Valve

Valve, best known for the Steam game distribution platform and Half-Life titles, has a rather unusual approach when it comes to hardware. At times it partners with hardware manufacturers and at times it makes its own. It has adopted the former strategy when it came to promoting its SteamVR virtual reality technology via HTC’s Vive platform. Soon, however, it might be switching gears and will be selling its a VR headset and controller pair under its own name, at least based on the latest photos to leak out to the press.

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There were whispers about it just last week but now it’s totally official. Steam Play, which was originally intended as a single-purchase system for buying games that run on Windows, Mac, and Linux, is taking cross-platform compatibility to the next level. Yes, Valve is now testing running Windows games on Steam on Linux. And, much to the satisfaction of Linux and open source advocates, it’s doing it the right way by building on and supporting initiatives that will benefit not just Steam but the entire Linux ecosystem as well.

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On Friday the world got an early peek at a Twitch-like live streaming platform from Valve. The site Steam.tv went live for a brief period of time, showcasing a stream from Valve's own annual Dota 2 tournament, The International 2018. Shortly after, the site was pulled and left with a blank page, although Valve has confirmed that the platform is real and was only made public by accident.

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Valve took quite a risk with its Steam Machines which, for the most part, are meant to run the Linux-based SteamOS. While highly praised by Linux gamers, the dearth of notable titles on the platform was almost like a death sentence to the PC-turned-console product. Valve, however, refused to throw in the towel and assured believers that it is still working on improving the situation. It turns out that its solution might involve finding a way to run Windows games on Linux Steam Machines.

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Valve is perhaps best known for the Steam PC gaming platform but for those old enough to remember, the company has also been making games. As if going back to its roots, Valve announced last year that it was making a new game, one that built on its existing franchise but something it has never tried before: a trading card game. That is Artifact and Valve’s first new game in five years will head to PCs in November and eventually to mobile as well.

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Today the Steam Chat system went live for the whole entire world, all at once. This system wasn't necessarily built specifically to destroy any other system for chat - like Discord, for example - but it might well put a dent in their usership. For Steam games anyway. This system was in play in Beta mode for quite a while and just went fully live just today.

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The current big challenge for virtual reality technology is to work in large rooms. The next dream for the future, however, is likely to be multi-room experiences, where users can wander between rooms or other connected spaces without issue. This is probably still a couple of years away, but HTC has shown off a small example of how it could work, with a demonstration featuring a Vive Pro, multiple base stations, and a beta of SteamVR 2.0.

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This week it's happened, a machine beat humans at a complex esports game, and we're all doomed. The game is Dota 2, and the machine goes by the name OpenAI Five. The machine is a set of five neural networks, and they've begun beating amateur human teams at Dota 2 without breaking too much of a digital sweat. In the near future, the machines will attempt to beat the real professionals.

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Back in 2016, Valve debuted its vertically oriented "Knuckles" controller for use with SteamVR. The device remains exclusive to developers, but a new EV2 model has just been unveiled with a number of refinements that translate to improved controls in a VR environment, including new sensors that detect finger movement and grip strength.

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With an ever-increasing number of games offered through Steam, Valve can sometimes have a tricky time with discovery. Highlighting new and updated games on Steam's homepage or encouraging players to look at their discovery queues are a couple of ways Valve has tried to get games in front of people who might be interested in playing them, but the company can always do more. This week, we're seeing Valve launch a new feature it calls Creator Homepages, which could help further fuel discovery.

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In keeping with the strict General Data Protection Regulation laid down by the European Union, Valve has rolled out a new data portal to Steam users that can only be described as "exhaustive." This portal puts pretty much every piece of information about your Steam account in one place, serving up boatloads of data you probably never even cared to look at in the first place. While some of this data was accessible in one way or another before GDPR became law, this new portal organizes it and makes it easier to find specific information.

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Apple has very strict rules for what apps are allowed on its iOS app store. One of those is that the app shouldn't offer its own marketplace, be it for other apps or even digital content. That is the reality that Amazon has faced with its Kindle app and that is the same reality Valve will now have to face. That is, if it wants its Steam Link game streaming app to be allowed back into the App Store for good.

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