I am ill today. It’s my guts, you see. My Goddamned guts>. Despite my imminent death by a thousand craps, I am duty-bound to bring you the regular round-up of what sold best on Steam last week. Think of me, won’t you, as you wonder how many humans who don’t yet own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive there can possibly be in the world, and lament the total absence this week of anything we might traditionally deem to be ‘indie.’ … [visit site to read more]

A rash of hacks in the past two months has left the usernames, emails and passwords from at least twelve gaming forums compromised, including those of Unreal creator Epic Games and Secret World developer Funcom. Other breaches include a GTA fansite and, as previously reported, the official forums of Dota 2. All the attacks involved an exploit in the forum’s software, which the hackers used to hoover up details of members. And while the passwords are encrypted, they can often be easily cracked. In total, over 9 million user accounts have had their details stolen.

… [visit site to read more]

Happy 20th birthday, Valve! Yesterday. Happy 20th yesterday. Sorry, I only just saw the Facebook notification. On August 24th, 1996, ex-Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington made a beautiful baby who was mighty eye-opening.

In the dreamy game of “What if…?” one curious hypothetical is: what if Valve never existed? There can’t be many companies who’ve had nearly as much impact. Steam (eventually) revolutionised digital distribution, changing the entire landscape of PC gaming. Half-Life was seminal; its mod scene was legendary. That’d be plenty, but Valve have made a load of other really good video games too.

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It’s taken three years but Valve have now brought the full DotA hero lineup into Dota 2 [official site]. Underlord (formerly known as Pitlord) was the final hero, arriving in an update last night. He’s a four-legged fella loosely styled after Mannoroth from Warcraft 3 (shh! no one tell Blizzard’s lawyers), a strength hero with some nasty area of effect spells and the ability to teleport his whole dang team. Enjoy these few days when Underlord is picked in every game but no one knows how to play him or play against him. Next up for Dota 2, all-new heroes!

… [visit site to read more]

Change! Actual change! Other than, y’know, the three games that are here every single week, every single week I have to include them, every single week, they’re there, undying, changing, every single week, every single week.

Yeah! It’s the top ten best-selling games on Steam last week.

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Hullo! One day later than usual because I spent yesterday on a beach next to an industrial estate, but as always, here’s what sold best on Steam last week. It is ever so faintly possible that you might have a very slight inkling as to what is number one. I could not possibly comment myself.

… [visit site to read more]

After a week packed with phenomenal Dota 2 [official site] plays, combacks and upsets the winners of The International 2016 (and a casual NINE MILLION DOLLARS?????!!!!) are:

… [visit site to read more]

This is it! The grand final of The International 2016, Dota 2’s [official site] ultimate world championship, is mere hours away. Two matches and three teams remain so if you’re still catching up with Friday’s action BEWARE SPOILERS!

… [visit site to read more]

With the upcoming release of Underlord (The Artist Formerly Known As Pit Lord) there was more than a smattering of “What next for Dota 2 [official site]? Is that it for the hero roster?” Answering those questions at The International 2016 was Valve’s teaser trailer for new hero Monkey King! The simian sovereign will be coming in an update this autumn/fall called The New Journey. OBSERVE:

… [visit site to read more]

The All-Star match at The International 2016 saw the reveal of new Dota 2 [official site] hero, Underlord. We wrote about it in our TI6 daily recap but he’s been so long anticipated that he deserves his own post.

Vrogos, the Underlord – formerly known as Azgalor, the Pit Lord in DotA and Warcraft thanks to DotA’s origins as a mod – will be added to the game from 23 August. Underlord completes the Dota 2 roster in terms of heroes also present in DotA so from then on we’re entering uncharted territory in terms of the Dota 2 roster and whether/when further heroes will be added*.

… [visit site to read more]