To find out more about how things have changed since Steam Early Access first started in 2013, I spoke to the developers of Darkest Dungeon, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades, Grounded and GTFO. They told me about the concerns and difficulties of launching a game after the first early access trailblazers, what they’ve learned about making games in public, and why they’d be happy to do it all again. “We did really well in early access, our early access launch [in 2015] was actually bigger than our 1....

Divinity: Original Sin 2 has been released on plenty of platforms (PC, Stadia, Switch, Playstations, Xboxes, Mac, etc.) but doesn’t actually support co-op between most of them. As of its Switch launch, D:OS2 does support sharing your save file with cross-progress between Steam and Switch. It doesn’t support multiplayer between PC and Switch though, or PC and any other console. Cross-play has already been available for Mac and PC users, but the addition of iPad to that compatibility group seems like a nice little win....

If you haven’t played Dragon Age: Inquisition - or more specifically, the Tresspasser DLC, because BioWare hid most of the conclusion of the story in there - not to worry. In their official post, BioWare give you a brief idea of who the Dreadwolf is. He’s a god, maybe, or maybe not. What does he want? No one knows. His methods are “sometimes questionable,” which is something of a euphemism for wanting to kill everyone....

Techland yesterday released a video which started with Techlanders reading some of the colourful and demanding comments they’ve received, and ended with a tiny wee teaser showing a few seconds of the game and a number: 2021. “This is a huge and complex project and we needed time to make sure it will live up to our vision,” one of the devs says. “All of us here are putting our hearts into delivering a game that you will keep playing for months....

“Earning back your trust and support is our top priority,” the ESA said in today’s statement. “That’s why we rebuilt the E3 website with enhanced and layered security measures developed by an outside cybersecurity firm. This included updating our data management processes, including the handling of personally identifiable information, and we will no longer store that data on our site. We have also changed our registration practices and will collect the minimum information necessary to complete your registration....

Admittedly, there is something gratifying about popping off on social media. Even just getting a few likes for a dumb joke can make you feel alive. So, I say you swap Twitter for Elden Ring, a superior social media platform: You leave players helpful messages or total dross, it gets appraised, you feel great. Invading other worlds is a more interactive way of making friends and/or enemies too – it’s perfect....

They demonstrate a very quick look at the tool’s browser-based workflow in the video just below and it really does look about like messing around in a particularly detailed game character creator. I suspect it goes a bit deeper than that if you really know what you’re doing though. “Users can choose a starting point by selecting a number of preset faces to contribute to their human from the range of samples available in the database,” Epic explain....

Itch.io is an indie-focussed store where developers can quickly set up pages to sell their projects. Some games are free, some games are pay-what-you-want, others have set prices which you can pay a little more towards, if you’d like. You can access it in your browser, or through its own launcher. As of today, you can also grab the Itch client from the Epic Games Store’s new app section. While Itch sells DRM-free games, some do offer Steam keys too - so now you can kinda buy Steam games from inside the Epic Games Store....

ZeniMax gave an overview of many new bits coming to the Blackwood expansion earlier this year, but they’ve now taken a closer look at companion characters in this new trailer. The first two companions, who you’ll be able to recruit if you own the Blackwood expansion, are dark elf Mirri Elendis and human Bastian Hallix. You can customise the skills, equipment, and outfits for whoever you’ve recruited. Beyond that, companions also have a “rapport” system and personal quests for you to pursue....

It was a strange stream. You would expect the company behind all these shows to know what was going on and be able to give information or show something or… anything. I know Netflix face the risk of subscribers losing interest and cancelling, especially during the lull after many productions were halted during the pandemic, so maybe they wanted to just throw announcements out there. But then they didn’t mention several other series they’re doing nor their rumoured plans to make games, so I have no idea what the threshold for notability is....

If you missed the stream, read on, because we’ve made a big list of everything that happened at the Annapurna Interactive Showcase. Games The Artful Escape Kicking things off, the colourful, musical adventure The Artful Escape got a new trailer with some fabulous guitar playing, revealing the game’s voice cast. You’ll hear performances from Michael Johnston (who you might recognise from Teen Wolf), Lena Heady (Cersei in Game Of Thrones), Carl Weathers (who was recently in the Mandalorian, but is probably best known as Apollo Creed in the Rocky films), and loads more....

We’re keeping a close eye on Honkai: Star Rail’s development, so if you’re keen to know all the details of the next closed beta, or want information about gameplay or the story, you’re in the right place. Read on below for everything we know about Honkai: Star Rail! Honkai: Star Rail beta release date We don’t yet have details of a full release date for Honkai: Star Rail. However, a third and final closed beta for the game is due to begin on February 10th, 2023....

As you’d imagine, this comes with a ramping up of the PC system requirements from the previous instalment, Far Cry New Dawn. These don’t push Far Cry 6’s performance beyond the realm of realistic attainability – ray tracing is optional, naturally – though between general fidelity upgrades and what looks like suboptimal optimisation, getting a truly silky frame rate may require some finesse. Far Cry 6 PC requirements Ubisoft kindly provides recommended specs for multiple resolutions and quality levels, beyond the bread and butter minimum and 1080p recommended requirements....

“Players operating heavy machinery can enjoy the illuminating orange light as it turns on in real-time corresponding to the vehicles’ beacon light in-game,” today’s announcement explains. I’d be astonished if it were a high-quality light, given that Collector’s Edition tat ultimately is tat, but what an idea! I’m delighted. And if the game is built to hook into lights, surely someone will soon figure out how to connect an actual tractor beacon light to their PC....

In this guide, we list the best goalkeepers in FIFA 23, ranked by their overall rating as well as diving, handling, kicking, and reflexes, so that you can see how the top 25 goalies match up. FIFA 23 best goalkeepers The best goalkeeper in FIFA 23 is Thibaut Courtois, who has an overall rating of 90. That’s a huge leap from the previous game, with EA clearly showing recognition to the shot-stopper for his impressive run of saves over the past year....

It’s a relief then, that Floodland is a bit more chill than some of its city-building contemporaries. Gone are the humanity-ending threats like Frostpunk’s great Winter storm, forever bearing down on you and periodically tightening its grasp around your neck. Here you have a simple group of stranded civilians looking to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of an apocalyptic flood. To accomplish that they’ve turned to you, some omnipotent God-like being looking down from above....

Due to enter early access sometime in 2022 (then launch in full a year or so later), Forever Skies is set in the future, after Earth is ravaged. A mysterious cloud hangs across the surface, now home to strange new life, and the civilisation which built upwards to escape now lies in ruins. A classic setup for a good time. We’ll get to explore in a fancy airship, customising and maintaining it as we search for supplies, new tools, and such, ultimately hoping to find a cure for an illness....

But before you get to that, you’ll be able to play a new solo mission to finish off the finale of Season 5’s story. In it, Agent Jones has to seal the Zero Point (the magic thing that keeps Fortnite in a time loop) inside a big stone tower. However, when he does this, it sends a big pulse across the island which erases any advanced technology it touches, and turns everything a bit primal....

Sweeney was responding to Twitter user Stormy178, who asked if there are any plans to make Fortnite play nicely with the Proton compatibility layer (a software interface that, in the Deck’s case, allows for Windows games to run on the Linux-based SteamOS). “Fortnite no, but there’s a big effort underway to maximize Easy Anti-Cheat compatibility with Steam Deck”, he replied. And it’s hard to get more final than “Fortnite no”....

On the game’s website, it’s called an “asymmetrical horror experience”. The devs say they “didn’t just recreate locations and characters, we created a whole time and place in Texas.” We don’t know much else yet beyond the fact it’s multiplayer, but it seems reasonable to expect it’ll be similar to Friday The 13th - you know, one player takes on the role of killer while the rest of you run amok as terrified teens....