China seemingly drops proposed gaming restrictions that could have had worldwide implications for loot boxes, microtransactions and daily log-in bonuses

When Valve first announced The Steam Game Festival – the event which would eventually become Steam Next Fest – it was an answer to the damage wrought on exhibiting developers by the pandemic. Launched in June 2020, the Festival was billed to developers as "an opportunity to get early feedback from players and build an audience for future releases." That remains true today, even as Next Fest has grown into an industry-spanning event that Valve rolls out multiple times a year – but it's more true for some games than others.

OpenAI's Sam Altman said the United Arab Emirates could serve as the world's “regulatory sandbox” to test artificial intelligence technologies and later spearhead global rules limiting their use.

Grand Theft Auto VI is easily one of the more anticipated games in the marketplace. However, in the eyes of Lawrence Sullivan, so much attention is being paid to this game because of him. If you don’t recognize the name, Lawrence is better dubbed as the Florida Joker, a man with a variety of tattoos on their face and colorful hair. When Rockstar Games finally released their first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI to the public, one character had a striking resemblance to Lawrence, which sparked a series of demands from the individual. 

Paradox Interactive has tons in store for Crusader Kings III in 2024. A roadmap revealed earlier this week promises two expansions (one core, one major) for the game and more.

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox

The highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV has set the gaming world abuzz with its recent trailer, providing a glimpse into the chaos of Vice City and introducing two protagonists, Jason and Lucia. While the excitement around GTA 6 launch is palpable, the narrative details of the game remain shrouded in mystery, giving rise to numerous theories that attempt to decipher the storyline.

Terapagos has remained one of the most mysterious creatures introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, but a social media post from the Pokemon Company themselves provides some crucial lore details regarding the creature, seemingly confirming one popular theory among fans. As vital as Terapagos is within the world and story of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the games themselves did little to definitively explain the origins of the creature or why it hibernated within the deepest reaches of Area Zero.

Obsidian has confirmed that Avowed won't feature a traditional approval mechanic for its companions, meaning they won't abandon you if make the wrong decision. Sadly, it also seems to suggest that romances won't be a thing, either.

Early access survival game Enshrouded lets up to 16 players take part in a dedicated server at the same time, but those players are now discovering that if even a single one of them completes a quest objective, it completes for everyone - even if they're not actually online.

Sony’s latest PlayStation 5 system update appears to have blocked the controversial Cronus Zen device from working with the console.

An Enshrouded player has learned the hard way after three long hours of using a pickaxe to build a basement that there's another tool intended to do the same thing in much less time. 

Valve likely made over $1bn last year from loot boxes in Counter-Strike 2.