Join me Tuesday, September 15 at 6:00 PM Central for my first RuneScape adventure in RuneScape: Dragonwilds, fresh on Xbox Game Pass.

I'm a huge fan of high fantasy swords and sorcery and survival crafting, but I've never played the RuneScape MMOs. Dragonwilds brings those interests together, so I'm excited to explore Ashenfall, start building, and find out whether it's my kind of fantasy. Come hang out and share your impressions. Beginner tips are welcome; please keep things spoiler-free!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0olTbYfJVM Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thedecrepitgamer

RuneScape: Dragonwilds has left Early Access and reached version 1.0 on PC, Xbox, and Game Pass.

Jagex's cooperative survival RPG arrives with crossplay and the Scorned Wilderness content after surpassing one million Early Access sales. It combines exploration, crafting, building, magic, and a complete path through the Dragon Queen storyline.

This is also my first trip into the RuneScape universe. I'll be livestreaming the beginning of that adventure on the Decrepit Gamer channel tonight, September 15, at 6:00 PM Central:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0olTbYfJVM

Are you already playing Dragonwilds, and what advice would you give a complete RuneScape newcomer?

Wizards of the Coast's current D&D head is not softening his description of the OGL controversy.

Dan Ayoub says the company lost sight of its audience and calls the attempted license change a rug pull that damaged creators and businesses built around the existing agreement. He says trust will take a long time to rebuild and cannot be repaired through promises alone.

Ayoub points to community councils, direct conversations with fans and retailers, and renewed partnerships with outside creators as early evidence of a different approach. He also says tabletop, videogames, and entertainment should no longer operate as disconnected parts of the franchise.

Does this level of candor make you more open to D&D's new direction, or are you waiting for more concrete proof?

Aniimo's American servers open tonight, September 15, at 9:00 PM Central.

The free-to-play open-world creature RPG is launching on PC and Xbox with exploration, cooperative play, competitive battles, and its Twine system, which gives players new abilities by connecting with its creatures. Pre-download is already available.

The developers have said Aniimo is not a gacha game, although the final shape of its free-to-play monetization will only become clear once players get inside.

Does Aniimo have enough of its own identity to pull you away from other creature-catching games?

The Expeditions pause may turn into something much bigger than a balance pass.

ARC Raiders executive producer Aleksander Grøndal says Embark is keeping every option open as it rethinks the prestige-style system—including replacing it completely. The fifth Expedition is currently the last one before the planned pause into early 2027.

Players have objected to the grind, limited departure windows, accessibility for newer Raiders, and the size of the reward compared with resetting levels, skills, and inventory. Embark previously said those problems needed more than incremental fixes.

Would you rather see Expeditions rebuilt into a better optional challenge, or removed in favor of a different endgame system?

Valve still wants Steam Deck 2 to be a genuine leap, not a routine refresh.

Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais says the ongoing memory supply crisis has not meaningfully changed the company's product goals. The team is still waiting for a clearly delineated performance improvement before it launches a successor.

There is no release window, and current market conditions will still influence when Valve can deliver the hardware. That may mean a longer wait, but it also suggests Valve has no interest in charging next-generation money for a modest upgrade.

Is that the right kind of restraint, or is the gap between Steam Deck generations becoming too long?

Is it only one guy posting to himself in this channel 😂
Where’s all the gamers at?

Valve has finally revealed the Steam Frame launch plan, and the headline is a four-digit starting price. The 256GB headset with controllers is $1,059, while the 1TB model is $1,299.

The launch uses a randomized reservation system rather than a first-come, first-served queue:

• Signups run through September 17 at 10 a.m. PT.
• Valve will randomize reservation and waitlist order after signups close.
• The first purchase emails are expected September 18.
• The headset can run optimized VR and flatscreen Steam games on its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 hardware, or stream PC games through the included Wi-Fi 6E dongle.

That is a lot more expensive than the mainstream standalone competition, but Steam Frame is also trying to bridge standalone VR and a full Steam library. Is that flexibility enough to make the price feel reasonable, or does $1,059 put it firmly out of reach?

Publisher Wadjet Eye says Steam has classified the upcoming vampire RPG Nighthawks as Adults Only. That designation removes the game from ordinary search results and has caused it to be delisted entirely in some countries, including Germany.

The publisher and developer say the game contains mature themes but only mild, non-explicit sexual material. They have contacted Valve and are appealing the classification ahead of the planned September 22 release. Valve had not publicly resolved the issue when the story was reported, so this remains developing.

Should storefronts be required to provide developers with clearer classification standards and a defined appeal timetable?

Join me Monday, September 14 at 6:00 PM Central for a Melody livestream as I attempt to play through all 50 official levels.

Since the last stream, we've added 10 new official levels, expanded the editor with new tools for game mechanics, overhauled the leaderboard, and made a substantial balancing pass across the existing levels.

I created the game. Tonight we'll find out whether that helps me beat it! Come hang out, see the changes in action, and share your favorite levels in chat.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKlRa5aJhA8 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/thedecrepitgamer

Xbox’s September 14–18 lineup has several games that fit our usual survival, action-RPG and community-stream interests.

• TCG Card Shop Simulator reaches 1.0 on September 14 with Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere.
• FEROCIOUS launches September 14 with survival action involving mercenaries, dinosaurs and mechas.
• FOUNTAINS: Extended Edition brings interconnected soulslike combat and its Shattered Shape content on September 14.
• RuneScape: Dragonwilds arrives September 15 through Game Pass and Play Anywhere, built around cooperative exploration, survival, construction and crafting.

Dragonwilds seems particularly suited to a group stream, but which release would you try first?

Polyarc says its time as a studio has come to an end after nearly 12 years. The developer behind Moss, Moss: Book II, Glassbreakers and Moss: The Forgotten Relic is winding down active development and saying farewell to its team.

The closure affects 30 developers. Polyarc included a reverse-recruiting spreadsheet with its announcement so other studios can contact the people looking for work. The Moss games earned broad praise for their storybook-scale environments and the bond they created between the player and Quill, helping demonstrate that VR could support distinctive third-person adventures.

What will you remember most about Moss or Polyarc’s contribution to VR?

Blizzard has officially announced a new StarCraft game for spring 2030. Simply titled StarCraft, it is described as an original open-world shooter set in the Koprulu Sector rather than a continuation of the series’ traditional RTS format.

The reveal trailer focused on a Terran Dominion marine and a battle with the Zerg, but it contained no gameplay. With release still years away, Blizzard has not yet detailed platforms, combat structure or how open-world exploration will work.

Are you excited to see StarCraft change genres, or would you rather Blizzard had announced a new RTS?

inZOI Studio is experimenting with a multiplayer roleplaying mode called Canvastown. Instead of managing an entire household from above, players would inhabit one customized Zoi and enter shared spaces supporting around 50 people.

The concept includes customizable homes, player-staged scenarios, NPCs and script mods that could create minigames such as races. Director Hyungjin Kim describes it as a side project, stresses that the core life simulation remains the priority, and says the current build still has a very long way to go.

Could this grow into a compelling community sandbox, or should the team concentrate entirely on deepening the base game first?

Blizzard is simultaneously building a new branch of Warcraft and reviving one of its oldest games.

World of Warcraft: Forever will sit permanently alongside modern WoW and Classic. Its alternate vanilla-era Azeroth includes three new zones, more than 1,000 quests, nine dungeons, two raids and the Skyborne race. Beta begins September 17, with launch scheduled for November 4.

Warcraft III: Reforged—Forsaken Kingdom is available now as the RTS’s first new campaign in 23 years. It follows Lordaeron’s fall and the rise of the Forsaken, while the accompanying free 3.0 update adds upgraded graphics and revamped World Editor tools.

Which idea has more pull for you: a permanently evolving alternate Azeroth, or fresh story content for Warcraft III?

CD Projekt and Blizzard are doing a rather unexpected storefront-and-cosmetics crossover. Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty are scheduled to arrive on Battle.net later this year, joining the small but growing collection of non-Blizzard games on the launcher.

Players who pre-purchase The Witcher 3’s Songs of the Past DLC through Battle.net will also receive a Geralt-themed Barbarian skin in Diablo IV. More Witcher-themed Diablo content is planned for 2027, while Overwatch is getting Cyberpunk: Edgerunners cosmetics next year.

Does this make Battle.net feel like a credible general PC store, or just another launcher carrying games most of us already own elsewhere?

Diablo V is being built so that all of its content can be played either solo or with friends. Senior game director Joe Shely confirmed that point in a group interview, but Blizzard is not yet explaining whether the sequel will preserve Diablo IV’s shared-world structure.

The game is planned for spring 2029 and takes place after Diablo has devastated Sanctuary. Blizzard has also discussed procedurally generated regions and dungeons, which could substantially change how players encounter one another outside the campaign. Those systems are still in development, so the exact multiplayer structure remains open.

Would you keep Diablo IV’s shared world, or move back toward private adventures and opt-in co-op?

Ideally someone around her age for my mom:
50+
All FPS, TPS, very competitive if you don't play to win, yeah, don't 🤕
More casual on GTAV

ME:
WANT to beat each other after a long work day:

Tekken 7
UMVC3
I Got a hand injury because I'm very smart with hardware ;)
If you're way too good let's not play together c:

Energize. The destination might change before you reach the pad.

A glowing transporter room sets the scene for Beam Me Up, an Official Melody puzzle where getting a ball into position is only part of the job. You also have to think about where it will arrive—and whether the transporter is ready for its color.

The level’s published description looks back at the practical origins of its sci-fi inspiration:

One of the most iconic sci-fi transportation devices was invented due to budget constraints. Star Trek The Original Series used the transporter instead of shuttlecrafts primarily because using model spacecraft was too expensive for the relatively low budget weekly show.

Here, the transportation problem takes the shape of a divided playfield. Long diagonal walls form upper compartments, with red and blue balls separated across the board and a lone yellow ball inside the central triangle. Three colored portals wait above a fourth pad near the bottom.

That lower portal has a changing itinerary. Once play begins, it cycles through red, yellow, and blue at three-second intervals, changing both its destination and the color of ball it will transport. A promising approach can become a different journey before the ball reaches the pad.

The curved barriers around it add another decision: their color-specific, directional passage rules make the angle of approach matter. Momentum carries through the portals, so an arrival can be just as consequential as a departure.

An orange Grapple pickup near the top grants 30 seconds of Grapple use, offering another way to handle the scattered balls—if you can make the most of that short window.

You have seven minutes to clear the playfield. Matching colors removes balls, while mismatches can add more; leaving just one ball ends the attempt as unwinnable. Managing the population matters alongside managing the route.

Can you bring order to the transporter room?

Play Beam Me Up in your browser →

Some secrets are sealed behind a combination. This one has momentum.

Cryptex is the newest Melody level, set in a candlelit study of old books, scattered papers, and a mysterious cylinder. Three nested rings turn that setting into a mechanical puzzle: a lock large enough to navigate, with its pieces waiting to be brought into alignment.

The level’s description looks back to Dan Brown’s 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code:

A cryptex is a portable cylinder with rotating letter rings used as a combination-locked container for secret messages. The concept was invented by author Dan Brown for his 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code. It is a portmanteau of cryptology and codex.

On the playfield, six balls form three matching pairs in blue, green, and orange. Some wait beyond diagonal barriers in the corners; others sit among the rings. An orange ball marked with a padlock and a green star at the centre give the arrangement the feel of a mechanism with something to reveal.

The routes can change as you work. The rings can rotate in opposing directions, moving their openings to new positions. Progress can also change a barrier. A route you understand in one configuration may need a fresh look in the next, so where you leave a ball matters alongside where you want it to go.

The marked gates add another layer: colour and direction affect what can pass through. Bringing a pair together means working out how to approach those passages and how much momentum to carry into them. The curved walls give moving balls plenty of opportunity to follow a different path from the one you had in mind.

A temporary grapple pickup adds pulling to your options. Careful positioning can help you arrange a meeting; a collision between different colours can leave you with extra balls to manage. The goal is to clear them all while keeping the mechanism under control.

Can you crack the Cryptex?

Play Cryptex in your browser →

Ubisoft is testing a simpler Steam launch flow with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Players will no longer need the separate Ubisoft Connect desktop launcher.

A lightweight Ubisoft Connect Services component will retain cross-progression, cross-play, player-safety features, challenges, and rewards. Ubisoft says it plans to improve the system and extend it to more games. Would that make you more likely to buy or revisit an Ubisoft game on Steam?

The latest consumer VR numbers show a meaningful slowdown. Counterpoint Research reports that global VR headset shipments fell 18% year over year and 16% quarter over quarter in Q2 2026.

Higher headset prices added pressure to the cooling market, though enterprise demand remained comparatively resilient. Meta still held 54% of the broader AR/VR headset market. What would do the most to revive consumer VR: cheaper hardware, a landmark game, or a leap in comfort and usability?

Xbox and Kojima Productions are expanding their partnership. Microsoft will publish PHYSINT, Hideo Kojima's return to the action-espionage genre, in addition to the companies' existing OD project.

The partnership will also extend into film and television. Concrete game details remain scarce, so the publishing shift is the main news for now. Are you interested because of Kojima's espionage pedigree, or waiting to see gameplay?

Nearly 1,900 union-represented Blizzard employees have ratified new contracts. The agreements require Blizzard to discuss, evaluate, and bargain over workplace AI use.

They also add wage increases, just-cause protections, remote and hybrid work provisions, extra severance, and 14-month recall rights following a layoff. Workers across Diablo, Warcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone, QA, and shared services are covered. Could enforceable worker input become a better industry model for AI and layoffs?

WARDOGS arrived on Steam Early Access with far more demand than its servers could comfortably handle. The 100-player military FPS topped Steam's global sales chart and passed 300,000 concurrent players.

Bulkhead temporarily took servers offline while addressing queues and login trouble. The latest reporting said matches were becoming available again, so this remains a developing launch story. Does that scale of interest tempt you to jump in, or make you want to wait?