PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:36 AM  You'll be hard pressed to find a gaming laptop deal as good as this one from Best Buy. For just $649.99, you can pick up this MSI Thin 15 laptop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX gaming GPU, eight-core Intel CPU, and 16GB of RAM, netting you a $250 saving on the usual $899.99 list price. Don't dismiss this as just another bargain laptop, because you might be surprised by the performance of this MSI machine, which offers the best gaming laptop specs available for a machine at this price. The big win for gamers is the Nvidia GPU, with the GeForce RTX 4050 supporting Nvidia DLSS 3 with frame generation to boost frame rates. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC review, MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio review, Best gaming motherboard |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:35 AM  Studio Wildcard and Snail Games have just thrown a big old party for the Ark franchise's tenth birthday. While Ark 2 is sadly absent, it has fully revealed the new expansion for Ark Survival Evolved and dropped a preview of the next season of Ark: The Animated Series. Oh, and out of the blue, it's just announced a mysterious new project called Ark Aquatica that sounds like it could be a seafaring survival adventure like Subnautica. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best survival games, Best dinosaur games, Best co-op games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:22 AM  What are the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Twitch drops? Any budding knight knows that their proficiency in battle is tied directly to the quantity of drip they're decorated with. Fortunately, Warhorse Studios appreciates the finery and is decadently decking us out with Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Twitch drops. If you missed out though, these items have now been made available in game - but only if you complete a series of quests, first. Once you've gotten your mitts on what the medieval RPG has to offer, the only scandal in Bohemia you'll be detecting is how scandalously good you look as you cleave through your foes. Continue reading Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Twitch drops and how to claim MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 review, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 mods, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 map |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:16 AM  Now that Path of Exile 2 has been in early access for a while, Grinding Gear Games is finally about to bring us heaps of new material. In the lead-up to the ARPG's full launch, we're getting new classes, Ascendencies, and even the rest of the game's story, but this takes time. Still, update 0.2.0 is right around the corner, and from GGG's ongoing teases, it's going to be packed. While we wait, we've been given another look at one of the patch's new Ascendancies, and players are already hard at work guessing how they'll play. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Path of Exile 2 builds, Path of Exile 2 classes, Path of Exile 2 quests |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:05 AM  Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale in the store? LoL is a free-to-play game in the truest sense - you can enjoy everything the MOBA offers for absolutely nothing. Now if you were to ask a seasoned League player if that were true, they'd probably have to stifle a few tears as they check how much their bank account has suffered buying skins since they started battling on the Rift. Riot rotates a series of skins in the store, with the savviest of us holding out until the cosmetic they want ends up in the discount section store or even the League of Legends Mythic shop. The shiny new cosmetics are only available briefly, so act fast if you want to snag the new hotness. Here is every League of Legends skin on sale right now if you want to know what's in the store without booting up the client. Continue reading Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:49 AM  What are the latest Black Desert Online codes? Since its graphical overhaul, BDO has seen a new lease of life. Not only does the MMO have one of the best character creators in the genre, but Black Desert Online's fantasy world is a thrill to explore, and it's full of complex mechanics for combat, trading, and diplomacy. All this can be intimidating for new players, but there's a way to get a head start. If you want helpful rewards for Black Desert Online, one of the longest-running MMO games, then you've come to the right place. These BDO codes give rewards such as Memory Fragments, Cron Stones, Enhancement Kits, and more. All of these items are handy for your next session, so we've also detailed ways you can redeem them without being logged into the game. Continue reading BDO codes March 2025 - all active Black Desert Online codes MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Black Desert Online guide, Best MMORPGs, Free MMOs |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:52 AM  What's on sale in the League of Legends Mythic shop? New skins for LoL are released all the time, with a new event arriving on the Rift every few weeks, but what happens if you missed the boat with that awesome K/DA Evelynn skin, or if you've seen a Hextech skin in a game of Summoner's Rift and want to bag it for yourself? The Mythic shop is a special storefront in the free PC game that stocks rare skins, wards, chromas, and Nexes finishers. These cosmetic items aren't available for real-world money, as they can only be purchased with Mythic Essence, so no more worrying about how much you've spent in League of Legends. The stock held in this store is rotated regularly, with some skins becoming unavailable for months, so it's best to keep up to date on what's on sale in the League of Legends Mythic store. Continue reading League of Legends Mythic shop March 2025 - what's on sale now? MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends Mythic shop rotation, LoL tier list |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:03 AM  March 18, 2025: We checked for new Wuthering Waves codes. What are the new Wuthering Waves codes? Everyone loves a freebie, especially when it comes to gacha games. It's no secret that the likes of Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail can be a bit of a grind if you're not prepared to open your wallet. We're here to help you offset that cost with redeem codes that contain free items and premium currency. The latest WuWa codes are released periodically and often include premium currency to spend on the latest Wuthering Waves banners or level up your favorite Wuthering Waves characters. These redeem codes are only active for a limited time, so you have to be swift to redeem them before they expire. Thankfully, our list of all the latest codes in Wuthering Waves is updated regularly, so you can claim gacha game rewards without upsetting your bank balance. Continue reading Wuthering Waves codes March 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Wuthering Waves codes, Free PC games, Best anime games |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:19 AM  March 18, 2025: We've added the latest Monopoly Go dice links for free dice rolls. How can I get Monopoly Go free dice links? The household favorite board game has been reimagined as a free-to-play app on smartphones, allowing everyone to experience the thrills of Monopoly on practically any device. Everything that makes the board game special is here in Monopoly Go, so you'll be collecting properties and building hotels as you go around the board, and there are a variety of multiplayer minigames to get through along the way. You're going to need to get your hands on Monopoly dice rolls, but they are difficult to come by no matter how far you are into the board game. There are ways to earn additional dice rolls, including logging into the game every day to collect daily bonuses, progressing further in the game, and inviting friends to try Monopoly Go. While you can also spend real money to unlock more dice rolls, you may want to give our list of Monopoly Go dice links a try instead, especially if you're waiting for the next Monopoly Go Golden Blitz event. Take a look at all the currently active Monopoly Go free dice links for today. Continue reading Free Monopoly Go dice links March 2025 MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best board games, Monopoly Go events, Monopoly Go dice |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:55 AM  Looking for Monster Hunter Wilds guides? We've sharpened our blades in preparation for the latest installment of Capcom's high-fantasy hunting game, and carefully crafted a suite of guides to help you on your journey. Monster Hunter Wilds brings big changes to the RPG game series, including unprecedented mount mobility and all-new mechanics. Wilds has arrived as a stunning open-world game on PC, as Ken's 9/10 Monster Hunter Wilds review can attest. Below you'll find every guide you could possibly need to become a top-ranking hunter, from weapon builds to endemic life locations. Continue reading Monster Hunter Wilds guides MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Monster Hunter Wilds armor, Monster Hunter Wilds weapons, Monster Hunter Wilds review |
PCGamesN Tuesday, March 18, 2025 4:58 AM  Ark Survival Ascended has been steadily making its way through all of Survival Evolved's expansions, remastering and re-releasing them as it goes. Many thought that once Survival Ascended had ticked most of Survival Evolved's content off its list, it'd be time for Ark 2, but unfortunately the whereabouts of its highly anticipated sequel are still unknown. Instead, players are for the first time getting a completely original, all-new expansion to Ark Survival Ascended called Lost Colony, and while its star-studded cast and icy new world is enough to get excited about, it'll also feature some "fan-favorite characters" and tee up the story for Ark 2. Oh, and Studio Wildcard has confirmed when it'll be releasing too. MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best survival games, Best dinosaur games, Best co-op games |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:32 AM  Metro 2033 turned fifteen this month, prompting a blog from 4A Games celebrating the FPS horror series' past while looking forward to the next entry. The unnamed Metro 4 surfaced again last January as part of a reveal for VR title Metro Awakening, following a 2023 blog detailing the studio's experience under the Russian invasion. "We do want to reassure you that work is continuing on both of our projects despite missile strikes, air-raid sirens, and terror still raining down on Ukraine," reads the new blog. "These circumstances are incredibly challenging, the situation remains dangerous and not within our control, but we are currently as safe as possible, and we want to manage your expectations around the reveal of the next Metro title, it will be ready when it is ready, and we can't wait for you to see it". |
Rock Paper Shotgun Latest Articles Feed Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:30 AM  To avoid harassment, staff at Assassin's Creed Shadows studio Ubisoft Quebec have been "advised" not to celebrate or otherwise post on social media about the game's launch this week, as reported by French outlet BFM TV and spotted by Kotaku. This follows months of online anger directed at the open world game, much of it from charming sods with handles like 'Da Phrenology Gamer' doing everything they can to avoid actually playing videogames, presumably before logging off for dinner and complaining that they don't want to eat any more woke broccoli, mum. Can't-hang-viceroy Elon Musk even got involved at one point, commenting "DEI kills art" on a tweet about the game (as opposed to, you know, cutting education funding). |
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Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 7:53 AM
There's a punchy new Battle Pet in town, and his name is Gorillion. He's a rare Battle Pet in Undermine that requires a little legwork to acquire. You'll have to scout out his pieces in treasure chests scattered throughout the goblin city.
There are five pieces total required to put Gorillion together. The map below shows each location where you can find a special Muff's Auto-Locker chest containing a part. To find each one, you'll have to solve a quick set of puzzles to open them.
Once you right-click on the pieces, you will receive a quest called Inoperative Gorillion. It appears our little guy isn't functional yet, and requires some assistance. Take it to Ditty Fuzeboy (shown above in the blue circle) to have him fix it up.
The five pieces you need are:
Gorillion's Battle Pet Stats
This Mechanical-type menace is a battle pet worth collecting. He has pretty good health and attack stats, though he is exceptionally slow. His move set is unique, as each slot offers a Humanoid move option. He could be potentially very useful against Dragonkin and Magic-type pets, so long as they don't have Elemental attacks to shred his weaknesses.
Overall, this punchy little dynamo is well worth adding to your collection.
Not-so-cheap Alternatives
The NPC who repairs your Gorillion also happens to sell 6 more battle pets for a unique item called Miscellaneous Mechanica. This is a super stubborn currency that drops off rare enemies, Goblin Cartel Paragon rewards, and dumpster diving when you reach Renown 13 with The Cartels. The pets will cost 28 Mechanica for all 6, but keep in mind another vendor sells 3 mounts for 25 each. One of the pets he sells is a bright green recolor of Gorillion named Professor Punch.
The post How to form Gorillion in World of Warcraft appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:48 AM
Upon seeing Forest Reigns, I was immediately sold on the concept. A (seemingly) dedicated single-player survival FPS set in a massively overgrown version of Paris? Inject it into my veins, please. Thing is, there may be reason to worry about Forest Reigns' future based purely on the developer's track record.
Now, to be perfectly clear, I'm all for second and third chances when it comes to game development. It's a tough industry to exist in, let alone break through in, and everyone makes mistakes regardless of personal skill and capabilities. At the same time, as consumers, we need to be aware of who's making the things we buy, and Forest Reigns' developer VG Entertainment has a heck of a track record to keep in mind. More specifically, VG was formerly known as Vostok Games, which you may remember if you played Survarium and/or Fear the Wolves. If that doesn't ring a bell, some extra context may be necessary.
Forest Reigns is being developed by the people behind Survarium and Fear the Wolves
In a zesty turn of fate, it's downright astonishing that the Ukrainian Vostok Games' Survarium failed to crystallize into a proper multiplayer shooter whereas STALKER 2 ended up releasing to considerable acclaim in the end. Vostok Games is a studio consisting largely of staff from the old GSC Game World, who set off to make their own fate after the old 2012 build of STALKER 2 fell through. Post-GSC breakdown, some of the studio's talent went off to found Vostok, while others proceeded to found 4A Games and work on the then-obscure Metro franchise. I'm sure you've never heard of it.
The gist of it was that Vostok wanted to produce a multiplayer spiritual successor to STALKER, while 4A went all-in on a finely tuned single-player experience. Whereas Metro found massive fame and acclaim, the same cannot be said about Survarium, the development of which stopped back in 2022 amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Note, too, that Vostok also released Fear the Wolves alongside Survarium, which was simply a different take on the same old trope of survival multiplayer gameplay against the backdrop of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. Though Fear the Wolves did technically release from Early Access, it did so in a rather shoddy state. Survarium, on the other hand, yet languishes in Early Access with a "Mostly Negative" review rating.
All of this is to say that even though Forest Reigns appears to be the project of an all-new team, it's not, and the developer sadly doesn't have a stellar track record to speak of. That being said... I do think there's merit in Forest Reigns, even with all of VG Entertainment's pedigree in mind. The fact that it's a dedicated single-player (and presumably offline) experience speaks to a paradigm shift in how the studio approaches game dev, and though there's no release window to speak of just yet, I've got my hopes up.
I'm definitely in love with the idea behind Forest Reigns. It riffs on some of my favorite New Weird media in a way that just works, and if the featured 20-minute gameplay video is anything to go by, there's merit in this production for sure. The third time's the charm, as they say, and this may well be the game to finally solidify Vostok Ga- sorry, VG Entertainment's legacy in the gaming industry. Fingers crossed, then!
The post Forest Reigns is an Annihilation/Dishonored hybrid that looks promising, but there's a catch appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:39 AM
If you're a fan of My Hero Academia, you're probably playing Heroes World while reading this guide. Learning more about this Roblox experience is a good idea, so look for the Heroes World Trello link and Discord server.
What is the Heroes World Trello Link?
You'll learn more about this Roblox game thanks to the Heroes World Trello board. With lots of new content coming to this experience, it's safe to say that Trello is becoming a necessity. There's so much to learn here, from powers to bosses. If you're just looking for freebies, visit our Heroes World codes page.
How to use Trello
It's easy to use Trello for Heroes World. Click on the link above to access the site. You don't have to create an account, as everything is already available to the public. To find the information you're looking for, press the F button on your keyboard and type what you need. This action will filter the cards, making it easier to locate what you need.
What is the Heroes World Discord Link?
The Heroes World Discord server is your main source of information for this My Hero Academia-inspired game. This server has many channels, but I advise you to focus on the #announcement channel. Here, you'll learn more about the latest game updates, such as the All For One + Jungle Zone update. You'll spend much time on the #general channel, as that's your go-to place for chatting with other players.
How to use Discord
To maximize your experience, download the Discord app and create an account. These steps are necessary for the verification process. After you complete all requirements, you'll get access to all Heroes World Discord channels. If you use Discord on a PC, browsing all available servers and channels is much easier. The mobile app is also a good choice, especially for chatting.
While the Heroes World Trello link may be useful, you can learn much from our guide Quirk Tier List here on Destructoid.
The post Official Heroes World Trello Link (Update) appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:23 AM
Reading in the bathroom is about to get a lot more ironic. Scholastic has recently announced its plans to print books and graphic novels based on Skibidi Toilet, and I'm not sure my mind can process that information in a way that doesn't lead to me questioning reality.
Scholastic wants to print Skibidi Toilet books and graphic novels
For the uninitiated, Skibidi Toilet is an animated web series created by Alexey Gerasimo of the YouTube channel DaFuq!?Boom!. Created through Source Filmmaker, Skibidi Toilet began as a simple video of a human head popping out of a toilet and singing a mashup song composed almost entirely of the word "skibidi." Since then, it's bloomed into a chronicle of a brutal, ever-changing war between an invading army of said toilets and a coalition of souped-up androids with cameras, televisions, and speakers for heads.
Since its debut in February 2023, Skibidi Toilet has become an internet phenomenon to rival Traumitized Mr. Incredible. In defiance of the opinions of most health experts, millions have embraced the strange things bubbling up from the toilets, and the scope of the grinning porcelain demons' invasion has widened exponentially. As things are wont to do these days, Skibidi Toilet has developed into a full-fledged multimedia empire with an official merchandise line and potential film and television adaptions helmed by Michael Bay and Adam Goodman.
Now, it looks like Scholastic wants a piece of the pie. In an official statement released through its website, the publisher has announced plans to print a line of books and graphic novels based on Skibidi Toilet. Debra Dhorman, Scholastic's VP & Publisher Global Licensing & Media, minced no words when she expressed her excitement over Scholastic and Gerasimo's partnership.
Now, I'm willing to bet that many people, most of them over thirty, are cringing at this news. Skibidi Toilet isn't what most observers would call high art, and I'm ready to bet that these books will appear on the American Library Association's annual "Most Challenged Books" list. However, I think there are reasons to be excited about this development.
Skibidi Toilet is, as odd as it might sound, a rare example of visual storytelling and subtext in media aimed at children. Yes, it's about spider-legged toilets with faces fighting giant robots with speakers for heads. Still, Gerasimo's creature and character designs are impressive, and the mystery woven throughout the episode is a puzzle fans are working hard to unravel.
In the hands of an author or artist willing to challenge their readers, a Skibidi Toilet novel or graphic novel could be an immersing introduction to sci-fi horror for kids. It's just a few evolutionary steps short of a flying pig, but stranger things have happened.
The post Scholastic is making books about Skibidi Toilet, and I'm afraid appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 6:01 AM
If you're excited about GTA 6 and believe anyone who claims to have inside information, you've probably already fallen for the $2 billion budget rumor—an unconfirmed claim that's been around for a while.
Since 2022, one of the many leaks surrounding GTA 6 has been the widespread but unverified claim that its development costs are close to $2 billion. There are several reasons to doubt this, aside from the obvious fact that neither Rockstar nor Take-Two has ever disclosed GTA 6's budget. The game is still in development, and the final cost will only be known when it's finished. But here are a few more reasons why the idea of GTA 6 costing $2 billion doesn't add up.
Other Rockstar games never came close to even $1 billion
Adjusting for inflation in 2024, GTA V had an estimated total cost of around $333 million—$137 million for development and the rest for marketing, according to specialist estimates.
Scaling that up nearly seven times would be a massive jump, even after GTA 6's nine years of development. While costs have risen over time, Rockstar didn't start developing GTA 6 in 2025—earlier years of development would have been much cheaper, making such an extreme budget increase unlikely.
Red Dead Redemption 2 had over 2,000 people working on it for seven years before it was released in late 2018, and its estimated budget was around $540 million in very pessimistic projections. Still, just over half of a billion dollars and really far from two billion.
The most expensive live service games haven't hit $1 billion in development
Genshin Impact, developed by miHoYo, has been in continuous development since 2020 and could be one of the most expensive games ever made, with a total estimated cost of over $900 million. But that includes both the initial development and five years of live service updates. Even with all that, it's still nowhere near the rumored $2 billion for GTA 6.
For comparison, another extremely expensive game was Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which cost around $700 million to develop—equivalent to $850 million by 2024 standards. Activision, a company bigger than Rockstar, still didn't come close to a $1 billion total budget.
Even if GTA 6's total budget was $2 billion, most of it would be marketing, not development
A huge portion of a game's budget comes from marketing, and Rockstar hasn't even begun its full marketing push for GTA 6. For example, GTA V had an estimated marketing budget of $265 million. If Rockstar decides to spend $1 billion on marketing for GTA 6, which is possible, it still wouldn't mean the development cost itself is $2 billion.
Marketing budgets are unpredictable and can be as large as a company wants them to be, but that money doesn't go into making the game better.
Even if Rockstar were to spend close to $1 billion on marketing, it's still highly unlikely that the game's actual development costs would add up to another $2 billion. A more reasonable estimate is that GTA 6's total budget, including marketing, could approach $1 billion, but not that the game alone costs $2 billion to make.
The bottom line: The $2 billion GTA 6 budget claim has no proof
While it's possible that, over time, GTA 6 could cost Rockstar $2 billion in total if you include marketing, post-launch support, and GTA Online updates, there is no proof that its development alone has a $2 billion budget. There's no confirmation that Rockstar has set aside that amount or that it will ever spend that much in total.
Instead of focusing on wild budget rumors, it makes more sense to watch out for Take-Two's upcoming earnings reports and manage your expectations for GTA 6 when it launches in Fall 2025.
The post Why the rumored $2 billion GTA 6 budget is quite unlikely to be real appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:56 AM
We just got a really good first look at CS: Legacy, the fan project that fully remade the classic Counter-Strike 1.6 experience with updated graphics, and I can't wait to try it out.
If you love Counter-Strike Global Offensive but can't help but reminisce about the good old days of 1.6, then you should really give this one a shot. CS: Legacy features all the hallmarks of the OG CS: the skins — yes, the true 1337 crew is back — the HUD, the sound effects, and a selection of maps clearly made by fans are all present.
Missing the little details, such as that incredibly gruesome headshot animation that sends blood and brains flying all over? You're in luck! You can see a serious amount of care was applied here as even the animations were carefully remade to look like a mix between the classic and something a modern-day game would have. Everything was remade from the ground up using Valve's Source Engine SDK 2013 to guarantee the highest fidelity to the core 1.6 experience but with modern looks.
When Half-Life 2 came out, Valve released Half-Life: Source, a basic update of the original game containing nearly no visual upgrades, and Counter-Strike: Source, a visual and gameplay update of Counter-Strike 1.6 that most didn't like. Valve would later make up for the lackluster CS: Source with the excellent Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, but the original Half-Life remake blunder would only be fixed by a bunch of fans who came together to create Black Mesa. That game always had me wondering how a CS 1.6 remake could work if done by fans, and the results seem very promising.
CS: Legacy was made by the team responsible for the beloved CSPromod, so I'm betting we can be pretty optimistic about this one. CS: Legacy will become available at an undisclosed date in 2025, and it will come out featuring 5 absolute classic maps: De_Dust2, De_Train, De_Nuke, Fy_Pool_day, and Aim_map.
If you'd like to help develop CS: Legacy, you can do so via the CS: Legacy Patreon page.
The post Counter-Strike 1.6 is getting a remake, and it looks amazing appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:40 AM
The incidence of PC players suffering from stuttering has increased post EA FC 25 Title Update 11, and it's a problematic experience to say the least.
Stuttering is mostly caused by incidents of a sudden drop in FPS when you're playing the game, which can lead to the screen freezing for a microsecond or a slightly longer duration. Even a freeze for a nanosecond can be problematic in a sports game based on skill and real-time gameplay.
Thankfully, a few ways exist to solve the problem, even if EA Sports doesn't push out a solution.
How to fix EA FC 25 stuttering on PC
Before going through the solutions, please ensure your GPU drivers are updated to the latest version.
Once again, EA Sports is expected to provide a permanent solution, which should be included in Title Update 12. In the meantime, completing the steps mentioned here will reduce your chances of stuttering and any crashes you might have experienced.
So far, the performance on the console has been pretty smooth, so there are no worries if you're playing on either an Xbox or a PlayStation console. Make sure to check out our guide on the Title Update 11 patch notes to learn more about all the changes.
The post EA FC 25: How to fix stuttering on PC? appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 5:39 AM
Growing fears about online communities and rampant extremism often take advantage of the slack content moderation policy on Steam. Is the online platform a haven for far-right groups, is the overall culture to blame, or is it simply an issue of gaming humor being edgy and offensive?
Steam: a haven for far-right extremists?
Launched more than 20 years ago, Steam started small, as a way for Valve Corporation to sell their games online, but it would soon become one of the most used gaming platforms in the world. As of 2023, it featured a total of 33 million concurrent users, with an annual revenue of almost 9 billion dollars.
Steam seems to be the platform of choice for far-right extremists to thrive, finding like-minded individuals and sharing content that they would be prohibited from doing on other platforms. Naturally, this is no coincidence, as Valve's platform features an obscure and slack content moderation policy, even compared to other platforms that share (or at least shared, until recent years) the same problems, such as Twitch and Discord.
Going through the content guidelines of Steam, the word "extremism" is not mentioned. Nor are there any measures highlighted throughout which the moderators can ban or block content in games that support and propagate far-right content. Also, the burden of reporting, as mentioned in the content guidelines, falls on the users, rather than on moderators or filters.
It is interesting to note that, despite this laissez-faire approach to moderation, in 2018 Steam removed almost 200 games. The removal of titles like Ethnic Cleansing and Jesus Strikes Back: Judgement Day was often criticized by users. While creators defended their games as "satire", users often commented how Steam would ban these, while still keeping "Japanese porn games" on the platform.
Curiously enough, despite these measures, Valve clarified that its removal of games and content was not because of xenophobic or misogynistic behaviors, but rather because these games were posing "unknown costs and risks to Valve, developer partners and customers". Valve concluded that these developers and studios "were not producing games in good faith".
Steam and the flood of extremist content
How widespread is the problem with extremism and far-right groups? Recent research by the Anti-Defamation League found 1.5 million unique Steam users and 73,824 groups that used at least one potentially extremist or hateful symbol, copypasta, or keyword on the platform. The problem is not even limited to amateur games or small indie titles.
Mods are often a way to attract far-right and extremist individuals. By modifying the content of a game, especially those easy to mod such as Hearts of Iron IV and Crusader Kings, players can access tailor-made content to be consumed by extremists. Using mods this type of propaganda can get around the amateur look and hardship of producing new games, presenting a façade of technical competence and professional development.
But, generally, these extremist communities seem content in gathering around famous games such as Counter-Strike or DayZ, where users were found to be organizing a "right-wing death squad" or getting together to kill black characters in Grand Theft Auto Online. Thus, it seems many are playing games to project an identity of extreme-right, rather than using these games as a way to recruit new members.
While one might think the sharing of content online would stop at a virtual level, a 2021 paper authored for the European Commission by Suraj Lakhani from CIVIPOL, underlines how communities expressing support for non-violent forms of far-right extremism "are interlinked with those affiliated with paramilitary activity and forms of white supremacist activity".
Still today, there are several Steam groups related to far-right organizations still active and propagating sensitive and extremist material. These groups have links to movements such as the Nordic Resistance Movement, a group with links to bombings in Gothenburg in 2016 and 2017.
The paper reports how thousands of Steam users have demonstrated far-right violent extremist support on their profile pages, with clear pro-Nazi references, which "incorporated into their profiles Nazi imagery such as SS bolts and Nazitotenkopfs, or death's heads, glorified prominent Nazi figures or fantasized about the 4th Reich".
Not only that but many referenced serial killers or glorified figures such as mass murderer Anders Brevik. There were also references and links to videos on anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and White supremacist narratives. Terrorism is also another topic that seems to pop up again and again, with profiles and images dedicated to ISIS and Hezbollah, among others.
As for its conclusions, the author calls for Steam, but also companies such as Twitch and Discord, to update their moderation policies to include terms such as "extremism" and "terrorism." Plus, the author calls for widespread research that would need access to data provided by companies that are becoming more and more reluctant to do so, such as X.
A new shared moderation policy is the key?
In a paper from July 2024, Shiraz Shaikh from the Global Network on Extremism and Technology identifies several key features that Steam should work on. A shared moderation policy with Twitch or Discord would be key in limiting how many users seem to be present on several platforms with multiple "burner" accounts. Plus, Steam could work with established organizations studying online hate and harassment on gaming platforms.
Last November, following ADL's report, US Senator Mark Warner issued a letter to Steam asking what the company was doing about the widespread use of text-based images depicting hate and about its content moderation policy. Despite a deadline to answer before December 13, Steam doesn't seem to have responded and it is doubtful that the Trump administration will be interested in pursuing this matter further.
Still, not everybody agrees on the definition of Steam as a haven for extremists, some call ADL's attack on Steam "misguided" and see the danger of leaving moderation in the hands of a company that has no experience in the gaming community and doesn't understand edgy gamer humor. In particular, the use of the Pepe the Frog meme has been called into question since even the original author doesn't want to be linked to any far-right groups or extremists.
Despite one's view on the matter, it is hard to deny the growing issue of online extremism, especially linked to gaming. While it might be impossible to force Valve to modify its content moderation policy, it is possible to act at a gaming industry level. Developers should be encouraged to spend more time moderating and curating their audience, especially if they care about the image they are projecting to the audience. Letting extremist groups run rampant in the fanbase is not only damaging to one's company and products but can also lead to future legal problems.
In the '90s, games such as Doom and Mortal Kombat basically created the need for rating agencies overnight and were, probably, first responsible for classic edgy gamer humor. Still, today the problem with content moderation is far more complex and difficult to control. How far should freedom of expression be pushed when tolerance itself is being threatened? How much tolerance should be extended to people who are often intolerant in the first place?
The post How Valve is ignoring the rise of extremism on Steam appeared first on Destructoid. |
Destructoid Tuesday, March 18, 2025 3:56 AM
Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 is expected to be a massive one in the game's cycle, which is a big reason behind the community's eagerness to know the release date.
As of this writing, the patch is being stress tested, but Larian has started drip-feeding the community about what to expect. The upcoming patch will revolve around 12 new subclasses, and we already have information about what they are and how they will play inside the game. To test them out, we will have to wait for the patch to go live, and here's my prediction about a possible release date.
Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 expected release date
As of this writing, we have yet to get an official release date for Patch 8. If I have to predict a potential timeline, it will either be the last week of March or the first week of April. Much of my prediction is based on what happened with Patch 7.
Patch 7 went live on September 5, 2024, before offering a closed beta on July 25. There was an approximately six-week gap between the test and the full launch. Patch 8's stress test began on January 28, 2025.
If Larian followed the same release pattern, we would already be playing Patch 8 in Baldur's Gate 3. So, it's pretty clear that the developers will need more time to complete the stress test. Larian has also been publishing videos about subclasses, and so far, we have a couple of them available for players.
I believe that we will likely get the new patch in the last week of March 2025. If not, it could go live in the first week or early half of April. It's pretty clear that the upcoming patch has a lot of nooks to fine-tune for Larian. The introduction of crossplay is a pretty complex issue, and a feature going wrong can be a disaster for all. This might be a big reason why Larian is taking the time to test out the patch properly.
So far, the Patch 8 stress test has had two updates on February 6 and February 26. I am expecting another update very soon before Larian decides to release the patch. I believe we will have a confirmed release date soon, making it easier for all of us as we won't have to speculate.
The shining light of the upcoming patch is the 12 subclasses.
The new patch will also feature crossplay, which is essential for playing with friends on different platforms. Finally, Baldur's Gate 3 will have a photo mode, and you won't have to rely on mods to get beautiful pictures of your gameplay. For now, the players (including me, of course) have no other option but to wait patiently for Larian to complete the stress test.
The post When will Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 8 Release? Expected date and timeline appeared first on Destructoid. |
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