

Fortnite Creative 2.0 could change the game, but only moderation will decide if it's for the better
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | Fortnite Creative 2.0 is inspiring a wave of creativity, but keeping bad actors at arm's length is still crucially important
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