Gaming

Valve's Steam just set a new concurrent player record with over 42 million users (42,042,778 to be exact) logging into the platform on January 11, 2026. Breaking the previous record of 41.6 million set in October 2025, this new milestone isn't tied to any specific game release, so, outside of it occurring during the tail-end of the holiday season, it's indicative of Steam's continued growth as the premier PC gaming platform.

Naturally, the record was set over the weekend, when most gamers jump in to play. The latest figures and records come from SteamDB, which also showcased Steam's growing user base mapped over the past decade. The chart shows that Steam's popularity has effectively doubled since 2020, rising from around 20 million concurrent users to over 40 million.

According to the report, out of the over 42 million users logged into Steam, over 13 million were playing games at the time.

Intel launched its new Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" CPUs at CES 2026 last week, and it looks like the new Panther Lake-powered gaming handhelds should offer performance close to what we'll see out of Sony's next-gen PlayStation 6 handheld.

In a new post on X by leaker @Kepler_L2 who posted: "PTL handhelds might be a great ballpark estimate for how PS6 Handheld will perform/how PS5 games can be scaled down to very low TDP. Z2E is too slow and Strix Halo is too fast, but PTL @ 30W should be very similar to Canis @ 15W".

Panther Lake has a fantastic integrated GPU in the form of the Arc B390 with 12 Xe3 GPU cores that provides some great performance, a good chunk of CPU cores, and the NPU. In its handheld SKU form, we should expect Intel to cut the fat (NPU) and keep the gold (CPU + GPU) and then it can be fully unleashed for next-gen gaming handhelds.

Baldur's Gate 3 would have come to the Nintendo Switch 2 if it was up to Larian Studios, but that much-wanted port will not be happening, the developer has confirmed.

You may recall that rumors were swirling late last year about such a port for the Switch 2, and the topic came up in a Reddit 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) session, as Gamespot noticed.

As you can see in the thread above, Larian's founder and CEO Swen Vincke chimed in to say:

GameStop is officially closing as many as 400 retail locations across the United States, as part of the company's stringent cost-saving method.

A GameStop may be closing around you, with a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing revealing the company is anticipating the closure of a significant number of stores in fiscal 2025. The same filing revealed that GameStop would pay out GameStop's CEO, Ryan Cohen, up to $35 billion in stock options if he is able to increase the company's market cap to $100 billion.

The US isn't the only place GameStop intends to make physical store closures, with plans also in place to reduce physical stores in both Canada and European countries. Since the stock spike in 2021, GameStop has really struggled to adapt to the exponentially growing digital landscape for video game purchasing, with many gamers now turning to services such as Steam, Xbox Store, and the PlayStation Store over making a trip to a local GameStop.

Valve revealed the Steam Machine in November last year, with the announcement stating the new device was to arrive sometime in 2026.

One of the biggest points of the Steam Machine's unveiling video and following interviews Valve conducted with the press was affordability and ease of use. Valve hasn't officially said how much the Steam Machine will be, and since the unveiling speculation has been all over the place with some hoping for approximately $500, and others warning that it will be a $1,000+ PC/console.

The latest leaks come from Czech retailer Smarty.cz, which lists the 512GB Steam Machine model for about $950 and the 2TB model for $1,070. It should be noted these prices are estimations, and were conversions, which means US buyers from local retailers may not have to incur some taxes or trade tariffs.

Microsoft recently officially confirmed it will be hosting the Xbox Developer Direct 2026 on January 22 at 10 AM PT, where the company will showcase three titles.

However, Shinobi602, a prominent leaker with a healthy track record for predicting reveals, said in a post on the ResetEra board that Microsoft has a surprise reveal, a "secret fourth game". Shinobi602 was asked what the game is and the leaker said they aren't too excited about the title as it doesn't match their personal taste. Other than that, no information was given on the secret fourth game.

So far three games have been confirmed for the Xbox Developer Direct 2026, Forza Horizon 6 from Playground Games, which is certainly one to keep your eyes on after the developers said the open-world experience within Japan will "blow fans" away. Next is Fable, which Playground Games has been working on for seven years. Fable was originally meant to release in 2025, but was delayed to a 2026 release window, and some insiders have even said it could possibly slip into a 2027 release window.

Rockstar Games has confirmed in court proceedings that Grand Theft Auto 6 has leaked to the public three times, resulting in three separate instances of employees being let go from the developer.

Rockstar cited its zero tolerance policy it has in place against leaks, and pointed to three instances where suspected individuals were let go from the company over leaks. Notably, Rockstar wrote that it "dismissed a Rockstar employee in Lincoln, UK in April 2025, who it alleged disclosed confidential information about GTA 6 to a third party who published the information to social media."

Additionally, Rockstar pointed to one dismissed employee in the US in November 2023, and another in India in November 2025. The last instance was dismissed for two separate acts of information leaking. The confirmation from Rockstar about a UK employee being fired in April 2025 lines up with a leak from X user GameRoll, which listed a bunch of information in a lengthy X post about the game's use of weight mechanics, "relationship bar," different gameplay options between male and female characters, dual protagonist option, details about characters, and more.

IO Interactive's 007 First Light recently got delayed to May 27, 2026, which is why it's a little strange that we're getting PC system requirements for the game so far ahead of the game's launch. What's also strange is that the PC specifications for the game only include the Minimum and Recommended specs, both of which target 1080p.

The specs details have arrived at CES 2026, where the developers also announced that they are working closely with NVIDIA to bring the latest RTX technologies to the game, including DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation support. We're assuming this includes NVIDIA's new DLSS 4.5 update, also announced at CES, which improves image quality and detail, alongside the new Dynamic Frame Generation for the GeForce RTX 50 Series.

As for the game's recommended specs, targeting 1080p 60 FPS, IO Interactive recommends a GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, a Radeon RX 6700 XT, or an Intel Arc GPU with similar performance. Interestingly, the VRAM requirement is listed at 12GB even though the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is an 8GB GPU.

Rockstar is slated to release Grand Theft Auto 6 on November 19, 2026, but following past delays fears are swelling that Rockstar may decide to delay the title again for further polishing.

It seems that may be more of a reality than you might initially assume as Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has revealed the last time he heard about the game from internal sources it wasn't finished, specifically "content complete". The reporter went on to say, "That is to say people were still finishing things up, still finalizing levels, and missions, and seeing what is going to make it into the game."

It should be noted that Schreier said that "content complete" is typically reached after the game is "feature complete" as developers will want to be adding new pieces of content to the game even when it's going through the bug fixing part of the pipeline. Schreier commented on release date, and said, "hard to say" and that its unclear if it will hit its target release date of November this year.

GeForce NOW, NVIDIA's cloud gaming platform, reached a milestone last year with the introduction of new RTX Blackwell pods, supporting 5K 120 FPS gaming over the cloud. On top of that, it saw a long list of new games hit the service, as well as the ability for PC gamers to stream their own games from their Steam library.

At CES 2026, NVIDIA has a few small but very cool announcements for GeForce NOW, including native apps for Linux (via Ubuntu 24.04 and later) and Amazon Fire TV sticks. In addition to this, the company is also adding flight stick support for a select range of 'HOTAS' devices. And, we got to test this out by jumping into clouds of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, over the cloud.

A highly requested addition, and it's not hard to see why, as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a game that already streams in data over the cloud, and requires a pretty powerful GPU to run when connected to a high-end display.

Every year LG has a massive booth at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), as the company has many new products to showcase in various categories. This year, LG showcased the "Dream Setup" for gaming that had input from Reddit, and what they landed on was nothing short of a head turner.

The booth featured signage that stated Reddit gamers helped select the products that appeared in the setup from LG's catalogue, which was all detailed around the booth with individual product description cards. For example, LG went with an 83-inch LG OLED evo AI with a 4K resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate with VRR technology. The general aesthetic for the booth was "Ruined Castle," with the design leaning very close to being Elden Ring-themed.

Surrounding the incredible-looking TV was several gaming collectibles, including a statue. After spending some time at the setup I can say it was quite impressive, even the couches being a little bit lower than they should be made the setup feel roomy and comfortable. With the statues on the wall, lighting choices, and grey color aesthetic, the LG "Dream Setup" felt incredibly atmospheric, and is definitely something I would recommend you stop by and check out if you are CES 2026.

Blizzard might be ready to reveal a surprise new StarCraft project at this year's Blizzcon celebration.

Blizzard is reportedly working on a new third-person action shooter set in the StarCraft universe. The info was revealed as part of Jason Schreier's book on Blizzard's history, which said that the shooter had been greenlit at Blizzard. The game may end up being a high-profile AAA experience, as former Far Cry executive producer and creative director Dan Hay is said to be leading production.

Now there's another report from Windows Central that says this new mystery StarCraft shooter could be revealed at Blizzcon 2026 in September.

Fans of the Fable and Forza Horizon series won't want to miss the latest Developer Direct stream.

Today, Microsoft announced the next Xbox Developer Direct will stream on Thursday, January 22 at 1PM EST, with three games taking center stage. The first two are from the same developer, Playground Games, who have been working diligently on the new Fable successor for many years. New Fable gameplay will be shown at the event, alongside a promised look at some of the more dynamic features of the game, including choice and consequence.

The other games include the Tokyo-set Forza Horizon 6, which will also get a deep-dive as well as car reveals, and an extended look at Game Freak's surprising new action RPG, Beast of Reincarnation.

Your favorite South Park characters (or at least some of them) are coming to Fortnite imminently, and a trailer has just been released to confirm what was teased earlier this week.

As Polygon reports, Cartman, Kenny, Stan, Kyle, and Butters are set to star in Fortnite as part of the 'Born in Chaos' crossover event, with gamers able to take a trip to Cartmanland (and Towelie is in there too, as a sidekick apparently).

As you can see in the trailer above, the South Park characters will be in mech suits to make them full-sized rather than tiny kids running around.

Samsung has put out an earnings guidance that revealed it expects profits will surge in the last three months of 2025, as the company reports record high sales amid overbearing demand for memory.

Memory is currently being swallowed by AI companies outbidding consumer-facing companies that typically have less borrowing power due to how much volume they are requesting. Memory manufacturers, such as Samsung, have become necessary to continue the exponential development of artificial intelligence.

Samsung reports that it expects its profits will triple due to the crazed surge in memory prices over the lack of supply, with Counterpoint Research estimating that memory prices jumped between 40% and 50% during the last quarter of 2025.

ADATA had quite a lot to show off at CES 2026, and a few of the standout products was the new power bank that doubles as a portable storage device, and a microSDXC card that is ready for Switch 2 gaming.

The power bank that doubles as a storage solution is called the SR800, and it's designed to be compatible with USB-C devices, specifically smartphones. The drive features a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 interface capable of 20 Gbps with a Type-C connector. ADATA informed me the drive is capable of 2,000MB/s read and write, and will be arriving in 1TB and 2TB capacities. Additionally, the battery capacity is 5,000mAh, and is compatible with the iPhone 15 and later, Android, macOS, and Windows devices.

There is also wireless charging capabilities, with ADATA informing me the SR800 has a maximum wireless charging rate of 15W. Additionally, the maximum total output of the USB-C port is also 15W. As for the SDXC, ADATA stated its standard is SD7.1, and it will be arriving in the following capacities: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. With the SMI SM2708 controller, read and write speeds will hit 800/700MB/s, respectively. Furthermore, the microSDXC SD7.1 Express is also backward compatible with UHS-I hosts.

Microsoft has made a deal to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to more smart TV platforms, this time to newer Hisense television sets.

The Xbox app arrives on new Hisense TV models releasing in 2026, Microsoft has announced. Xbox cloud gaming will be offered via the app on a variety of Hisense and smart TVs that uses the V homeOS platform.

The news is yet another milestone in Microsoft's long-term commitment to bring its Xbox console games off-platform to other platforms, including mobile, PC, and directly to smart TV sets via the cloud. This plan could ultimately see Microsoft offering a free-to-stream version of Xbox cloud gaming supported financially by intermittent ad breaks. Reports indicate that a free ad-supported version of Xbox cloud gaming is currently being tested internally at Microsoft.

Bethesda is reaping the rewards of a potent transmedia effect with another season of the Fallout TV series, which is inspiring viewers to become active participants in the Fallout game world.

Season 2 of the Fallout TV show is here, and since its premiere, the series has become the #1 most-viewed program on Amazon Prime in the US. All signs show that Bethesda has pulled off a second successful round of the powerful transmedia strategy that it also used for season 1 of the Fallout TV show--a strong plan that led to Xbox games dominating on Sony's home turf of the PlayStation Store for a time.

Fallout games have seen high engagement on Steam since the release of season 2 of the TV series. According to data from SteamDB, games like Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout Shelter all had increases in concurrent players of over +100%. While it's hard to separate sales data from this mix--all of these games are old, and it's possible that a number of these players are simply revisiting the games and didn't actually buy a new copy--we can take a look at the Steam sales charts.

Wolfenstein 3 is currently in the works at MachineGames, sources tell both Kotaku and Windows Central.

Bethesda apparently wants to capture the potent transmedia effect that it's currently enjoying with its Fallout TV series and try to adapt that formula across its biggest franchises. One of these includes the grandfather of FPS games, Wolfenstein. New reports say that MachineGames, the current stewards of the franchise, are working on a new mainline chapter of the series to coincide with the upcoming Wolfenstein TV series from Amazon.

The news comes by way of both Kotaku and Windows Central, who have both heard that Wolfenstein 3 is happening. The update comes just months after MachineGames studio head Jerk Gustafsson said that he "hoped" the group would get to work on a new Wolfenstein game.

NVIDIA unveiled G-Sync Pulsar at CES 2026, a new gaming monitor technology that's touted to be able to take a 360Hz refresh rate display and make it feel like you are using a 1000Hz gaming monitor.

Being on the ground at CES 2026 gave me an opportunity to try out two of the Pulsar-ready monitors, which were from ASUS and MSI. Each of these test units was running Overwatch 2 in the firing range, and I was given several minutes on both units to try Pulsar enabled, versus disabled. At first, I didn't notice much difference, but then I noticed the image the display was producing was far clearer during movements that required fast motion of the in-game camera, such as swiping the mouse in a direction to hit a headshot.

This difference was immediate for me, especially after performing the exact same movement after switching Pulsar off. I wasn't able to determine a quality difference between the ASUS and MSI displays, which both performed extremely smoothly during my preliminary limited testing time. For those who don't know, NVIDIA's Pulsar technology is attempting to fix one of the biggest problems with gaming monitors, perceived blur caused by moving objects and a mismatch of the colors produced within frames.