During a public panel, Valve audio designer Mike Morasky was recorded saying the internal codename 'HLX,' widely believed to refer to a next Half-Life project, prompting a joking reaction from colleague David Feise. The remark follows a year of unfulfilled predictions, including claims that Half-Life 3 would launch alongside Valve's Steam Machine, which did not materialize. Valve watcher Tyler McVicker now says he doesn't expect an announcement this year, though he notes increased internal coding activity at Valve.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-23
Valve composer Mike Morasky referred to a project codenamed HLX during a Q&A at GameSoundCon 2026, marking the first public mention of the codename, which has existed in Valve's code since early 2024. Morasky noted that HLX, like Deadlock, has a custom HDR implementation, and a colleague's reaction suggested the reference wasn't intended to be public.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-23
A July 2026 Reddit report suggested Valve was discontinuing OEM batteries for the original Steam Deck LCD, after an iFixit staffer said Valve was 'sunsetting' the parts. Valve subsequently confirmed it would keep supplying batteries, though the replacement price rose from $80 to $130, while iFixit now sells an aftermarket version for $80. Other components, like thumbsticks, SSD and fans, remain relatively easy to self-repair, but Valve has made no long-term commitments on parts such as the screen.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-20
During the current Steam Next Fest, players have noticed a sharp rise in demos featuring AI-generated art or code, prompting complaints on Reddit. One user, ScalesGhost, asked Valve to let players filter out games disclosed as containing AI-generated content and exclude specific tags like 'Incremental Games' from the Discovery Queue. Other users, including EmmaBooney and aesoprowwy, said the flood of 'AI slop' has made it harder to find human-made games and hope for lower engagement on such titles.
ign.com
· 2026-10-20
Valve's newest Steam Client Beta update converts the main Linux client binary from 32-bit to 64-bit, matching components like steamwebhelper that were already 64-bit. Linux users will still need some 32-bit libraries and graphics drivers, as Valve says pure 64-bit-only Linux distros aren't yet supported. The update also introduces the Steam Runtime container for consistency across distros and a new Steam Achievement Sets feature already live in games like Left 4 Dead 2 and Portal 2.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-19
Storage drives often display less capacity in an operating system than their advertised size, with one tested 512GB drive registering just 477GB accessible in Windows. The roughly 35GB gap mainly stems from differing methods manufacturers and operating systems use to calculate data size, rather than deliberate shortchanging. In some cases, pre-installed software also claims a portion of a device's total storage before a user ever touches it.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-18
Valve has launched a Steam Client beta for Linux that runs on 64-bit architecture inside a containerized Steam Runtime, though 32-bit libraries and graphics drivers are still required since fully 64-bit-only systems aren't supported. The beta requires Linux kernel 5.6 or newer and glibc 2.31 or newer, and also introduces Steam Achievement Sets, letting developers group achievements for base games, DLC and seasonal content without resetting players' prior completion progress.
linux.slashdot.org
· 2026-10-16
Steam has introduced a beta feature called Achievement Sets that groups achievements into defined collections, distinguishing base-game trophies from DLC-related ones. Base sets appear in blue and DLC sets in purple, with DLC achievements excluded from overall completion tracking until a player owns that content, and a game's 100 percent progress stays locked in even if developers add achievements later. The achievements page has also been redesigned to show set progress and let users compare stats with up to three friends.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-16
Valve has launched a new Steam feature called achievement sets, which lets developers organize a game's achievements into separate groups covering the base game, DLCs, or limited-time seasonal content. Each set gets its own progress bar and a 'set complete' trophy shown on a player's profile, and Valve has also redesigned the Steam Achievements page to summarize overall and per-set progress. The feature is currently available in the latest Steam client beta, with titles like Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Forza Horizon 5 and Crusader Kings III already supporting it.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-15
A day after Epic Games launched a preview of its new 'vibe-coded' launcher touting faster load times than Steam, Valve shipped a small Steam update that cut cold-boot time to about 5.23 seconds, edging out Epic's roughly 5.47 seconds. Epic's launcher still posts a slightly quicker tray-restore time, but Steam now leads on the core startup metric Epic had used to market its new client.
respawnfirst.com
· 2026-10-15
Valve has stopped making its original Index VR headset and is clearing remaining stock at a 20% discount, including accessories like the tether, base station and controller. A full set of individual components now totals $741, down from $926, though the bundled package is no longer sold. The move comes shortly after Valve launched the Index's successor, the Steam Frame, starting at $1,060.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-15
Epic Games has released a public preview of a rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, saying it was built largely through AI-assisted 'vibe coding' rather than traditional programming. Epic Games Store GM Martin Keely told press the team rewrote the launcher from scratch in a new tech stack, using AI to replicate existing functionality while adding Windows, Mac and upcoming Linux support. Epic and outlet testing found the new launcher starts up a few seconds faster than Steam, though a claimed 0.06-second advantage in restoring from the system tray was negligible.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-14
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