Developer Angry Cat Studios and Publisher Firesquid have officially launched their turn-based squad tactics title USC: Counterforce into Early Access on Steam. With hours of gameplay already available, players that dive into the game will be able to join a deep strategical experience with multiple missions, customizable commando forces and a powerful alien threat to destroy.

Taking inspiration from the likes of UFO/XCOM, Space Hulk and the Aliens series, USC: Counterforce has players controlling a group of geared-up commandos tasked with investigating an alien threat on the planetary body M-8322. Utilizing USC: Counterforce's advanced squad management interface with a class-free skill system and passive abilities, players must master combat and find the perfect combination of skills in order to keep back this alien threat. Bring along a friend to bring home glory using local co-op mode (hot seat or remote play together).

Well that blew up, huh? If you follow emulation or just gaming on the whole, you've probably heard about the controversy around the Dolphin Steam release and the Wii Common Key. There's been a lot of conclusions made, and while we've wanted to defend ourselves, we thought it would be prudent to contact lawyers first to make sure that our understanding of the situation was legally sound. That took some time, which was frustrating to ourselves and to our users, but now we are educated and ready to give an informed response.

We'd like to thank Kellen Voyer of Voyer Law for providing us with legal council for this matter. And to be clear, all of the analysis below is specifically regarding US law. Without further delay, let's begin.

As Blizzard evolves as a studio, inside and out, one of the ideas pushing us forward is meeting players around the world where they are and making our games as easy as possible to access and play. We want to give everyone a chance to experience our universes with old friends while making new ones, no matter how they choose to play.

Battle.net is the home of all our PC players, and over the years, we've evolved our platform to support updated technologies, capabilities, and our communities' expectations. But as we've evolved, the industry has evolved too-gaming is no longer just for specific communities as it was when Battle.net launched over two decades ago, gaming is for everyone-and though we remain committed to continually investing in and supporting Battle.net, we want to break down the barriers to make it easier for players everywhere to find and enjoy our games. Which is why we're trying something new...

Listen up, Gunsmiths! Get ready for the abundance of emotions! Gunsmith Simulator has got its Early Access premiere on Steam platform! Don't miss the occasion! Buy the game now and dive into the gunsmith world of adventures that await in various tasks. Put your skills into practice, feel the magic of gunsmithing and experience an array of emotions that Gunsmith Simulator can offer.

Please, do remember that your feedback is important to us, so take a moment to share it after you finish the gameplay. Let's create an even better game which will leave nothing more to be desired. Also, join our community on Discord, where you can share your passion for Gunsmith Simulator with other players. Be up-to-date with the latest news, and exchange your opinions and ideas, so we can build a genuinely great gunsmithing community.

Welcome to Calyx, Groundbreakers! Techtonica has officially entered Early Access. If you haven't noticed, there's a launch discount available for the game, too. Techtonica will normally sell for $29.99, but there's a 15% launch discount that will run for the first week.

From us at Fire Hose to you, our growing community of Groundbreakers, thanks for being here. We hope you have a blast with Techtonica. v0.1 marks the beginning of our journey. We leave you with a link to our Discord if you want to chat directly with the devs and other community members and our upcoming Road Map. Let's get to work.

The invasion has arrived! Greetings, Commanders! It's finally time to defeat the alien invasion - Xenonauts 2 is AVAILABLE NOW in Steam Early Access! Wage a global war of resistance against an alien invasion. Command turn-based tactical battles, build a network of covert bases, directly control your fighter wings, and achieve strategic victory in a simulation of asymmetric warfare against a technologically superior foe.

Xenonauts 2 is a strategy game that puts you in charge of a multinational military organization tasked with eliminating an extraterrestrial threat. Working from the shadows, you must seek out and engage the growing alien presence wherever it appears. Expand and manage a covert network of bases across the globe. Pursue research and development to bridge the technological gap with the alien invaders. Train, arm, and command your ground troops wherever the alien threat emerges.

Gearbox Publishing and Brazil-based developer Rogue Snail are inviting players to gear up for a limited time Closed Beta of Relic Hunters Legend, an upcoming top-down looter-shooter for PC and available via Steam. Players worldwide can sign up for access and be among the first to get a glimpse of this epic adventure starting Thursday, July 20 at 9:00 AM CST and ending Monday, July 24 at 9:00 AM CST.

Relic Hunters Legend is an in-development top-down looter-shooter featuring exciting, fast-paced gameplay, a variety of powerful equipment and weapons with tons of customizable options, and a diverse cast of rowdy Rebels with different skills and abilities that you can fine tune to match any playstyle! Watch the new gameplay trailer below. Find more details in the blog post here. Players can sign up for access to the Closed Beta on Steam here.

Portal remains a timeless classic; in December we released Portal with RTX, a fully ray-traced reimagining of Valve's award winning game, which used the performance multiplication of NVIDIA DLSS 3 to power the most realistic path-traced lighting ever seen in a real-time game. Portal with RTX was created using NVIDIA RTX Remix, a free, upcoming modding platform built on NVIDIA Omniverse, which enables modders to quickly create and share #RTXON mods for classic games, each with enhanced materials, full ray tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 3, and NVIDIA Reflex.

Now, RTX Remix has been used to remaster Portal: Prelude, the highest rated Portal mod, the 2008 Portal ModDB winner, and #3 overall Player's Choice mod of 2008. Created by Nicolas "NykO18" Grevet and others, Portal: Prelude is an unofficial Portal prequel, set before the time of GLaDOS, featuring a new extremely challenging 8-10 hour campaign composed of 19 new test chambers, new advanced gameplay mechanics, a fully voiced story with NPCs, and a whole lot more. Portal: Prelude RTX is available today to download from Steam, for free!

The PC market is dominated by the Windows operating system. There are alternatives, but most commercial applications run Windows OS, and the usage for the average user makes sense. However, Linux users often dream of the "year of Linux on desktop," where Linux starts dominating the PC market and mass adoption starts. In reality, this isn't the case as most people use the default or install the Windows OS. Today, we learn that Linux broke the 3% market share number after 30 years of presence. Being the highest market share it ever recorded, the OSes based on the Linux kernel now represent 3.07% of the entire market.

The survey data conducted by StatCounter shows that Windows holds 68.23%, OS X for macOS holds 21.32, ChromeOS has a 4.13% share, while unknown OSes hold 3.24%. This includes BSD-based alternatives and others. It is worth noting that Linux adoption could be a part of Steam Deck, which runs on a SteamOS 3.0 distribution based on Arch Linux. It also includes a Proton compatibility layer, which helps Windows games run on Linux, so users have an easier time running their favorite applications.

Hello everyone! Today I'm happy to announce that we're putting the next update for Age of Wonders 4 into Open Beta! This previews some of the improvements that are part of the Watcher update, due later this summer. This coming update focuses on what we feel are the issues which are most important to you, and we'd love to get your feedback on what we've managed to do so far.

It's important to remember that this is a work in progress patch. This means that it may be unstable or imbalanced, and that the features we've added may not work entirely as we want them to. It also means that we may revert certain changes later if we feel that they aren't achieving what we want them to or if we're inspired to replace them with something better! Instructions, Patch Notes and F.A.Q. are provided below...

Dears Twinsunians, we [2.21] are thrilled to announce the opening of our pre-alpha of Twinsen's Little Big Adventure Remastered! The aim of this playtest is to gather your valuable insights and feedback on the game, helping us to fine-tune it and create a gaming experience that truly resonates with our player community. This is your chance to contribute directly to the game's development process and to help shape its future.

To participate, click on "Request access" on the Steam page and you will be granted access automatically. Once in, you'll be able to explore our game in its early stages, discover new features, and contribute to its improvement.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 was released more than four years ago. With its TU117 graphics processor, it features 896 CUDA cores, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. NVIDIA has paired 4 GB GDDR5 memory with the GeForce GTX 1650, which are connected using a 128-bit memory interface. Interestingly, according to the latest Steam Hardware Survey results, this GPU still remains the most popular choice among gamers. While the total addressable market is unknown with the exact number, it is fair to assume that a large group participates every month. The latest numbers for June 2023 indicate that the GeForce GTX 1650 is still the number one GPU, with 5.50% of the users having that GPU. The second closest one was GeForce RTX 3060, with 4.60%.

Other information in the survey remains similar, with CPUs mostly ranging from 2.3 GHz to 2.69 GHz in frequency and with six cores and twelve threads. Storage also recorded a small bump with capacity over 1 TB surging 1.48%, indicating that gamers are buying larger drives as game sizes get bigger.

The Steam Deck handheld console has been once again discounted as a part of the Steam Summer Sale. The base 64 GB model is now priced at $359.10, a 10 percent discount from the usual $399 price. The 256 GB one is down by 15 percent to $449.65, and the top 512 GB model is discounted by 20 percent, down from $649 to $519.20.

This is a bigger discount compared to the one we have seen in March, especially for the 512 GB model. The promotion will run until the end of the Steam Summer Sale on July 13th. Steam has also published a list of the top 100 most-played games on Steam Deck this year, and some of them are also a part of the Summer Sale. These include Hogwarts Legacy, Vampire Survivors, Elden Ring, Resident Evil 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Red Dead Redemption 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and many more.

Inspired by beloved Saturday morning cartoons, MythForce unites swords & sorcery with gripping 1st-person combat in a new roguelike adventure. Brave the dungeon alone or join forces with friends to take on an ever-changing Castle of Evil! MythForce is stoked to be a part of Steam Next Fest! 🌟Check out the demo and wishlist here 👉 bit.ly/mythsteam

Meet the Heroes
These courageous champions are all that stand between Eldryth and the tyranny of the vampire lord, Deadalus. Will our heroes prevail against the many malevolent minions, tricks, and traps in his ever-changing dungeon? Tune into the adventure to find out! Scratch that nostalgic itch with wholesome fun that's easy to pick up and play (but tough to master). In true roguelike fashion, each time you're defeated, you'll have to start over at the beginning—but every playthrough makes you a little stronger. Level up as you explore the dungeon, uncovering magical artifacts and upgrades to make you say "I HAVE THE POWER!"

Homies, it's time! Trepang2 is OUT NOW on Steam and GOG! We can't believe we're finally typing out those words. What a rollercoaster of a journey for the devs here at Trepang Studios. Thank you for the endless support and determination to help us see Trepang2 through to release, we thoroughly appreciate every single one of you.

Please don't hesitate to share your feedback with us, we're so excited to see what you think of your voyage with the relentless Subject 106. Enjoy the carnage. Enjoy reprimanding those that have the gumption to contend with your abilities; your unwavering, unadulterated focus to getting the job done. Retribution awaits…BREAK. THE. CYCLE.

Today Electronic Arts Inc. celebrated the worldwide launch of EA SPORTS F1 23, an official game of the FIA Formula One World Championship across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, via EA App, Epic Games Store, and Steam. Featuring handling upgrades, with feedback from actual F1 teams, and Precision Drive technology for pad play, players will feel a truly authentic experience when competing against every team and driver across all circuits for the 2023 season, including the highly anticipated Las Vegas Sprint Circuit and Losail International Circuit, Qatar. Players will also create headlines with the return of 'Braking Point', featuring a cast of new and returning fan favourites alongside a fresh team, Konnersport, trying to make a name for itself against the established grid.

"F1 23 has everything players love about competing for the World Championship and propels them further into the world of Formula 1. We're connecting more players this season through F1 World, delivering fresh, timely challenges throughout the 2023 season and a new safety rating system designed to promote healthy, respectful multiplayer competition," said Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters. "Whether competing on wheel or pad, players will immediately feel in control thanks to implemented feedback from real F1 drivers. Our Precision Drive controller technology will revolutionise pad play and give players a greater sense of what it's like to handle some of the fastest vehicles in motorsport."

Hello! We're excited to announce that we've just shipped a new version of the Steam Client to everyone. This update includes all the new Steam Desktop features that have been tested and fine-tuned in the beta branch. Before we get into the details, we want to thank our beta testers really quick - we couldn't have shipped without all of your invaluable feedback and bug reports!

New framework, new foundation
The most impactful changes in this update aren't immediately visible; much of the work went into changing how we share code across the Steam Desktop Client, Big Picture mode, and Steam Deck. These changes also means quicker implementation and iteration of new features. For example, many of the features in this update (like Notes in the overlay) are simultaneously shipping on Steam Deck because of the shared codebase.

The hottest heroes of 1991 return for a radical, radioactive romp for a new era, featuring awesome action, crushing combos and more toxic waste than you'll know what to do with! Developer and publisher Retroware has teamed up with Troma Entertainment to bring the Toxic Crusaders back, for an all-new, all-action beat 'em up for one to four players! Grab your mop, tutu and attitude, and get ready to clean up the mean streets of Tromaville, one radioactive goon at a time! The demo version is now available for download on Steam!

From Generic Default to…COLORS EVERYWHERE!
When we began development, we didn't even think about giving each character a unique color for their attacks. At the start, every character just had a generic, dull-looking impact effect that was shared with enemy sprites! But then we realized how much cooler everyone would look if we splashed some color into their punches, kicks, and every other attack! Thus…

Try our spell-slinging survival adventure game—you can play the Wizard with a Gun DEMO right now! We're excited to share our game with all of you. In this new survival-adventure title, you'll play as a gun-toting wizard trying to prevent the end of the world. With the clock ticking down, you'll have just a few minutes to fight enemies, gather resources for upgrading, and, most importantly, find Ancient Gears for the Chronomancer's Wheel before chaos breaks loose.

You've found an Ancient Gear! But will you risk more time extracting loot from the dangerous overworld or return to the safety of the Tower? With the resources you've collected, you can level up your spells, design your space, and craft items to assist your next excursion. You can even customize your Wizard's clothes, eyes, and accessories! This Demo only includes a fraction of the cosmetics available in the upcoming full release.

Take advantage of the Open Beta and secure the exclusive Golden Omnicar. Park Beyond is park management, where you can build and manage the parks of your dreams. Whether you love to manage your staff, build crazy roller coaster, or decorate your own theme worlds. Park Beyond has something in store for you. PC gamers can download and play the Open Beta on Steam. This test period will be open until June 15 (3 PM). Be creative!

Park Beyond is a theme park simulation game that gives you the freedom to create and manage the Parks of your Dreams! Whether you love to manage finances and visitor experience or just create fun and cozy parks, the game has something in store just for you! In Park Beyond, you are the creative force behind a series of amusement parks, a Visioneer! You're a combination of a creator, a manager, and a designer, wrapped up in one powerful package. Every aspect of developing and maintaining successful theme parks will be under your control.

A previous attempt to enable NVIDIA GPU video hardware acceleration by default within Steam running on Linux platforms was thwarted by numerous bugs and faults - adopters of the mid-May Steam Client Beta update reported their experiences of various crashes encountered in Valve's user interface. The embattled software engineering team has since investigated this matter and released a new update (yesterday).

The June 6th Steam Client Beta patch notes list a number of general improvements along with Linux-specific adjustments: "a crash when Steam windows were closed with hardware (HW) acceleration enabled on NVIDIA GPUs" and the re-enabling of "HW acceleration by default for NVIDIA GPUs." Early reports indicate that Linux gamers are having a smoother time after installing yesterday's update.

Conflicting announcements and news items have surrounded a removal of the Dolphin emulator from Valve's Steam store - the emulation project's development team claimed that Nintendo had sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown order last week: "It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed. We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist (order) citing the DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled." This emulation application has been freely available online for many years, but an announcement was made back in March about a forthcoming release (Q2 2023) on the Steam store.

It has been widely reported that Nintendo is very protective of its technologies and intellectual properties - many examples of litigation (against pirating outfits and leakers) have been covered over the past year or two - but according to various sources (emerging over the weekend) it seems that Valve first flagged Dolphin as a potential legal headache. Valve apparently sought Nintendo's opinion about the matter of a Gamecube and Wii emulator getting distribution via Steam. A former treasurer on the Dolphin Emulation Project, Pierre Bourdon, criticized claims of the supposed takedown order and posited the following negotiations between involved parties: In this case, none of this process was followed. To the best of my understanding, this is what happened: "Valve legal contacted Nintendo of America (NoA) to ask "hey, what do you think about Dolphin?" Nintendo replied to Valve "we think it's bad and also that it violates the DMCA anti-circumvention provisions" (note: nothing about violating copyright itself). Also "please take it down." Valve legal takes it down and forwards NoA's reply to the Dolphin Foundation contact address."

We're continuing to deliver on our promise to bring high-quality, immersive PC games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda to more people in more ways. Today, we're announcing that Deathloop, Gears 5, Grounded and Pentiment will be available to play for Boosteroid members beginning June 1. This is another step to ensure players worldwide have access to great content on their terms.

Boosteroid customers in the Ukraine, the United Kingdom, countries across the European Union, and the United States will soon be able to jump in as Kait Diaz to take on the Horde in Gears 5, team up with friends to survive and explore the backyard of Grounded, attempt to escape a seemingly never-ending timeloop in Deathloop, or experience life in an illustrated world with Pentiment. These four titles are just the start - we'll regularly add more hits and fan favorites from our extensive catalog of PC games. Boosteroid members will be able to access games purchased through Steam or the Epic Game Store (for eligible titles) to start, with support for games purchased through the Microsoft Store coming soon.

To celebrate 10 years of Metro: Last Light we are giving away the original 2013 Complete Edition of the game, totally free for you to keep on Steam! Dive into the thick, foreboding atmosphere of Metro: Last Light as you follow Artyom into the darkness. Experience a story of betrayal and redemption and join fellow metro-dwellers in a bid to survive the harsh and hunting place the world has become.

Claim yours before May 25 and you will receive the Metro: Last Light Complete Edition which includes all DLC for the game including:

• Ranger Mode and RPK
• Faction Pack
• Tower Pack
• Developer Pack
• Chronicles Pack

Plus, its a great time to dive into the dark, immersive tunnels of Metro as the entire franchise is also on sale at up to 80% off.

Valve's Steamworks Development team has reaffirmed, in an announcement earlier on this week, that the company is committed to protecting the privacy of its userbase: "Steam will continue to not share personally identifiable information. This approach to privacy means that some trade-offs have been made along the way that limits how specific some reporting can be. In most cases, it simply means that any traffic sources that are below a threshold of volume will get reported as "other". We intentionally don't collect or store demographic information about users such as age, gender, or race."

Valve has decided to drop its usage of Google Analytics as part of Steam's traffic monitoring package: "As of this coming July, Google will no longer operate Universal Analytics (UA), which is a third-party traffic reporting system that we've had available for measuring traffic sources to Steam store pages. Their announced replacement will be a system called Google Analytics 4 (GA4). You can read Google's help article about the topic." Valve has chosen to develop their own system instead of upgrading to the latest version of third-party software: "As time has gone on we've come to realize that Google's tracking solutions don't align well with our approach to customer privacy, and so with the migration to GA4 we've made the decision to end our support of Google's analytics systems on Steam. Instead, we're focused on building the most useful parts of aggregated reporting into Steam itself, as described above."