Today PC gaming super hero Valve released some details regarding the number of people who use its Steam service. Over the past 12 months, Steam has seen a 178% increase in users. This pushes the grand total of Steam gamers to over 30 million. Out of these 30 million, six million users log onto team each day.

Valve CEO Gabe Newell remarked about this years growth, saying: “Steam is on track to record the biggest year in its six year history. The year has marked major development advances to the platform with the introduction of support for Mac titles, the Steam Wallet and in-game item buying support, and more. We believe the growth in accounts, sales, and player numbers is completely tied to this work and we plan to continue to develop the platform to offer more marketing, sales, and design tools for developers and publishers of games and digital entertainment.” Read more… »

Who gets tired of shooting zombies?  No one, am I right?  Well to be honest zombie games are starting to become the new World War II setting of this generation in my opinion. Though  if you are still in need of extra zombie action then the best place still has to be the Left 4 Dead series of titles from the people’s developer, Valve.

Valve made us all aware recently that the new “The Sacrifice” DLC would be coming really soon.  Well they’ve gone and elaborated on “real soon”, turning it in to a firm date.  That being the 5th October.

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UPDATE: The comic has been released and can be found here.

Some of you may remember when I posted a little news item about Left 4 Dead getting a little back story courtesy of a four-part online graphic novel produced by Valve. Well, it just so happens that the first issue is scheduled to arrive today!

While it currently is not up on the Left 4 Dead blog just yet, Valve did post some pretty gnarly wallpapers based on the comic. As soon as the comic goes live, I’ll update this post with a link. Read more… »

Over the weekend Valve Software announced that it will release a second batch of DLC for its zombie apocalypse shooters Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. Dubbed “The Sacrifice,” this new bit of content tells the story of how one of the original L4D survivors (you know who I’m talking about if you played “The Passing”) bites the big one so his (or her…) friends can keep moving on. The cool thing is, when you play “The Sacrifice,” you get to choose which survivor takes the plunge for his/her homies. While it may not be cannon to the story, it does give you a chance to have some fun with your least favorite survivor (Francis… I’m looking at you).

The best news about this DLC is that it is coming to both L4D and L4D2. On top of that, the campaign No Mercy from L4D is officially being ported over to L4D2. That means you’ll be chainsawing Chargers on the Mercy Hospital rooftop, while trying to avoid being Jockeyed off the edges. Read more… »

While it has yet to be officially confirmed by Valve, Game Informer is reporting that the much anticipated first-person puzzler Portal 2 will hit stores on February 9, 2011. According to the magazine, which first revealed Portal 2 with it’s April 2010 cover story, this release date was confirmed by Valve employees at Gamescom 2010.

Apparently, Game Informer is also reporting that the new robo-buddy Wheatley, seen in the trailers, will be voiced by Stephen Merchant, best known for being the co-creator of The Office. Read more… »

Well, it seems to be that time again: summer. You know what I’m talking about; when the excitement of getting out of school and having no responsibilities wears off and all you’re left with is boredom and an empty wallet. Well, don’t fret. Your buddy Alex is here with the first piece in what I hope will be  a long series of articles listing free-to-play games that will help you pass the rest of the season.

I know what you’re thinking. “Free to play? There are tons of free to play games… and they all suck.” Well, lately there has been a major push from studios like Turbine Entertainment and Valve to get some AAA free-to-play games on the market. I’ve done my very best to ween out all the crap games so that you have a concise, organized list of decent titles that are actually worth your time. Read more… »

Remember way back in February, when my buddy Curtis told you about a new Worms titles coming to Steam? Well, today Team17 announced that Worms Reloaded will hit the digital distributor on August 26.

With the series spanning more than seventeen titles, a lot of you are probably wondering what’s so special about Reloaded. According to the press release, there will be: “over 60 single-player missions (including new Warzone Campaign and Bodycount Mode), a fully featured landscape creator, 45+ plus weapons spanning the entire Worms series and a huge currency based customization system – all wrapped up in HD quality visuals.” Read more… »

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, you know that everyone is raving about Alien Swarm; the free, 4 player, top-down, co-op shooter released by Valve on its Steam service.

Well, word got out that there are a few simple console commands that allow you to get down and dirty with the aliens by playing in first-person. Don’t believe me? See for your self. Read more… »

Today digital distributor Steam launched a new set of sales for no particular reason besides that it’s summer. Dubbed the “Perils of Summer” sale, Steam is offering a variety of publisher-specific discounts until July 4.

In addition to the publisher-specific deals, Steam is also offering a drastic discounts on select games (“up to 90% off regular prices.”) The catch is, every day, new games are going to be discounted, so refresh your Steam browser regularly.

To check out which games are on sale today, hit the jump. Read more… »

Did you play the first Kane & Lynch? I didn’t but I do remember, among other things we’re not going to bring up, the multiplayer being kind of a big deal. IO Interactive and Eidos (now Square Enix Europe) were really pushing the co-operative aspect.

Problem for PC gamers was, well, it kind of didn’t work. The broken multiplayer has led IO Interactive to explore other options and the apparent solution? To use Valve’s popular Steamworks platform.

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Today our good friends over at the KritzKast, a Team Fortress 2 centric podcast, let us know that they recently got a hold of TF2‘s co-creator and software developer Robin Walker. Robin was kind enough to answer some questions about the history, current and future development of TF2.

It is important to note that this interview was conducted before the release of Steam on OSX. Despite this, Robin’s answers are still insightful and entertaining. Even if you don’t play TF2 this interview grants gamers a glimpse into the life of a game developer and the choices they face. Read more… »

Today long time strategy guide producer Prima has launched a new method of distribution that revolves around Valve’s Steam service.

Gamers can now purchase game guides off of the Steam store and access them in-game via the Steam overlay. A major advantages of the digital guide format includes video walkthroughs, which are obviously not possible in print. Read more… »