Apple has blocked the plans of the biggest distributor of PC-based video games to extend its reach into iPhones, according to the game distributor, a sign that Apple is serious about protecting its ability to take a cut of digital purchases made inside games on its mobile devices. Steam, the dominant online store for downloaded games played on Windows PCs, had planned to release a free mobile phone app called Steam Link so that gamers could continue playing on their mobile phones while away from their desktop machines.

Valve tried to appeal, but Apple would not allow the app on the App Store

Valve’s in-home streaming tech is proving to be its most forward-thinking development. First it helped kill off the company’s own short-lived Steam Machines, with the $50 Steam Link perfectly capable of putting PC gaming in your living room without the need for another high-end PC. And now it’s putting PC gaming...well, anywhere you’d like. But probably the bathroom, if I know people.

A video game allowing players to play as an "active shooter" is drawing backlash from parents.

Support is ending on January 1, 2019.

Late last month we were lucky enough to be included in a TestFlight beta of Valve’s upcoming Steam Link app, and I posted a hands-on preview which basically can be summed up as: “I simply cannot believe how good this works." Well, not long after Apple rejected the app, due to “business conflicts" which were not originally realized by the App Review team.

Over 60,000 Steam accounts were banned by Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) on Tuesday, July 17, marking the largest VAC wave in the platform’s history. But it was on Wednesday morning that the banhammer really started swinging,, with 28,411 accounts being banned throughout the day. It looks like the wave of bans has now started to slow down. But don’t think you’re in the clear yet as we’re not entirely sure what caused Valve to crack down on cheaters like this. It’s likely that the system identified a previously unknown cheat and banned all accounts associated with it.

More than 40,000 Steam users were banned the day after the Summer Sale last year, as Valve's Anti-Cheat system worked overtime. According to SteamDB (via PCGamesN), that figure was eclipsed by a margin yesterday when 61,488 rule-breaking accounts were reportedly shut down. Likewise, SteamDB reckons 28,407 accounts were shuttered on Wednesday—up from Monday and Tuesday's respective 1,274 and 1,202 haul.

Valve announced today that Artifact, the Dota 2-themed card game that gave Tim a splitting headache and an exhausted grin in March, is scheduled for release on November 28. Artifact will deliver "the deepest gameplay and highest fidelity experience ever in a fantasy card game," Valve promised. It will ship with more than 280 cards, and players will be able to buy and sell cards on the Steam Community Market. Mobile versions are planned for 2019, and the up-front purchase price will be $20.

Steam's dream of Linux-powered Steam gaming machines never came to fruition, but the company has returned to Linux by bringing Windows-based games to Linux with a software-only approach.

Valve talks to us about its reputation, and why they're finally in a place to make games again. It’s hard to go long on the internet without running into a ‘Half-Life 3 confirmed’ joke, the eternal meme as we collectively wait for the third installment of Valve’s legendary FPS series to materialize. And speaking to the development team of Valve’s next game, Artifact, at their office in Seattle last week, Valve clearly hasn’t missed those jokes either. “I think we're very aware of all the jokes because all of us lurk all the forums and share them around with each other,” says Jeep Barnett...

Valve’s Steam platform moderators will start responding to flagged posts on game discussion boards.

Somewhere deep inside Valve’s labyrinthine compound of Steam-sustaining tubes, wires, and pipes, somebody is thanking their lucky stars for Artem Moskowsky. The self-described “bug hunter” came across a glitch that allowed him to generate thousands of free keys for any game on Steam. A lesser person might have kept that knowledge to themselves. He reported it.

There I am, in bed about to fall asleep when my phone lights up as I forgot to put it on silent. Thankfully so, as it turns out Valve just expanded the Steam Play whitelist and that's always a bit exciting. What is the whitelist? These are titles that Valve are confident enough that work out of the box with no additional configuration required. You don't need to turn any extra options on, they should just be click and play like any other Linux game on Steam.

Valve has changed the way it shares revenue with developers on Steam—and it's good news for games that make a lot of money. Currently, revenue for Steam games is split 70/30 between the developer and Valve. But from now on, Valve will only take a 25% cut of any earnings over and above $10 million, and only 20% of earnings beyond $50 million. The first $10 million will still be split 70/30, and the change will impact any revenue earned after October 1 this year.

Valve has revealed that the Steam Winter Sale 2018 begins later today. Players will be able to purchase great titles that will be on sale for a limited time. In a post on its site, Valve has revealed that the Steam Winter sale 2018 will start on 20 December. In addition, Valve also revealed their annual Steam Awards, the 2018 nominees have been announced and voting begins today and lasts till 3 January 2019. The winners will be announced in February 2019.

Atlas has become one of the biggest disappointments of 2018, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. It has an abysmal rating on Steam and Valve are now refunding the game even if someone played it for more than two hours, which doesn't occur often. Atlas has been called a cheap reskin of ARK: Survival Evolved and it pretty much is just an asset flip by Grapeshot Games. The start is identical, UI looks just about the same and gameplay seems to be pasted from ARK.

Small developers are losing confidence that Valve is earning its 30% of Steam sales, according to a new survey. In 2017, 39% of developers agreed that Valve had earned its share, but that number has dropped to 11% in this year’s survey. Lars Doucet, who has run this survey for three years, is quick to note that these results are not scientific – but they do put numbers to issues developers have lately been in heated discussions over.

It became clear that Valve was going to have a hard time selling Artifact when fans were left disgruntled (to say the least) by the Dota card game’s reveal at The International 2017. Similar to Blizzard’s Diablo Immortal blunder at Blizzcon a couple months ago, Valve’s decision to try and monetize a $19.99 card game and ignore the demand to create sequels to their best-selling franchises Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and Portal isn’t paying off for the popular publisher.

We only have a month plus to the official release of the Mortal Kombat 11, the game is said to launch on the 23rd of April, 2019 and it will be available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While we take a sit back and wait for the MK11 to arrive, a batch of of hidden trophies for the game has recently appeared on Steam Database, apparently teasing the comeback of MKX's E-tron Black.