Steam

Players that put more than two hours into pre-purchased or advanced access games will now be exempt from Steam's refund policy, says Steam, the maker of said policy and thus the final word on how it is implemented. As spotted by the Verge, this change is intended to combat a loophole where filthy time ********** could fill their stolen boots with ill-gotten fun pre-release, then get their money back. Read more View the full article

Mojang have released the latest upgrade to Minecraft with the version 1.20.5 the Armored Paws drop free update out now. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

"If only you could talk to these creatures" is never more funny or true than in games like Rotwood, where you play cat people and orcs sent to biff snail worms and flies with scythes. From Klei Entertainment, the gang behind Don't Starve, Invisible Inc. and Oxygen Not Included, to name but a three of their fine games, Rotwood is out later today in early access, ready to provide co-op highjinks in a roguelike dungeon crawl that is really a forest. A forest crawl. You'll get muddy knees. Read more View the full article

I know plenty of people skip over games with Denuvo Anti-Tamper, so for those who do you may wish to now take a look at Ghostwire: Tokyo. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

MultiVersus continues to provide big teases ahead of a relaunch next month, and the latest hint suggests players will visit a plastic-fantasy world. Disappearing from the scene in June 2023, MultiVersus is back with a bang on May 28 for a full launch boasting a roster of iconic characters—and another franchise looks set for an appearance. View the full article

The LPL is reportedly transitioning to a new format next split, introducing “Fearless” mode, group divisions, and upper and lower brackets, according to LPL Fanclub. The fan page often reports leaks from ******** media, and this looks to be one of them. There are 17 League of Legends teams in the LPL, and this won’t change next split. Instead of competing in a single round-robin format, teams will be divided into four groups based on Spring Split results. In these groups, teams will compete in a double round-robin, best-of-three “Fearless” format. The last two teams in each group will fall into the lower bracket, while the remaining nine will advance to the upper bracket. View the full article

Amazon's Fallout show set up a fan favourite location from the games, though it's sounding like you don't need to worry too much about your own headcanon. Big spoilers ahead for the end of the Fallout series. With the knowledge that the Fallout show would be set in what once was California, fans were of course wondering if one particular area from the games would show up or not - that being New Vegas, obviously, given that they're neighbouring states. And as shown right at the end of the series, Lucy's dad Hank has stormed his way over to New Vegas in a piece of power armour, presumably setting up that we'll be seeing a lot of the locale in season 2 (which was confirmed last week). If you were one of those people making that presumption, you'd be right! As co-showrunners Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet recently spoke with GQ, where they briefly spoke about New Vegas as a season 2 setting. Read more View the full article

Good news for Steam Deck players, and those with not so great vision, as the latest update to Horizon Forbidden West brings in some essential improvements. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Amazon’s Fallout TV show has been out for two weeks, with casual viewers and fans loving it. While some of the latter are finding possible issues with how it relates to lore, a director of one of the games admits he doesn’t care. The series takes place 15 years after events in Fallout: New Vegas and depicts a lot of factions that were a part of the game, like the New California Republic and Brotherhood of Steel. When it comes to the former, it seems almost extinct. Additionally, FNV’s canon seems to be interfered with in the show, which frustrated a few game fans. But FNV director Josh Sawyer says he understands Bethesda and Amazon’s decisions. View the full article

Valve announced a small tweak to their refund policy, which closes a small loophole left open for Early Access and Advanced Access. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

The voice behind one of Grand Theft Auto 5‘s most iconic characters has lifted the lid on DLC scrapped by Rockstar. Turning 11 this year, GTA 5 flipped the script for the franchise with the introduction of GTA Online, which turned into a cash cow for Rockstar and saw the future updates focused around the multiplayer mode. View the full article

PUBG’s original Erangel map is returning with “nostalgic” graphics and old-school balancing for two weeks only, Krafton has announced. Erangel Classic launches on May 14 as part of update 29.2 for the battle royale. It recreates the initial version of Erangel, PUBG’s first ever battleground, and is “designed to evoke nostalgia for players who remember the early access days.” PUBG launched on Steam in Early Access form in March 2017 and exploded with popularity. Then known as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the battle royale hit Steam’s record concurrent player peak of 3,257,248 — a number no game has come close to since. Hot on the heels of PUBG’s success came a wave of incredibly popular battle royale games, such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends. PUBG ******** one of Steam's most-played games, usually behind only Valve's own Counter-Strike 2 and Dota 2 in peak concurrents. According to Krafton, Erangel Classic “blends the original concepts and atmosphere of Erangel at the time of its first release with current gameplay elements to provide a unique old-school experience.” Iconic elements from the original Erangel map have been implemented in Erangel Classic. Here’s the official blurb, from Krafton: Upon entering Erangel Classic, players will find that benches have returned, with weapons placed on them across the starting island. The gunplay balance has also been adjusted to capture the feel of the early days, with the recoil of all weapons, except for a few, being reduced. Players can also find the Tommy **** in the Care Package, just like in the old days. Additionally, players will be able to experience foggy and rainy weather, as well as graphics, world map, and a minimap that call back to the original PUBG: Battlegrounds release. Players can experience Erangel Classic in Normal Match for a limited time. It will be available on PC from 14 May to 28 May, and on consoles from 23 May to 6 June. During this *******, Erangel Classic will replace the current Erangel map in Normal Match. The PUBG we know today can be traced back to the DayZ: Battle Royale mod for Arma2, created by Brendan 'PlayerUnknown' Greene, and his subsequent PlayerUnknown's Battle Royale mod for Arma 3, work inspired by the 2000 ********* sci-fi film Battle Royale. Greene went on to work with Krafton, then known as Bluehole, to build PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks has announced the release of update 1.5, its “final milestone” for the PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S soulslike, as publisher CI Games turns its attention to future games in the franchise. The Master of Fate update adds a modifier system that turns Lords of the Fallen into a roguelite, Hexworks said. Here’s the official blurb on the Master of Fate update: “Master of Fate imbues power directly into players’ hands, allowing them to fully customize their game experience. The modifier system, while not for the fainthearted, can even be enabled from the very first playthrough of Lords of the Fallen, throwing down the gauntlet to action-RPG veterans new to the game. Among the seven different modifiers available to players are randomized ****** spawns and loot drops, together with an Ironman mode; with these three modifiers enabled, Lords of the Fallen effectively becomes a roguelite.” Master of Fate “concludes” Lords of the Fallen’s new content updates and performance and quality of life enhancements six months after the game launched. Hexworks said it had issued over 30 updates since Lords of the Fallen went on ***** in October 2023 and suffered from bugs and performance issues. Saul Gascon, Hexworks Executive Producer and Head of Studio, said reaching v1.5 with the Master of Fate update and its modifier system marks the completion of the post-launch roadmap, and makes the Lords of the Fallen experience "the best it's ever been.” "Now, our aim is to ensure its next installments attract even more players, partly through refined and improved game design, and partly thanks to the increasing popularity of this IP. For publisher and owner CI Games, which let go of 10% of staff across the entire company in January “to preserve business strength and stability”, thoughts now turn to more Lords of the Fallen games. Marek Tyminski, CEO of CI Games, told IGN Lords of the Fallen hit 1.3 million copies as of the end of 2023, a result he called “solid.” “From its release to December 31 last year, Lords of the Fallen's sales totaled approximately 1.3 million units,” Tyminski said. “This is a solid result, which allows us to plan further development of the brand. Now, our aim is to ensure its next installments attract even more players, partly through refined and improved game design, and partly thanks to the increasing popularity of this IP.” IGN’s Lords of the Fallen review returned an 8/10. We said: “Lords of the Fallen is an awesome soulslike with a fantastic dual-realities premise, even when performance shortcomings and wimpy bosses ****** the party.” Lords of the Fallen Master of Fate 1.5 update patch notes: Master of Fate features a wide range of modifiers, enabling players to tweak and customize playthroughs for a truly unique experience every time, including: Random ****** spawn: Every encounter becomes completely unpredictable with every playthrough, with any of the 70+ ****** types capable of appearing at any pointRandom loot spawn: Players will never know what item they’ll pick up next, as any *******, piece of armor, or item can be randomly found throughout MournsteadIronman: For the ultimate git gud challenge; get slain in Umbral with this modifier enabled and players will have to start their journey again... albeit with items and character level intact.Withered healing: Health items and spells will only replenish as withered healing, which can only be regained fully by dealing damage to enemies, encouraging aggressive play to survive.Mob density modifier: Adjust the density of ****** mobs encountered through the journey across Mournstead in both Axiom and Umbral Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

While VALORANT’s meta encourages creativity, some restrictive norms will always exist for certain situations. For example, what should Reyna buy in a ******* round—a Leer or an extra Soul orb? As per a team player’s code, most would vote for a Leer. But is it really the best decision in all cases? A player named Deep_Current_5421’s Reddit post stirred up a discussion on Reyna mains who prefer not to buy a Leer in the first round. They also called out Reyna players who save up on Leer charges instead of using it to enter a site or take space, garnering a lot of support from the community’s most frustrated VALORANT support mains. View the full article

Riot Games will be testing a major revamp to League of Legends’ Arena mode in coming weeks, with gameplay boss Matt “Phroxzon” Leung-Harrison revealing a myriad of changes designed to appeal to more players as fans cry foul over “sweaty” lobbies. From tweaking the average length of a League Arena match to adjusting how early players can be eliminated, Phroxzon detailed more about the changes coming to the mode in an April 24 post on X (formerly Twitter). First eliminations will now occur a whole round later, while duos will receive their second augment one round earlier—meaning a team will enter the elimination round with more of a power spike. View the full article

2024 has been a cracking year for tennis fans so far. Reebok brought back its classic Court Victory Pump sneakers, Zendaya got stuck into a saucy bit of mixed doubles on the big screen in Challengers, and now one of the greatest tennis videogame series’ has returned after a 13-year-long hiatus. TopSpin 2K25 delivers an on-court experience that’s every bit as smooth and snappy as it was two console generations ago, and it features licensed superstars and stadiums that now more closely resemble the real thing. It’s a shame, then, that some convoluted career progression systems and the inclusion of virtual currency hold TopSpin 2K25 back from being an outright winner. Developer Hangar 13 is best known for making ****** games, but here the team has gone from whacking mobs to smacking lobs without missing a beat. TopSpin 2K25 feels genuinely terrific to play, its simple set of responsive controls allow for dynamic rallies that closely replicate the pace and tension of the sport, and there’s a supremely well-balanced sense of risk versus reward that comes with performing charged up shots and serves. It feels fist-pumpingly fantastic to nail the timing on a powerful flat ******* that blasts triumphantly down the tramlines, and conversely quite crushing when you greedily overcook it and the ball abruptly smacks into the top of the tape. It feels fist-pumpingly fantastic to nail the timing on a powerful flat ******* that blasts triumphantly down the tramlines. If you’re new to the series or to tennis games in general, TopSpin 2K25 features one of the most comprehensive tutorials I’ve ever encountered in the genre. There’s well over an hour’s worth of mini-challenges to complete here, covering everything from the basic set of strokes to more advanced tactics and player positioning. It’s presented for the most part by John McEnroe, who you either know as the legendarily ill-tempered tennis player or the narrator from Netflix’s Never Have I Ever depending on your age bracket. Generally speaking, TopSpin 2K25 is still very easy to pick up and play, but I found completing the TopSpin Academy’s 30-odd lessons held me in good stead as I progressed deep into the ******* tournaments of the MyCareer mode. Grand Slam, Thank You Ma’am MyCareer really is the centre court centrepiece of TopSpin 2K25, and it’s a pretty meaty mode. During each month of the tour you get the option to play target-seeking training games, special challenge events, and proper ATP tennis tournaments, all while keeping track of your player’s energy level which starts at 100% and slowly depletes with each match you play. I had to carefully build rest months into the calendar in order to recharge, since every time my player’s energy dropped too low it inevitably resulted in injury that put me out of action for extended periods. However, these injuries only ever seem to occur during menu screens in between matches, and never actually forced me to retire hurt during play. I brazenly went into the *********** Open final with only 1% energy and ended up rupturing my achilles, but I wasn’t informed about it until after I’d raised the trophy – and by then my player was probably too ****** to care. Energy management isn’t the only thing you need to stay on top of during MyCareer, though. There’s a leveling system that doles out attribute points to help shape your player’s strengths whether you favour slinky serve and volleying or if you’re more of a burly baseline brawler, a status system that gives you lists of objectives to tick off in order to progress from unknown to legend and unlock new tournaments or challenges to compete in, as well as global player rankings both overall and for the year-to-date to measure your progress. Hiring a coach brings its own set of unique goals, too, creating enjoyable games within games that had me hitting a certain number of inside out backhand winners during matches to unlock special attribute boosts, for example. However, like a debutant pair of doubles partners, these various progression systems occasionally step on each other’s toes. Midway through the second year of my career I had managed to ****** the top 10 in the world rankings, but I was still ineligible to enter any of the major Grand Slam tournaments because I hadn’t yet fulfilled all of the requirements to elevate my status to the ‘Star’ level. Instead, I had to go off and grind through a number of lesser TS250 competitions, which made me feel like I was arbitrarily spinning my wheels against fictional nobodies when I should have been going head to head with the likes of Daniil Medvedev and Taylor ******. On the plus side, since you can adjust the length of matches at any time, I was able to distill these time-wasting tournaments from full games down to a series of tiebreaks. This thankfully made them briefer than a pair of tennis shorts from the 1970s, at the cost of a slightly diminished amount of awarded XP. Even when I was finally able to compete in prestigious tournaments like the US Open and the year-ending ATP Finals, it did become a little repetitive to constantly come up against the same small group of licensed players (seven on the men’s side, and 13 on the women’s). There are some great inclusions here, like Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff, but also a number of notable absences. Women’s world number one Iga Swiatek is present, but top man Novak Djokovic is nowhere to be found. Still, at least it means we get to enjoy several calendar years of tennis where Djokovic isn’t able to win everything. Eventually you unlock unique matches against legendary players such as Roger Federer and Pete Sampras in the men’s tour, and Serena Williams and Steffi Graf on the women’s side. These are compelling little scenario modes that shuttle you through key points in a match, and they bring a welcome injection of variety to the range of match types available in MyCareer. The considerable list of licensed stadiums all look fairly true to life, and there are some nice little animations to add some personality in between points, like the way players will occasionally collapse onto their backsides after a particularly grueling rally. That said, there are also some noticeable rough edges to the presentation. There’s no coin toss at the start of each match, so you’re never given the option of whether you wish to serve first or receive. There’s no Hawk-Eye technology, either, and therefore no option to challenge close line calls – although the somewhat rigidly placed instant replay camera angles make it tough to scrutinize them anyway. There’s also little to distinguish one tournament win from another; you’re awarded the exact same trophy in the exact same ceremony whether you’ve just won a smaller satellite event or one of the majors. After a few tournament wins, I just started skipping the post-match pageantry like it was the opening credits to an episode of Stranger Things. Doesn't Make Any Cents Virtual currency was probably still just an idea jotted down in a 2K executive’s dream journal when TopSpin 4 was released in 2011, but it’s since become the default currency for in-game transactions across 2K’s stable of sports games, and it rears its ugly head here in TopSpin 2K25, too. Every tournament and special event you win awards a modest amount of VC, which in turn is used for everything from buying new clothing and racquets, to hiring support staff that buff your energy preservation and injury recovery, to even acquiring houses around the globe to help reduce travel fatigue. After 15 hours invested in MyCareer, I’m reasonably flush with the stuff and haven’t once contemplated spending actual money on packs of VC (which of course you can do), but then again I tend to dress my created player as though they’ve just lost a bet in the locker room. If you’re a more fashion conscious tennis player and you’re not content to style your avatar in the occasional off-brand shorts and skirts you can earn purely by playing tournaments, then your mileage may vary. What does slightly irritate me about the use of VC, though, is that it’s resulted in a warped in-game economy where it’s somehow cheaper to buy a house in New York than it is to buy a new tennis racquet. The prize money you’re awarded from a Grand Slam tournament is also not even remotely similar in scale to real life; winning the Wimbledon final should net you millions of dollars, but in TopSpin 2K25 I pocketed a measly 194VC – just barely enough to buy a pair of Wilson-branded socks or a little more than half of a pair of Nike-branded track pants. It’s all a bit silly, really – a virtual currency that you can buy with real dollars that doesn’t make any actual sense. A virtual currency that you can buy with real dollars that doesn’t make any actual sense. I’m willing to look past the questionable virtual currency nonsense, however, because the action out on-court is of such a high standard. I’m only two thirds of the way towards reaching the level 30 cap for my created player, and there are still plenty of courts to unlock and objectives to tick off as I enter my seventh year on the tour. Beyond that, I’m also keen to get stuck into the online tournaments once the servers become more populated, and there’s also a Battle Pass-style rewards system that could well keep me on the ***** for several more months to come. Even its licensed player shortcomings could be remedied in due course, with further professionals already promised to be added in the future at no extra cost. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Valve issued an update to its game refund policy on April 23, classifying that time spent in “Advanced Access”—or pre-purchase gameplay—will now count toward total time playing the title, closing a loophole players have been abusing for years. The short policy update came into effect today and was announced via a Steam blog post. “Playtime acquired during the Advanced Access ******* will now count towards the Steam refund *******,” the statement read. This addition is likely in response to players preordering titles for early access, and then refunding before the game is actually released. View the full article

Pocketpair dropped a new Paldeck video featuring Palworld’s Foxcicle, but the only thing gamers are talking about is the icy Pal’s resemblance to two specific Pokémon. To showcase each Pal in Palworld, Pocketpair releases new Paldeck entries along with short gameplay clips. April 20’s Paldeck entry centered around Foxcicle—a foxlike Pal who “looks up at the sky during an aurora and sings with the most beautiful voice.” A few days later, everyone is talking about Foxcicle, but for the wrong reasons. View the full article

New rumors about future additions to hit cooperative shooter Helldivers 2 suggest that the Super Earth Armed Forces may see a new transport vehicle arrive soon. The reveals come courtesy of data miners - players picking through the Helldivers 2 game files to find clues about developer Arrowhead Game Studios' future plans. View the full article

Recruit Celia in the easiest way possible by referring to our list that not only shows what every character's Favorite Food is, but also where to find the Recipes for them! View the full article

A Minecraft player has spent three years collecting a rare armor set in which each piece has the same enchantment: Efficiency I. During their Minecraft adventures, players collect materials to craft tools, weapons, and armor to protect them from danger. But Minecraft players can also come across pieces of armor in other ways. View the full article

Riot Games has immediately disabled Split today after it was discovered agents can reach an incredibly powerful location near A bombsite. The VALORANT map was set to feature in Premier matchmaking this week, but has been replaced by Ascent. The VALORANT team made the announcement on April 23, noting the Split boost was one of two unintended bugs that was just recently identified, with the second being a Cypher Tripwire glitch that showed his traps on teammates’ minimaps even after ******. Riot confirmed fixes for both the Split boost and the Cypher trick would ship with VALORANT Patch 8.08, and while Cypher’s Tripwire bug isn’t all that gamebreaking, the Split boost certainly is. “We will be removing Split from the Competitive, Unrated, Premier, Swiftplay, and Spike Rush map pools,” Riot said in a short statement on X (formerly Twitter). View the full article

LG Display, which is one of the leading innovators of display technologies in the world, has announced the development of an OLED gaming panel, using the first-ever features that allow users to choose between refresh rate and resolution. Not only is the development of the gaming panel complete, but mass production started earlier this month with the 31.5-inch panel, and will follow-up with 27-inch and 34-inch monitors, so eager PC gamers shouldn't have too long to wait. View the full article

The variety of farm types in Stardew Valley allow players to approach the game in a number of ways, including one fan who devised an intricately structured Forest Farm. With the release of Stardew Valley Update 1.6, both new and returning players have been jumping in to try out each of the different starter farms, leading many to share their farm layouts to assist and inspire others. View the full article

Fortnite will allegedly be adding an all-new vehicle mechanic in the next season, which will allow players to ******* vehicles that other players are driving. The new feature, which will purportedly go live with the launch of Chapter 5 Season 3, could shake things up with how vehicles are strategically utilized and dealt with among the vast Fortnite player base. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]