In 2019, EGS saw a series of daily user spikes surrounding the release of new free games. [credit: Epic v. Apple court filing ] Last month, a filing in the Epic versus Apple court case showed the public just how much money Epic has been throwing at free games and exclusive “guarantees” to establish a […]
Enlarge / The Valve logo, as seen in an etched design at its offices. Indie developer (and Humble Indie Bundle originator Wolfire Games has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Steam creator Valve, saying that the company is wielding Steam’s monopoly power over the PC gaming market to extract “an extraordinarily high cut from nearly […]
Enlarge / Developers of games like these will soon earn more money when they’re sold through the Microsoft Store. (credit: Microsoft) Microsoft is lowering the revenue cut it takes on games sold through its Microsoft Store on PCs from 30 percent to 12 percent, marking a new front in its uphill battle to take on […]
Enlarge / Free for you, not so free for Epic… (credit: Epic Games) The bitter court fight between Apple and Epic is primarily focused on the mobile-gaming landscape and Apple’s iron-fisted control of the iOS App Store. But recent court filings in that case have also given the public a rare glimpse into just how […]
Enlarge / Artist’s conception of Sega lawyers coming for SteamDB… Here at Ars Technica, we’ve covered plenty of examples of somewhat overzealous uses of DMCA takedown notices, to say the least. But Sega’s latest takedown request, for an innocuous page on a Steam data-tracking site, might take the cake. As SteamDB creator Pavel Djundik shared […]
Enlarge / A screenshot from Steam Link for macOS. (credit: Valve) Valve has launched a standalone app for Steam Link on Apple’s macOS App Store, adding a new option for Mac users who want to play games on machines that are often labeled as poor choices for gaming. Steam Link allows users to stream games […]
Enlarge / An image from the censored version of Super Seducer 3 suggests the kinds of “sexually explicit images of real people” that are apparently not allowed on Steam. Valve has refused to approve controversial pickup artist game Super Seducer 3 for sale on Steam. The company says the game breaks a rule saying that […]
Enlarge / An archived copy of Emoji Evolution‘s Steam store page shows how hard it is to distinguish the developer’s “Very Positive” name from the merely “Positive” review summary (on the right). Here at Ars, we’ve covered Valve banning Steam game developers for everything from sexual content and gratuitous ultra-violence to ill-defined “trolling”. But we’ve […]
“NERTS!” has been shouted, ending a round of the new, free Zachtronics game Nerts!. But how did we get here? We’re no strangers to video games as escapism during the pandemic, especially the games that bring friends together online with simple-yet-deep gameplay. That very premise catapulted Among Us, a quietly launched indie game from 2018, […]