Valve has released the tabulated results and statistics of its April Steam Hardware and Software Survey - the key take away from last month's user generated data is that NVIDIA's trusty GeForce GTX 1650 GPU is once again the most popular graphics card. It dethrones last month's winner - the NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card which falls to third place where it sits below the second place GTX 1060 GPU. The RTX 3060 experienced an almost 6% decline in usership from the previous month, and the GTX 1650's userbase grew by 2% in the same period of time. It is interesting to note that the entry for the GTX 1650 encompasses both desktop and laptop variants, while the RTX 3060 gets divided into two separate entries on Valve's survey - the desktop version sits at third place and its laptop-oriented sibling trails slightly behind with a placement at position number four. NVIDIA absolutely dominates the field with lots of its budget and midrange cards (across several older generations) - AMD and Intel barely make it into the top 25 with a small sprinkling of iGPUs and one discrete model (Radeon RX 580) placed at position 24.

April's survey shows that Intel processors remain a favorite for many Steam users with a 67.14% share, and AMD follows in second place with a 32.84% share. AMD CPU popularity is on the rise (when compared to previous months) so a more even share of the market could be on the cards, if an upward trend continues. System RAM enthusiasts were upgrading to a smaller degree last month: 52.19% are on 16 GB, and 16.1 percent are on 32 GB - indicating slight declines (from March) of 4.73% and 6.61% respectively. The majority of users prefer to stick with Windows 10 64-bit - that OS has a 61.21% share, but its popularity has dropped by 12.74% within the survey period. Windows 11 64-bit is gaining ground with a 10.98% increase from March to April, and it sits at second place with a 33.39% share of the OS userbase. As always, the results indicated by the monthly Steam Hardware and Software survey are not considered to be pinpoint accurate due to the random nature of user responses, but overall and general trends can be discerned from the data on hand.

Steam Client Beta updates do not normally attract much attention - Valve's iterative patch notes for the digital service application read in a mostly mundane way - but this week's trial system upgrade has turned heads. Valve has managed to introduce some interesting new features with this latest update - the in-game overlay system has been overhauled so users are offered the option to pin related windows over/on top of an active game session. Players are granted multiple options in the adjustment of overlay window opacity levels - so web browsers, document apps and image browsers can be customized to best suit the in-game experience. Users will also be happy to discover that they can now watch their favorite movies, TV shows or streaming platform within the same screen space as their chosen game - no need to minimize and arrange multiple app windows or shift everything across multiple monitor setups. The screenshot manager has been enhanced to a greater degree - Valve states that: "it's responsive, you can choose from large or small thumbnails, view recent screenshots rather than by game, and you can manage online screenshots as well as local screenshots".

A new Notes App has been introduced via the latest Steam Client Beta update - users can now jot down their thoughts and observations during game sessions. Valve boasts that the application offers: "rich text formatting, the ability to have multiple notes per game, and can even be used in offline mode." The blog also provides explanations of other handy features and improvements: "The new toolbar gives you access to anything you may need in the middle of a game - friends chat, achievements progress, guides, discussions, a browser, and more. We've picked a couple windows by default, and you can pick and personalize the pieces of content you'd like to see in your overlay - settings are saved between games. This toolbar can be switched between an icon view and a list view in Settings. The Game Overview is your one-stop shop to see what's going on with the game since you last played it. For example, it shows what achievements you have in progress, which friends are playing the same game, top guides, news, and more."

Following the recent block of the Activision-Blizzard merger with Microsoft by the UK regulatory body, Microsoft is partnering with cloud gaming services to bring extra assurance to regulators that the merger will not harm any segment. Today, Microsoft's Vice Chain and President, Brad Smith, published a Tweet that highlighted the latest deal with Nware, a Spanish company providing cloud PCs to gamers that can stream games from Steam, EGS, and Ubisoft Connect accounts. The Tweet noted that "Microsoft and European cloud gaming platform Nware have signed a 10-year agreement to stream PC games built by Xbox on its platform, as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes. While it's still early for the emerging cloud segment in gaming, this new partnership combined with our other recent commitments will make more popular games available on more cloud game streaming services than they are today."

Revival: Recolonization is a 4x strategy game set on a post-apocalyptic version of Earth, where the terrain and rules of engagement can change during key moments. Players will lead a fledgling band of people as they rise up, improve their technologies - using all manner of weapons, from ballista to war elephants - and lead Humanity to re-take the Earth from an insane AI.

Revival: Recoloniation is the first entry in the Revival franchise to appear on PC. The first two entries debuted on feature phones. Revival: Recolonization, will enter Early Access on June 28, 2023, on Steam.

Secrets of Gloomrot is a free V Rising expansion coming May 17th. Enter a massive new zone with two unique areas twisted in the pursuit of cruel science and raise your multi-level castle. Navigate polluted valleys and lightning-scorched highlands to face the mutated experiments and mechanical wonders spawned from the twisted imaginations of the Trancendum. Travel to the heights of Gloomrot and face their greatest creation - the ultimate weapon of war.

Delve Into the Realm of the Brilliantly Insane
A little taste of what is to come this May 17th, when V Rising will be updating with its first major content patch. Leap into battle upon your vampiric steed to cut down your foes. Travel new lands harrowed by experiments and pollution. Face new foes with new tools at your disposal. Seize the power of lightning, and meet science with Vampire sword and sorcery when you tangle with the master of Gloomrot, Doctor Henry Blackbrew.

The Steam Deck is a hit with enthusiasts who require a gaming fix on the move, and Valve has observed its handheld getting revamped heavily by the modification community - but a new adaptation takes the pint-sized PC onto the real battlefield. The GamingOnLinux site yesterday picked up on emerging details from the Ukraine frontline - TDF Media group has shared photos and videos of an automated gun turret system dubbed "Saber" that can be operated remotely. The Steam Deck has somehow become the preferred control method - its on-screen UI, trackpads, analog sticks and button layout factor into the gun turret's operation. A reader has informed me that Valve's hardware is not officially available for sale in the region, so the military must be sourcing units from a grey/dark market source.

Sergey Mohov, lead gameplay designer at Remedy Entertainment, reposted some of TDF Media's photos on his Twitter account earlier this week, and added that "this automatic turret is the best use of Steam Deck I've seen so far." The Territorial Defense Force organization has described the turret (translated) thusly: "Saber is a Ukrainian automated remote-controlled gun turret designed for stationary installation on static objects or moving vehicles. The Saber system's co-ordination is done via a remote control, camera and monitor - which allows combat from up to 500 m from the rig, while preserving the operator's life. This combat platform can be installed in a stationary (capacity) at checkpoints, border and other zones - it is even able to defeat low-flying enemy drones. The platform is flexible enough to accommodate any light anti-infantry or anti-tank weapon weapon - a good example being a Kalashnikov machine gun."

Cult of the Lamb's first major content update is OUT NOW! The Lamb must keep their Cult flourishing, their Followers faithful, and their power unchallenged as they crusade in this free content expansion, Relics of the Old Faith. It adds brand new ways to spread the gospel of the Cult of the Lamb with powerful new abilities, exciting new characters, and thrilling new challenges.

Relics of the Old Faith adds huge new content, replayability and many features. Relics of the Old Faith is an ENORMOUS free update to Cult of the Lamb. We've listened to many of your requests and have been working since launch to add everything we possibly could. There's so much that it can't fit into one News post, but we're going to try…

Ubisoft is slowly migrating availability of its flagship games over to the Steam store, and gaming fans will be happy to find out about this move. A lot of the French video game publisher's popular titles (on PC) have been locked to their own Connect service and the Epic Games Store. Far Cry-series fans on the PC platform having been shouting and complaining about one particular entry being tied to the pair of e-shops since launching back in October 2021. That timed deal between Ubisoft and Epic Games is soon to expire, and Far Cry 6 will become available via Steam on May 11.

Ubisoft implemented a reversal of releasing games on Steam back in 2019, a decision that attracted almost instant negative feedback from PC Gamers. The Division 2 was announced as being the 2019 headliner for release on Ubisoft Connect and Epic Games Store, and (at the time) other upcoming titles would follow the same path. Murmurs of a possible return to Steam emerged in late 2022, and shortly thereafter Ubisoft proceeded to rollout big franchise titles on that platform, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising. The latest batch to get the Steam store release day treatment are (the aforementioned) Far Cry 6 on May 11th, Riders Republic on June 8th, Rainbow Six Extraction on June 15th, and finally Monopoly Madness on June 22nd.

At the turn of the 1980s, most PC adventure games were played using only the keyboard. In those days, adventure games didn't use action menus like more modern games, but simply presented the player with a command line where they could freely input text to decide the actions that characters would take and proceed through the story. Free text input systems like these allowed players to feel a great deal of freedom. However, they did come with one common source of frustration: players knowing what action they wanted to perform but being unable to do so because they could not find the right wording. This problem was caused by the limitations of PC performance and NLP technology of the time.

40 years have passed since then, and PC performance has drastically improved, as have the capabilities of NLP technology. Using "The Portopia Serial Murder Case" as a test case, we'd like to show you the capabilities of modern NLP and the impact it can have on adventure games, as well as deepen your understanding of NLP technologies.

Sometimes Dota gameplay patches are small. Sometimes they can get pretty big. This one... is huge. It's got all the things you were probably expecting - balance changes, new items, hero reworks, UI improvements. But we also included a few changes you probably weren't expecting, like a new hero attribute type and - brace yourself - the map is now 40% bigger.

But all these new gameplay features won't matter if the match you get into isn't a good one. So we're also shipping some much-needed matchmaking improvements. Excited? Confused? Head on over to the New Frontiers update page for all the details. But don't head over just yet, read this sentence first: The Berlin major is on April 26th, and Fantasy/Player Cards are now available. Okay, now go. Here's the link again.

Team Reptile brings you Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, a future world from the mind of Dion Koster where self-styled graffiti crews equipped with personal boostpacks are battling each other for control of the streets. Start your own cypher and dance, paint graffiti, collect beats, combo your tricks and face off with the cops to stake your claim to the sprawling metropolis of New Amsterdam.

Red is a graffiti writer who lost his head and instead has an AI robohead. In search of his roots he joins the Bomb Rush Crew, Tryce and Bel, who are aiming to go All City. Together they slowly discover who it was that cut off his head and how deep Red's human side is linked to the graffiti world. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is 1 second per second of advanced funkstyle. Battle rival crews and dispatch military police to conquer the five boroughs of New Amsterdam. Become All City.

Greetings brave Teslamancers. After years of work, sweat, caffeine and plenty of fond memories, we're finally able to say that Teslagrad 2 is available for play! Come, discover Wyrmheim. Uncover its secrets, meet the locals and embark on your brand-new adventure! Challenges and secrets abound, but we're sure you'll face them with the boldness and gusto of a true Teslamancer! Now, there are so many we would like to give thanks to. Family and friends that have kept us safe and sane through the bad times, as well as the good. And, of course, a HUGE thank you to YOU. The Fans.

For your patience, passion and support. Your continued excitement has kept us going and striving towards ever-great heights. Looking back at what we've been able to build, we're thrilled to finally have you experience it as well, and join us at the top of the Tower! We've kept you for long enough. Strap on your boots, and face the world of Teslagrad once again. Let us know what you discover. Regards, Your Rain Games and Modus Games teams.

New store page, new trailer... new EVERYTHING for our upcoming puzzle-adventure game Firmament...Firmament will release on May 18th! Firmament is a new puzzle-adventure game by the legendary game studio behind the best-selling games Myst and Riven. Featuring deep storytelling and world-building, discover the story of this seemingly abandoned world as you explore and unlock the mysteries of 3 unique Realms… and beyond!

EXPLORE THE WORLD
Featuring a unique steampunk aesthetic, Firmament invites you to explore the legendary deep world-building Cyan Worlds is known for. Firmament is a fantastic visual feast, with thrilling new sights to see around every corner. At the same time, the world of Firmament feels completely plausible; as though it were constructed with a bigger purpose in mind… A purpose you will be compelled to discover as you play.

Wartales 1.0 is out now! Wartales launches out of Early Access with a new region, new content, community requests and more! Attention mercenaries! The 1.0 Release update has finally arrived, but before we get into the fun stuff we just wanted to take a moment to thank you, our wonderful community, for your support throughout the Early Access period.

From our AMAs to Q&As together, hearing your thoughts and feedback, as well as seeing our vision and plans for the game evolve thanks to your involvement, we've thoroughly enjoyed our journey with you and are incredibly proud to be able to share this moment with you all. We really can't thank you enough! Now let's jump into what's new…

SUPER BOMBERMAN R 2 release date confirmed! SBR2 physical launch on SEPT. 12, digital launch on SEPT. 13, 2023! SBR2 is the perfect way to mark the Bomberman series' 40th anniversary this year. Pre-orders are open NOW! The latest title of the party battle games series SUPER BOMBERMAN R! With new adventures and game modes, it has the largest content volume in the series' history! The game features not only offline battles that can be played with family and friends, but also online battles that connect players from all over the world, as well as a single player mode.

In addition to the well-known "Standard", "Grand Prix" and "Battle 64" a new battle mode called "Castle" in which players are divided into Attack side and Castle side to battle for the treasure! A "Stage Editor" function has also been added, allowing players to create their own stages for "Castle" and share them online with players around the globe.

Free Update coming April 18th + 2023 Roadmap and Physical Release for PowerWash Simulator - The first few months of this year have been crazy. You've cleaned Croft Manor and de-mucked Midgar… wherever next?! Well, we'll take a look at what else is coming this year in a minute, but not before we've said a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to you all for the community support so far this year. It has been incredible seeing your reaction to the new content on socials and our Discord.

What's coming this year? 2023 Roadmap - Hop in the van, we're going on a road trip! Throughout 2023, we'll be taking you to places near and far in a range of Special Packs and updates that traverse Muckingham and beyond. Behold, our 2023 roadmap! With each free expansion, we'll be revealing more of Muckingham and its stories, whereas the paid Special Packs will transport you outside of the Muckingham universe to all sorts of new and exciting places.

The 40th anniversary of Warhammer has been filling us with nostalgia, and the new trailer for Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun is only making things better. This is a gloriously retro pulse-pounding first-person shooter, where you play a Space Marine one-man army gunning through pixelated heretic hordes. This awesome game lets you experience the ultimate homage to retro shooters, blending 80s-style visuals with fluid, modern FPS gameplay. And you won't have to wait long to play it - it's out on May 23rd!

Load up your Boltgun and plunge into battle headfirst! Experience a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, classic, frenetic FPS gameplay and the stylish visuals of your favourite 90's retro shooters. Play a battle-hardened Space Marine on a perilous mission across the galaxy, as they battle against the Chaos Space Marines and daemons of Chaos. In glorious boomer shooter style, unleash your devastating Space Marine arsenal as you blast through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood. Run, jump and charge across huge levels to shoot, shred and slice the worst heretics across the galaxy!

Supplice has just been released in Early Access - today you get a chance to get your hands on the game, which has evolved tremendously over the years. Supplice is the best example of what an engaged and hard-working community can do. As you probably know, this project started as a Total Conversion mod for DOOM and evolved into one of the most anticipated RetroFPS stand-alone games. We want to thank everyone who shared their feedback with us on our social media channels, but most importantly, we would like to give a massive shout-out to the Doomworld.com and Zdoom.org communities! You guys rock!

As you know, Supplice has started as an ambitious Doom megawad and evolved into the idea of a stand-alone game that would not only be a total conversion mod, but would firmly stand on its own feet. At its core, Supplice is the fruit of the passionate Doom modding community, and as such it has community-driven development written in its DNA. The initial vision and formula have been re-imagined and revisited as the concept, its aesthetics, and the GZDoom tech itself evolved over the years.

Steam's latest March survey has put NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3060 at the top, reaching over 10 percent and surpassing both the GTX 1060 and the RTX 2060. NVIDIA has been holding the crown with over 80 percent of users running on their GPUs, while AMD held just over 10 percent. This means that the NVIDIA RTX 3060 almost has more users on Steam than all AMD Radeon graphics cards combined. Intel holds just over 6 percent. Bear in mind that Intel and AMD numbers also include integrated GPUs.

When it comes to CPUs, there are 74.46 percent running on Intel CPUs and 25.54 percent on AMD. Most users use a 6-core CPU, 45.76, with 8-core CPUs taking 18.45 percent. The memory amount has obviously risen, as 56.92 percent run on 16 GB, and 22.41 percent have 32 GB systems. When it comes to OS, most users are running on Windows 10, 73.95 percent, while Windows 11 OS takes 22.41 percent. While some might argue that the Steam Survey is not exactly precise as it is apparently based on a random survey, it does give a general idea and shows the big picture.

Subject 106 breaks free from his chains to unleash mayhem - June 21st on Steam! It's time to break the cycle. Trepang2 features high-octane, first-person gun-fu gunplay and puts players in the shoes of a newly enhanced super soldier on a mission of death, destruction, and revenge.

Broken out from a government black site by unknown allies and removed of their memories, they'll be hunted by their captives and an even more otherworldly foe, and will have to arm themselves with an arsenal of devastating weapons and learn how to handle their newfound superhuman abilities to survive the onslaught, all the while unravelling a deadly conspiracy.

Jack is back… and he's punching his way onto Steam! The action RPG is now available on the platform: here's everything you need to know about it. Many of you will be familiar with STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN's Jack Garland: expert swordsman, skilled white mage, destructive black mage, deadly dragoon, powerful pugilist… and that's not even half of it. We can now add one more achievement to his impressive resume: available on Steam! Yes, get ready for some chaotic FINAL FANTASY carnage! Read on and we'll tell you everything you need to know about the game and its Steam release.

What is STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN?
Some of you unfamiliar with the game may be wondering what this game is all about. Long story short, it's about action - brilliantly brutal, fast-paced action that tests your reactions and battle strategy in equal measure. Developed by KOEI TECMO GAMES (Nioh series), STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN is a dark and visceral action RPG that presents a bold take on the FINAL FANTASY series, while celebrating its amazing 35 year legacy! You play as Jack Garland, who along with his allies Ash, Jed, Neon and Sophia, sets off from the Kingdom of Cornelia to defeat Chaos. If you're a fan of the original FINAL FANTASY game, some of those names may be ringing a bell, but we'll let you discover what it all means.

Valve has posted advance notice that Steam will not officially support macOS versions 10.11 ("El Capitan") and 10.12 ("Sierra") from September 1 2023. After this date "the Steam Client will no longer run on those versions of macOS." Valve recommends that users should upgrade to a newer version of macOS, if they intend to continue running Steam and related games and products. The cited reason for ending support is: "core features in Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome, which no longer functions on older versions of macOS. In addition, future versions of Steam will require macOS feature and security updates only present in macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and above."

Last week, Valve announced that support for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems would cease at the very beginning of 2024. It has been a while since older versions of macOS have been declared as unsupported by the Steam Client - Valve announced, way back in late 2018, that it would stop supporting macOS versions 10.7 ("Lion"), 10.8 ("Mountain Lion"), 10.9 ("Mavericks") and 10.10 ("Yosemite") by January 1 2019. Again, an embedding of an iteration of Google Chrome was given as the main reason behind this discontinuation.

Naughty Dog shared a bit more details about fixes and patches coming for Last of Us Part I on PC, as well as the game verification for Steam Deck. As you already know, the PC version of the game had numerous issues and while some were fixed with two previous updates, it appears that two more are coming this week. According to Naughty Dog's official Twitter account, a new hotfix will be coming tomorrow, and a big patch is expected on Friday. The release notes will be available as soon as the hotfix is live, and more information about the big Friday patch is expected soon as well.

Naughty Dog also answered some questions about the Last of Us Part I verification for Steam Deck, and it appears it won't be coming soon as they are prioritizing fixes and patches for PC before submitting it for that same verification. Hopefully, these two new patches will fix the rest of the big issues and Steam Deck verification will come soon, as it was promised by Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann.

Terra Nil is now available now!
Terra Nil is a game about transforming barren lifeless landscapes into thriving, vibrant ecosystems. Turn dead soil into fertile grassland, clean polluted oceans, plant sprawling forests, and create the ideal habitat for animals to call home. Then recycle your buildings and leave no trace that you were ever there. Terra Nil is an intricate environmental strategy game about transforming a barren wasteland into a thriving, balanced ecosystem. Bring life back to a lifeless world by purifying soil, cleaning oceans, planting trees, and reintroducing wildlife, then leave without a trace.

A reverse city builder
Use advanced eco-technology to purify the soil, creating plains, wetlands, beaches, rainforests, wildflowers, and more—then efficiently recycle everything you've built, leaving the environment pristine for its new animal inhabitants.

LIVE A LIVE, originally only released for the Super Famicom in Japan, is being revived on Steam and PlayStation consoles! Experience this legendary RPG, brought to life in the same HD-2D visual style as OCTOPATH TRAVELER. Meet seven heroes, each with their own unique abilities and lives to live across different time periods. Experience their stories in any order you choose, uncovering shocking developments along the way

Featuring remastered music from original composer Yoko Shimomura and produced by Takashi Tokita (the director of the original game), this remake retains everything that players loved about the original while also being accessible to newcomers.