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Steam Has More Outages Than Xbox Live and PlayStation Network – Report

A survey conducted by Tooltester calculated the number of outages experienced by 30 frequently visited sites over a period of one year. The results reveal that Steam suffers a lot more outages than Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and you can check out the detailed list through here.

Discord topped the list with 129 outages, and Steam experienced 99 outages in a year. In comparison, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network experienced 63 and 49 outages respectively. These make for some interesting numbers and comparisons, indicating that Microsoft's offerings might need some improvements to keep up with Sony's network infrastructure.

Of course, both of them are nothing when compared to Valve's Steam – which has outages nearing the numbers of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network combined. Most of these outages from Sony and Steam cause users not being able to log in to the services, but Microsoft's majority of outages have issues related to online gaming.

Halo Co-Creator Marcus Lehto Says He's About to Make Divisive Career Decisions

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto took to Twitter to announce to his fans that he would be making some big decisions regarding his career this very week. He also believes that those decisions will be divisive for his fans – some of them will of course, be supportive to the decision while others not so much.

Marcus Lehto has served for more than a decade at Halo's original studio – Bungie before assuming the mantle of creative director for Disintegration. This V1 Interactive developed sci-fi shooter had an underwhelming critical and commercial reception, following which servers for the game were shut down last year.

What Lehto is currently working on remains a mystery for now. Given his penchant for continually dabbling into sci-fi shooters, it wouldn't be a surprise if the developer takes another crack at developing a game using the same setting. However, it would certainly be interesting to see what challenges await Lehto in his journey and hopefully, fans get something great out of it.

Evertried Is A Strategic Roguelite Coming To Consoles and PC Later This Year

Lunic Games has announced that its upcoming tactical roguelite Evertried will be coming to consoles and PC later this year. The official YouTube channel for publisher DANGEN Entertainment announced a release later for October 21 via a release date trailer – which you can check out below.

Evertried tasks players to ascend up a tower of sorts, which of course – entails procedurally generated battles. Players will have to fend off enemies using turn-based combat. Players can also use the environment to their advantage, which lends a tactical nature to the game's proceedings. During their travels, players will encounter a number of characters who will reveal more about the protagonist's past.

There's also a fair bit of progression, and players can customize their spirits with upgrades to suit a specific playstyle. Evertried also boasts a great pixel art design, along with great music. Evertried releases on PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on October 24th.

Fortnite Could Remain Blacklisted on iOS and Mac for 5 Years

Epic Games' legal battle with Apple has been a long and eventful one, but things finally moved forward in a meaningful way when the court, in its ruling, denied Epic's claims that Apple had a monopolistic practice and said that the company had been well within its rights when it took Fortnite off the App Store on iOS and Mac.

Epic is, of course, appealing the decision, but with the current case now over, you may have thought that the process to get Fortnite back on the Apple ecosystem would begin. You might have to wait a while for that to happen though.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently took to Twitter and revealed that Apple has decided to keep Fortnite off iOS and Mac, with the company citing the court's aforementioned ruling, as well as Epic Games' own past practices, which involved intentional breach of contract and what Apple says was "duplicitous conduct."

Given the fact that Epic did, after all, breach the App Store guidelines (and knowingly so) and that the court has ruled against them where that specific issue is concerned, it's not a surprise that this is the decision Apple has taken. Whether or not they eventually end up revering it remains to be seen.

Diablo 2: Resurrected Won't Support Nvidia DLSS at Launch

With Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo 2: Resurrected launching soon, it looks to be one of the better remasters from the company. This isn't to say that it's included every single feature that fans may have wanted. Nvidia DLSS, for instance, won't be available at launch.

Vicarious Visions graphics lead Kevin Todisco confirmed on Twitter that there was currently no timetable for the feature's implementation but that fans should "stay tuned." This follows the previous announcement that competitive ladders and Seasons wouldn't be available at launch either. While more information was promised on those, neither Vicarious nor Blizzard have provided any updates.

Then again, it's not like these features have been outright cancelled (unlike 21:9 Ultrawide monitor support, which isn't possible because it effectively breaks the AI). We'll just have to wait for more details in the coming days. In the meantime, Diablo 2: Resurrected will be available tomorrow for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Metroid Dread Reveals Several New Locations and Enemies

Nintendo has been consistently doling out new details on the upcoming Metroid Dread in the lead-up to its launch, and regular updates via Metroid Dread Reports have been one of the ways for them to do that. In the newest report in that series, they take a deep dive into Planet ZDR, talking about a few of the areas in the game's world that players will be exploring, as well as the enemies you'll be taking on while you're there.

First, there's Artaria, the lowest level of Planet ZDR, where Samus finds herself as the game begins. Artaria has low temperatures, and its top levels are covered in magma, which is the primary source of energy on the planet. The developers call it "a relatively large area", though it will have several paths and doors that Samus won't be able to access until later in the game. Some of the creatures you'll encounter in Artaria are the Klaida (a four-legged creature that isn't hostile, but does deal damage if you touch it), Ply (a small, agile flying creature that can be found in flocks, and follows Samus arounds and attacks with its spiked tail), and the Muzby (a large terrestrial creature with a thick skin that can soak up damage from weaker attacks).

The next area is Cataris, which is described as "the central system that manages the supply and circulation of energy-generating magma throughout the planet, which powers various facilities." Magma is a common theme in this area, with many areas being too hot to be accessible without certain upgrades. Among the creatures Samus will face here, there will be the Vulkran (a small creature that sticks to walls and ceilings and can spit out magma), the Autclast (a highly advanced robot that can send out fire shockwaves), and the Obsydomithon (a rock-like creature that can transform and shoot charged attacks through terrain).

Then there's Dairon, a biological research site crawling with robots made presumably using Chozo technology. Interestingly enough, the power is out in some parts of Dairon, making certain areas darker. Enemies here will be largely mechanical, including the Autsharp (which attacks with a strong, spinning energy blade), the Autsniper (a small sniper robot), and the Armadigger (a violent creature that can charge at Samus with great speed).

The next area is Burenia, a marine research site that has its bottom half entirely submerged in water, and full of aquatic creatures. Samus' movement when underwater is hampered until you have certain upgrades equipped. Here, she'll be taking on creatures such as the Batalloon (a small slow-moving creature that lives underwater), the Dizzean (jellyfish-like creatures that are weak on their own but tend to attack in large swarms), and the Slaaga (a large creature that shoots out acid).

Then there's Ghavoran, an underground forest full of native flora and fauna, populated by creatures such as the Hecathon (an ancient flying creature that isn't hostile by default, but will hit hard if you attack it first with a light that is "capable of decomposing other creatures"), the Yampa (a spider-like creature), and the Quetzoa (a flying insect-like creature that can move very fast and attack with great speed).

Finally, there's Ferenia, the ancient ruins of a sanctuary that was once used in Chozo rituals. "Constructed objects and the natural world co-exist in the other areas, whereas the inside of Ferenia contains mostly buildings left behind by Chozo civilization," the development team teases. Expect a lot of lore drops here.

Several screenshots from these areas and of the enemies mentioned have also been released. Check them out below.

Metroid Dread launches on October 8 for Nintendo Switch.

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Valve Is Sending Out Steam Decks To Developers For Testing Their Games

Valve has seemingly sent out Steam Deck development kits to a number of developers to test their games on the hardware. The Washington based giant recently confirmed that it would indeed be sending out hardware units to developers, which has seemingly been confirmed with recent activity of developers on Twitter.

A developer from No More Robots, publisher of Descenders took to Twitter with a short video of the game running on the actual hardware. Mike Rose reports that the game runs comfortably at 50-60fps on ultra settings. Other developers also posted snaps of X-Plane and NEKOPARA running on the actual hardware.

Impressions for the Steam Deck generally seem to be positive across the board, and the hardware sold out pretty quickly. While there are still some concerns lingering, the Steam Deck looks to be shaping up as one of the better hardware products from Valve – who has fumbled with hardware like Steam Machines and the Steam Controller.

PS4 Firmware Update Reportedly Fixes Issue With Internal Clock Battery

A new PS4 firmware update has seemingly fixed a big problem with the PS4 in its recent update. Earlier, if a PS4's CMOS battery dies once support for the console phases out – it would render the console pretty much useless. The latest firmware update has fixed this issue, as reported by Modern Vintage Gamer.

MVG has posted a new YouTube video – which you can check out below, wherein he conducted a number of tests with the latest firmware. In the video, he confirms that the issue has now been fixed and as a result, fans can play their digital and physical games even after PSN support drops for the console – but that requires installing this firmware update, of course.

This particular finding came at a time when Sony decided to shut down the PS3, PSP and PS Vita digital storefront – which coalesced together to make a strong argument that Sony doesn't care about preservation of its legacy. With this firmware update however, the narrative has changed for the better – which is certainly appreciable from a consumer's standpoint.

Upcoming Xbox Update Will Allow the Use of Xbox 360 Gamerpic On Series X/S

An update for Xbox Skip Ahead Alpha Insiders allows players to use their old Gamerpic from the Xbox 360 days on new consoles – the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S. Engineering lead at Xbox Eden Marie took to Twitter to report this to fans, and you can check out the Tweet for more information on the matter.

The option to revert back to an Xbox 360 gamerpic will only be available to those who have a valid Xbox 360 account. Any changes made to the Gamerpic on Xbox 360 will be reflected automatically on the newer consoles. This isn't much of a functional update, but longtime fans of Microsoft's consoles will certainly find a lot to love here.

Xbox has been doing a great job with its system software, with both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S using the same system software. Sony on the other hand, has crafted a completely new look for the PS5 which while has its advantages, has caused a fair bit of frustration for fans as well.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Update Makes A Big Change To Dust-2 Alongside New Modes and Weapons

The Operation Riptide update to Valve's 5 vs 5 tactical shooter makes a plethora of changes to the game's multitude of modes. This is in addition to a few balance patches to the game's economy, along with what's arguably the biggest change to Dust 2 in recent memory.

This update blocks the visibility of double doors at mid-doors from T-Spawn in Dust 2 – which will be added back to the Competitive map pool with the new operation. With the new update, Competitive matches can last for 16 rounds instead of the usual 30 – which will of course, shorten the match length in a significant way. Players can also drop grenades for teammates to pick up, which should prove to be a monumental change to the game's proceedings. Riot Shields are also being added to CS: GO's hostage operations.

Of course, there are a litany of other changes – both big and small. Operation Riptide is changing a lot, which is a great precedent for the future of the game. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is almost a decade old at this point, yet boasts one of the highest player bases in all of Steam. A full rundown of all changes and additions coming to the game with Operation Riptide can be found here.