Games: Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Again) and More

posted by Roy Schestowitz on May 08, 2024

• Apex Legends Upheaval update live with EOS Anti-Cheat breaking it on Steam Deck / Linux

  Respawn and EA have today released a major update for the popular battle royale shooter Apex Legends, which gives it an anti-cheat upgrade. Sadly it's causing issues for Steam Deck / Linux players.

• Humble Choice has Hi-Fi RUSH, Yakuza: Like a Dragon and a Humble Store Spring Sale

  The latest monthly Humble Choice bundle is up and it looks like another great package of games for you to get cheap.

• Steam / Steam Deck stable client update released fixing lots of bugs

  Valve have released the latest stable update to the Steam Client today for PC and Steam Deck, which fixes a whole lot of issues. This bundles up all the changes from many multiple Beta releases and there's a lot to go over. 

• Planetiles is a beautiful blend of Tetris and Dorfromantik

  Planetiles is an absolute puzzle gem from developer MythicOwl (Hexologic, Harmony's Odyssey) that gives you a wonderful blending of gameplay ideas from Tetris and Dorfromantik but on a mini-planetary scale. Note: key provided by Big Games Machine.

• Nerobi is a new gorgeous looking platforming adventure

  Hitting Early Access today is Nerobi, a gorgeous looking platforming adventure that blends in what the developer says are "several elements typical of a graphic adventure". It has a Native Linux version available. Definitely looks like something perhaps a bit special, with a really interesting art style that looks like it has pretty good production value here to stand out amongst the crowd.

• Microsoft closes Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin and others

  Well, this sure is a terrible time for the gaming industry isn't it. Now it's Microsoft turn again to close multiple studios. As first posted by IGN who managed to get a copy of an internal email sent by Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, the studios themselves have now confirmed it's all true across various posts on X (formerly Twitter).

• Ant colony RTS 'Empires of the Undergrowth' hits 1.0 in June

  I haven't played this for a while, but I remember it making my skin crawl. Damn bugs everywhere. Empires of the Undergrowth is a pretty great RTS that puts you in charge of an Ant colony. They've just announced the the big 1.0 release is finally coming as it's going to leave Early Access on June 7th.

• Pull off some slick moves in Lunar Lander Beyond on Steam Deck / Linux

  Back in late April, Lunar Lander Beyond was released by Dreams Uncorporated and Atari, as another classic remake built for new audiences.

• SteamVR Beta gets an SDL fix for Fedora Linux fans

  Valve seem to be actually cleaning up SteamVR on Linux a bit more recently, which is kind of exciting when it's been left rough for so long.

• With a few days to go Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy is fully funded on Kickstarter

  Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy is the next game from the ATOM RPG team, inspired by the classic Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and more. They plan full Native Linux support once again, as I covered about the game previously, and controller support eventually too so it should hopefully play well on Steam Deck.

• Playtron give a bit more detail on the Linux-based PlaytronOS and their plans

  So far, I've not been particularly impressed by Playtron and PlaytronOS, but I'm always keen to see more Linux-based systems and devices do well especially when they do have developers who know what they're doing. Now we have another trickle of info coming in about it.

• Hades II gets Steam Deck Verified and a surprise Early Access release

  If you're a game developer I hope you weren't planning to launch soon, as Hades II just sneakily dropped into Early Access on Steam. It's also Steam Deck Verified right away!