Steam

Sins of a Solar Empire 2, the anticipated strategy sequel by Ironclad Games that is being published by Stardock, is finally releasing on Steam this summer. But unbeknownst to many fans, it effectively stealth launched on the Epic Game Store more than a year ago — a release that publisher Stardock has mostly declined to publicize until now. Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is the sequel to the cult-favorite PC strategy game released in 2008. Like the original, it will combine elements of real-time strategy with 4X empire-building, but practically speaking it's an excuse to see a lot of cool spaceship battles. The new game will add support for multiple cores — yes, the original is that old — while refining numerous elements of the game, such as orbiting planets. The sequel was quietly released into early access in late 2022, leaving some fans confused over the nature of Stardock's relationship with Epic and leading to speculation over whether an exclusivity arrangement was in place. Asked for clarification, Epic declined to comment on terms with developers and publishers. Several months after its initial release, Stardock removed the early access flag but otherwise remained silent. It wasn't until Wednesday's announcement that Sins of a Solar Empire 2 went public with a major announcement to fans and the press. In a statement sent to IGN, CEO Brad Wardell explained why Stardock held back its marketing push until now. "We view Sins 2 as an ongoing service that continues to evolve over time, which you can see with our regular update cadence over the past 18 months since the game first appeared on Epic Games Store," Wardell said. "Epic has been and continues to be a great partner, but we know that many of our fans are dedicated to Steam for their libraries and we know we only get one shot at a Steam release, so we decided to wait on doing any marketing push until we were ready for that. We’ve been working on a massive update for the past several months to coincide with the Steam release, and this will also be made available to our Epic fans for free." Sins of a Solar Empire 2 hopes to match the content of the original Elsewhere, Wardell talked about Sins of a Solar Empire 2's evolution since its late 2022 release, telling PC Gamer that its goal was to release Sins of a Solar Empire 2 1.0 with "the same or more content as the original release of Sins of a Solar Empire 1.0." "Once we hit that milestone in early 2023, we turned off the early access flag and began working on what amounts to Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion feature/content parity which we will reach this summer and is the version being released onto Steam and as part of a massive free update for Epic users," he said. "We are aware that most people who have played Sins of a Solar Empire think of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion as the definitive version which is why we have waited until we had reached that level of content to begin our larger public awareness campaign." [W]e know we only get one shot at a Steam release, so we decided to wait on doing any marketing push until we were ready for that While Sins of a Solar Empire 2 is technically out of early access, it's far from feature complete. Among other things, Stardock is still planning to add the Advent Unity race, which will become available alongside the Steam release. As previously mentioned, the new content will be made available free to users who already own Sins of a Solar Empire 2 on Epic Games Store. "With new ways to play, new tactical options, and new strategic elements, the time is right to bring Sins of a Solar Empire II to a new audience on Steam,” said Stardock publishing director Brian Clair in a release. “We’ve spent the past year bringing free monthly content updates to the game on the Epic Games Store, where it’s been positively reviewed by fans, and look forward to sharing all that work with Steam players while continuing to bring even more new content to the game.” Sins of a Solar Empire 2's Steam release date is currently listed as Q3 2024. For more, check out our list of the best PC games to play right now. Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot. View the full article

With Gray Zone Warfare out, players like myself are facing many issues. One problem that’s been annoying is that the game drops frames at random moments. To learn how to fix lag and frame drops in Gray Zone Warfare, we might have the answer.Gray Zone Warfare: How to fix lag and frame dropsThe shooter is an online game, and framerate drops and lag are bound to happen. However, you can get past this problem in a few ways. To save you the heartache and frustration, I’ve gone through the ringer to make things easier for you. Most of the methods can be done by you. Plus, you don’t need to be a computer wiz to do them. Screenshot: PC InvasionSo let’s get to it!Ways to increase the frame rate and stop the lagUpdate your driver: You can find the root issue of many problems when using an outdated driver. If you’re using an AMD or Nvidia GPU, check if any updates need to be installed. Usually, some updates come out whenever a game comes out. I alw...View the full article

After a huge win at Orlando Regionals last month, Wolfe Glick is set to tackle Indianapolis Regionals this weekend with a completely different approach—as a commentator. Ahead of Indianapolis Regionals (May 4 to 5), Play! Pokémon announced the talented lineup of casters for the event as usual in a May 2 post on X. No one, however, expected former world champion and beloved content creator Wolfe Glick to be among the VGC caster crew we’re used to seeing. Glick confirmed this would be his first time commentating an official Pokémon event, and the community couldn’t be more excited to see him in a new role. “This lineup is insane from Gabby to Wolfe! Will definitely be a treat for all those watching from home,” VGC veteran Jeudy Azzarelli posted. View the full article

In Content Warning, the Rescue ***** is the new tool added in the new update. Although it’s not exactly what I thought it would be, it’s still a hilarious and helpful tool.How to get the Rescue ***** in Content WarningThe Rescue ***** is a tool that you can order in from the shop, in the Gadgets section. It costs $250 which is super pricey, but it’s incredibly helpful, so is worth it in my books.Screenshot: PC InvasionAs always, don’t stand in the drop zone when you’ve ordered it. The Rescue ***** is a very situational tool, so only order it when you’re rather familiar with the map so you can get a feel for how useful it would be.If ever you find yourself saying, “the Rescue ***** would have been great here,” then you should probably order it the next day.How to use the Rescue ***** in Content WarningThe Rescue ***** acts like a grapple *****. The range is pretty long and it shoots in a straight line. Upon making conta...View the full article

World of Warcraft just revealed the full patch notes for Patch 10.2.7, Dark Heart, ahead of its release on May 7. The final content update of Dragonflight, this World of Warcraft patch brings new story, Heritage Armor quests, and a limited-time PvE event to the game. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

After a devastating last-place finish in the 2024 LEC Spring Split, Karmine Corp is making major moves by securing the services of former T1 top laner Kim “Canna” Chang-***** and shaking up its roster. The LCK veteran offers the experience of playing on top League of Legends teams in the Korean league, such as T1 and Dplus KIA. Canna played with active T1 players Oner, Faker, Gumayusi, and Keria in 2021, after which Zeus replaced him on the squad. View the full article

If you've ever spent hours trying to get an elaborate redstone contraption working in Minecraft, Foundry may be up your alley. It's a first-person game about crafting and automation, similar to Satisfactory, but with even more freedom to create your own intricate production pipelines and mechanisms. It's now available on Steam in early access. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: New building game to rival Satisfactory and Factorio hits Steam soon Cities Skylines 2 publisher takes on Factorio with new building game View the full article

The science team always gets the short end of the stick. Throughout Half-Life, they exist to open doors for you, cower at loud noises, and get shot by soldiers in an effort to clean up the ****** Mesa mess. Thankfully, in Abiotic Factor it's the science team's time to shine, as they're heading to the surface and nothing's going to get in their way. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half-Life style survival game is such a hit the demo is staying live Half-Life reimagined as a new multiplayer survival game, playable now Half-Life co-op is back thanks to new Steam FPS game Abiotic Factor View the full article

Overwatch 2’s tanks have been struggling of late, and Blizzard Entertainment has heard the calls for help with some substantial upcoming changes in season 10’s midseason update. In just a few weeks, several nice buffs aimed at helping “balance how many hits tanks can take to stay in the ****** better” will be coming in a patch, game director Aaron Keller said in a new blog post today. View the full article

In Content Warning, MetaCoins are the new currency that you’ll earn to purchase new hats and island upgrades. But earning them isn’t easy.Earning MetaCoins in Content WarningMetaCoins are the currency favored by your sponsors in Content Warning. But to get sponsorships to start earning MetaCoins, you’ll need to prove you’re worth it.You will have to meet the first quota of 3K views to pass the first week. Upon entering your second week, you’ll earn 50 MetaCoins off the bat. The rest is up to you to earn, however.Screenshot: PC InvasionYou’ll be able to see your new currency above your dollars, and to earn more, you’ll need to accept sponsorships.MetaCoins will stay in your balance even after you fail and reset, allowing you to earn them between runs.Accepting Sponsorships in Content WarningSponsorships will unlock after you’ve met your first quota and completed your first week. You’ll notice another d...View the full article

After selling more than 10 million copies and winning countless awards with Baldur's Gate 3, Larian Studios has decided to halt the production of D&D games for the time being. BG3 is unlikely to receive major DLC, expansions, or a sequel developed by Larian, but this doesn't mean the Baldur's... Read Entire Article View the full article

Terminal hacking is a significant skill in Fallout 4 that gives you access to a wide range of narrative/combat options. Often, accessing the right terminal and choosing the proper commands can help you bypass huge ****** swarms or turn the tide of battle in your favor. If you want to unlock sealed doors, understand life before the War, and access some of the biggest secrets in the game, you'll need to be a good hacker. View the full article

Starfield's 1.11.33 update is now live, and it brings one of the most highly requested features to the game. This is the biggest update to the game since launch. That's drawn some criticism, as Starfield updates have been slow to come. However, announcements this week suggest that Bethesda hasn't forgotten about Starfield: the Shattered Space DLC finally has a release window, and for the first time since release, it seems like there's a concrete roadmap for Starfield moving forward. View the full article

Destiny 2 is doubling down on Master Rahool as the sole proprietor of Exotics with a restructure to his vendor page in The Final Shape. On June 4, he’ll not only be getting a Reputation Track but will also become the exclusive home of any new Exotic armor released. No longer will players be subjected to the drop rates of Legend and Master Lost Sectors to get their hands on the latest Exotic gear. Instead, after resetting your rank with Rahool, you’ll gain access to a new tier of Exotic focusing. According to the This Week in Destiny blog which released today, this new focusing tier will allow you to purchase any piece of Exotic armor for one Exotic Engram and an Exotic Cipher. There’s also no weekly limits on this focusing option; the only limit is your available funds. View the full article

XDefiant, Ubisoft's Call of Duty rival, has finally revealed its new release date of May 21. When it was first revealed in 2021, XDefiant was met with confusion and criticism from Ubisoft fans. Since then, after several playtest periods and a beta last summer, sentiment surrounding the FPS improved, as it featured sound gunplay and engaging combat, though it ultimately wasn't as polished as Call of Duty. Despite the positive response, the title was hit with several more delays, one in October and another this past March, leaving the fate of the game up in the air. View the full article

If I was writing What's Better, it would be a short series. The first entry would declare that the best thing in video games, obviously, was watching NPCs ****** among themselves. It's this which most interests me about The Forever Winter, which takes place in a "PvEvE conflict" in which ****** factions - including enormous, stomping robots - are constantly fighting one another while you and your squad try to scavenge and survive in their shadow. Its first trailer showing in-game footage is below. Read more View the full article

Cheating in videogames has been around since their conception and it’s not going away anytime soon. Arguably, it is as much a part of them as any other element. In Fallout 4, the easiest way to get around the game is by using console commands, and once you know the best ones, you’re unstoppable. How to open the command console in Fallout 4Opening up the Fallout 4 command console is simple if you’re playing on a PC. Simply hit the Tilde (~) key, and you will see the box pop up. Now, using your keyboard, you can simply type in your console commands and change a lot of elements in the game. These different commands can be used for both good and evil.Image: SteamThe best Fallout 4 console commandsThere are thousands of console commands available to use in the game, ranging from the mundane to the absolutely insane. These are a few of my favourites.tgm – This will always be number one on the Fallout 4 console commands list. It toggles **** mod...View the full article

Elden Ring fans need to prepare to bid farewell to the Lands Between when Shadow of the Erdtree is released. Why? Because according to FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki, Shadow of the Erdtree will be the game's only DLC, marking a departure from the studio's usual approach, with games like Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 boasting multiple expansions. While Elden Ring's story might reach its endpoint with Shadow of the Erdtree on June 21, Miyazaki has left the door open for future adventures, maybe even more games, as reported by GamesRadar, via ******** publication Zhihu. Read more View the full article

Since the surprise success of Townscaper a few years ago, a crop of other "radically casual" cozy city builders has been in the works, and Tiny Glade has definitely been at the top of my wishlist—and most other folks', I suspect. Thank goodness we're finally going to get to try painting lovely ivy-covered walls across a pastoral canvas: Pounce Light says a demo is coming on May 30... Read more.View the full article

Enlarge / A big erdtree casts a big shadow. (credit: Namco Bandai) [/url] The good news for Elden Ring fans is that the two-plus-year wait for the game's first DLC, "Shadow of the Erdtree," will end in just a couple of months. The bad news is that "Shadow of the Erdtree" will also be the last bit of DLC for FromSoftware's multi-million-selling action RPG. In a wide-ranging interview with ******** site Zhihu (machine translation), Elden Ring producer Hidetaka Miyazaki said "Shadow of the Erdtree" contains a lot of existing lore and content that was created for the original game but couldn't fit into the final package. Miyazaki said the team decided to release all of that unused content as one large DLC expansion, rather than multiple smaller bits, because "if they were sold separately, the freedom of exploration and sense of adventure would be reduced." As for just how big the DLC will be, Miyazaki balked when the interviewer asked how long it would take players to complete. Miyazaki brought up memories of being called a liar after estimating in an earlier interview that the original game would only take about 30 hours of play to complete—crowdsourced game length database HowLongToBeat puts the "main story" estimate closer to 60 hours. Read 4 remaining paragraphs | Comments View the full article

Developer LocalThunk has officially released a brand-new update for Balatro, which has now gone live for all players. This patch was released in beta earlier in the year and includes a few changes that players will want to check out. Among stability improvements, updates have been made on how various Joker cards work during rounds, as well as other changes that may throw even the more experienced Balatro players for a loop. View the full article

Some Baldur's Gate 3 fans who are waiting on the arrival of their physical copies of the game's Deluxe Edition may have to wait longer than expected, as Larian Studios has announced it is experiencing additional production delays for certain regions. The Deluxe Edition copies of Baldur's Gate 3 had all been originally been announced for the first quarter of 2024, but an earlier round of delays had already pushed it back. View the full article

Judging people can be tricky, who are we to place our values on someone else? Who are we to say, looking at someone in a difficult situation, that they were wrong to choose what they did? Who among us hasn't at one time or another run an pharmaceutical company whose ******** unethical experiments have threatened to unleash a zombie apocalypse? That's why I will never choose to judge the medical company managers in the newly released Undead Inc. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

In Gray Zone Warfare, there are tons of things to collect and use. However, not every iteam is explained. The keys are a good example. To learn where to use these keys in Gray Zone Warfare, you should read this guide.Gray Zone Warfare: How to find keysAs I’m playing many players have come up to me asking me if I’ve had certain keys which left me puzzled. However, as I got deeper into the game, I realized that keys are quite important. Once you have one, you may waste time trying to open random doors. First, it seems like most or all keys found in Gray Zone Warfare can be earned by looting ***** NPCs. If you’re playing on the PVP server, you might be able to loot one from a fallen player. Second, to find keys, try looking in areas where you have to do tasks. For example, if you’re doing the Rat Zone quest, search the area, and a key should be nearby.Image: Ma...View the full article

Star Wars: The Old Republic's ongoing development switched last year from creators BioWare to Broadsword, with promise that the 13-year-old MMO would continue to receive new story content and improvements. The approaching update 7.5 looks to bring both, alongside a Spring Abundance festival that includes "seed collecting, dancing, pie-baking, animal rehabilitation, and a galactic egg hunt." Read more View the full article