Steam

CD Projekt’s PC game storefront GOG is getting behind indie game Horses after Valve banned it from Steam. Horses is an indie first-person horror game with live-action sequences set in a horse farm. Over the course of 14 days, it "welcomes you into encounters that test your obedience, complicity, and restraint." The player experiences "the farm's unspeakable horrors through daily unique interactions," as they must "withstand 14 days of spiraling dread as the reality of the farm unfolds." As IGN reported this week, Horses is currently preparing to launch on December 2 on the Epic Games Store, GOG, Itch.io, and the Humble Store, but not on Steam because Valve has banned the game from release on its platform. Check out IGN’s original report for the details of the situation, which Italian developer Santa Ragione (Saturnalia, Wheels of Aurelia, MirrorMoon EP) has said leaves it with a “high risk” of closure, such is the PC gaming market dominance enjoyed by Steam. Valve has released a statement of its own, confirming its decision not to release Horses on Steam is "final.” "We reviewed the game back in 2023,” Valve said. “At that time, the developer indicated with their release date in Steamworks that they planned to release a few months later. Based on content in the store page, we told the developer we would need to review the build itself. This happens sometimes if content on the store page causes concern that the game itself might not fall within our guidelines. After our team played through the build and reviewed the content, we gave the developer feedback about why we couldn’t ship the game on Steam, consistent with our onboarding rules and guidelines. A short while later the developer asked us to reconsider the review, and our internal content review team discussed that extensively and communicated to the developer our final decision that we were not going to ship the game on Steam." Now, GOG has released a statement saying it is “proud” to give Horses a home on its platform, pushing pre-orders live, showcasing the game on its homepage, and alerting press and its followers across social media. “We’re proud to give Horses a home on GOG, giving players another way to enjoy the game,” GOG said. “We’ve always believed that players should be able to choose the experiences that speak to them. “To support the Santa Ragione studio in this difficult time, we’ve decided to launch pre-orders on Horses today — grab yours and celebrate their creativity!” Valve still hasn’t explained why it refused to reconsider its position on Horses even after the developer tweaked the game. Speaking to IGN, Pietro Righi Riva of Santa Ragione urged game developers to stand up together to demand transparency from Steam. "I know developers are understandably scared of voicing their complaints about Steam, but I hope we can collectively ask for better conditions to make our work more viable and more creatively free," he said. "The current landscape is one where very few actors control the distribution of almost all games that are produced, and that should mean they are responsible not just for the commercial sustainability of the industry, but also for the growth of games as an artistic medium." If you're hunting for the best offers this week, we're actively rounding up the strongest ****** Friday deals on video games, tech, and more. You can find all our top picks and price drops in our full ****** Friday hub, or check out our relevant pages for PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox deals. Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

After a wild year for Grand Theft Auto 6 fans mired in controversy, with multiple release date delays, accusations of union-busting against Rockstar Games, and more, speculation about what's going on behind the scenes at GTA 6 and Rockstar is at an all-time high. View the full article

"Just leave a little mystery in there. It'll be good for you. People will like it."View the full article

Steam's way of categorizing AI is causing debateView the full article

Updated on December 26, 2025: Added all the Island 3 Ores and traits. Will update with precise recipes soon. Preview Best for Island 2: Darkryte and Magmaite. Best for Island 3: Etherealite for Armor and Iceite/Voidstar for weapons. Also, Suryafal, Heavenite and Gargantuan have the highest multipliers for end-game armor and weapons. I'll guide you through the best Ore Traits in The Forge for weapons and armor with individual ranking reasons. This guide will also include the best end-game combination for weapons and armor in terms of traits. Here's my The Forge Ore Trait tier list and guide. Table of contentsBest Ore Traits in The Forge (Mid Game - Island 2)Best Armor Recipe in The Forge (Late Game - Island 2)Best Weapon Recipe in The Forge (Late Game - Island 2)Best Ore Traits in The Forge (Mid Game - Island 3)Best Ore Traits in The Forge (Mid Game - Island 2) Mid-game tier list - Image by Destructoid This The Forge Ore tier list is specialized for the mid game. Darkryte and Demonite get better in the end-game and you can check out how to use them below the tier list. As for the tier list, it's all about mid-game crafting the best Armor and Weapons. As for rankings, I rated those that are always active and useful higher. The lower tiers usually have traits that have proc chances, don't reliably trigger or are underpowered for mid-game. There's individual ranking reasons below as well. Ore Traits Explained: When including Ores with Traits in a weapon or armor you need to have at least 10% of that Ore when forging for the Trait to be active. That said you want 30% of that ore in the components for the optimal effects listed below. This means that your Weapon/Armor builds should have 30%/30%/30% of the best Traits and one 10% as support since you can stack multiple traits. Of course, you can always include a majority of high multiplier ores with no traits for a higher damage boost. Best Runes: Once you craft the best gear, our best runes guide will show you which ones to use. S-Tier Ore TraitsOres & TraitsRanking ReasonEffect Obsidian (Armor) Epic 1/333 Volcanic Rock 2.35xThe best Defense boost in the game for Armor and a must-have as a 30% slot30% extra defense on Armor Eye Ore (Weapon and Armor) Legendary 1/1333 Basalt Rock, Basalt Core, Basalt Vein, Volcanic Rock 4xThe most flexibile DPS trait for both weapons and armor as a 30% Good on both weapons and armor-10% health, +15% damage boost on Weapons/Armor Rivalite (Weapon) Epic 1/569 Basalt Vein, Volcanic Rock 3.33xCombines well with Rune Crit Chance boosts An excellent DPS boost Be careful of the lower modifier so make sure this isn't the highest quantity if you're putting better mod Ores+20% critical strike chance on Weapons Magmaite (Weapon) Legendary 1/3003 Volcanic Rock 5xPotentially better than Rivalite on higher base damage weapons for fighting multiple enemies That said, Rivalite is better for single target if you stack it with Runes that boost crit chance50% AOE explosion damage with 35% chance on-hit on Weapons Related: The Forge Money Farm Guide A-Tier Ore TraitsOres & TraitsRanking ReasonEffect Uranium (Armor) Legendary 1/777 Basalt Vein 3xAn excellent secondary trait for armor for extra damage I like it more than Demonite but Demonite has better multipliers5% of player max health as AOE damage while in combat, on Armor Mythril (Armor) Legendary 1/813 Basalt Vein 3.5xWeaker than Obsidian but still a must-have More health is too good to pass up15% extra defense on Armor Fireite (Weapon) Legendary 1/2187 Volcanic Rock 4.5xA single-target Magmaite with a lower multiplier and lower proc-chance Still really good for the single-target burn damage20% burn for 2 seconds with 30% chance on-hit on WeaponsB-Tier Ore TraitsOres & TraitsRanking ReasonEffect Darkryte (Armor) Mythical 1/5555 Volcanic Rock 6.3xNot a huge fan of Darkryte early since it's difficult to farm and you need lots of it to make it worthwhile It's a much better Ore for late-game That said it has value for those moments when you do make mistakes and you get lucky I would only use it as a 10% slot for a bit of dodge chance so that you can get lucky when making mistakesArmor Only: Upon taking damage, there is 15% chance to turn into a shadow to dodge the attackC-Tier Ore TraitsOres & TraitsRanking ReasonEffect Demonite (Armor) Mythical 1/3666 Volcanic Rock 5.5xIt's a decent trait but the problem is it's to expensive for the mid-game And this ore requires you to take damage to be good Reapers and Deathaxes deal so much damage that it's not worth having it You want to focus on Parry and Dodge so effects that are always active are better That said late game it's the best Ore for the high multiplier for both Weapons and Armor20% burn for 2 seconds with 15% chance on-hit & 25% chance to burn the enemy when damage is takenD-Tier Ore TraitsOres & TraitsRanking ReasonEffect Poopite (Weapon) Epic 1/131 Pebble, Rock, Boulder 1.2xSimilar reasons for Darkryte and Demonite where you don't want to get hit And this only triggers if you're low so you're not seeing much use if you play well The effect is more of a save button that fears monsters and allows you to escape Than it is usefulDeal % poison damage around you for X seconds, fearing enemies. Activates when below 35% HP and has a 15 second cooldown. Lightite (Armor) Legendary 1/3333 Basalt Vein 4.6xSuch a minor effect that you won't even notice it that much so I wouldn't botherSpeed Boost on ArmorBest Armor Recipe in The Forge (Late Game - Island 2) Darkryte becomes really strong in the late game where you have plenty for a lot of dodge chance. You'll get your DPS from Demonite and HP from Obsidian/Mythril. Until you get to that point just use Obsidian and Mythril with Eye Ore for DPS. Here's the full recipe for the best armor in The Forge. Late Island 2 ArmorHeavy ArmorBest Ores Full dodge chance/enemy burn with tons of HPChestplate20 Darkryte 8 Demonite 6 Obsidian 6 MythrilHelmet12 Darkryte 6 Demonite 4 Obsidian 4 MythrilLeggings16 Darkryte 6 Demonite 4 Obsidian 4 MythrilMid Island 2 ArmorHeavy ArmorBest Ores High HP with DPS from Eye Ore and UraniumChestplate18 Mythril 10 Eye Ore 10 ObsidianHelmet9 Mythril 9 Uranium 9 ObsidianLeggings12 Mythril 10 Eye Ore 8 Obsidian Check out our Forge Crafting Guide if you need a refresher on crafting mechanics. Best Weapon Recipe in The Forge (Late Game - Island 2) For Weapons, don't go for Colossal Swords before the late game unless it is for farming money by crafting and selling them. Colossal Swords have the highest DPS but they are best for late-game. Here's a full breakdown of what to use when and how to craft the best Weapon in The Forge. WeaponBest OresColossal Sword Late Game25 Darkryte 25 Demonite 10 Eye Ore High DPS multiplier from the 25 slots even though we get no trait Our only trait is Eye for a small damage boost Alternatively if you want traits go for 25 Darkryte 20 Magmaite 15 Fireite 10 Eye OreKatana Best for mid-to-late game6 Darkryte or 8 Darkryte if you go for 4 Magmaite below 4 Demonite or 4 Magmaite 3 Eye Ore - Ignore if you go for 8/4Straight Sword Best for mid-to-late game4 Darkryte 2 Fireite 1 Eye OreGauntlets Best for mid-to-late game4 Darkryte 3 Demonite 2 Eye Ore High DPS but go for 3 Magmaite/2 Fireite/1 Eye Ore with 3 Darkryte Early if you want more traitsBest Ore Traits in The Forge (Mid Game - Island 3) Image by Destructoid This Island 3 Ore Trait tier list is for early to mid-game Island 3 and a bit into the late game Island 3. That said, keep in mind that in late game Island 3 the highest multiplier Ores will be better like Etherealite for Armor and Iceite/Voidstar for weapons. Also, Suryafal, Heavenite and Gargantuan will start to take over for armor and weapons in the end-game since they simply have the best multipliers of 17.5x, 25x, and 33.3x, respectively. Here are all their effects and stats. I've listed all of these Ores below with their basic stats but my Full Ore List will give you more details on all Island 3 Ores in general. Island 3 Ore Traits ListedIsland 3 Ores With TraitsTrait Effects Etherealite Mythical 11.1x Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The Peak+35% Vitality (Armor) Voidstar Legendary 10x Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The Peak+33 Crit Chance +15% Crit Damage -15% Vitality (Weapon) Crimsonite Epic 8.5x Small Ice Crystal, Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crysta The Peak+20% Physical Damage (BOTH) MosasaursitSpecial 7x Check out our Prismatic Pickaxe Guide On how to find Mosasaursit-25% Swiftness +65% Vitality (Armor) Iceite Mythical 10.5x Small Ice Crystal, Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The PeakFreeze enemies for 2 seconds on hit (25% proc chance) (12 Second Cooldown) (Weapon) Malachite Epic 8.8x Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The PeakDeals +10% of weapon damage as poison per second for 3 seconds. (33% chance on hit) (Weapon) Snowite Legendary 8x Icy Pebble, Icy Rock, Icy Boulder Spider Cave Small Ice Crystal The PeakApplies a -15% Attack Speed and Movement Speed slow on enemies on hit for 3 seconds (30% proc chance) (Weapon) Frost Fossil Epic 4.5x Icy Boulder Spider Cave Small Ice Crystal, Medium Ice Crystal The Peak+17.5% Physical Damage -5 Speed (Armor & Weapon) Velchire Legendary 5.5x Icy Boulder Spider Cave Small Ice Crystal, Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The Peak+20% Speed (Armor) Sanctis Legendary 6x Icy Boulder Spider Cave Small Ice Crystal, Medium Ice Crystal, Large Ice Crystal, Floating Crystal The Peak+18% Stamina (Armor) Graphite Rare 3.1x Icy Pebble, Icy Rock, Icy Boulder Spider Cave+5% HP +12% Damage Reduction (20% Chance to activate) (Armor) Aetherit Rare 3.4x Icy Pebble, Icy Rock, Icy Boulder, Spider Cave Small Ice Crystal The Peak+5% Speed (Armor) That's it for my guide on the best Ore traits in The Forge Ore trait tier list. Check out my The Forge Race Tier List for more guides. The post The Forge Ore Trait Tier List – Best Recipes [Island 3] appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

****** Friday Flash Challenge SBC has arrived in FC 26 Ultimate Team, and we have the second one to complete and win free rewards. Unlike traditional fodder challenges, there will be new ones coming out every three hours. Every version will have different requirements and rewards. As of writing, we have the second one available for the community to complete. Let's look at how you can complete it to unlock the rewards. Table of contentsHow to complete FC 26 ****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC solutionsHow to complete FC 26 ****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC solutionsHow to complete FC 26 ****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC The ****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC has one task, and here are its requirements. ****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC Max. 4 Players from the same LeagueMin. Nationalities in Squad: 3Min. 4 Players: GoldMin. 3 Players: RareMin. Team Rating: 70Min. Squad Total Chemistry Points: 24****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC solutions Here's a solution you can use to complete the second Flash challenge. Zivokovic LW 78Giakoumakis ST 76Yoon Jong Gyu RW 64Samardzic CM 75Yuksek CM 77Laci CM 74Visinsky 68Kottas CB 63Heo Yul ST 63Choi Seok Hyun CB 57Gorgen GK 65 Completing the challenge will earn you a Tradeable Prime Mixed Players Pack. How to complete FC 26 ****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC The ****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC has just one task, and here are its requirements. ****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC Min. Nationalities in Squad: 2Min. Clubs in Squad: 3Min. 3 Players from the same LeagueMin. 7 Players: RarePlayer quality: Min. SilverMin. Squad Total Chemistry Points: 14 The requirements for the first one are relatively simple, and you should have the required fodder already available in your club. ****** Friday Flash Challenge 1 SBC solutions Chances are less that you'll get stuck trying to complete this fodder challenge. However, I have included a template solution for you to use before the first Flash challenge expires from Ultimate Team. Gutlbauer 66Vietto ST 73Gho LM 67Aaron Martin 74Giani CM 71Vera RM 70Kafaji 72Haspolat 74Ivan Gill 71McGlynn 73Devecchi GK 70 The first Flash challenge will reward you with a Premium Electrum Playes Pack, which has six Silver and six Gold items. At least three of those six items are guaranteed to be Rare, and there's a chance for the pack to feature a walkout/promo card. With the Best of Re-Release cards now available, there's never been a better time to open packs. Once we have more challenges available to complete, we will have the detailed solutions in this guide. The post FC 26 ****** Friday Flash Challenge 2 SBC tasks and solutions appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article

The excellent and incredibly useful Linux performance overlay MangoHud has released version 0.8.2 after being in testing for a few weeks with new features. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

TSMC filed the lawsuit this week in the Intellectual Property and Commercial Court. The filing is based on the terms of Lo's contract with the company, including the non-compete agreement he signed, and regulations such as the Trade Secrets Act. Read Entire Article View the full article

The Xbox One physical copy of Fortnite reached $42.5K on the Heritage Auctions website. The rare physical release comes with the Storm Master weapon pack and gives players access to the original Save the World mode. Read Entire Article View the full article

Long-time Final Fantasy scribe Kazushige Nojima says "I was conflicted as video game characters need to allow room for the players' imagination"View the full article

"You don't outsource the things you're good at to AI."View the full article

Opinion | Escaping a long shadow with Robert RobertsonView the full article

Разработчики из российской студии Battlestate Games не спешат делиться информацией о продажах своего хардкорного эвакуационного шутера Escape from Tarkov, но первые выводы об успехах игры сделать уже можно.View the full article

There are very few indie games that have reached the widescale success that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has, becoming the most nominated game in the history of The Game Awards and breaking worldwide sales records. Clair Obscur is hailed for its incredible gameplay, story, and especially its masterpiece of a soundtrack. View the full article

The Magic: The Gathering card Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender has jumped in price from $14 to $34.70, a rise of 147% in the week since the cards were released. This card, from the MTG Jumpstart set, is eternal legal only, so we must look to the Commander format to see what has set it a'spiking. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MTG scraps Monster Hunter Secret Lair five days before release and is "committed to doing better" 9 rising MTG Avatar The Last Airbender cards you don't want to sleep on This cracked Red MTG deck wins in 3 turns, and it's boosted one uncommon card's price 500% View the full article

Grand Theft Auto 6 fans have had a tumultuous year, with their worst fears coming true after multiple delays. These various delays and growing speculation over behind-the-scenes issues at Rockstar have raised deep concerns over the future of the game and its eventual release, and players are questioning whether the hype is going to be worth it in the end. View the full article

Another week, another flashpoint in the debate around the use of AI in game development. This time, it was Epic Games CEO and Fortnite boss Tim Sweeney who created the latest spark, claiming that AI disclosures like the ones found on Steam store pages make "no sense," his argument being that everyone will have to 'fess up to using it eventually as AI will become "involved in nearly all future production." A Valve developer has now had their say in a back-and-forth with the X user that Sweeney initially backed with his remarks, saying that "the only [people] afraid of this are the ones that know their product is low effort." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Epic CEO says AI disclosures like Steam's make "no sense" because AI will be involved in "nearly all" future game development When is the next Steam *****? Surprise Steam update adds a new feature I never knew I needed View the full article

"...because the puppet master still holds the strings"View the full article

The latest Where Winds Meet update to hit ******** servers has just introduced one of the most transformative features yet, proving that Everstone Studio is willing to try just about anything on its quest to turn the Wuxia adventure into one of the best open-world games around. The new tool, roughly translated to 'Ink Structure' or 'Inkcraft,' lets you build custom vehicles piece by piece, in much the same sandbox fashion as beloved smash-em-up Besiege or, for the Nintendo fans among us, the Zonai device crafting in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Where Winds Meet players are tricking AI-powered NPCs into giving them rewards by using the 'Solid Snake method' Where Winds Meet codes November 2025 Wuxia action RPG Where Winds Meet rockets up the Steam charts, but its 'AI chatbot' NPCs have overshadowed the combat View the full article

"Elongate your neck just a bit please."View the full article

On November 27, Games Workshop dropped a cute fake news report onto its social media, in which a bewildered reporter meets enraged Warhammer 40k fans protesting the sheer lack of releases for the Ultramarines this year. It's a goof, of course - the Ultramarines have had an unexpected windfall of releases and reveals in the last two months. Since the firm doesn't release videos this close to Christmas just for fun, it's almost certain that this is the start of a marketing campaign for something big - and there only a few Ultramarines releases it could possibly be. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: 12 killer anthems for Warhammer 40k, themed around your favorite armies - that aren't just more Sabaton Build a Trench Crusade warzone or a miniature wargame wasteland with this 3D model mega bundle, at 96% off Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 just hit its lowest price ever for ****** Friday, and it's twice the game it was at launch View the full article

The Magic: The Gathering card Bumi, Eclectic Earthbender has jumped in price from $14 to $34.70, a rise of 147% in the week since the cards were released. This card, from the MTG Jumpstart set, is eternal legal only, so we must look to the Commander format to see what has set it a'spiking. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: MTG scraps Monster Hunter Secret Lair five days before release and is "committed to doing better" 9 rising MTG Avatar The Last Airbender cards you don't want to sleep on This cracked Red MTG deck wins in 3 turns, and it's boosted one uncommon card's price 500% View the full article

The unique world of Falloutoffers plenty of different mutated enemies or friends to populate the wasteland, but easily one of the most iconic is the zombie-like ghouls roaming the wasteland. While expanded lifespans, regenerative abilities, and resistance to radiation make ghouls sound like the perfect kind of person to survive Fallout's post-apocalyptic wasteland, they're often discriminated against or take a ********* due to their grotesque appearances. View the full article

Организаторы The Game Awards готовят множество анонсов и показов, однако одну игру обойдут стороной. Генеральный директор CD Projekt RED Михал Новаковский сообщил, что грядущая церемония вручения наград обойдётся без The Witcher 4. View the full article

Ubisoft не планирует выпускать второе масштабное дополнение для Assassin's Creed Shadows, о чём в интервью JorRaptor заявил младший руководитель разработки Симон Лемэ-Комтуа. Речь идёт о сюжетном DLC вроде «Когтей Авадзи», представленных в сентябре. View the full article