Steam Next Fest is a week-long celebration featuring hundreds of FREE playable demos as well as developer livestreams and chats. Players try out upcoming games on Steam pre-release, developers gather feedback and build an audience ahead of their Steam launch, everyone wins!

The game is Stray. Developed by Blue Twelve. Published by Annapurna Interactive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stray_(video_game)

Without spoiling anything, there's way more to this than just a cat simulator. Loving it so far, in any case. I recommend this to anyone who loves exploring new worlds, interacting with lots of locals, solving puzzles. Everything about it has both a familiar RPG feel and also a sense of new to it. And it plays really well on Linux via Steam.

Hey y'all, what have you been playing!

I'm still on my Isaac kick, and finally got my PC back to start playing Alan wake 2!

Tencent, who owns League of Legends and Valorant maker Riot Games, is now reportedly expanding its wide range of IPs by purchasing the rights to Dungeons & Dragons from Hasbro. Here is all you need to know about the recent developments.

The report from Speed Daily, a Chinese media site (via Pan Daily), claims that either Tencent is looking to purchase the entire Dungeons & Dragons franchise or wants to get exclusive rights to develop video games based on D&D. It has also been claimed that Hasbro reached out to Larian Studios and offered the Dungeons & Dragons IP to them after the huge success of Baldur’s Gate 3. Tencent reportedly is acting as an intermediary in this deal as Larian Studios does not have the capital to see this deal through. For further context, Tencent holds a minority stake in Larian Studios.

The driving force behind this decision from Hasbro to sell the Dungeons & Dragons IP is reportedly the recent financial struggles. Most recently, the company laid off over 1,000 employees before the holiday season in 2023.

Hasbro, the toy-making company, owns the Dungeons & Dragons brand (via subsidiary Wizards of the Coast) along with Transformers and Monopoly. Wizards of the Coast had licensed Larian Studios to develop Baldur’s Gate 3 which went on to become the Game of the Year in 2023.

While the report seems credible, it remains to be seen if it does turn out to be true. It is difficult to rule out Tencent’s intention to make further investments. Apart from owning Riot Games and Sharkmob, the video games giant has a majority stake in Turtle Studios (Back 4 Blood) and Techland (Dying Light 2). They also have a minority stake in Epic Games (Fortnite), FromSoftware (Elden Ring), Krafton (BGMI), Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed), Paradox Interactive (Stellaris), and Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake), and Netmarble (Marvel: Future Fight).

Been playing mostly Marvel Snap and Match 3.

Apparently Mihoyo have expansive games that take hours, but I haven't found one that is pick up and play for commuting. Which ones do you recommend?

This article was an interesting read. It goes into detail about Gary Bowser's life growing up, his role in Team Xecuter, what his life is like today, and his thoughts about his $14.5m fine to Nintendo.

Some choice quotes:

“I started becoming a middleman in between the people doing the development work, and the people actually owning the mod chips, playing the games,” [Gary Bowser] says. “I would get feedback from the testers, and then I would send it to the developers … I can handle people, and that’s why I ended up getting more involved.”

Bowser was charged with fraud over his connection to Team Xecuter. While in custody, he was also hit with a civil suit from Nintendo. Between the civil and criminal cases, he was ordered to pay $14.5m.

Pirates are usually fined in court, but Bowser’s case was meant to draw attention. “The sentence was like a message to other people that [are] still out there, that if they get caught … [they’ll] serve hard time,” he says. As he tells it, Bowser didn’t make or develop the products that sent him to prison; he “just” updated the websites that told people what they could buy, and kept them informed about what was coming next.

Bowser maintains that he could have fought the allegations, and that other members of the hacking group remain at large. But fighting against 13 charges would have cost time and money. It was easier, he claims, to plead guilty and only deal with a couple of the charges. As a part of that agreement, Bowser now has to send Nintendo 20-30% of any money left over after he pays for necessities such as rent.

“I’ll pay them what I can, which won’t be very much money, that’s for sure,” he says. Despite his predicament, Bowser counts his blessings. “It could be a lot worse,” he says. Bowser has now managed to secure housing, and he thinks that after rent, he has a couple of hundred dollars leftover for food and other necessities. He assumes he’ll be turning to food support services.

Speed Daily exclusively learned that the American toy company Hasbro is seeking to sell its well-known IP “Dungeons & Dragons” (referred to as “DND” below), and Tencent is one of the potential buyers.

At present, the negotiations are still in the early stages and both parties have not yet reached an agreement on the details of the transaction.

According to informed sources, the financial crisis faced by Hasbro is the main reason for considering the sale of DND, and Tencent Investment’s Larian Studios is acting as an intermediary in this transaction. Larian Studios’ game “Baldur’s Gate 3” won the TGA Game of the Year award in 2023 and is considered one of the most successful adaptations of DND. As a result, it was seen as a potential target buyer by Hasbro. However, due to insufficient funds, Larian ultimately introduced this deal to shareholder Tencent.

Hasbro was founded in 1923 and has a history of over a hundred years. In 1935, the company gradually became a world-class toy company with its Monopoly series games. It owns well-known IPs such as Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, Monopoly, and My Little Pony. However, this century-old enterprise is currently facing a huge crisis due to losses. Its stock price has dropped from a high of $108 in 2019 to $51 (closing data on January 26th).

According to the financial report, as of the third quarter of 2023, Hasbro has been experiencing consecutive losses for four quarters due to its main business of toy sales. The accumulated loss from Q4 2022 to Q3 2023 exceeds $500 million USD, and in Q2 2023, there was even a negative free cash flow situation. According to Forbes reports, in response to the crisis, the company underwent significant layoffs last year, with a total reduction of over 1,900 employees accounting for more than 20%.

Although the company as a whole is in a loss situation, its DND-related IP is a high-quality asset and has achieved considerable success in video game adaptations. Last year, the release of “Baldur’s Gate 3” by Larian Studios was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. It not only won six TGA awards, including Game of the Year but also generated revenue of $657 million, surpassing the Harry Potter IP adaptation game “Hogwarts Legacy,” making it the most profitable PC exclusive game last year.

The success of “Baldur’s Gate 3” is also reflected in the financial data of Hasbro. The financial report shows that in the third quarter of 2023, driven by “Baldur’s Gate 3” and another Monopoly IP game called “Monopoly Go!”, Hasbro’s electronic gaming and licensing-related business achieved a contrary year-on-year growth of 40%, reaching $423 million.

Outside of electronic games, DND is also one of the most popular tabletop games in Europe and America. It has appeared multiple times in American TV shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Stranger Things”. A large fan base has formed around its related culture, making it a top-tier IP.

A Tencent IEG (Interactive Entertainment Group) insider revealed that Tencent, represented by its overseas business department IEG Global, is in negotiations with the aim of acquiring a series of rights including the adaptation rights for electronic games such as DND.

According to the aforementioned IEG insiders, Tencent currently holds the game adaptation rights for many top-tier IPs. However, due to the licensing model mostly not being a one-time buyout, Tencent not only needs to bear high copyright fees and long-term revenue sharing but also frequently faces restrictions from its partners in terms of development and operation. Previously, the mobile game adaptation of “NieR” developed by Tencent TiMi Studio was unable to be launched even until the project was cancelled.

If this acquisition is successful, it will enable Tencent to gain dominant control over the IP of Dungeons & Dragons, which will largely avoid the aforementioned issues.

Companies in Europe and America attach great importance to the value of intellectual property (IP), while Chinese companies have limited opportunities to acquire top-tier IP from overseas. For Tencent, the opportunity to acquire the Dungeons & Dragons IP from Hasbro due to financial considerations is a rare chance.

This technology looks legitimately impressive.

Here's a video of it working: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3Sh6mu4zbs&t=1

Here is the story: I decided to buy a good and expensive controller for my PC for the first time, after 3 decades of using stock dualshocks and cheap knock-off brands. Googled "best controller for PC", found a lot about elite series 2 controllers. Got excited about it (primarily the back-grip buttons and adjustable stick tightness), bought it.

After a month of playing Binding of Isaac I have decided to play some Doom Eternal to learn the hot new aiming technique - flick stick. Only to realize that this elite controller, that costs 130€ for the base kit, in current year, comes WITHOUT the gyro.

I honestly wish at least one of 5 reviews I watched and read mentioned this detail.

Is there any accessory I can acquire to get gyro, or would I have better luck returning the controller and buying something else?

Edit: I actually like everything else about the device, and not having the gyro is not exactly the deal breaker, but c'mon people

Tencent, the sprawling multinational that spent years gobbling up studios like Riot Games and Techland while investing in others including Ubisoft, Remedy, and FromSoftware, has chastized itself for becoming a passenger during 2023.

As reported by Reuters, Tencent CEO and co-founder Pony Ma indicated the company has been coasting along while its major competitors have been rolling out global hits.

Speaking at the company's annual meeting, Ma reiterated that video games remain Tencent's flagship business but suggested the company "achieved nothing" in the market over the past year.

"Gaming is our flagship business [...] but in the past year, we have faced significant challenges. We have found ourselves at a loss as our competitors continue to produce new products, leaving us feeling having achieved nothing," he said.

Tencent playing "catchup" on AI

Ma added that some of Tencent's latest releases have failed to meet internal expectations, but didn't specify which titles underwhelmed. He also suggested the company was until recently playing catch-up when it comes to AI tech, but is now able to "follow the pace" of leading rivals.

Ma said Tencent should be focused on leveraging its own 'Hunyuan' generative AI model across various businesses. It's unclear if that means the company's internal game studios will be encouraged to lean on the technology.

Tencent has been grappling with tightening playtime and spending regulations in China, resulting in the company investing in more western studios. In 2023 alone, Tencent became the majority shareholder of Dying Light maker Techland, sunk cash into new startups like Lighthouse Games, and led a $10 million investment into fitness game maker Quell.

More recently, however, Tencent subsidiary Riot Games laid off 530 workers after claiming it scaled up too quickly and overreached with a number of "big bets."

I got the urge to play the witness for the 3rd (or maybe even 4th) time again after being slightly disappointed by the Talos Principle 2, and man I cannot express enough how much I enjoy this game. It just satisfies something deep inside me every time I play it. And I know a LOT of people (probably some here) strongly dislike this game, but for me it's just sublime to play. Relaxing yet challenging, mysterious and layered, it's great in my opinion.

It does however deeply annoy me how misunderstood the game is. Mostly from people who didn't play it all the way through. You'd be surprised how many times I've heard somebody complain about an aspect being "useless" or not making any sense when it IS useful and DOES make sense as long as you just keep playing the game. Also what's frustrating is when somebody complains about stumbling onto a puzzle they haven't learned yet in an open world puzzle game and then refusing to use the open world to go and find where it teaches you... idk. Anyway, LOVE this game. If there's anybody reading this who's into puzzles, especially 2D puzzle games, you may love the witness (but your computer might hate you, it's surprisingly graphically intense at times)

Available here: https://maddymakesgamesinc.itch.io/celeste64

I’m looking to get back into console gaming. PlayStation has been around for most of my life and I always played on that console. I am conflicted if I should wait for the PS5 PRO or just go get the PS5 now because what would be the net benefit of waiting versus getting a console now. What do you all think about this conundrum? Get a console now or wait for the mid refresh or whatever they are this stage in the game now?

I am not interested in getting a PC. Let’s not get into that discussion.

(This is a copy paste from another one of my posts figured it would get more eyeballs here)

First off if this isn’t the right place to post or there’s a better community to throw this in please let me know.

Now off to the post. Me and my GF got into the whole ttrpg and card game and actually have money to do so

Anyways this whole silly adhd interest between us made me dig up my pokemon cards (binder form when I was in elementary school and decks I built like a couple years ago)

My distribution of my decks is 30/15/15

Now whether this is Pokemon/energy/items I honestly don’t remember. But is it a good distribution or would I want to to less uniform numbers like 28/12/20

If I do where should I start deck building cus honestly I bet I have decent cards but absolutely terrible synergy between cards and stuff

Archive link: https://archive.ph/WOlNl

The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves.

Eidos, the Montreal, Canada-based studio behind the game, will instead focus on an original franchise. The canceled Deus Ex project, which had not yet been announced, was slated to enter production later this year, said the people, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to talk to the press.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Following a period of massive expansion during the pandemic, Embracer Group has lately been making widespread layoffs, game cancellations and studio closures.

The sci-fi Deus Ex series has been critically acclaimed and sold more than 14 million units worldwide. It was acquired by Embracer in 2022.

I'm looking for recommendations for WWII single player fps games for the pc. In particular, I'm looking for older games from the 90s to early 2000s. I always hear how the market used to be over saturated with these games, but after playing through the early Call of Duties and Medals of Honor, I don't know of any games that would scratch that itch. I've heard of Brothers in Arms, but it looks too focused on squad management to me. I've also tried looking at older shooters not set in WWII, but the main thing I miss is the openness of them? I guess I don't like how most other games look like they'll have walking in closed corridors all the time, but if you have any suggestions for any other "open" games, I'd be interested as well. Also, if you know of any total conversion mods for the games I mentioned, or a Doom wad that would fit the criteria, let me know as well. Thanks

Sorry if this is redundant, I didn't see another thread focused on reactions to the game itself (just the Pokemon-ripoff news cycle).

I tried it on GamePass thinking, why not - might as well see how overhyped it is. And unexpectedly, I put in about 8 hours this weekend.

Despite some rough edges and some very clear inspiration, I am actually enjoying it. It has a very satisfying gameplay feedback loop and is an overdue (if involuntary) "modernization" of the basic monster-collector format.