Ayaneo's $299 Next Lite is a Steam Deck rival that runs an unofficial copy of SteamOS

The Deck of Many Thingsis unlike anything that has come before in the history of Dungeons & Dragons — an elaborate boxed set with multiple components, all focused on bringing a beloved magical item to life. It’s a singular project thrust into a yawning portal in the seminal role-playing game’s release calendar; the next take on 5th edition isn’t due out until later this year. But it’s the wrong product delivered at the wrong time, cast off into hostile waters already churned by corporate controversy that looms over the entire franchise.

2024 has already proven to be a difficult year for layoffs. A handful of companies have been making job cuts in recent weeks, bringing uncertainty for workers across industries.

Koji Kondo, the Nintendo composer and sound director best known for his work on The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. series, will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ (AIAS) Hall of Fame during the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards.

A bunch of companies in the technology sector have been laying off some of their employees recently after quickly ramping up hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic while people spent more time and money online. Now, many of them are making job cuts to help lower costs and bolster their bottom lines. Here's some of the companies that have laid of employees of late:

China's previously proposed gaming restrictions seem to have been scrapped, potentially avoiding worldwide implications for tools that can encourage spending excessive time and money on games. 

Developers SimonCreative and Storia have announced roguelite strategy game Sakura and the Airyvixen for PC (Steam). It will launch in Q2 2024.

Motorola was acquired by Lenovo back in 2014 from Google, and since then, it has carved somewhat of a market for itself in this cutthroat space, but nothing too drastic. However, the company intends to change that and is betting on the future, believing that its smartphone brand can become the world’s third-biggest. In fact, one Lenovo executive is putting his paycheck on the line while boasting such claims.

What if I told you there was a fantasy farming sim steeped in Chinese mythology that marries the chill, cozy vibes of Stardew Valley et al. with RPG features like "epic battles" and companions?

Folks, I have seen some games like Hollow Knight in my day. Until this afternoon, I would've told you that the iconic Metroidvania's closest relative is probably Crowsworn, which proudly blends Hollow Knight's style with action games like Devil May Cry to make something that appears meaningfully different. But Crowsworn has now been dethroned by Deviator, a 2D Metroidvania that looks so uncannily similar that I genuinely thought we'd gotten new Hollow Knight Silksong screenshots for a split-second. 

Publisher Spike Chunsoft and developer MAGES. will release the PC versions of romance visual novels Memories Off, Memories Off 2nd, Omoide Ni Kawaru Kimi Memories Off, Memories Off Sorekara, Memories Off #5 Togireta Film, Memories Off6 T-wave, and Memories Off Yubikiri No Kioku via Steam in Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese, the companies announced. Release dates were not announced.

There’s some wild rumors out this early that claim to know the specs of the Steam Deck 2.

Desktop processors powered by AMD's Zen 5 CPU microarchitecture are already in production, according to rumors. These so-called Granite Ridge chips, which may carry the Ryzen 9000 branding, could arrive in just a few months, if industry leakers are to be believed.