Steam, Valve’s popular gaming platform and digital marketplace, has reportedly crossed a new milestone. SteamDB reported a new all-time peak of 25,418,674 million users roughly 20 hours ago. Valve has yet to officially confirm the figure though the database has a pretty good track record thus far.

This year has seen especially large gains in concurrent users due to the COVID-19 pandemic. March 2020 saw more than 23 million users on Steam concurrently and it’s only gone up since then. This doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is currently in a game though – some could simply browsing the service or have it on in the background.

Official numbers on the average number of monthly users should be coming later this month so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can check out the top grossing and most played games on Steam in 2020. Unsurprisingly, the list includes the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 (which had over one million concurrent users around launch time), DOOM Eternal, Among Us, and Grand Theft Auto 5.

It’s always interesting to get the perspective of Valve Software when a new console generation is on the horizon. The developer, which recently launched Half-Life: Alyx for VR and is still going strong with Dota 2, is primarily known for PC development. But how does its co-founder and current boss Gabe Newell feel about the Xbox Series X and PS5?

In an interview with New Zealand’s The Project, Newell was asked which console he thought was better. “The Xbox.” But why? “Because it’s better!” Newell went into a bit more detail and stated, “I don’t have a stake in that race. Obviously, we do most of our development on personal computers. But of the two, I would definitely go with an Xbox [Series X].”

It could be personal preference, being impressed with the slate of games coming to Xbox Series X or arbitrarily choosing one over the other. Considering it’s Gabe Newell, the man who teased fans for years over the existence of Half-Life 3 (which caused such furor that he resorted to outright denying its development thereafter), we may never know. Either way, it’s good to see Newell doing well especially since being grounded in New Zealand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Xbox Series X and PS5 both release this holiday season. While Sony hasn’t provided a release date for its console, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that the Xbox Series X would launch in November. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months as always.

Valve Software may have returned to the Half-Life franchise with this year’s Half-Life: Alyx. However, in the years between it and Half-Life 2: Episode 2’s release, it cancelled Half-Life 3 and two other VR-based projects for the franchise. This was revealed in The Final Hours of Half-Life: Alyx, an interactive book available on Steam by Geoff Keighley.

Half-Life 3 was being developed on the Source 2 engine with plans for procedural generation mixed with hand-crafted story beats (thus increasing replay value). Despite even scanning Frank Sheldon, whose likeness is used for G-Man, Source 2 still being in the works led to the game’s cancellation. The two other VR_based projects, codenamed Shooter and Borealis, were also interesting. The former was more about compact fights and would have been included with The Lab before being cancelled.

Borealis, on the other hand, would have focused on the mysterious ship from Half-Life 2 and taken place throughout the Seven Hour War, and before Half-Life 2: Episode 2. It was being led by writer Marc Laidlaw but was also cancelled. Interestingly enough, even Left 4 Dead 3 was planned at some point and would have been an open world title in Morocco. Again, due to Source 2 still being in development, the use of “hundreds of zombies” simply wasn’t possible.

It’s well worth checking out the entire book on Steam to learn more about other Valve projects through the years. What does the future hold though, especially with the success of Half-Life: Alyx? Stay tuned for more details.

Dota 2’s hugely popular esports event The International won’t be taking place this year. However, there’s still a Battle Pass for players to invest in, which is now available for $10. That’s for the base version though – a level 50 Battle Pass will cost $30 while the level 100 Battle Pass costs $45.

In terms of rewards, there’s quite a lot to reap. Guilds have been introduced which allows players to group up together and earn bonuses (with Battle Pass owners being capable of creating a Guild). There are also daily contracts and weekly challenges to complete. Cavern Crawl returns with a new two-parter, Nightsilver and Foulfell, each offering items sets and Battle Points.

Valve is also touting a new “four-player maze of madness and mayhem” as part of this Summer’s event so stay tuned for more details on that. There’s also the Battle Gauntlet which challenges players to win three games in a row (before they lose two in a row). This grants a Battle Tier upgrade, 1500 Battle Points and much more for those who are feeling lucky. A percentage of Battle Pass sales will go towards the prize pool for The International 11 taking place in 2021.

Valve Software has announced that the workshop tools for Half-Life: Alyx are now live. Steam Workshop support for mods is also available so creators can upload the same and share them easily. What kinds of tools are we talking though? First up is Hammer, the Source 2 level editor which should help in making new environments.

Material Editor for creating and tuning materials, ModelDoc for viewing and compiling models with various attributes, and animation tool AnimGraph have also been added. You can also create new particle effects with Particle Editor or use Subrect Editor for “hotspots” which are smart texture sheets. All of this and you also get Source Filmmaker for animating and cinematic rendering.

If you’re having trouble getting off the ground, then there are a few sample maps included, showcasing how hotspots, meshes and so on have been utilized. Further documentation is in the works and creators can also expect more tools to be added overtime. Stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for more information.

SuperData’s report on worldwide digital game sales in March 2020 has been released and it’s revealed some rather interesting numbers about last month’s biggest releases. Key among them is id Software’s DOOM Eternal which managed to sell 3 million digital units, over three times that of DOOM (2016) which sold 957,000 units.

It’s not surprising considering the hype around the game and positive reviews before launch. That being said, SuperData believes there may be a shorter revenue tail due to it being a primarily single-player game as opposed to having microtransactions like multiplayer titles. Half-Life: Alyx is even more interesting, however.

The VR title had 860,000 players last month but the revenue from direct purchases totaled $40.7 million. This is primarily due to the title being provided for free to those who purchased the Valve Index. Of course, the limited install base of VR headsets, especially on PC, also contributed to the sales numbers. Valve is still looking to support the game with its level editor and mods so it should have a thriving community around it for some time to come.

Valve Software has released a new update for Half-Life: Alyx which fixes a myriad of different issues. Along with the standard crash fixes, update 1.2.1 also fixes problems that can occur when carrying contained objects. So if you’ve had problems with, say, any objects in boxes, this should fix that.

Hand orientation, along with missing haptic feedback, on Windows MR and Vive systems has also been fixed. Those experiencing issues with controllers that don’t support skeletal hand animation should also see improvements. Check out the updates notes below for more detail on other fixes.

Half-Life: Alyx is currently available for PC but can only be played with a VR-compatible headset. You can read our review for the game here. Those looking forward to more content won’t have to wait too long – Valve is currently focused on the game’s level editor and should provide more information on it soon. Stay tuned in the meantime for further updates.

Half-Life: Alyx Update 1.2.1

Changes:

• Fixes for issues with carrying contained objects (e.g. objects in a crate).
• Fix for hand orientation on Windows MR and Vive systems.
• Fixes some missing haptic feedback on Windows MR and Vive systems.
• Fix for controller systems that don’t have support for skeletal hand animation.
• Fix for exhausting GPU memory on Proton.
• Fixes several crashes.
• Fix for not properly falling back to English subtitles when selecting a language in Steam that is unsupported by Half-Life: Alyx.
• Improved rendering of Japanese narrow subtitles.
• Fixed a regression which rendered an empty subtitle panel even if the subtitles were only visible in the spectator window.
• Localization improvements in multiple supported languages.

Voice actor Rick May, known for his role as Team Fortress 2’s Soldier and for playing Peppy in Star Fox 64, has passed away. May suffered a stroke this past February and contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus while in rehabilitation. He would pass away from the disease at the age of 79 years.

The Rekindle School reported on May’s passing here, though access to the site is currently limited. May was a teacher at the school and along with being a voice actor, worked at the Renton Civic Theater and Civic Light Opera. He also appeared in a number of different shows like Death of a Salesman, Fiddler on the Roof and so on.

Though May is most iconic for his role as the Soldier in Valve’s team-based shooter, he’s also known for the “Do a barrel roll” line from Star Fox 64 (and voicing Andross as well). Other credits include Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves and Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. Our condolences go out to his family and friends who are coping with this tragic loss.

Many of the puzzles in Half-Life: Alyx require your multi-tool. Since some puzzles can unlock things like the Combine Fabricator and can be attempted over and over again, there’s plenty of reason to stop and complete them. Let’s go over each puzzle type and how you should go about solving them. Some tend to be randomized so keep that in mind if you’re looking for 1:1 solutions.

Let’s start off with rewiring. Many times you’ll find that something requires power. The easiest way to fix this is to find an electrical source – be it a button or panel – and bring your multi-tool over it. You’ll see the wires glow – follow the glowing with your multi-tool. Eventually you’ll come across certain intersections which need to be rotated to reconnect the power flow. Do this by pressing Trigger on the multi-tool. Keep following the path for additional intersections and eventually, power should be restored.

Next up are puzzles that require matching different shapes. You do this by moving a glowing sphere around. It’s pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Sometimes the orb has to be shifted to allow certain markers to connect but that’s pretty much it.

Laser webs will likely be an annoyance for some players. Essentially, it involves grabbing some white orbs with the multi-tool and moving them around till you can align the red laser with the red orbs (the laser will turn blue when this happen). You need to make sure that the laser is passing through each red orb to complete the puzzle.

A variation of this puzzle is having a laser align with a red orb after it passes through some tubes. The tubes are essentially part of this giant sphere. You have to rotate the sphere in such a way that the laser moves through the entry tube and passes through the exit tube. You’ll need to carefully manipulate the sphere to accomplish this.

Disarming trip-mines is nothing new for Half-Life players but instead of shooting or throwing objects to detonate them, you can actually disarm the explosive. Get close enough to a laser trip-mine with your multi-tool – you’ll essentially have to guide an orb through some hoops while avoiding red particles. Failing this won’t detonate the trip-mine but make sure that you don’t accidentally nudge the laser with your arm or anything.

Finally, there’s a strange puzzle that involves grabbing a key and guiding them to other similar keys while avoiding these red particles moving about. Your multi-tool will move the keys while your free hand rotates the sphere that the entire puzzle is encased in. If you move the multi-tool away from a key, then any red particles that are passing by won’t trip it.

While the puzzle itself is straightforward enough, you need to be careful not to touch the red particles or the trails they’ll leave behind (which comes up in later variations). This will cause you to restart the whole thing. Carefully move the keys and remove your multi-tool as necessary to complete the puzzle.

How to Solve the Quarantine Zone’s Button Puzzle

Of course, we can’t mention puzzles without talking about the one that comes up in the beginning of Chapter 2: The Quarantine Zone. You’ll come across a box with four rows of four buttons each. Pressing the correct set of buttons allows you to advance forward – you just need to figure out the correct combination.

If you look around, you’ll see some artwork on the walls along with solutions to the box. To find the correct one, look for a cage with cardboard in it. There was cardboard floating about earlier – open the cage and this cardboard will also float. However, it will eventually form a mysterious shape.

Look for a ramp near the cage and stand on it. You’ll see that the cardboard has formed an eye. Look through the eye and you’ll find the solution – the third button in the top row and the second button in the bottom row. Go back to the box, press those buttons and voila.

Unlike previous Half-Life titles, Half-Life: Alyx allows for upgrading one’s current arsenal. There are a few catches though – you need to spend resin and use a Combine Fabricator for the upgrades. So not only do you need to scan environments for resin but also solve puzzles with the multi-tool to unlock the Fabricator. Also keep in mind that you can’t backtrack to Fabricators so make super-sure before leaving one behind.

Let’s look at some of the upgrades you can get for each weapon throughout your time playing. The first is the pistol. Its upgrades include the following:

• Reflex Sight – Costs 10 resin. Display highlights targets.
• Burst Fire – Costs 20 resin. Allows for switching between single shot and three-round burst fire.
• Bullet Reservoir – Costs 30 resin. Hold 10 more bullets with a reservoir.
• Laser Sight – Costs 35 resin. Target foes more easily.

For the shotgun, which is great for taking down armored enemies and Headcrabs up close, you can unlock the following upgrades:

• Laser Sight – Costs 10 resin. Provides easier targeting.
• Double Shot – Costs 25 resin. Fire a second round right after the first.
• Autoloader – Costs 30 resin. Decreases reload time by adding a mechanical feeder.
• Grenade Launcher – Costs 40 resin. Attach and fire grenades.

The submachine upgrades are as follows:

• Reflex Sight – Costs 15 resin. Display highlights targets.
• Laser Sight – Costs 25 resin. Makes targeting foes easier.
• Extended Magazine – Costs 30 resin. Load multiple Power Cells (the weapon’s ammo type) into the SMG.

It’s worth knowing about the other weapons and items that Alyx will use, like grenades. There are two types – the Combine Grenade and Xen Grenade. The former works like a normal grenade. Arm it by tapping the button and throw it. The latter is an explosive orb which can be found from tentacles in certain areas of City 17. Upon grabbing it, activate and throw it. You can only carry up to two grenades at a time.

The Gravity Gloves have a multitude of uses, from picking items from afar to storing them inside. Then there’s the multi-tool which can be used to solve puzzles, rewire computers and get through Combine force-fields. Healing Syringes allow for healing on the go – simply activate and stab it into Alyx’s arm and you’re healed. A max of two can be stored at a time and they can’t be stored in the backpack. Keep an eye out for healing stations and use them whenever possible.