Campo Santo, the independent studio behind the award-winning adventure game Firewatch, isn't quite so indie now. The developer has been acquired by Valve, it's been announced. Fans of Campo Santo looking forward to their next game, In the Valley of Gods, don't need to worry, as the developer will continue working on the title as a team under Valve, and won't be moved to other projects.
Today, perhaps prompted by ongoing concerns about data privacy online, Valve announced a new privacy update for Steam. This update is a fairly far-reaching one that aims to give users more control over their profiles. As Steam profiles contain a wealth of information on users, such as their entire game libraries, total play time for each title, and the achievements they've earned, these new features will probably be welcomed by more than a few.
Steam Machines have failed, at least commercially. There’s hardly any argument there. Even Valve itself admits as much. Valve, however, would not concede defeat and promises to remain committed to pushing Linux gaming forward. Some might see it as simple lip service to calm SteamOS fans. Others might see it as a pointless endeavor and business suicide. And yet, if Valve’s dreams are to become reality, it really doesn’t have much choice to stick to its Linux guns for the long term and these are the reasons why.
Earlier this week, we ushered in the month of April by discovering that Valve had removed mention of Steam Machines - pre-built PCs that run SteamOS - from its hardware listings on Steam's main page. Many people, including me, took this to mean that Valve was moving away from Steam Machines, which haven't been heavily promoted for a couple of years now. Today, Valve spoke out about why it removed the PCs from Steam's main store page, and what that means for other products like SteamOS.
Two days ago, Valve removed any trace of Steam Machines from its store. If it weren’t for the media coverage, people might not have even remembered they still existed. Except for the hardest core of PC gamers, most have probably presumed Valve’s overnight sensation to have been long gone. And now, it really is. What was first seen as the revolution of PC gaming has now become almost an embarrassing footnote in gaming history. What happened and why did Valve fail so miserably? It all boils down to trying to hit too many birds with just one stone.
Today we're taking a look at the first round of HTC VIVE Pro reviews from a variety of publications. What we've found is a whole lot of "this is very expensive" and "not for the average user" - which is pretty much what we could have safely assumed would be said. What's not so obvious is judgement on the intended audience - on who HTC assumed would be buying this device in the first place. We're looking at everything.
There was a time not too long ago when Steam Machines were an exciting component of Valve's emerging hardware business. Acting as a vehicle for SteamOS, the idea was that Steam Machines would make the process of buying PC hardware a lot more straightforward some folks, while at the same time giving PC gamers more options besides just Windows. While SteamOS has been seeing consistent - if not always visible - improvement over the last few years, the market for Steam Machines seems to have stagnated.
Apple did not invest in an OLED specialist making microdisplays for wearables, the company has said, despite reports suggesting the Cupertino firm might be shoring up its smart glasses supply chain. Emagin makes OLED microdisplays with particularly high resolution and which, though little use to the naked eye, when combined with magnifying optics could be ideal for wearable displays.
![Emagin OLED microdisplay tech receives investment from Apple, LG, Valve [Update]](https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/emagin-display-comparison1.jpg)
While not a household name in the OLED sector, the company Emagin seems to have gotten the attention of several tech giants with VR and AR plans in the works. Emagin produces OLED microdisplays that have been used in the military, medical, and industrial fields, but they've begun targeting their technology at the growing market for consumer headsets. According to new SEC documents, Emagin is now getting investments from the likes of Apple, LG, and Valve.
Bitcoin has been dominating the news a lot lately, thanks mostly the the extreme fluctuations it's been making in value. Just before we entered December, Bitcoin climbed to $10,000 - an all-time high on that day - and now, just six days into the new month, Bitcoin has surpassed $13,000. Bitcoin has had something of a volatile rise throughout the latter half of 2017, and now that's making some people, and companies, a little frustrated.
Portal is one of the most famous video game series around, as most Valve franchises tend to become. If you're building a new PC and you're asking your friends for game recommendations, chances are high-to-certain that Portal and its sequel will be near or at the top of the everyone's list. There's only one problem: Portal 2 came out way back in 2011, leaving players without a new Portal game for the past six years.
It's been quite some time since we heard of a big update for Team Fortress 2, but what Valve's revealing today may just be worth that wait. Valve has revealed a new update for the insanely popular multiplayer shooter called Jungle Inferno. As you might imagine from the name, this new update is going to whisk you away to the jungle with a new map to play on.