Shhh… It’s a secret!

Valve’s new unannounced game is getting a lot of buzz. Also, if you live in the EU, you can now play Fortnite on your iPhone. In the U.S., not so much. All that and more. Let’s go! 

Valve’s not-so-secret game

If you have the perfect gift for your significant other, you probably don’t want to tell anyone at Valve software about it. They are quite bad at keeping secrets. 

For example, Deadlock: an unannounced game that thousands of people are currently posting about and playing. Most players haven’t signed any type of non-disclosure agreement, so more information about the game continues to pop up online. The “non-existent” game recently reached 12,000 concurrent players on Steam.

According to those who have played it, Deadlock is a cross between Overwatch, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. The unannounced soft launch is an interesting experiment only a company like Valve could pull off. 

The Verge’s breakdown of Deadlock is a great overview of the game. Want to give it a try? Check out PC Gamer’s article or the Deadlock Subreddit. Or just wait for it to eventually just come out, or at least be announced.

Fortnite returns to the iPhone…in Europe

If you live in Europe, you can now play Fortnite on your iPhone. 

It’s been nearly four years since Apple removed the Epic game from their app store. However, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act says that Apple must allow users to download other app stores, such as Epic’s. The Epic app store rolled out last week with three games available to play: Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys. 

Apple and Epic are still battling in the United States courts, so it will likely be a while before these games are available here. The real losers in this battle: the users.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🍆 Video game actors want to know in advance when they will be required to act out explicit scenes. 

🧱 Asmodee and LEGO team up to launch a LEGO-focused board game design studio.

🎶 Karol G Is the Season 5 headliner for Fortnite Festival. Meanwhile, Overwatch 2's season 12 starts Aug. 20. 

📺 A Saudi man earned the world record for hooking up 444 game consoles to one TV.

🖥️ 14 years after its launch, the original Red Dead Redemption may finally be coming to PC. 

📈 Market analyst Newzoo expects the global game market to grow to $187 billion in 2024. 

😈 A duplication bug in Diablo 4 forced Blizzard to disable trading in the game. 

🙈 Black Myth: Wukong – the summer’s most exciting, and most controversial, video game.

🎸 Check out this interview with Jackie Fox, former bassist for The Runaways and designer of the most anticipated board game of Gen Con, Rock Hard: 1977. 

🤼‍♂️ WWE superstar Randy Orton says he’s put 600 hours into Elden Ring.

🎃 A new game based on John Carpenter’s Halloween is in development. 

🐴 Here is where that truly awful yellow horse you keep seeing on social media for game companies (and above) comes from. 

💾 Activision is removing Warzone from the default Call of Duty download, slashing its file size. 

🧙🏾 Geralt, the main character in the previous Witcher games will be in Witcher 4, but he won’t be the lead. 

📈 Video game sales were up in Europe in July, despite a lack of major releases.

📅 Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is delayed until February.

🏅 Baldur's Gate 3 won the Hugo Award for Best Game or Interactive Work.

😈 The original Diablo game is available to play in your web browser. 

💂🏼 After becoming the “fastest redeemed game ever on GOG,” Fallout: London developers plan to launch their own indie studio. 

🧑🏿‍💻 Valve says it'll support the ROG Ally with its Steam Deck operating system.

New Releases this week:

Check out our article on 15 new games to play in August.

8/20: Black Myth: WuKong (PlayStation and PC)
8/20: Dustborn (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
8/21: Mika and the Witch's Mountain (Switch and PC)
8/22: Tactical Breach Wizards (PC)
8/26: Concord (PlayStation and PC)

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