https://web.archive.org/web/20230810213434/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/culture/research-indicates-china-s-playtime-limitations-are-ineffective-

Researchers studying China's restrictions on how long young players can play video games found "no credible evidence for overall reduction in the prevalence of heavy playtime."

As revealed in a new paper for Nature Human Behavior, the researchers studied 7 billion hours of playtime accrued in mainland China between mid-August 2019 and mid-January 2020. Limitations started for the region in late 2019, and later expanded to other parts of the country in mid-2021.

Under China's then-newly established law, players under the age of 18 were limited to an hour of playtime (from 8 PM-9 PM) on weekends and public holidays. Much as with regulating loot boxes, the aim with limiting play has been to curb video game addiction for younger players.

Playtime was classified via "heavy" or "non-heavy" groupings, with the former defined as playing for four or more hours a day and six (or more) days a week. Following the hour-long restrictions that started in 2021, the researchers found players would be more inclined for heavy play, and in fact had "significantly more hours" than prior to the adjustment.

In fact, in the 11-week span before and after adjustments, the odds of an individual player counting as a "heavy player" shot up from .44 percent to .59 percent. Further research showed that individuals were "more likely" to play heavily after the restrictions took place.

Do China's playtime limits actually matter?

Prior to the release of this paper, analytics firm Niko Partners suggested last year that the playtime limits would have a limited effect and were ultimately temporary. Player numbers in China dropped across various demographics, but Niko suggested that by 2026, those numbers would climb back up again.

This paper not only validates Niko's theory, it suggests that governmental bodies across may not fully know how to regulate the game industry the way they clearly seem to want to.

As far as why China's policy hasn't yielded many results, the paper speculated that the frequency of public holidays prior to the restrictions may have skewed the numbers. Another potential reason was that the playtime of adults ended up "masking" the playtime for minors.

Because age information of individual players wasn't given in their data set, it would be difficult to determine if heavy play from adults was hitting simultaneously as decreased play from minors. Future research, they said, must "focus on generating data infrastructure" that allows privacy while providing key demographic information.

In the end, the paper finds that China's policy (and similar ones on "youth digital behavior") was unable to change already established behaviors of young players. Even so, it thinks the data gathered can be used to study other regulatory game-related efforts around the world.

More broadly, it could prove as a guideline for "investigating how a broad range of regulatory measures may affect the technology sector." The full paper and other data points (and variables) can be read here.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230810182040/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxH61UshHk

https://web.archive.org/web/20230810181817/https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/quake-2-remaster-released-includes-quake-2-64-and-new-expansion

Surprising few but delighting many, id Software and Bethesda have released a Quake 2 remaster to inaugurate this year's Quakecon. An enhanced edition of the 1997 game, it includes the mission packs The Reckoning and Ground Zero alongside a PC version of Quake 2 on N64. All that for £8 or $10, plus a brand new expansion titled Call of the Machine, developed by Wolfenstein: The New Order studio MachineGames.

While not as beloved or enduring as its predecessor or successor, Quake 2 is one of the Grand Old Shooters. I recall being introduced to it at a covert LAN party in a school IT room, plonking myself down at a monitor and instantly being reduced to a fine red mist (and in the game, etc). The singleplayer campaign had you scrapping across a muddy alien world with shotgun and hyperblaster, with larger levels than in the original Quake, and missions where you'd use heads as keys.

The game has spawned many celebrated mods, ranging from cartoon lumberjack machinima to a mod in which all players and weapons are crates, with larger fan projects like Action Quake 2 attracting their own thriving communities. The Quake 2 engine is also the foundation for a bunch of commercial games, including Soldier of Fortune, and many Quake 2 modders have found their way into professional development.

New maps aside, the remaster brings 4K and widescreen resolution support, dynamic and coloured lighting, anti-aliasing and depth of field, together with enhanced models, enemy animations, gore effects, AI and cinematics. It also includes splitscreen multiplayer, on or offline bot support and crossplay. Find more in the patch notes on Steam.

The Reckoning and Ground Zero mission packs amount to 33 singleplayer levels and 21 multiplayer maps, while the brand-new Call of the Machine expansion consists of 28 new campaign levels, and one new multiplayer map. Here's the blurb for Call of the Machine: "In the depths of Strogg space lies the Machine, a singularity capable of collapsing the fabric of reality. Fight across time and space to find the Strogg-Maker, destroy it, and change the destiny of man and machine."

Fancy it? The remaster costs $9.99, €9.99 or £7.99, and you can find it on the Xbox Store or as part of the PC Game Pass. If you already own Quake 2 on Steam, however, you'll get all this as a free update, as was the case for 2021's Quake 1 remaster.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230810181420/https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/steam-players

Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently this year’s top-rated RPG game on Metacritic, and it’s not hard to discern why. Larian Studios spent years working to get the game out of early access, and its launch has proved more successful than anyone could have predicted. Baldur’s Gate 3 has not only taken over ratings and scores, though, as it’s absolutely soaring on Steam in terms of player count. Over the past weekend, the Dungeons & Dragons-like game accounted for almost a third of all Steam players.

As further detailed in our Baldur’s Gate 3 review, the DnD-inspired game has various fun role-playing features and no shortage of adventuring content to offer. From the extensive Baldur’s Gate 3 class choices to the vast amount of questlines to follow, you’ll never run out of things to do in-game.

Thanks to all of the game’s content and its sheer popularity, Circana’s Player Engagement Tracker has caught an interesting Steam statistic. Baldur’s Gate 3 players took up almost a third of Steam’s total player count over the weekend. “This past Sunday,” executive director Mat Piscatella wrote on Twitter, “Baldur’s Gate 3 play accounted for nearly 28% of total player time spent on Steam.”

He also stated that Baldur’s Gate 3 was “leading all other titles by far, including CSGO at 5%.” You can check out Piscatella’s post for a more in-depth look at the stats and his follow-up response where he clarifies that the tracker only applies to the United States. “Player Engagement Tracker is US only, and here we’re looking only at % of time played.”

I’m personally thrilled to see the game soaring on Steam, especially as Baldur’s Gate 3 is the best game of 2023 on Metacritic right now. Larian Studios’ recently launched game has even taken over the likes of Zelda, so you know it’s good.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230809222832/https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/best-pc-game

Baldur’s Gate 3 is my favorite RPG game of all time, and it’s only been out of early access for a few days. I haven’t slept for any of them. Larian Studios poured its heart and soul into the Dungeons & Dragons-style game, making Baldur’s Gate 3 one of the most immense releases of 2023 yet. It looks like I’m not the only player who feels so strongly about Baldur’s Gate 3, though, as it has just taken the number one spot as this year’s top-rated PC game on Metacritic.

As further detailed in our Baldur’s Gate 3 review, this D&D game is one of the best of its kind. From its quirky cast of characters (yes, Baldur’s Gate 3 romance is exceedingly fun) to its massive world, you’ll have a difficult time putting the game down or finding any shortage of content to play through. It looks like PC gamers all over the world would agree with this, judging by user scores across Metacritic.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is tied with Zelda for the top-rated spot across all platforms with a score of 96. However, if you look at just PC scores rather than including console, you’ll see that Larian Studios’ masterpiece is number one. It now stands with a score of 97, beating out Street Fighter 6 which has a Metascore of 92 itself. If it keeps soaring on the Steam charts, Baldur’s Gate 3 may actually end up the best game of the year on any platform, whether that be console or PC.

You can view the full list of 2023’s best games on Metacritic here for a more in-depth look at the scores. The second big post-launch Baldur’s Gate 3 patch also just dropped, which means Larian Studios is still hard at work on the game. As long as the content and fixes keep on coming, I personally don’t see this digital D&D icon slowing down any time soon.

I enjoy so many of the tabletop features Larian Studios implemented into its new game, like the dice rolling and the dungeon master-esque narration. The extensive Baldur’s Gate 3 class system is also, in my opinion, unrivaled by any other D&D PC game. Keep an eye on Metacritic’s overall scores for 2023, you may just see Baldur’s Gate 3 overtake Zelda and hold a top-rated spot in multiple categories.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230809222607/https://www.pcgamesn.com/octopath-traveler-2/denuvo

Octopatch Traveler is one of the most unique RPG game series to date with its whimsical pixel art and well-written cast of characters. The Octopath Traveler sequel was released earlier this year, taking fans of turn-based battle games by storm as it hit a perfect 10/10 rating on Steam. Despite its overwhelmingly positive reviews, some players have worried about the game’s integration of Denuvo, an anti-tamper and DRM system. Square Enix has now dropped the software from Octopath Traveler 2 on Steam.

When you check the game’s change history on Steam, you’ll see that Square Enix removed a “third-party DRM” from Octopath Traveler 2. The change log then specifies which software this was, naming “Denuvo Anti-tamper” as the axed anti-tamper tool. Square Enix hasn’t provided any reason for the removal as of now, but it could have to do with alleged performance issues caused by Denuvo.

Despite the anti-tamper software’s declaration on the matter, in which they detail why Denuvo exists both “to the benefit of the game publishers” as well as the players, some fans are still unconvinced. You can view the Steam database finding for yourself here, where you can also see other game changes.

Multiple triple-A games have launched with Denuvo recently. Redfall launched with Denuvo, as did Street Fighter 6, while other upcoming games like Tekken 8 won’t feature Denuvo.

Square Enix is also not the only developer or publisher choosing to remove the software later on following a game’s launch, as Resident Evil Village removed the technology after release. If the studio behind other mammoths such as Final Fantasy speaks out on why Denuvo is no longer servicing Octopath Traveler 2, we will update you here with any statements.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230809210847/https://kotaku.com/resident-evil-re7-village-re4-sale-humble-steam-pc-1850722773

Have you been wanting to play (or replay) all of the main entries that make up Capcom’s long-running horror series, Resident Evil? Well, buddy, I got a deal for you: A new bundle available until later this month combines 11 Resident Evil games, plus some DLC, into a $35 package.

With the release of the very first Resident Evil game in 1996, the survival horror series has become one of Capcom’s biggest series and one of the most popular horror franchises in the world. Since that original hit game—featuring what would become series staples, like creepy monsters, zombies, and lots of tasty herbs— Resident Evil has expanded to include numerous movies, comics, and of course, plenty of video game sequels and spin-offs. Not all of what’s come out was great, sure, but it’s helped the franchise grow bigger and bigger. And now you can get a large chunk of some of the best Resident Evil games ever made for half of what it costs to buy a new, next-gen video game. What a deal!

A newly released Humble Bundle packages the entire main series, including what’s considered the chronologically the first entry, Resident Evil 0, and newer games like Resident Evil Village. (No Code Veronica, though.) This package is only for PC gamers with a Steam account. The deal ends on August 23.

Here’s the full list of what you get for $35, but keep in mind that all of the classic games listed here are the modern remakes, with the exception of Resident Evil 4.

>- Resident Evil 0
>- Resident Evil
>- Resident Evil 2
>- Resident Evil 3
>- Resident Evil 4 (2005)
>- Resident Evil 5 - Gold Edition
>- Resident Evil 6
>- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
>- Resident Evil: Revelations
>- Resident Evil: Revelations 2 - Deluxe Edition

While some may prefer the original games, I think the modern remakes—especially Resident Evil 2—are fantastic and wonderful ways to revisit these beloved interactive horror adventures. I’m also happy to see the Revelations series included here. Those games aren’t as fancy or big as other mainline entries, but they are campy fun. Plus, 2’s co-op gameplay is unique as only one player has access to guns or combat.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230809031257/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/valve-begins-selling-refurbished-steam-decks

Valve has announced that it is now selling refurbished Steam Deck devices.

The company said that each handheld console has been "thoroughly tested."

"All refurbished units meet or even exceed the performance standards of new retail units. Although they may have minor cosmetic blemishes, they provide a reliable, high-quality gaming experience at a lower cost," said Valve in the announcement.

The cost of the refurbished models is listed below:

Steam Deck 64 GB - Valve Certified Refurbished - $319 Steam Deck 64 GB - Valve Certified Refurbished - $419 Steam Deck 64 GB - Valve Certified Refurbished - $519 Valve added that the systems will include a warranty and have the same customer support as consumers with new units.

In April, an Omdia report estimated that the lifetime sales count for Valve's Steam Deck would reach over 3 million units in 2023.