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Valve's beta version of Left 4 Dead 2 has graduated to become it plain old regular version. Yesterday's update brought the official launch of the co-op shooter's Linux version and the Extended Mutation System that lets modders create complex new modes.
Valve has opened up the current version of its Source engine to modders, bringing several shiny new features to play with. Chief among these are native support for the famed Oculus Rift cybergoggles, and the ability to create Mac and Linux versions of Source mods.
Valve announced today that the Steam Trading Cards system will be coming out of beta this Wednesday, with a large new batch of cards.
Surgeon Simulator 2013 adds free Team Fortress 2 content today.
Lines of code in the latest Steam beta seem to indicate plans to let you share games with other users.
Though many of us have played hundreds and hundreds of hours of Dota 2, it still isn't officially out. It's technically in closed beta, see, though we all surely have enough spare invites by now to invite everyone we've ever known. That should finally change this summer, as Valve has said it'll launch its free-to-play Lords Management game "free for everyone" before its big tournament The International 3 begins on August 7.
"No one cares about Team Fortress 2 since it became all about hats," an unpleasant caricature I've created for rhetorical effect snorts. Well, someone must, as Valve has now paid over $10 million to folks who've created items for sale in the free-to-play shooter's store. Yes, that's after its cut too. Lots of money. Lots of hats.
The PlayStation 3 is getting another piece of Move-enabled Portal 2 DLC, this time centered around co-op. It's a free update for owners of the "In Motion" pack, and both the game and DLC are on sale.
Valve has shed a little light on Dota 2's mysterious player reporting system, and apparently it's been rather effective. 60% of players who've been abusive enough for Valve to temporarily revoke their communication privileges actually see the error of their ways, or at least pretend they do, and don't go on to get banned again. Taming awful e-people, one muting at a time.
As someone reading this on the Internet, you know that people on the Internet are often awful. Doubly so if they're playing a video game. To help weed out horrors, Valve is playing with a community self-policing scheme for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It sounds similar to the Tribunal in Riot's League of Legends, presenting players with "cases" of others who've been reported and asking them to make judgements.
