Steam

The third annual Steam Year In Review Steam Replay has arrived, and your very own jaunt down gaming memory lane awaits! It's a fun-filled, fact-filled, friend-filled (because you can share it!) look back at what you played in 2024. Name change? What name change?Ok, you got us. We called it Steam Replay when we launched it in 2022. Then last year, some of us thought "Hey! What if we changed it to Steam Year In Review for giggles?" Then we all giggled and did it. Then this year, someone said, "Um, that was a dumb idea we had last year. Are we crazy if we change it back to the better name for it?" And we all said "Shut up, Gabe, that's too much work." HA HA we kid, it was actually Chris. Or Eric? No wait it was Jane. Or maybe Tom? And we actually said "That's a great, collaborative idea, fellow teammate!" and here we are. You, on Steam, by the numbersHow many games did you play, and how does that compare to last year? Did you unlock a bunch of achievements? What about your longest streak? These fun numbers and more are in your Replay. There are spiders! ...graphs. Spider GRAPHS, we mean, showing in spider language what kinds of games you played. ...and so much more!There are so many fun ways to look at your year in Steam gaming: playtime by month; playtime by what you played on; even playtime across your Steam Family if you're part of one! Sharing is caringEach Steam Replay is different, so what will yours look like? Take a look at your own, and share it both on and off Steam with your friends (and see what theirs look like too!)View the full article

Disney Dreamlight Valley has launched a new gift-giving event, which will be available until the very end of the year. Called The Gift of Giving, the newly debuted promotion gives Disney Dreamlight Valley players an opportunity to engage in some holiday-themed activities. View the full article

The Game Awards 2024 broke the event’s viewership record with an estimated 154 million livestreams. That’s according to event producer and host Geoff Keighley, who said viewership for last Thursday’s show was up 31% compared to 2023’s event. It marks a tenth consecutive year of growth for The Game Awards, which had 118 million livestreams in 2023. Read More... View the full article

Some Zenless Zone Zero players are upset that, following the recent Update 1.4, they can no longer look up at their character’s panties. With the eagerly awaited Update 1.4, Zenless Zone Zero received new characters and a new part of the main story, but what seems to be dominating the discourse around the patch is an otherwise small change that has been deemed “censorship” by part of the player base. View the full article

The developers of Catly, a game about cats, have denied using generative AI to create the announcement trailer that debuted last week at The Game Awards, and have also rejected suggestions that their game is built on blockchain technology or makes use of NFTs... Read more.View the full article

This year's crop of cozy games felt like it ran completely perpendicular to the trends in PC gaming as a whole. The main release calendar for this year was mostly lacking obvious blockbusters, leaving room for some really delightful surprise hits. Meanwhile, the best cozy games of this year mostly wound up being the ones that I'd been anticipating since last year and I wasn't as taken in by the surprise hits that this indie-infused corner of the hobby usually delivers... Read more.View the full article

Mew ex set the Pokémon TCG Pocket community ablaze when it was revealed in the Mythical Island teaser trailer and ever since, it’s been popping up in a number of decks across the community thanks to its intriguing move set and competitive potential. Here, we’ve picked out the best Mew ex deck build list for Pokémon TCG Pocket, including every card and how to get it, the strengths and weaknesses of a Mew ex deck build, and how it all works, too. View the full article

As I was reading the latest 'Grotmas' detachment for Warhammer 40k, the Genestealer Cults 'Final Day' detachment, I realised something neat - the Warhammer 40,000 rules designers have finally figured out how to make cross-faction alliances work. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This adorable indie tabletop wargame is like Warhammer 40k with ****** All the Warhammer 40k primarchs, and where they are now Warhammer 40k lore: What happened to the lost legions? View the full article

Disney Dreamlight Valley has lots of secret quests you can complete to earn rewards. These hidden puzzles are always fairly complex but worth tackling, as is the case with the secret snowman crafting task in the Winter Gift of Giving event. The snowman isn’t easy to make, but it’s certainly worth creating if you’re hoping to claim all of the special event items. Here’s how to complete the secret craft a snowman quest in Disney Dreamlight Valley’s Gift of Giving Winter event. View the full article

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind just received a new update patch for December 2024 that fine-tunes some of the old-school beat-em-up's gameplay based on fan feedback. While there wasn’t a lot of Power Rangers news in 2024, fans of the classic characters did get a brand-new video game this month from Digital Eclipse in the form of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind. Building off last year’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always special, Rita’s Rewind sees the evil Robo-Rita travel back to 1993 to join forces with her past self to destroy the Power Rangers just as they are coming together for the first time. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

When Sony revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro a few months ago, some wondered just how many people would be willing to spend $700 for a marginal upgrade to the already quite powerful graphical performance of the PS5. Now, initial sales reports suggest there's still a substantial portion of the console market that's willing to shell out serious money for top-of-the-line console graphics. Circana analyst Matt Piscatella shared on Bluesky this morning that the PS5 Pro accounted for a full 19 percent of US PS5 sales in its launch month of November. That sales ratio puts initial upgrade interest in the PS5 Pro roughly in line with lifetime interest in the PS4 Pro, which recent reports suggest was responsible for about 20 percent of all PS4 sales following its launch in 2016. That US sales ratio also lines up with international sales reports for the PS5 Pro launch. In the ***, GfK ChartTrack reports that the PS5 Pro was responsible for 26 percent of all console sales for November. And in Japan, Famitsu sales data suggests the PS5 Pro was responsible for a full 63 percent of the PS5's November sales after selling an impressive 78,000 units in its launch week alone. Read full article Comments View the full article

A recent Genshin Impact chart has revealed the usage rate for characters in the Spiral Abyss for the December 2024 cycle. While the Spiral Abyss has been a part of Genshin Impact since launch, it has also evolved with the meta. Neuvillette famously pushed the damage ceiling with his debut in Version 4.1, and the Spiral Abyss has struggled to catch up ever since. Version 5.3 represents a major jump in difficulty compared to previous cycles, and Genshin Impact players have been able to experience it since December 16, 2024. View the full article

The launch of Path of Exile 2 early access has capped off a magnificent year that began with Last Epoch and also saw the launch of the first Diablo 4 DLC, Vessel of Hatred. But as a rather delicious cherry atop the cake, Grim Dawn developer Crate Entertainment has unleashed a substantive update for its beloved dark fantasy ARPG. With its next expansion Fangs of Asterkarn still on the horizon, the new Grim Dawn update overhauls progression in several areas, which its developer promises "will tremendously reduce the grind for new players." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Excellent Diablo rival Grim Dawn gets even better with massive update 9/10 dark fantasy ARPG gets a massive update to rival Diablo 4 Diablo and dark fantasy collide in 9/10 ARPG's next adventure View the full article

Christmas is still a week away, but Respawn Entertainment is already giving out presents to the Apex Legends community by addressing one of its biggest gripes with the game: matchmaking. In a blog post today, the Apex team detailed changes made to matchmaking in 2024, including recent updates to how matchmaking works in high player-count windows as opposed to lower windows, as well as individual tweaks to specific game modes. View the full article

Ubisoft's failed Call of Duty rival XDefiant has received a hefty final update today, December 18, ahead of its shutdown in 2025. The XDefiant X/Twitter account shared the patch notes, below, while executive producer Mark Rubin thanked fans and the development team in his own post for their dedication to the game since before and after its May 2024 launch. "I wish everyone who worked on this game directly or indirectly the best for their future endeavors," Rubin said. "And the same goes for all of the fans who played our game, who streamed it, or who worked to build the XDefiant community." XDefiant's final S3.0+ update includes the previously announced Assassins class, which are modelled after Assassin's Creed's titular heroes, alongside myriad additional features that were planned for now cancelled future seasons. This includes a total of three new factions, 13 new maps, a new experience called Tactical, a means of gaining experience versus bots, new weapons, new progression mechanics for Faction Mastery and Badges, and more. xDefiant is a free-to-play, fast-paced arena shooter that combines intense gunplay with personalized loadouts and specialized factions. But that market can be incredibly brutal, and perhaps after PlayStation arena shooter Concord was shut down after just two weeks on the market, some fans of xDefiant grew concerned for its longevity. While Rubin said in September that XDefiant "is absolutely not dying," Ubisoft announced earlier this month it would be shut down on June 3, 2025. XDefiant Update S3.0+ Patch NotesFactions New Faction: Assassins Hiding in plain sight through the centuries, the Assassins have waged a clandestine war against their ancient enemies, the Templars, to safeguard human freedom. Assassins combine rigorous combat training, unconventional weaponry, and a sixth sense to track and take out their targets. Their signature Hidden Blade is a one-hit melee elimination.The Assassins receive combat guidance from Rebecca Crane, the technical genius who developed the Animus 2.0, an advanced model of the machine that lets Assassins relive genetic memories. She guided some of the Order's most well-known Assassins, including Desmond Miles. With Crane's assistance, the Assassins work in the dark to serve the light, combating oppression with lethal force. New Faction: Wolves Ex-special forces gone rogue, Wolves employ an arsenal of Skell Tech drones for both offense and defense. The Wolves trait allows the pack to be a sight unseen, undetected by AI abilities and devices. Their Legion drone acts like a homing proximity mine, while the Stolas is effectively a mobile turret. And their ultra, Drone Swarm, is the last word on area denial. New Faction: Blood Dragon Super-deadly cyber commandos from a dark future where cyborgs and mutants collide. Use your cyberstrength, throw deadly shuriken, strike with your shock punch, or use the Killstar laser to deal massive damage.Fixes and Changes:Cleaners Fixed a couple of glitches with the Cleaners' Incinerator Drone when Hijacked by a DedSec player: The Drone no longer explodes next to the player who Hijacked it.The Drone now leaves a complete fire trail back to its point of origin.EchelonNo longer have a 50% reduction in flash grenade duration debuffPhantomsAEGIS – Addressed issue with shots not registering at point blank range.Blitz – Increased movement speed to truly “Blitz” your opponent.DedSec Spiderbots 2.0 – We got the message. Spiderbots, DedSec's infuriatingly face-adjacent electro-minions, are now less in your face and more of an area-of-effect threat. When activated, Spiderbots will now dutifully follow their deploying player for 30 seconds, emitting an electromagnetic pulse that disrupts all enemy equipment within a 10-meter radius. And with that, the era of Spiderbot facehugging comes to a close.HighwaymenM79Fixed an issue that would lock the skill when activating right after a weapon swapThis should now have damage dealt while on different elevationsImproved handling and reload speedCooldown reduced to 40sBuzzsaw LauncherIncreased ammo countAddressed issue with damage inconsistencyMaps New S3 Maps Mykonos (Arena): Experience the island of Mykonos like the ancient Greeks did, except with more rooftop firefights, in this new map for Season 3. Your itinerary includes sprinting by market stalls, seeking roof access for the high ground, and jumping across boat decks in high-risk flanking maneuvers.El Barrio (Arena)Jorvik (Linear)Animus Anomaly (Tactical): Ancient worlds collide in Animus Anomaly, a new corridor-style map for Season 3. Hunker down among Viking castles, flank around the waterways of ancient Greece, or go out with a ***** in the new Defuse tactical variant of BOMB!. New Future Maps - These maps were scheduled for later seasons but were too much fun not to release! ArenaCarlyle’s LabEnchanted ForestKillstar TempleRazia’s RealmSkell CityWest EndLinearSkell ComplexEsperanzaHimalaya Fixes and Changes: Adjustments were done to invisible collision and areas where players were able to jump to places that are out of bounds for the map.Adjustments to some maps where scrap turrets were also being placed where they’re not supposed to be.DUMBO has decked the halls to be more festive for the holidaysPlayers can no longer climb and leap their way into what was supposed to be an inaccessible area of some maps, where they were using El Remedio to heal allies and doing other sneaky exploits.Many maps have undergone improvements to mantling which should now be fixed in several map locations that previously were not.Map voting improvementsGame Modes New Modes: DefuseThis season sees the debut of Defuse, a tactical and slower-paced version of BOMB!. Teams take turns planting and defending bomb sites, yet all players only have one life. Defuse is designed for play on a new "corridor" type map, in this case the Animus Anomaly created exclusively for this category.Vs BotsThere’s now a Vs Bots option where you can face off against varying levels of computers. You’ll even earn XP by battling bots. Although at a slower pace with human enemies.Lum HuntCatch them if you can, Lums (beings of pure energy possessing of a mindbogglingly sunny disposition) have been placed around the Enchanted Forest map in this variant of Hot Shot. Also available in Private Matches.TiltNow available in our Linear playlists, this mode is a simultaneous battle over who can push around Carlos the most, poor robot.Turbo XDSuper jump your way to victory in this gravity defying mode. New Party Modes Playlist From one shot kill, to headshots only, and even no skills allowed, there’s a little something for everyone in this playlist. With no one here to make names for them, we wish you the very best of luck to figure them out. Fixes and Changes: Team balancing overhaul to ensure the fairest matches.BOMB!Several quality-of-life improvements to BOMB! spectator cam.Planting and Defusing behavior improved not to conflict with other game features like looking at the scoreboard.Private MatchFixed an issue where the lobby menu would become blank after another player accepts a private match party invite.Now allows you to select the server you wish to play on.Ranked Ranked BOMB! With Ability Restrictions still in place, we took it 1 step further and you will only be allowed to use your ability once per life. Round timer changed in Ranked BOMB! from 2 mins to 1min 30s, plant and defuse times adjusted, and Round 11 will go to highest scoring team. Top 500 Leaderboard Season 3 sees the debut of the Top 500 leaderboard, which showcases the top 500 players globally each season as they progress through the ranks until the season's end. These top players are displayed in descending order of total Rank Points earned in the current season. Highlighting a player on the Leaderboard displays the following stats:Current rank insignia and RP total.Win/Loss: Player’s ratio of wins to losses.Kill/Death: Player’s ratio of kills to deaths.Average Score/Minute: Player’s average score per minute.MVPs: Number of times the player earned MVP. Ranked Emblem in HUD Proudly display your ranked tier right on your heads-up display for all to see. New Ranked Rewards New S3 specific Ranked Rewards are available (to everyone). Fixes and Changes: Matchmaking ranges have been disabled and join in progress has been enabled so that matches are easier to find.Reduced the forfeit timer duration from 20s to 5s.Players are no longer pulled out of active Ranked game sessions after accepting the Party invite for a Private Match.Added a new menu experience, now players will be able to search for games and jump back to the Ranked menu tab to view rewards, info, and the top 500 leaderboard.Removed Domination and CTF from Ranked playlists.WeaponsAssault RifleFAMAS - The FAMAS is a burst-fire rifle like the M16A4 but with faster ADS time, movement, and rate of fire. It is slower to reload, however, and inflicts less hurt per shot. G36KSub-Machine GunM1928Light Machine GunMG5 - Despite its shorter range and lower ammo capacity than other belt-fed LMGs, the MG5 with its higher rate of fire makes it a powerful and versatile option for those who can master its challenging recoil.MarksmanM1A - An agile warhorse built for medium-range battles, the M1A offers a speedy rate of fire but deals less per-shot damage compared to other marksman rifles.Sniper RifleSRSPistolDiceros Fixes and Changes:Sawed-off Shotgun Balance Adjustment The range and damage potential of the Sawed-Off Shotgun have been adjusted to better focus it on its intended role as a short-range kill-finisher and prevent it from killing full-health opponents with a single shot.Short Range reduced from 8m -> 6mMedium Range reduced from 12m -> 10mShort Range Damage reduced from 12 -> 11Bullets Per Round reduced from 12 -> 9Tweaked smoke grenade effects so that some components of cosmetic skins will no longer be visible through the smoke, while also improving the size, shape, and transparency of the smoke particles and radius of effect.Adjusted the camera shake so that now it is based on distance to explosion. Removed friendly explosion camera shake.AttachmentsTapered Barrel Introduced the Tapered Barrel, an attachment for most weapons that increases handling speed but reduces damage. Here are the pluses and minuses: Pros:25 percent boost to sprint-out time15 percent ADS speed increase5 percent movement speed increaseCons:20 percent short-range damage decrease20 percent medium-range damage decrease10 percent ADS walking speed decreaseIn other words, this barrel will help you scoot around the map at a zippier pace, but you'll likely need to land more shots than normal to get kills. New Reticle Customization New for Season 3: Customized reticules. Players can unlock new reticule shapes and adjust their colors (a helpful feature for players with colorblindness). Custom reticules will be tied to individual loadouts. Fixes and Changes: Fixed a graphical glitch that let players see parts of their weapon barrel through the Reflex and Holographic sights.Fixed a lagging magazine when player reloads weapons.Fixed floating when using left-handed skills and reloads.Fixed a scope crosshair missing when player ADS in spectating mode.Several skins have had their sights adjusted to match the base weapon being used.Various visual improvementsProgressionPrestige System!Introducing Prestige, an optional new progression system that rewards long-haul dedication with flashy cosmetics and extravagant emblems that showcase your experience to other players. Available to anyone who has completed their Base Challenges, Prestige resets player progress in exchange for an eye-catching Prestige Emblem. All starter and owned weaponry are locked – except the M4, M9, and frag grenade – but can be earned as players earn XP and Prestige Tokens to access their original gear plus new weapons until they complete the current Prestige Tier and acquire the next eye-catching emblem. Players can opt out of Prestige at any time and recover their weapons, or they can commit to unlocking the final Prestige Emblem, the ultimate display of dedication.Badges!Badges are part of a mysterious new challenge-based progression system where players earn Badges for performing impressive feats and engaging with the game in creative ways. All Badge challenges have hidden requirements, encouraging players to go online and engage with the XDefiant community. Badges can also evolve, requiring players to complete the challenge a second or third time but with more challenging requirements for success.Faction Mastery!Allows players to level up characters, earn prestigious rewards, and track their progression within the gamePristine Weapon Mastery SkinA new Pristine Weapon Mastery skin is unlocked at weapon level 50 as an early reward to encourage players to pursue Weapon Mastery. These new Pristine skins are like unmarred, fresh-from-the-factory versions of these weapons. Pristine skins are retroactively applied to any weapons that have already reached level 50.Daily Rewards and CreditsPlayers can now earn various rewards just for logging into the game. ******* rewards are granted every 5th and 10th login. The days do not have to be consecutive.Credits are a brand new in-game currency. Use Credits to buy cosmetics from previous seasons, giving you the opportunity to get any skins you may have missed back then, but you have everything now, so that’s nice Fixes and Changes: Some Challenges, particularly those related to faction characters, weren't progressing on the main menu, but now they are.AudioBattle announcer lines have been tweaked for their frequency of play:Lines announcing death streaks (or dying multiple times without killing an enemy) will trigger less often (now players need to die five times rather than three, and the death streaks will only trigger during the second half of a match).Lines related to suffering from fire damage (from the Purifier, (Firebomb, Incendiary Drone–really anything involving the Cleaners) will trigger less frequently.Phantoms – Blitz – Now has sounds for blocking a melee attack and for attacking others with a Blitz Shield. GSK – Hardhat – Audio improved for impact confirm headshotHighwaymen – M79 – Now has sounds for hit confirm and impact confirm with the M79.Other various audio improvements.MiscellaneousNew Assassin’s video on the main menuNew Career Stats pageNew Store LayoutNew Weapon InspectInput-based matchmaking is now disabled by default for faster matchmaking times.Fixed various crashes and errors Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The writing is reportedly on the wall for the finest GPU of AMD's last three generations, as our favorite current Radeon GPU has apparently reached the end of its life. Originally a China exclusive, but later released to the rest of the world, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE brought a cutdown version of the company's flagship Navi 31 GPU to the mid-range GPU market, with a surprisingly low price for the power on offer. Indeed, we gave this card a score of 9/10 in our Radeon RX 7900 GRE review, with AMD seemingly giving away some of its best tech for the same price as an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070. It might not have had the benefits of the Nvidia DLSS ecosystem backing it up, but you couldn't beat this AMD GPU's brute force power at its $550 price. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: A new budget AMD Ryzen gaming CPU is about to be unleashed, according to leak Asus drops Intel and Nvidia for single AMD CPU in new gaming tablet, says leak This Asus gaming PC somehow cools an AMD Ryzen 9950X with no CPU fan View the full article

As you enter the jungle of Sukhothai in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, there are more mysteries and collections to complete throughout your stay. Items you can find include Royal Army transmissions, which you can give to Gina who can uncover caches for you. These transmissions are hidden throughout the region at key locations. As you might expect, these are heavily guarded areas that you’ll have to sneak past or carefully walk through if you want to avoid the occupying fascists who have made themselves at home. Tracking down these radio transmissions will take time, but they’re worth the effort if you need additional money. We’ll show you where you can find these Royal Army transmissions, and how you can find them in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. View the full article

Gamers have one last chance to get The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria for free on the Epic Games Store before the title is replaced by the next Mystery Game on December 19. The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria was the first Mystery Game to be offered on the Epic Games Store in 2024, and more exciting titles will be given away on the platform soon. View the full article

Earlier today, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead deployed the opening bit of the game's first ever crossover. It's some gear inspired by dormant PlayStation shooter Killzone, but the prices players are being asked to pay for this stuff have prompted some backlash. Read more View the full article

If you were feeling smugly content after upgrading to a 2TB gaming SSD, then prepare to feel humiliated, as SK Hynix has just announced a new PCIe 5.0 SSD with a whopping 61TB capacity. Not only that, but the firm intends to double that space to 122TB next year, with a massive 244TB version also in the works. To put that figure in context, 61TB is enough space to store a massive 160GB game, such as Stalker 2, over 380 times. Of course, these massive drives aren't intended to rival the best gaming SSD options you can buy right now but are instead designed for data centers. However, what starts in the data center often filters down to PC gaming hardware, and the latest tech clearly makes it possible to manufacture SSDs with an astronomical amount of storage space. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: A new budget AMD Ryzen gaming CPU is about to be unleashed, according to leak Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 has "enhanced ray tracing" and new DLSS, suggests leak Turtle Beach PDP Realmz Wireless Controller: Minecraft Diamond Print review View the full article

One of my favorite things to do during my holiday break is get stuck into a good videogame. Between all the food, family visits, and hanging out with friends, I often need an evening or two to myself. Online games are great for this, because they normally have some sort of winter event that really brings me into the season. This year, Deadlock is no different. Valve has rolled out a festive patch filled with a complete winter revamp, secretive skins, and a whole lot more to keep you busy this holiday season. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New Deadlock character Raven is a slick Soviet spy that just hit Hero Labs Team Fortress 2 favorite confirms they're back in Deadlock Deadlock release date estimate, latest news, trailers, and more View the full article

The Farm 51 wants to make sure the game they are developing is the one players want to play. View the full article

Fortnite players may be able to enjoy a last-minute Christmas gift, with a Cyberpunk 2077 crossover rumored to be hitting the live-service game on December 23. The collaboration between Epic Games and CD Projekt Red has been rumored for quite some time, with Fortnite continuing to see some of video gaming's biggest titles and most famous faces debut in the ever-popular battle royale title. View the full article

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to discover that unicorns are real, and to kill one on the same day, the first trailer for Death Of A Unicorn promises to show just that. Read more View the full article

A prominent Fortnite leaker has revealed that fans will soon be able to claim two holiday-themed skins for free, one of which will be the famous rapper Snoop Dogg in a Santa outfit. Epic Games has had a busy December, as it recently launched multiple new game modes and Chapter 6 Season 1 of the popular battle royale mode in Fortnite. View the full article