Steam has reached a new peak with over 37.26 million concurrent users, a significant increase from last month. The rise is attributed to the success of games like Black Myth: Wukong and Counter-Strike 2, as well as Valve’s new game, Deadlock. This record reflects Steam’s continuous growth and its dominance in the PC gaming market.
Rumors of two new Half-Life games, one for PC and one for VR, are gaining traction. These games could be a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2, possibly even featuring a cooperative mode where players take on the roles of Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance. This news follows rumors of Valve’s upcoming Deckard VR headset, potentially setting the stage for a next-gen Half-Life experience.
Valve is introducing a new ‘Helpfulness System’ to its Steam user reviews, aiming to prioritize reviews that offer valuable insights to potential buyers. This change will push unhelpful reviews containing memes, ASCII art, and irrelevant content to the bottom of the list, making it easier for players to find useful information about games.
Steam is implementing a new system to improve the helpfulness of user reviews, prioritizing comments that aid purchase decisions. The platform will now rank reviews based on quality, pushing humorous or unhelpful reviews, including one-word reviews and memes, lower in the list.
Valve is implementing new rules on the Steam Store, restricting developers from including links and advertisements within game descriptions. The changes aim to streamline the store experience and focus on providing relevant game information to players.
Valve’s upcoming hero shooter ‘Deadlock’ is causing a stir with a record-breaking number of concurrent players in its closed beta. With a lane-based map design and a roster of 19 unique characters, Deadlock is poised to become a major contender in the competitive shooter genre. The game’s popularity suggests a potential Gamescom announcement and an open beta launch.
Rumors of Half-Life 3 are heating up as a voice actor for a Valve project codenamed ‘HLX’ makes a reference to ‘White Sands’, a potential connection to the Half-Life universe. Datamining by Tyler McVicker reveals additional clues, pointing towards a non-VR single-player game featuring Gordon Freeman in an HEV suit, potentially confirming Half-Life 3.
Valve is adding official support for the DeckHD screen replacement in an upcoming SteamOS update, bringing 1200p resolution to the Steam Deck. While a welcomed addition, DeckHD’s appeal has diminished since the release of the OLED Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck, once a skeptical purchase, has become the author’s primary gaming device, surpassing even high-end consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Portability and the device’s significant improvement since launch have led to a dramatic shift in gaming habits, with the Steam Deck now responsible for the majority of the author’s playtime.
Valve has unveiled a new beta feature for Steam, allowing players to record gameplay directly within the Steam app. This feature, dubbed ‘Game Recording Beta,’ offers various functionalities, including capturing footage, editing clips, and sharing them easily with friends. Steam aims to make this feature performant and accessible across platforms, including Steam Deck.
