Steam: Celebs Rumors

Humankind’s first expansion getting a November release date, the game can be played for free this weekend.Humankind, the historical strategy game from developer Amplitude Studios, is available to play for free on Steam now, and will remain so until Monday, October 10. And if you want to keep playing after that, the game is currently available for 50 per cent off as part of the Sega Megamix Sale.This free weekend comes in celebration of the game’s first expansion, Together We Rule, getting a release date of November 9.

Logitech is gearing up to release its new handheld gaming device, G Cloud, which has native GeForce Now support.GeForce Now is the cloud-based game streaming service from Nvidia which delivers real-time gameplay from the cloud to gaming devices such as PCs, iPads and Android devices, and now the G Cloud will be supported from launch.The G Cloud is Logitech’s Android-powered handheld gaming console, and alongside the compatibility with GeForce Now, other cloud-based gaming services are supported such as Steam Link and Xbox Cloud Gaming.The console features a 7-inch touchscreen, more than 12 hours of battery life, haptic feedback and remappable controls. It also has an integral gyroscope, meaning players can twist and turn the console to control compatible games.The G Cloud can also download remote play apps and stream video, as well as link up with local games on an Xbox console via the Xbox app.Ujesh Desai, the vice president and general manager of Logitech Gaming, said that the company wanted to challenge itself to “build a device that was perfectly optimised for cloud gaming,” which meant including precision controls “similar to a high-end Xbox controller” as well as a large screen, good battery life and “a lightweight design so players can enjoy long gaming sessions, without any compromise.”Alongside the release of the G Cloud, GeForce Now is adding Portal with RTX to its supported catalogue in November, which will be free for Portal owners.

Disney Dreamlight Valley has shown a trailer for a new Toy Story realm coming to the game later this year at the first ever Disney and Marvel Games Showcase.Disney Dreamlight Valley was released earlier this week (September 6) by developer and publisher Dreamloft and immediately smashed the Steam charts, soaring to number one after less than 24 hours. Reviews on Steam suggest that players are particular fans of the game’s comprehensive avatar editor and other customisation options.The game is currently in early access with a full release planned in 2023, and leans heavily into Animal Crossing vibes with a hefty dose of inspiration from the likes of Stardew Valley and The Sims very evident.

11 Bit Studios has announced it will no longer be giving game keys to Steam curators after a majority were resold.Taking to Twitter to make the announcement, 11 Bit Studios wrote: “Starting today (September 2) we won’t be granting game keys to Steam curators.”“Based on our and other devs’ experiences, most of the requests come from fake accounts used to gather and resell the keys and the published reviews don’t seem to bring any value for the community anyway,” they added.Responding to one fan who was seemingly confused by the statement, 11 Bit Studios added: “You’d be surprised at the number of emails we receive with a message more-or-less like this: ‘Hello, this is Curator Dude from the Totally Legit Curator on Steam. I very much love your game and Totally Legit Curator fans are waiting for a review.

Valve has banned several Steam curator groups, after it was alleged that they were owned by a small number of people who were using the system as a means to resell keys.On Sunday (August 28), developer Cowcat alleged that its latest game, Brok The InvestiGator, was being targeted with negative reviews. This was due to Cowcat issuing Steam curators who had requested a key with a prologue version of the game, which could not be finished.Cowcat’s logic was that while legitimate Steam curators would get in touch and be issued with a regular key, scammers would resell the key without playing it – causing them to leave angry reviews when their buyers complained about the unfinished game.Shortly after Cowcat brought attention to the influx of negative reviews, a Reddit user found that every curator who left a negative review had their accounts created within the same two days, and all shared the same main admin.Since the key re-selling scam was uncovered, all groups that targeted Brok The InvestiGator have been banned from Steam.

Command & Conquer remasters Petroglyph Games has announced new title The Great War: Western Front.Set for release some time in 2023, the title was announced at the Future Games Show yesterday (August 24) as a part of Gamescom. It’s coming to PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.Petroglyph is known for being the studio behind 2020’s Command & Conquer Remastered Collection, which contains the first two games from the series: Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert.Check out the reveal trailer for The Great War: Western Front below.An RTS game set during World War 1, The Great War: Western Front takes place between 1914 and 1919, and players will need to select a faction while taking control as both the theatre commander and field commander.“As theatre commander, experience enthralling turn-based grand-strategy as you direct the deployment of forces, perform research and carefully consider how you disseminate your resources across the Western Front in a war won by inches.

Gamescom 2022, a new hybrid rhythm-fighting game was announced in the form of God Of Rock.God of Rock will see the universe’s “greatest musicians” competing against one another in rhythmic fashion to secure the title of musical supremacy in a game that feels part Guitar Hero, part Street Fighter.Rhythm-based gameplay combines with fighting game mechanics in 1v1 matches, with a dozen unique fighters to choose from. Each fighter has their own design, attack style and mechanics to familiarise yourself with, as well as building up a “meter” by hitting normal moves accurately to the beat of the song.

Kena: Bridge of Spiritswill be receiving a huge anniversary update that coincides with the game’s release on Steam next month.On September 27, Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be arriving on Steam for the first time. Kena, originally released in September 2021, was previously an Epic Games Store exclusive. Accompanying the Steam release will be a free update that’s available to all players.The update will be entitled “anniversary update” in honour of the game’s one-year anniversary which falls on September 21.

Marvel’s Spider-Man patch on PC has been released addressing a number of bugs, but some issues still remain including one that won’t allow players to take a picture of the Empire State Building.Version 1.817.1.0 is now live and manages to resolve a number of reported problems from players since the game was released on PC on August 12.“The teams at Insomniac Games and Nixxes Software have been closely monitoring player reports the past days and based on that we have released a first small patch with multiple fixes and improvements,” the developer said in the patch notes.However, although many fixes have been implemented with the patch, Insomniac has said that it’s currently working on the next PC update that will be “more substantial.”“Rest assured we are not done though,” it added. “We are already working on our next patch, that will be more substantial and will consist of bugfixes, improvements and additional features, based on the feedback we have received so far.”While patch 1.817.1.0 resolves some issues regarding ray-tracing, crashes, and general bugs that affect cutscenes, stability and the game’s visuals, some more common problems are still present.These “known issues” include a frame rate-related bug where players are unable to progress during the ‘Spider-Hack’ mission.

ArenaNet has announced that Guild Wars 2 is coming to Steam, a decade after the game was first released.The developer made the announcement today (August 16), and shared that Guild Wars 2  will come to Steam on August 23 – five days before the free-to-play MMORPG celebrates its tenth anniversary.As part of Guild Wars 2‘s Steam launch, ArenaNet is also releasing a bundled version of the game titled The Complete Collection. This bundle will cost £86.97 and comes with all three of the MMO’s expansions – Heart Of Thorns, Path Of Fire, and End Of Dragons – along with all five seasons of Guild Wars 2‘s episodic Living World story.Ahead of Guild Wars 2 coming to Steam, ArenaNet has confirmed that Steam players will be able to play with those using the ArenaNet launcher, and vice versa.“By launching on Steam, a whole new audience of players who have never had the chance to adventure with us will be able to experience one of the greatest fantasy worlds in gaming,” shared Kendall Boyd, senior vice president of marketing at publisher Ncsoft West.From August 23, Guild Wars 2 will also support Twitch Drops – which will offer “exclusive in-game character rewards including classic outfits, experience boosters, and even a unique Glowing Purple Mask Cosmetic” for players watching supported streamers.

XCOM franchise has said that the Epic Games Store is great for indie developers and games, after his studio Snapshot Games released Phoenix Point on the storefront as a timed exclusive in 2019.Julian Gollop, who co-created the first XCOM game in 1994 at Mythos Games, has talked about the atmosphere and benefits of launching Phoenix Point as an initial Epic Games Store exclusive (via PC Gamer).“When we did our Epic exclusive – this was the very early days of the Epic store promotion – yeah, there was a lot of hostility,” explained Gollop. “And also a lot of conspiracy theories about it.

BlueTwelve Studio’s debut title Stray replaces the vocal cat’s adorable meow with the highly memed “Jason!” yell from Heavy Rain. The replacement lines come from a scene in Quantic Dream’s interactive drama action-adventure title where the main character, Ethan, loses track of his son Jason within a mall in the opening hours of the game, prompting the character to repeatedly call his son’s name over and over.While the idea of a potential child kidnapping is frightening, the delivery along with the frequency in which “Jason!” can be shouted by the player has led to it becoming a running gag for anyone who’s played Heavy Rain.It’s a natural (and comedic) fit for Stray, where the player can make the cat meow at any time during play with a dedicated button press. Roleplaying as the world’s most aggravating kitty certainly provides its own entertainment value, but the unintentionally hilarious nature of the Heavy Rain shout makes it even better.The mod, whose description reads: “Replaces the user inputted meowing with a pleading call to find your lost son, you terrible father” can be downloaded here.Stray ended up being the biggest PC launch ever for publisher Annapurna Interactive, which is an impressive feat given that it’s also published acclaimed titles such as Kentucky Route Zero, Outer Wilds, and Sayonara Wild Hearts just to name a few.

Stray has received a second update which fixes some issues and adds features that fans of the game have been asking for.In the patch notes it is noted that additional fullscreen options have been added, including “proper exclusive fullscreen support” as well as an engine fix for some users unable to boot due to GPU driver issues.Players had been finding ways to take their furry friend out of bounds with some even falling straight through the map, so collision fixes have been implemented in order to prevent going out of the world.An uncapped frame rate option was confusing fans as it was to the left-most side of the scroller. That’s now been moved all the way to the right, to place it in the logical order.The scratch trophy wasn’t always triggering for those playing on keyboard and mouse, so a fix has been added for this, as well as localisation fixes for German players.

Black Matter Games has launched its major Hell Let Loose update entitled Falling Dark, which adds a collection of new content and quality-of-life improvements.Update 12 has introduced the game’s previously announced new map “Remagen” and also includes new weapons and vehicles, such as the Panther and M4A3 Sherman. Players can also now get their hands on Flare Guns.The developer hasn’t just added extra items and content with Falling Dark, it’s also addressed the way primary weapons are shown on players.

Poncle has shared the details of Vampire Survivors‘ next update, and it includes a new relic mechanic.Update 0.8.0 is set to arrive on July 7 and will introduce a new version of the roguelike game’s fifth stage and the final relic that was planned for the original roadmap (via, PCGamesN).After the final relic is added and collected by the player, a new permanent feature will be introduced to all future runs called the Milky Way Map.

Vampire Survivors characters featured in the latest 0.7.3 beta update is an immobile tree.Update 0.7.3, nicknamed The Posh One, was released today (June 23) and features a collection of brand new features, including the previously announced character Sir Ambrojoe.However, it looks like the Castlevania-like roguelike shoot ’em up also includes the addition of a secret character: a tree named Peppino (via, Kotaku).Although Peppino is a playable character, it doesn’t move at all meaning it will stand in the centre of the map surrounded by enemies. That doesn’t mean Peppino is useless though.

Steam earlier this year, Alice: Madness Returns has once again been delisted from the platform, and the game’s director is attempting to rectify the issue. Published by EA and developed by Spicy Horse, Alice: Madness Returns is the second in a planned trilogy of games based on the 19th century book by Lewis Carroll. Whilst unavailable on Steam, Alice: Madness Returns can still be played on PC via EA’s Origin launcher.As of publication it is unclear why Alice: Madness Returns is not on Steam, after it returned this February following a digital rights management issue (via, Eurogamer).

Undetected, the stealth game from developer Antonio Freyre is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.In a new Steam blog post, Freyre announced that he has partnered with publisher Digerati to bring the game to consoles as well as PC.The developer also confirmed that Undetected will be participating in Steam Next Fest, meaning a brand new Steam demo is now available for fans to try out. You can also check out the new announcement trailer below:“Featuring the game’s opening jungle section, the demo offers a chance to sample the stealth mechanics and try some of the non-lethal bullets and explosives you can use to distract and/or immobilize enemies,” Freyre explained.The developer also shared his own commentary video going over the demo in more detail.

Capcom is giving away its legendary fighting game Street Fighter 2 for free over on Steam as part of a Capcom Arcade Stadium “free promotional package.”Typically, Capcom Arcade Stadium would only come with 1943 -The Battle of Midway as a free download, with the rest of the titles being separate paid downloads. However, PC Gamer spotted that Street Fighter 2 was also available for free.This comes off the heels of the recent full lineup announcement for Capcom Arcade Stadium 2, which is set to release July 22, and allows players to purchase a total of 32 classic Capcom titles.

Housemarque‘s PS5 exclusive title Returnal could be coming to PC according to a new Steam database listing.As reported by VGC, SteamDB logged a new product in its database with the codename “Oregon.”The product also has tags listed such as “rogue-like”, “sci-fi”, and “bullet hell,” as well as the mention of the Tower of Sisyphus and Atropos, which both feature in Returnal.There are even more files that point toward the product being Returnal, as there are mentions of a female protagonist, singleplayer, co-operative, daily challenges, exploring, boss fights, a photo mode, “returning”, and “About to Die”. Each of these tags in some way or another link to the roguelike title.At this time, Housemarque hasn’t announced a PC version of Returnal, but it’s likely that the new logged product could be the sci-fi game.

V Rising is now playable on Linux and Steam Deck consoles, while developer Stunlock Studios has announced the vampire survival game has sold 1million copies.Since finding runaway success on PC, V Rising is now available for Linux and Steam Deck fans to play, as the latest “bleeding-edge” beta version of Proton Experimental has introduced compatibility.As explained by GamingOnLinux, to jump into the game on Linux or Steam Deck, players should navigate to Proton Experimental in their Steam library, go into the ‘Betas’ tab in Properties, and opt into the “bleeding-edge” beta.From there, go to V Rising‘s Properties, select Compatibility, and choose Proton Experimental. This will allow players to jump into V Rising on their platform of choice.As V Rising comes to alternate PC platforms, the game’s enormous success has been celebrated by the developer.

Strange Scaffold – creator of El Paso, Everywhere and Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator – has announced that it will begin publishing games, starting with a roguelite RPG called Purgatory Dungeoneer.Created by indie developer Damien Crawford, Strange Scaffold says that Purgatory Dungeoneer‘s full title – My Grandpa Died And All He Left Me Was This 1 Dungeon In Purgatory Filled With Nihilistic Adventurers – will continue the studio’s “monopoly on dangerously long game names.”Purgatory Dungeoneer is a town-building roguelite RPG which tasks the player with “plundering a psychic hellmaw for personal closure”. Set to launch on Steam and itch.io in the third quarter of 2022, players will take control of a supernatural medieval village and form parties of retired adventurers to raid the “hellmaw” for resources.The game will feature over 400 possible residents that players can recruit, as well as more than 100 classes and over 1000 skills for adventurers to utilise.You can watch a trailer for Purgatory Dungeoneer below:On the decision to move into publishing, Strange Scaffold director Xalavier Nelson Jr.

Bethesda has finally given a date for when players can start migrating their PC games from the Bethesda game launcher to Steam.Players will be able to move their games, wallet funds and some save files starting from April 27, according to an updated Bethesda blog post that says users will “have plenty of time to plan and begin migrating your Bethesda.net library to your Steam account.”For games that require manual save transfers, the Bethesda.net service will remain active and allow players to sign in and move files across to Steam. All players can still access Bethesda.net from the company’s website.From May 11 games will no longer be playable on Bethesda.net, giving players two weeks to migrate their games and saves to Steam.Both Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls Online will be largely unaffected by the changeover, with a Fallout 76 FAQ providing more answers for players.Bethesda has also made sure that any of its games not available on Steam that players previously accessed via Bethesda.net will be added to Steam for the first time.

Golf Gang, a new party racing game set to launch on PC next month.From developers Lazy Monday Games and the publisher behind Human: Fall Flat, Golf Gang is a fast-paced, precision racer that features both solo and online co-op, and it’s set to release on May 19, 2022.Up to eight players can challenge each other online while they are required to master a series of ruthless environments that range in difficulty. You can check out the announcement trailer, which showcases some gameplay, below.The party game will only be released for PC through Steam and is currently available to wishlist.“Golf Gang isn’t your typical golf game: it’s a golf-racer where the fewest shots and quickest to pin wins,” say developers Andrew and Mitchell Baxter of Lazy Monday Games.

Steam,  Valve has explained that it’s an issue with the company’s own bank. Earlier in the month, Ukrainian Steam developers started receiving emails from Valve that  read: “Due to the current environment, we are unable to send bank payments to Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.”One such developer based in Ukraine, Stas Shostak, has since received another email from Valve, which apologised and explained the situation. According to the company, Valve’s bank has started requiring “intermediary bank information” for payments to accounts in Ukraine and Russia, as the bank “will no longer be allowing payments to Belarus.”So Valve clarified, it really is a technical problem and it's gonna be okay till April payment.

Paradox Interactive has announced Stellaris: Overlord, the next expansion for the grand strategy game that will be launching soon.The publisher revealed Overlord with a brand new cinematic trailer teasing a new story and characters. The trailer was only one-minute long, but it looks like the expansion will focus on consolidating other empires.As the synopsis reads, “Overlord, a new full expansion for Stellaris, grants access to new features designed to unlock the next level of your empire.

Ed-0: Zombie Uprising has been revealed with a brand new trailer, showcasing a “rogue-like action survival title” set in a zombie-ridden 19th-century Japan.Edo-0: Zombie Uprising will launch in Early Access for PC on April 4, 2022.The trailer’s description says the game will be a “rogue-like action survival title”, and a press release from D3 Publisher has shared that it will include “over 10 hours of core gameplay content” at launch.This will include two playable characters, three main quests and main bosses, five sub-quests, and randomly generated dungeons in each playthrough. A third playable character will be added later in the game’s Early Access phase.You can watch the trailer for Ed-0: Zombie Uprising below:As to what the game entails, the press release reveals that Ed-0: Zombie Uprising will include “brutal strategic battles in a rogue-like format” set in a world where Japan has been overrun by zombies.The game’s gory combat seems to revolve around melee battles, with the three classes showcased – Ninja, Sumo Wrestler and Samurai – all kitted to get up-close and personal with the undead hordes.On the roguelike nature of the game, D3 Publisher states that “no dungeon run will be the same, so players’ judgement will be of the utmost importance”.Ed-0: Zombie Uprising will also include a hub base where players can upgrade their characters, with different skills and various items available to pick up from the safe location.

Valheim is now live, adding in a new form of instanced dungeons, loot, and more.As part of the Mountains update for Valheim, Frost Caves are new, instanced dungeons that aren’t too different to the Black Forest’s Burial Chambers or the Swamps’ Sunken Crypts. Frost Caves will not have a set location that you will find them in, and will only spawn in unexplored areas of the map, and only in the mountain biome.Valheim’s Frost Caves will harbour enemies like the newly introduced cultists and bats, as well as wolves.

Valve president Gabe Newell recently spoke out about the metaverse, and is not entirely sold on the concept overall.Speaking to PC Gamer, when asked if he believes metaverse trends are pushing technology forward, Newell responded, “There’s a bunch of get rich quick schemes around metaverse. Most of the people who are talking about metaverse have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about, and they’ve apparently never played an MMO.

Elden Ring is officially Steam Deck Verified, and has been approved in every category that Valve judges compatibility on.First spotted by PCGamesN, Elden Ring has been given the Steam Deck Verified rating by Valve.This has been confirmed via Valve’s Steam Deck compatibility tester, which the company announced as a way for fans to check which of their Steam games would be compatible with the handheld PC.On Elden Ring, the compatibility tester says “this game is fully functional on Steam Deck, and works great with the built-in controls and display.”On each of the four categories that Steam Deck compatibility judges, Elden Ring passed. The testing notes that “this game’s default graphics configuration performs well on Steam Deck,” and adds that it can be played with Steam Deck’s default controls and that the in-game interface text is legible.Today (February 25), both Elden Ring and the Steam Deck have shared a launch.Unfortunately, PC players have encountered some issues with FromSoftware’s latest title.

Valve has released an online tool to help players quickly find out which games in their Steam library are Steam Deck compatible.With the portable PC release right around the corner, Valve has streamlined how players can find out the compatibility of their library on the Steam Deck. Whilst Valve is going to be testing “new titles constantly and [will] continue past launch,” this acts as a simple way for players to figure out if their favourite games work on the Steam Deck.As outlined in this blog post, games in each player’s library are given a compatibility rating, revealing if a game is Steam Deck verified, playable (may require extra work), unsupported  or untested.By signing in at this link, users can see the compatibility list of their own Steam library.

Mina The Hollower, the next game from the studio behind Shovel Knight, has surpassed 16,000 backers on Kickstarter.Developed by Yacht Club Games, Mina The Follower is a “bone-chilling love letter to handheld gaming” featuring a classic 8-bit aesthetic in the style of Game Boy Color, refined for the modern era.The game was announced last month with the developer requesting $311,000 (£230,000), which was surpassed within 24 hours of its Kickstarter posting. Now, as of writing, the indie game has reached over $925,000 (£680,437) worth of pledges and has over 16,000 backers.With 12 days to go before the Kickstarter ends, the number of pledges seem to be rising steadily and has almost reached $1million, over triple its set amount.With 60fps action and top-down gameplay, the game follows the player as Mina, a whip-wielding Hollower and visionary inventor.

Kinetic Games has said that it will be “more transparent” with players when presenting Phasmophobia patch notes in the future.As reported by PC GamesN, after the developer recently ran a fan poll on Discord for the game looking for opinions from players, the lead artist on Phasmophobia, Corey J Dixon, has said that the poll “in no way guarantees how we actually write patch notes in the future,” and the team was “just looking for opinions and to create discussion for the possibility of change.”Following the poll, it was revealed that players voted to receive more in-detail patch notes for the ghost-hunting game, with multiple times the number of votes as the less-detailed options.Phasmophobia Balance Patch v0.5.2.0Ghost identity changes, High Priestess and Voodoo Doll buffs!https://t.co/XIgMuSh4U3#Phasmophobia— Phasmophobia (@KineticGame) February 10, 2022In a new Steam community post, Kinetic has confirmed that going forward it will change the way it presents the latest Phasmophobia patch notes. “In light of the most recent Discord Poll, we’ve decided to experiment with being more transparent in writing patch notes when we update the game,” the developer said.The rest of the patch notes for v0.5.2.0 features the updates to come, with a long list of changes in relation to Ghost Identities, fixes, new additions, and more.Some big ghost changes address the Demon, Banshee, Shade, Poltergeist, and Hantu – who have all either received a gameplay buff or nerf, as well as how players will interact with them.One new update includes ‘The High Priestess’ tarot card, which has received new functionality and should help when drawing one early while playing solo.

Elden Ring specs were available on Steam for a few hours before being taken down.As reported by PC Gamer, FromSoftware‘s upcoming game Elden Ring showed its PC specs briefly on the Steam Storefront before being removed. It is unclear why the specifications were deleted, but visitors to the Steam page now will only see “TBD” (shorthand for to be decided) under system requirements.

Frontier Foundry has announced that Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters will launch on May 5 for PC and will feature The Lord Of The Rings actor Andy Serkis.The development team at Complex Games revealed that Andy Serkis – best known for his performances in The Lord of the Rings, the Planet of the Apes trilogy, as well as the upcoming film, The Batman – will lend his vocal talents and portray Vardan Kai, a Grand Master and Steward of the Armoury, in the game’s campaign.“Vardan Kai is a Grand Master, he is a very authoritarian leader, and he doesn’t suffer fools,” Serkis commented. “He has a strong dislike for those he feels he can’t trust, and doesn’t show a lot of emotion, but throughout the game he’s building a ‘master and pupil’ relationship with the player.

Microids has announced that the PC version of Syberia: The World Before will be launching on March 18.The point and click adventure game, which was initially scheduled to release on December 10, will now release early this year for Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.“We wanted to offer the best possible experience and pay a massive tribute to Kate Walker’s epic adventures envisioned by Benoit Sokal,” Microids said in a press release. “These extra weeks allowed the studio Koalabs and our team to be confident about delivering the game you deserve.”Syberia: The World Before combines two narratives and allows players to explore two time periods and stories in parallel.