Borderland 3’s exclusivity to Epic Games Store leads to review bombing on Steam

Borderlands 3 on Epic Games makes players angry and they're leaving review bombs on previous GearBox games on Steam.

GearBox Software announced their new trailer for Borderlands 3 yesterday, but PC fans weren’t too happy about one thing. The fact that they’ve decided to be exclusive to the Epic Games Store for the first 180 days after launch before migrating over to other platforms (ahem, Steam), pissed off a lot of PC players looking … Read more

Bethesda to bring DOOM Eternal, RAGE 2, and Wolfenstein to Steam

Bethesda will be bringing over their newest games to Steam, which will mean the game will be available for PC players outside of Bethesda/Epic.

Bethesda is coming back on track after its disastrous release of Fallout 76. While we’re all in the midst of the Metro Exodus fallout and The Outer Worlds both becoming Epic Games Store exclusives, Bethesda seems to be doing something right by bringing their own digital games over to Steam like how many players want it … Read more

Epic Games says they won’t make another Metro Exodus mistake again

Metro Exodus again? According to Epic- Nope.

Epic Games has been boiling in hot water lately when they made the deal with Metro Exodus and having the game be exclusive to the Epic Games Store. They’re learning from their mistakes, but even then, they’re still signing exclusive deals with developers nonstop. Although traditional Steam users are upset over this, the Metro Exodus … Read more

Steam gets rid of movies and videos sections (because they’re not gaming related)

Steam gets rid of movies/videos.

Steam, the world’s largest DRM platform, will be removing the videos and movies sections from itself. Valve announced that the “videos” tab is no longer accessible for users in the store. Steam has decided that they should focus on content that’s related to just gaming rather than try to get everything under the sun. They had plans … Read more

Steam’s player numbers for 2018 are crazy; 47M daily active users

Steam removes movies and videos.

Steam posted its stats today and the numbers are just crazy. Even with the launch of new platforms like Discord and Epic Games Store, Steam’s numbers are anything but dwindling- even with the 70/30 developer cut, the platform still continues to pull in some insane numbers. Of course, Steam has long been the dominant DRM … Read more

Discord announces 90/10 split; Big plans scheduled for 2019

Discord announces 90/10 split; Big plans scheduled for 2019 8

Discord has announced some big and bold plans for their online store. With Epic Games jumping into the fray, Discord isn’t the only one that’s taking on Steam. Now Steam has more competition to worry about than ever. In 2019, Discord will enable all self-published developers to take 90% of their sales earned from games. This means … Read more

Devil May Cry 5 PC system requirements released

Devil May Cry 5 PC system requirements released 9

Capcom released some details about the PC system requirements for their newest AAA title Devil May Cry 5. The system requirements were posted on the game’s store page on Steam. From this, we can gather some details on how demanding (and visually impressive) the game will be.

DMC5 is using a new game engine to render, so players will need a modern PC to run the game smoothly. If you want the best of the best, you’ll need a very beefy PC in order to maximize the game’s settings. Surprisingly enough, the game is only a mere 35GB in space, which is relatively small compared to how demanding the reqreuiments are.

Here are the Devil May Cry 5 PC minimum system requirements:

  • OS: WINDOWS® 7 (64-BIT Required)
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.4GHz or better
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX760 or better
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 35 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: *Controllers recommended *Internet connection required for game activation.

And the recommended system requirements:

  • OS: WINDOWS® 7 (64-BIT Required)
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4770 3.4GHz or better
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX960 or better
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 35 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: *Controllers recommended *Internet connection required for game activation.

Judging from the posted specs, most gamers will be okay with a current or previous generation graphics card. However, the game does require an Intel i7 CPU, which is pretty much the top-of-the-line processor that’s widely available. Even though the i9 is out, it’s not practical given its steep price point and non-adapted technology.

The i7 is affordable enough but is still top tier compared to its i5 and i3 counterparts. Enthusiasts can argue about specs, cores, and cache sizes, but generally, the i7 is superior due to the sheer number of cores available compared to the i5 and i3. Modern games and applications can utilize multiple (or all) cores that the i7 offers.

DMC5 is a CPU-demanding game from the looks of it so far. You can get more details about the game here on Steam.

Square Enix’s The Last Remnant being delisted from Steam

Steam removes movies and videos.

Square Enix’s The Last Remnant, a nearly 10-year-old game, is being removed from the Steam store in just a few weeks. On the Steam News page, Square announced that it’ll be delisted from the DRM platform on different schedules for different regions:

  • Japan region: Wednesday 5th September, approximately 2:00 (JST)
  • NA region: Tuesday 4th September, approximately 10:00 (PDT)
  • EU region: Tuesday 4th September, approximately 17:00 (GMT)

For owners of the game, it’ll still be playable. But for those looking to buy it, it’ll be gone. The title was released for the Xbox 360 back in 2008 and a PS3 version of was never released. It wasn’t a flop by any means, but it is a pretty dated game.

It’s a JRPG developed by the same team behind SaGa and the Final Fantasy games. Get it on Steam for $9.99 if you’re interested in the PC version. The console version will be available used (or possibly new) and can easily still be had from various retailers that carry specialty or retro games.

Grandia I and II remastered are coming to Switch as a packaged game

Grandia I and II remastered are coming to Switch as a packaged game 10

Grandia I and II are coming to the Nintendo Switch as a remastered game. GungHo Online Entertainment America announced that the titles will be coming to the Switch fully remastered. This is the first time the game has had an easy release since 1999 when it was launched for the original PlayStation in North America. Grandia II hasn’t been available since early 2000 when it was available on the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. But now it’ll be coming out for the holiday season in 2018.

Developed by Game Arts, who may be known for their work in Sliphead and the Lunar series, Grandia games have only seen four main releases- plus an MMO, special disc, and a spinoff game. Other than that, there hasn’t been much action for this series over here in the West. Similar to the Lunar games, the Grandia games are known for their insane combat mechanics and awesome sprite art.

It was very well-received and highly-rated overseas and at home in the US. It released around the same time that FFVII came out and both of the games were compared against each other. Gamespot said that Grandia is superior to “FF7 in all of the ways that matter.”

Grandia was released for the Japanese Sega Saturn originally, then found its home on the PlayStation shortly thereafter. Then it migrated to the PS3 in Japan on the PS Network. PC and Switch owners will now get a piece of the action later in 2018. Switch players will also get Grandia II, which aims for a more grown-up storyline compared to the original game. It tells the tale of Ryudo, a blade mercenary who’s tasked with protecting a songstress from the church which has been leading humanity to prosperity and peace for many centuries.

Steam players will get a remaster of the Dreamcast version with upgraded visuals and audio.

Grandia II was originally released on the Dreamcast to which then was ported poorly onto the PS2 and PC. Similar to the original game, it got some pretty positive reviews. The game expands on the positional-based battle mechanics and had a more difficult gameplay style.

The game will be available for demo at PAX West and also packaged for the Switch later this year.

Steam copies Discord’s chat system; Discord copies Steam’s store

Steam copies Discord's chat system; Discord copies Steam's store 11

A few weeks ago, Steam rebuilt their chat system and added some features that looked like they were ripped right out of Discord. Now, the VoIP giant for gamers is retaliating by releasing a game distribution platform. That’s right, Discord now sells games.

The Discord Store is an experience that’s built by curated content that’ll automatically suggest games based on player interests. It’s like the Steam front page, but more personalized and catered for each individual player instead of the general population’s tastes. Discord staff curates the content that appears in the store in order to prevent Steam’s issue with game saturation and competition for virtual sell space.

Right now, players can buy a variety of games like Hollow Knight, Moonlighter, Starbound, This is the Police 2, The Banner Saga 3, and more.

Discord is making a bold move by competing directly with Steam, but they probably would’ve done so regardless of whether or not Steam copied their chat system’s layout and design.

The most interesting news is the First on Discord section. They plan to show off indie games they’ve helped support and develop and launch them exclusively only on Discord fora limited period of time. This is typically a period of 90 days before the game devs can sell it anywhere else, like Steam. Discord also takes 30% of sales just like the DRM giant. So far, the only game that’s premiering on this program is Bad North, an indie real-time roguelike. The post states:

“To be very clear, First on Discord games are temporarily exclusive. They’re literally first on Discord — usually 90 days and then the developers can sell anywhere else they want. This beta won’t have any First on Discord titles, but we’ll be showing off some soon.”

Discord Nitro is also getting revamped. Subs will see a curated list of popular titles picked by the staff, such as Super Meat Boy and System Shock Enhanced Edition. And the new Discord also has a Universal Library tab that scans your computer for games on all platforms like Steam, UPlay, and Discord itself. It then links them to this singular tab so you can play directly from Discord no matter where the game is housed. It’ll just launch the other launcher and then continue the game automatically.

Discord Store is currently in beta and will roll out worldwide slowly over time. It’s currently available to Canadian users only at a cap of 50K players. US players should soon be able to try out the full version.

Steam Bans over 90,000 Steam Accounts

Steam removes movies and videos.

Valve has now banned over 90K Steam accounts in an apocalyptical purge that spanned over the past few days. This is all from Valve’s VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) system. VAC is Steam’s proprietary anti-cheat system built into the majority of their first-party games and just a few third-party titles. It works by a complex process of monitoring gameplay data and banning any possibles signs of third-party tools or hack tools. It’s just like Punkbuster which is used in many popular games like the Battlefield series.

Valve’s swinging of the banhammer is nothing new. They come in waves and this time around they found over 60K players that were abusing games. SteamDB shows a data graph that depicts the huge and beautiful spike in user bans as Steam continues the cleansing process.

VAC bans are usually a one-time thing and there’s no way to restore your account back to fully active. Banned players lose a number of account privileges, such as playing on VAC servers, gifting other players, uploading content to the Steam community, voting on Workshop content, and more. They can still buy games, of course.

The biggest hit would be the loss of item trading. Games like CS: GO is one of many games where items fetch top dollar and are protected by VAC. Some items can be worth thousands of dollars. Players who were banned won’t be able to trade their items with other players. Valve will continue to ban hackers so if you have anything of value, don’t get caught or else risk getting slammed with Steam’s giant banhammer. It’s probably not worth it.

You can see some nice graphics depicting the ban here on SteamDB.

SteamVR Input allows control scheme support for pretty much any controller

SteamVR Input will allow players to use any controller and use custom schemes.

Value has just announced the beta for SteamVR Input.

It’s a new input system that allows players to make bind configs for controllers in the game. This works whether or not the controller is in production when the game is released. This lets Valve’s homegrown JoyToKey or XPadder to work within SteamVR. Players can make any input system and any other player can choose to use it if they want in the Steam Community.

Support for SteamVR Input is built-in to the system and anyone with the application can access the new input system. Developers can also customize default bindings for every controller type and create new control all the schemes without having to go back and change them for each controller type. SteamVR Input is currently in beta, but you can try it out by going to Properties > SteamVR > Beta and select your build.

There’s basic documentation in the announcement post for software and hardware development information that’s worth checking out.

SteamVR Input comes from the announcement that Nintendo Switch Pro Controller will be supported by Steam. The support for this controller and the new input system allows Valve to make a new effort to expand controller support across other builds.

 

Make Sail coming to Steam Early Access March 30th

Make Sail allows players to explore a procedurally-generated world and build a custom boat.

Make Sail is a game coming into Steam Early Access on March 30th.

It’s a game developed by Popcannibal and focuses on boat exploration on the high seas. It’s a procedurally-generated world so it’s always unique and different every time you sail. The game has an in-depth boat crafting system so you can create a boat to suit your imagination and play style.

Showcase.jpg.gif
Via makesailgame.com

You can build everything from a simple castaway raft to a full-out pirate ship. Players will use ship parts they find to upgrade and rebuild their ships. They essentially get rewarded for exploring in the form of better parts and more gear.

Make Sail features boats that are “wild horses of your own design” and “rooted in real physics” according to dev Ziba Scott.

The boats can also break apart and sink as well. It’s probably the most realistic boat simulator in recent years and seems like a lot of fun because of the simplicity of it. It combines exploration, upgrading your boat, and sailing the seas all into one game with a nice crafting system that lets you build your own designs which offers a lot of creative freedom to the player.

You’ll be exploring a variety of islands and creatures as well. These are procedurally placed and completely handcrafted by the dev team. The sea is always unique and the game is always offering something new. You’ll come across new lands, animals, and boat pieces while under the forces of gravity, lift, draft, wind, shape, and weight. The game has a real physics system with water and wind effects that play out to what you’d expect in real life.

BuildSail1Steam.jpg.gif
Via makesailgame.com

Want to make a boat U-turn? Go for it? Got some tailwind? Embrace it. Choppy waters? Fare it. It’s all governed by a universal physics system that works in real-time. It combines a fantasy sea with real physics that can power your ship’s sailing method of choice- whether it be square sails, lateen sails, propellers, jets, and even energy-fields.

Make Sail has a new teaser trailer out that shows off the impressive visuals and supermodular building system. You can witness a player getting off their ship and exploring a newfound island on foot.

The game was funded back in November of 2016 on Fig successfully and will be released on Steam later this month. You can check out more details on their page as well. If you like sailing and exploration, set your sails to Make Sail!

Featured image via official site.

 

The Forest is leaving early access and going into a full release on Steam

The Forest is releasing as a full game soon.

The Forest is coming out of early access on Steam some time in April 2018!

If you’ve never heard of this game, it’s basically a survival game that takes place in a huge world filled with some spooky monsters. You have to gather resources, establish a base, craft weapons, harvest food, and explore the giant map freely at your own pace.

The game takes place with your character having ditched a plane crash and now you’re stuck somewhere in the wilderness looking for your son. You get a glimpse of some giant man taking your son off into the woods, so you need to go look for him on this mysterious island. Of course, you won’t be able to just find him. It’s a whole expedition and will require many days of exploration, which means you need to establish shelter, food, and get your basic necessities so you can continue looking for him.

The game has tons of lakes, ponds, caves, forests, and villages for you to gather loot from. Like pretty much any survival game these days, you’ll have to fend off attackers. Instead of it being other players like in Rust and Ark, you’ll have to defend yourself from these monsters that’ll attack your establishment and eventually you yourself. It’s considered to be a horror survival game because the enemies you face do indeed look freakin’ creepy. The environments you explore are also filled with these monsters as well. There’s even a day/night cycle and a weather system as well. The game is basically a horror survival game taken to the extreme. It’s like playing Rust with a horror mod or something.

The Forest came out in May of 2014 in early access and has made some significant leaps in progress since then. Now, it’s ready for a full release almost 4 years later. The developers have decided to release the full version of the game on PC this year. It’ll be released with patch 0.73 which contains a few updates, patches, and fixes.

Like most games, The Forest will get a price bump for the full version. It’ll jump from $14.99 to just $19.99- a modest $5 increase. If you’ve been eyeing this game, or if you like horror survival games, you’ll definitely want to check out the game on Steam.

Image via survivetheforest.com

Indie game removed from Steam because it’s “porn”

you must be 18 or older porn game removed from steam

An indie game was removed from the ubiquitous Steam platform because it’s porn. The game’s called (as appropriately titled) “You Must be 18 or Older to Enter” and focuses on your character trying to watch pornography in the middle of the night- without getting caught by anymore. Your goal is to sneak onto the computer an … Read more