Just in case you hadn't heard, Valve's super-secret game has leaked multiple times over the past few weeks, since basically anyone can jump in and play the hero shooter. Over the past weekend though, Valve finally announced Deadlock, the worst-kept secret in gaming, and the shooter instantly soared to over 62,000 concurrent PC players.

Content creators have now been trying out Deadlock after its announcement, and among them is Shroud, just about one of the biggest shooter streamers in the world. In the clip below, taken from a recent broadcast, Shroud is full of praise for Valve's new game, predicting that Deadlock is "going to easily take over... it's the first arena/shooter/MOBA that actually is good."

Slight hyperbole aside, Shroud sure has a lot of love for Deadlock, and the full game isn't even out yet - at the time of writing, it's still very much in development at Valve. Additionally, in the second clip below, Shroud deems Deadlock to be the "best third-person shooter I've ever played," adding that "the game is gonna be absolutely addicting."

Again, slight misuse of the word "addicting" aside, the streamer has nothing but praise for Deadlock. In fact, Shroud isn't the only content creator who things big things are coming for Valve's new game - in the clip below, YouTuber Average Jonas announces that he's stepping away from Valorant to focus on creating videos centering around Deadlock instead. 

In not-such-great news for Deadlock, it turns out Valve is actually breaking its own Steam store page rules with the new game, by omitting five in-game screenshots from its store page. Currently, Deadlock has precisely zero in-game screenshots on its store page, and only has a 20-second teaser video to offer those who are interested.

Take a look at our best shooters guide if you're after something ace to play while we wait for Deadlock's full launch. 

Baldur's Gate 3 panels have brought fans some unforgettable highlights, from sex with a bear to deep dives into Shadowheart's sass. Like all good things though, Larian's discussions are coming to an end - with a grand finale typical of the mastermind studio underway to close things off properly. In a post regarding the upcoming PAX West event, publishing director Michael "Cromwelp" Douse teases Larian's concluding panel.

"This’ll be a lively, cathartic panel," he writes, "and probably the last time you’ll see the guys talk about BG3's development." A bittersweet moment indeed - but that doesn't mean that it'll mark the end of Larian's brilliant work. Douse reveals that while the team will soon "close the book" on Baldur's Gate 3, developers will "put our heads down for what's next" afterward - perhaps the "two games" they've previously discussed.

That's not to say that Larian's finished with Baldur's Gate 3, either - the community has Patch 7 and all of its exciting additions to anticipate, including the RPG's official mod toolkit and some steamy updates to "the art of snogging." Besides, Patch 7 won't be the RPG's final update after all - so there's likely plenty of banter and blood to enjoy for months to come until the team finishes cooking its next two projects up.

Baldur's Gate 3 artist fondled a pack of Oreos to get the tentacle-stroking mind flayer sex scene just right: "Some things should probably stay behind the scenes"

In an interview on the Boss Rush network podcast, long-time Fallout producer Jeff Gardiner discusses how "RPGs live and die on story", explaining how a strong narrative can outrank frustrating mechanics. Gardiner, who spent more than a decade on Fallout across Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, says that that philosophy rang true across the games, but that he also "saw that in the Fallout TV show being super successful."

"That wasn't even because of the characters," he goes on, "because they didn't use canon characters, [...] but that setting and tone was enough connective tissue and glue for [director] Jonah Nolan and the showrunners to make an amazing series out of. And that speaks very well, because there was another movie released [recently], based on a more action-oriented game, which is a fantastic game - but man, that movie's being pilloried."

Given the timing of this interview, which dropped on YouTube last week, it's pretty clear that Gardiner is talking about the Borderlands movie. The movie had an opening weekend of just $8.8 million against a $110 million budget. Poor reviews meant that the movie remains the second worst-received film of the year, and the film is reportedly heading to streaming after just three weeks. 

Gardiner doesn't comment on the quality of the film himself but says that its failure means he's even more aware of the success of the Fallout TV show, which is now in the running for 17 Emmy Awards: "I was really honored that Fallout had done so well. I was nervous, because Fallout's a weird IP. If you don't know what's going on in that IP, it is super weird."

Gardiner also touches on the video game curse and the fact that until quite recently, "you've seen [game adaptations] done badly so many times, with people picking the wrong things to focus on, or not taking it seriously enough, or taking it too seriously. There's this real fine line where you're taking the content way too seriously and then it's not fun, not engaging. Or you're tongue-in-cheek the whole time, winking at the camera, and you think they didn't respect it."

The good news is that Gearbox has finally lifted the lid on Borderlands 4.

After weeks of not talking about Deadlock, despite it accruing concurrent players in the realm of tens of thousands, Valve finally announced Deadlock for real last week. As first noted by PC Gamer, the tweet below proclaims that Valve has violated the Steam store page rules - which it made up - by not submitting five in-game screenshots of Deadlock for its own store page. 

This is pretty funny, even if the Twitter user is "NOT LAUGHING," and even if the entire thing is technically accurate. "Screenshots are displayed on your store page, and on other pages where your game may be featured such as the Steam homepage. You must provide at least 5 screenshots of your product," Valve's own stipulation reads on the Steamworks documentation. 

Now, yes, it's worth pointing out that these rules technically apply for Steamworks partners. Is Valve actually a Steamworks partner, if it owns the entire platform? Well, it's also worth pointing out that Valve previously violated its own terms with an awards sticker on an image for The Orange Box, and summarily removed said awards sticker for violating the rules.

This precedent, which Valve itself set, posits that Valve is technically a Steamworks partner, and therefore must abide by Steamworks' own rules. What's funny about this entire situation is that we're all relying on Valve to police, well, Valve.

At the time of writing, despite Deadlock's player base being "limited to friend invites via our playtesters," it's been able to rise to the highs of 64,000 concurrent players on Steam over just the last few days. Conversely, Sony's new Concord hasn't been to hit 700 concurrent players on PC at the same time, showing the highs and lows of live service games.

Take a look at our best MOBAs guide to see the all-time greats that Valve's brand new hero shooter is going up against. 

In a tweet over the weekend, Twitch streamer Aztecross alleged that "the boys and I just got banned on Halo Infinite for bagging." That suggestion prompted certain members of the community to reach out to long-time Halo senior community manager John Junyszek. Unfortunately for the streamer, the dev was having none of it.

"Yeah, that's not a thing," Junyszek responds, clarifying that the length of ban the group received - a 30-minute timeout - is something that "only happens after quitting multiple games in a short amount of time." To make Aztecross' claim even more unlikely, the dev says that you can only get a 30-minute matchmaking ban if you're already given - and waited through - a 10-minute timeout beforehand, "so that means there was likely a lot of quitting leading up to it."

This feels like a case of having all the receipts, but Aztecross was adamant that no one quit. They claim that four players were playing splitscreen on a (suffering) Xbox Series S, "and we didn't get a ban until after one of the games someone bagged and we bagged back. I bagged again in the second game to test and got an even longer timeout."

A point in Aztecross' favor is that his timeout was for "unsporting play," which Junyszek acknowledged could have been for a number of other offences, like betrayals or AFK detection. "Those are less likely to occur," he acknowledges "but could pop if you're horsing around with friends in splitscreen."

The exact reason for the two timeouts remains a mystery, but it's interesting to see Halo's community manager set the record straight - you're not getting a ban for bagging, uncouth as it might be.

Infinite has had a tricky life, but what are the best Halo games of all time?

This comes via TimeExtension, which asked an unnamed source who previously worked at Rockstar for clarification on references to GTA Tokyo that were found by data miners in December 2023 following the leak of GTA 5's source code. The source confirmed that Rockstar was indeed considering a GTA game based in Tokyo after Rockstar co-founder Sam Houser found himself visiting Japan frequently during GTA 3's promotional run. Ultimately, Rockstar decided it would be better to stick with what they know.

"He had just released GTA 3 back then and they were doing a lot of travel to Tokyo back then to promote the game," TimeExtension's source said. "It seemed like a cool, interesting city to do it in, but at the end of the day, it just came down to logistics. Getting the research team out there long enough to map the city and just the cultural satire in terms of what could possibly work in a fitting narrative way in that city. Making those things connect was a little tough and we thought it was just cooler to stick with the cities that were introduced in Grand Theft Auto 1."

Rockstar ended up releasing one of the best games ever made with GTA San Andreas in 2004, but I still can't help but wonder what could've been in a GTA Tokyo. We have the wonderful Yakuza series as a reference point for what an open-world game in Tokyo looks like when done right, but the two series really aren't all that comparable. Maybe one day. Maybe one day.

Meanwhile, we have GTA 6 on the way to take us back to the sun-soaked streets of Vice City.

Barone said as much in an interaction on Discord (thanks, Panedwards), revealing he's "been trying to" collaborate with Epic Games for Fortnite x Stardew Valley crossover content. Epic has yet to acknowledge Barone's request publicly, and as far as we know they haven't said anything to Barone privately either, but that hasn't stopped the Stardew creator from throwing out a few ideas.

"I want Pam in Fortnite," Barone said to Panedwards. "I'm open to doing a collab."

This might not need saying, but a crossover between these two certified giants of their respective genres would break the internet into a million pieces. It seems right now Barone is mostly interested in bringing Stardew Valley content to Fortnite instead of the other way around, but he also sounds fairly eager to just make something happen.

"It doesn't have to be Pam though," he added. "I would be open to anything. Abigail & Sebastian could be good. Stardrop or Joja Cola item? Galaxy sword or slingshot?"

Fortnite is of course the king of video game crossovers, featuring characters, items, skins, and events themed around hundreds of the most popular IP across games, movies, TV, comics, and music. A Stardew Valley collab would be a big one, for sure, but certainly nothing Epic isn't already used to.

In the meantime, here are some games like Stardew Valley we recommend for when you need a little extra chill in your life.

The latest volume, Powder Decima, tells two stories of brutal, bloody murder (of the kind to which Assassin's Creed fans are well accustomed). First there's 'Powder' by writer Fred Kennedy and artist Nick Marinkovich, creators of the Image Comics title Dead Roman, which tells the tale of two Assassins attacking a fleet of Templar ships. And then there's 'Decima' by longtime Marvel writer Ed Brisson and artist Chris Johnson, in which a young girl seeks to claim vengeance for her murdered family.

Here's a preview of both stories, Powder first, followed by Decima, along with the main cover for Assassin's Creed: Visionaries - Powder Decima #1 by Nick Marinkovich, as well as variants by Chris Johnson, Patrick Boutin Gagne, Moy R. Marco, and Eric Allard:

"In our first tale DECIMA, one bloody night, before recorded time, a young warrior watches as her family and the rest of their village are brutally slaughtered," reads the official solicitation text for Assassin's Creed: Visionaries - Powder Decima #1. "The only hope of saving her tribe is to pick up an ax, steel her nerves, and join the fray. DECIMA is a tale of loss, respect, and valor, stepping into the far reaches of human history, further than previously ventured in the Assassin's Creed universe. By writer ED BRISSON and artist CHRIS JOHNSON."

"Then in POWDER, the Templars expand their influence around the globe, while expanding their coffers at home, flooding China with opium," it continues. "And while the brotherhood is slow to act, a pair of Assassins from separate guilds sow chaos amid the Templar fleet. By writer FRED KENNEDY and artist NICK MARINKOVICH, the team behind the IMAGE COMICS hit series DEAD ROMAN!"

Assassin's Creed: Visionaries - Powder Decima #1 goes on sale October 2.

Each companion in The Veilguard has five abilities, but you can only select three of them to bring into combat at a time. Building your relationship with a given companion will increase your Relationship Level with them, and each level will get you a skill point that you can use to improve that companion's abilities. This info was all reported in a now sadly defunct Game Informer article, but you can still view an archived version thanks to the Wayback Machine.

Now BioWare has just updated the official Veilguard website with new companion profiles, each of which includes a brief bio, a full list of abilities, and a brief overview of that character's role in combat. Personally, it'll take a lot to keep me away from Taash, the Qunari dragon hunter, who both dual-wields axes and literally breathes fire. What better tool for a dragon hunter than that? 

• Harding
  • Harding's skills with the bow are unmatched - her arrows can stagger enemies and shred armor.
    • Seismic Shot
    • Heavy Draw
    • Shred
    • Adrenaline Rush
    • Soothing Potion
• Davrin
  • Fiercely loyal, Davrin brings his enemies down hard with a combination of mighty attacks, teaming with Assan to keep their companions out of danger.
    • Battle Cry
    • Death from Above
    • Heroic Strike
    • Assan Strike
    • In War, Victory
• Bellara
  • Bellara manipulates the Fade and uses electricity and control magic to support her Companions and diminish the powers of their foes.
    • Fade Bolts
    • Enfeebling Shot
    • Replenish
    • Time Slow
    • Galvanized Tear
• Taash
  • Blunt and straightforward, Taash is a mighty warrior, who wields dual-axes and breathes out flames, igniting enemies with draconic fury.
    • Fire Breath
    • Dragon's Roar
    • Dragonfire Strike
    • Spitfire
    • Fortune's Favor
• Lucanis
  • Lucanis stylishly deals necrotic damage in battle with his dual-daggers, whilst supporting his companions with potions and buffs.
    • Eviscerate
    • Abominate
    • Soothing Potion
    • Debilitate
    • Adrenaline Rush
• Emmrich
  • Emmrich summons forth spirits of the dead to both entangle and hinder his enemies and heal his companions.
    • Final Rites
    • Replenish
    • Entangling Spirits
    • The Bell Tolls
    • Time Slow
• Neve
  • Neve uses her talents as an ice mage to freeze and slow enemies, stopping them in their tracks.
    • Icebreaker
    • Blizzard
    • Glacial Pace
    • Time Slow
    • Replenish

BioWare noted that August 26 would be the kickoff of Companion Week for The Veilguard back when it revealed the promotional roadmap earlier in August. The week is just getting started, so it's safe to expect some more info drops on the game's companions in the days to come.

BioWare says it spent 200,000 hours testing Dragon Age: The Veilguard - and that's just for the RPG's PC version.

Ebenger, who worked as a cinematic designer on multiple Dragon Age and Mass Effect games and also handled cinematics in the likes of Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order – and is now, you guessed it, cinematic lead at Concord developer Firewalk – waded into some classic Developer Discussion earlier this month. Amidst a rash of anti-recycling asset naysayers seemingly spurred by the new Assassin's Creed having the audacity to reuse a fine jump animation which brings character and consistency to the series – but I digress – Ebenger said, in so many words, sequels rule. 

"I love working on a new project, but the sequel is when a team has its tech, people, and processes together and can make the game they really wanted to make the first time around," he said in a tweet. "Working on Mass Effect 2 hammered that home for me early in my career. Long live the second game!" 

From Ebenger's resumé, Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 are probably the strongest examples of sequels stealing the show. Dragon Age 2, to put it mildly, is more divisive, and I don't have time to put it any less mildly than that. Ebenger wasn't alone, either. Paul Marino, another Bioware cinematic vet, agreed with his post. Here's hoping Dragon Age: The Veilguard becomes the next sequel to point to. 

Fellow Mass Effect and Dragon Age veteran John Epler says people join BioWare "to build a story-focused, single-player RPG" - so we probably won't see a repeat of Anthem.