Valve

Cloud-powered game streaming is really nothing new but Google's announcement of its Stadia service put the technology back in the headlines. It won't be alone, though as Microsoft is gearing up to launch its own Project xCloud service and you can bet Sony's PlayStation won't be far behind. With some big names getting their feet wet in this still tiny game streaming market, it might not be surprising to hear that Valve may soon make its own play with something called Steam Cloud Gaming.

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PC gamers rejoice! The oldest existing digital game distribution platform isn't looking so ancient anymore. After almost two decades, Steam is finally rolling out the first major update to its game library. Some will probably already know what's in store when the update their Steam client and, like it or not, your library is about to get more social and crowded than ever.

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Electronic Arts and Valve announced a partnership to bring EA Games-distributed games to Steam, at long last. They also announced that they'd be bringing the EA Games-specific gaming subscription service to Steam. Per Valve's Game Newell, this partnership with EA will "bring their great games and subscription service to Steam" as well as "open up our communities to each other in an unprecedented way."

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Most games these days, be it on PC, console, and especially mobile, have an element of online gameplay, sometimes even when it doesn't make sense. There are, however, still some titles that require cooperating or competing players to be in the same local network, which practically means being in the same room or at least in the same building. These local multiplayer games may foster social interactions but they also hamper the gaming experience. Fortunately, then, Valve is now beta testing Steam Remote Play Together to fix that.

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We're quickly closing in on the end of the year, and among other things, that means Steam sales are coming. While the Winter Sale has historically been the big sale to save for in the latter half of the year, more recently it's been joined by both the Halloween Sale and the Autumn Sale. If you're looking to save up so you have some spare cash to spend during any of these sales, then good news: The dates for all three have leaked out.

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Local multiplayer can be a beautiful thing, but when your friends are far away, the "local" part becomes a problem. Steam is looking to solve that issue by rolling out a new feature called Remote Play Together, which allows users to play local multiplayer games over the internet. This feature works with split-screen and shared screen games, allowing you to play them with a friend when they aren't sitting right next to you.

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Despite the challenge that Epic Games raised against it, Valve's Steam remains the digital game distribution platform of choice for the majority of developers and publishers. That, however, doesn't mean it offers the best experience when browsing and looking for games. After 16 years, Valve is finally changing the face of Steam and those who want to try it out can now do so. At their own risk, of course.

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Discovery on Steam is something that has always been difficult to perfect, due in part to the sheer number of games on the service. Steam has attempted to improve the discovery system over the years, and while some aspects have gotten better, sometimes people still encounter recommendations that don't make much sense. Today, Valve issued an update to Steam Discovery, and the changes it's making could be pretty big.

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Several new experimental features were released today in Steam in the system called Steam Labs. This ecosystem is a place where Valve tests its newest ways in which users can find, view, follow along with, and likely BUY new games. Users can have a peek at the system through Steam Labs right this minute - assuming you're all about testing things that aren't yet fully realized, of course.

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In a week or two, Google will be giving more details about its Stadia game streaming platform. Together with the likes of Microsoft xCloud and even older platforms like NVIDIA GeForce Now, it almost sounds like the industry is heading towards a cloud gaming streaming future. That definitely has its perks as well as its drawbacks but there is a sort of middle ground that's being pushed by Valve and now Samsung in theory, offers the benefits of playing PC games on any device, though with some of its caveats.

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The folks at Valve released new Valve Index VR headset kits today for immediate shipping in the USA. The Valve Index VR system was actually first released in late June, but "initial quantities were outpaced by demand." As Valve tells us today, "users were asked to reserve their hardware as new kits were in production." Today's the day when new kits begin to ship.

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Valve has announced the free availability of 'Proto Pass' for its Dota Underlords strategy battle game. The title was released for everyone across multiple platforms last month, offering a standalone version of the Dota 2 Auto Chess mod for desktop and mobile. In the most recent update on the game, Valve has released the 'Proto Pass' for current beta testers, giving them a chance to try -- and critique -- the game's own battle pass.

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