>
Steam

Steam

How the internet tried to rig the Steam Summer Adventure, and how Valve is trying to stop them

Evan Lahti at

A few days ago, members of the Steam community schemed to rig the Steam Summer Adventure competition, a metagame running in parallel with Valve’s 12-day Summer Sale. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a malicious plan, but a kind of alliance meant to bring equal victory to everyone on Steam. As intended, Team Pink won Sunday. Blue won Monday. Purple will win next, if things go smoothly. On Wednesday, a Red victory is scheduled, then Green.

Is a small collective actually having this big of an influence on a Steam-wide, public competition? Valve has already amended the contest to encourage more competition. I took a look at the evidence and spoke to a few of the people caught up in the dark business of virtual trading card market-manipulation.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 6

PC Gamer at

It’s another good day to be a PC gamer (isn’t every day, though, really?) with a new set of Steam Summer Sale deals to pad your library for the long hot days of hiding inside ahead. If nothing has caught your eye yet, there’s still another weekend to go, but we’re pretty happy with today’s selection—they’re not all brand new, but between the heartfelt Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and the vast wasteland of Fallout New Vegas, there's a few hundred hours of amazing and diverse gaming at a deep discount.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 5

PC Gamer at

The Steam Summer Sale is off to a good start this week. After good deals on The Wolf Among Us, Tomb Raider, and Skyrim over the weekend, a few more of our favorite PC games go on sale today.


Read and comment >

Heroes Rise becomes the first text-only game on Steam

Andy Chalk at

Believe it or not, there was a time when games comprised of nothing but words dominated the videogame industry. You read paragraph after paragraph as they scrolled down your monochrome CRT, and typed actual words and phrases, like "open mailbox," to tell the game what you wanted to do. It was a different era, to put it mildly, and while the release of Heroes Rise as the first-ever text-only game on Steam probably doesn't herald a return to those glory days, I like to think that it could signal bigger things to come.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 4

PC Gamer at

Just when you thought you were out of the Steam sale racket, they pull you back in - today's crop boasting some delectable bargains across a variety of genres, including the pork-bunniest game of recent years.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal. Also, GOG.com are having their own, equally terrific summer sale at the moment, so be sure to check that out too.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 3

PC Gamer at

It's day 3 of the Steam Summer Sale, and though your wallet might be pleading with you to stop throwing money at your monitor, the bargains keep on coming - and some prime deals await you today. There's a couple of very good deals in the dailies right now, so if you've been waiting for a steep reduction on a certain dragony shouting game, this is your moment to swoop. In case you'd forgotten, GOG.com is having its own sizzling summer sale as well, so be sure to check that out too.

Reminder: if a game isn't a daily deal or a flash sale, it could pop up later in the sale for an even lower price. If you want to be safe, wait until June 30 to pick up a sale-long deal.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 2

PC Gamer at

After a good start yesterday, day two of Steam’s dozen-day Summer Sale isn’t necessarily obliterating our minds with savings, but there’s still some great values available today or through shorter-term flash sales. Within, find our picks for the best current deals on Steam. Don’t forget that GOG is having a summer sale of its own, too.


Read and comment >

The week's highs and lows in PC gaming

PC Gamer at

Every Friday, the PC Gamer team reactivate their opinion circuits to bring you their best and worst moments from the week of digital entertainment. We’ll start with the good news…


Read and comment >

Dead Rising 3 release date has been quietly confirmed by Steam sale

Shaun Prescott at

Usually publishers make a big song and dance about release date announcements, but here’s an exception: a September 5 release date has quietly been confirmed for Dead Rising 3. No billion dollar CGI trailer was involved, nor any designedly cryptic teaser websites. The news comes via the Steam Summer Sale, which lists the game’s release date as well as a 25 per cent discount on pre-orders. That means you can get it for US$37.49 instead of $49.99.


Read and comment >

Valve launches Steam "Buy Orders," making it easier than ever to blow your money

Andy Chalk at

The great minds at Valve have figured out another way to save you money on Steam while sucking more of it out of your pocket than ever before: "Buy Orders," a standing order to buy "commodity items" at or below a particular price.


Read and comment >

The best Steam Summer Sale deals: Day 1

PC Gamer at

Some claim that summer doesn’t start until the 21st, but Valve says it’s time for the Steam Summer Sale and we haven’t heard anything from the solstice lobby—so, happy first day of summer! As always, it’s celebrated with a ridiculous store-wide Steam sale renowned for its low prices and intoxicating effect on the PC gaming community. Everything looks great when it’s 80% off, but before you start filling up your library, here are our favorite picks of day one.


Read and comment >

Steam Summer Sale is go!

Phil Savage at

It's Adventure Time! No, not that one. The Steam Summer Sale is upon us, and this year the theme is adventure! Pack you bags, feed your pets, strap on your best hiking boots and... sit in front of your computer, diligently refreshing the store page in order to keep up with the bundles, flash sales and daily deals that will haunt your every waking moment.

ADVENTURE!


Read and comment >

Team Fortress 2's 'Love and War' update out now

Phil Savage at

After kneading the community into a yeasty mush of excitement, Valve have finally pulled their update out of the oven. Love and War is available now, bringing a selection of new taunts and weapons. In addition, they've slightly tweaked their long-standing secret recipe. By which I mean they've seriously altered the balance of the Demoman's Sticky Launcher.


Read and comment >

Early Fallout games are now available on Steam again after a six month absence

Shaun Prescott at

If you've been taken by the desire to purchase Fallout, Fallout 2 or Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood this year, then you know what disappointment is. The games disappeared from Steam and GOG in January following a protracted legal stoush between former series owner Interplay and current owner Bethesda. The battle eventually resulted in a $2 million settlement which saw the transferal of the Fallout MMO rights to Bethesda, as well as all other related IP.


Read and comment >

Gunpoint gets a new engine and Steam Workshop support, on sale for two days

Andy Chalk at

Gunpoint is a 2D stealth puzzle game in which you rewire the electronics and security systems of various buildings in order to break in and steal stuff. It came out last summer and we didn't review it, because as it turns out the game's developer, Tom Francis, was a long-time writer for PC Gamer, which led to all sorts of very obvious concerns about bias and conflict of interest. But while we couldn't review it, we can tell you that a rather large patch has gone live that, among other things, converts the game to an entirely new engine. Oh, and it's on sale, too.


Read and comment >

Euro Truck Simulator 2 developer gets one-year Steam ban for demonstrating security flaw

Andy Chalk at

A big update to Euro Truck Simulator 2 is adding three new cities to its lineup of places you can keep on truckin' through, as well as truck-specific speed limits to the GPS route adviser and the hotly anticipated "Seat Adjustement" feature. But perhaps even more interesting than any of that is that Tomas Duda, one of the developers on the game, was banned from Steam for a year for using a "Daily Deal" announcement to bring a potentially serious security vulnerability to Valve's attention.


Read and comment >

The best and weirdest Steam skins

PC Gamer at

At one point in the last 24 hours, the number of concurrent users on Steam peaked at around 6.9 million people. A lot of time is spent staring at Steam's familiar grey interface, and it's time for a change. Fortunately you can reskin your Steam client with user-made varieties, which change the look, feel and functionality of Steam's familiar old tabs. Read on for our pick of the best Steam skins, and a round-up of some of the most outlandish designs.


Read and comment >

Grand Theft Auto V on Steam promises advanced video editor, other enhancements

Andy Chalk at

As expected, Grand Theft Auto V has appeared on Steam, boasting of a number of enhancements to the game as well as an all-new video editor.

Read and comment >

ADOM, Logigun and 73 others get the Greenlight on Steam

Andy Chalk at

I have good news for those of you who can't wait to get your hands on Super Lemonade Factory, I am weapon or Car Disassembly 3D: Steam has given the Greenlight to 75 more titles, including those three and one that's actually been banned.


Read and comment >

Alienware's Steam Machine is "Steam ready" but will ship without SteamOS or controller

Andy Chalk at

Alienware Alpha is a $550 Steam Machine we looked at earlier this week, during which we noted that SteamOS, the backbone of the system, isn't quite ready. That, and the inclusion of Windows 8.1 in the system specs, understandably led to some existential questions about whether a Steam Machine without SteamOS is really a Steam Machine at all; and the answer, according to Alienware, is "yes."


Read and comment >