Valve announces the 2020 Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition will kick off tomorrow at 1:00 pm EDT, offering free-to-play demos and announcements for new and upcoming games. Here's the plan:

The 2020 Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition begins tomorrow, March 18 at 10am PDT, offering free-to-play demos and spotlighting a selection of new and upcoming games.

The first Steam Game Festival ran in December 2019 alongside The Game Awards, offering sneak peeks at 14 anticipated upcoming titles. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/thesteamgamefestival

With 40+ titles featured, the Spring Edition highlights an even larger selection of games from studios who missed out on the chance to demo their games at showcases like Indie MEGABOOTH, Day of the Devs, and The MIX during this year's GDC.

The Steam Game Festival: Spring Edition will run from March 18, 2020 at 10am PDT through March 23, 2020 at 10am PDT.

When the event goes live, you'll find it here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SteamGameFestival-Spring

Speaking of Valve, My Best Valve Interview, So Far on YouTube (NSFW) is a Valve News Network interview with Jeri Ellsworth, who is currently working on an AR system called Tilt-5. This is based on work she did as a hardware engineer at Valve, so in addition to AR and VR, her stint at Valve is another focus of the conversation. Having eschewed a severance package, Jerri has no NDA in place, and freely discusses her time at Valve with some insider stories and very frank criticism based on her experiences. She is quite willing to name names, and dirt is dished on the likes of Michael Abrash and Gabe Newell himself. There's a lot to this, and it's hard to describe all the bases it covers. One interesting subject she mentions is how a project that might earn millions of dollars would be described as earning "zero billions." Here's how she connects that to the company's oft-discussed unwillingness to engage in actual game development for many years:

There was this belief that Valve is unable to make their own games, like Half-Life 2, because the DNA has kind of like gone. Like you've got Steam bringing in like 99.9% of the money. And there's this "zero billions" dollars thing that is kind of like part of the company culture. And games are like so grindy, and so comfortable, you know, just taking money from Steam, that the only way to get a game shipped at Valve was to purchase tried and true gameplay from an external company and give it the Valve polish and push it out. So, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Dota, the list goes on and on. CS:GO was an external company built that. So it's really hard to get anything going in Valve, game-wise.

With DOOM Eternal due for release on Friday, those who have pre-purchased id's shooter sequel on Steam can now pre-load their copy to be set when it goes live (thanks Rockn-Roll). This post has details from Bethesda Softworks on exactly when to expect the launch:

PC (Steam and Bethesda.net):

• DOOM Eternal will unlock for each territory below at the following times:
  • In AU/NZ/Asia, DOOM Eternal unlocks at 8:01AM Pacific Time on March 19 (12:01AM JST March 20)
  • In Europe and rest-of-world, DOOM Eternal unlocks at 5:01PM Pacific Time on March 19 (12:01AM GMT March 20)
  • In North and South America, DOOM Eternal unlocks at 9:01PM Pacific Time on March 19 (12:01AM EDT March 20)

The Last Campfire Website reveals release plans for The Last Campfire, saying this adventure from No Man's Sky developer Hello Games that will come to Steam and consoles this summer. This page offers a new trailer to show off the project along with the details:

Over the past few years, Hello Games fans have become familiar with the studio largely due to No Man’s Sky and the regular stream of updates for that game we have been working on since launch.

No Man’s Sky continues to be a major focus for the studio and our community can expect a lot more from us in the future.

Secretly in the background though, a small off-shoot team has been working on something altogether intimate and beautiful.

We announced The Last Campfire in December 2018 at the Video Game Awards with a teaser trailer. Today we are able to announce that The Last Campfire will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC in Summer 2020.

Continue here to read the full story.

Ubisoft announces a free weekend for Assassin's Creed Odyssey will kick off on Thursday. This trailer promotes the news, which follows:

Today UBISOFT® announced that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the latest opus from the Award-winning and acclaimed Assassin’s Creed franchise, will have a Free Weekend from March 19 to March 22 on the Xbox One family of devices including the Xbox One X, PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Windows PC. Players can pre-load the game on the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Uplay starting today.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place in Ancient Greece, a rich world of myths and legends, in fifth century BCE during the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens. Players embody Kassandra or Alexios, a mercenary of Spartan blood sentenced to death by their family, to embark on an epic journey to become a legendary hero and uncover the truth about their mysterious First Civilization lineage.

During the Free Weekend players will get access to the full main game content*. In addition, by playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey during the Free Weekend from March 19 to March 22, all players will unlock the Ezio’s Roman Set through Ubisoft Club.

Continue here to read the full story.

Exit the Gungeon is now available for Windows on Steam, offering the follow-up to the bullet-hell dungeon crawling of Enter the Gungeon. This previously came to Apple Arcade, so the post on Steam calls this version 2.0 of the game. Here's the launch trailer and here's word on the release:

The latest update to Exit the Gungeon brings an arsenal of additions, updates, and tweaks to the celebrated bullet hell dungeon climber. These modifications represent a substantial overhaul to Exit the Gungeon for players on Apple Arcade and new Gungeoneers jumping in on Steam today.

New Weapons, Items, Enemies, and Bosses
Jump into battle with dozens of upgraded weapons and new items like the Spiked Boots, while striking down new Gundead foes including the Minecart Shotgun Kin, Bullet Cardinal, and Flying Fungun! Watch out for the return of the legendary Jammed enemy variants...

Continue here to read the full story.

Steam News announces the official launch of Medieval Engineers on Steam after five years of Early Access for this sandbox game of medieval technology (stonepunk?). Word is: "Medieval Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and the maintenance of architectural works and mechanical equipment using medieval technology. Players build cities, castles and fortifications; construct mechanical devices and engines; perform landscaping and underground mining. There is an entire planet to explore!" The Medieval Engineers Website has all the details. The announcement does not make it sound as much like they completed the project as they just decided to move on:

March 17, 2020 - Keen Software House has announced the decision to end development of Medieval Engineers and release the game out of Early Access. The reason for this decision was that the we changed the focus of the Keen Software House team. We have restructured the team, focused on moving Space Engineers out of Early Access, then on the development of Space Engineers for Xbox One, and the continual support and upgrades for Space Engineers.

With the release on March 17, we reduced the price to $9.99USD, or your regional Steam equivalent. Over the coming weeks, everyone who owns the base version of Medieval Engineers will receive the Deluxe version, for free.

Continue here to read the full story.

The SCS Software blog announces Euro Truck Simulator 2 - Iberia, new DLC that will come to the transportation game on Steam. Here's word on the desert environment this will add:

The Iberian Peninsula – or simply, Iberia – is a peninsula located in the southwest corner of Europe. The peninsula is the second largest peninsula on the continent in terms of size, taking up over 596,740 km² (230,000 mi²). It is also the second most populous peninsula in Europe with a population of over 57 million people.

This region has over 2,000 miles of coastline and is home to multiple major rivers including the Ebro and the Tagus. Most of the Iberian Peninsula is mountainous with major mountain systems including the Pyrenees, the Sistema Central, and the Baetic System, just to name a few.

Blizzard announces the Year of the Phoenix will begin in Hearthstone on April 7th, beginning with the Ashes of Outland expansion. This will bring new cards to the game along with a thorough overhaul of ranked play, updates for Battlegrounds, and more. Here's word:

The Year of the Phoenix will rise in Hearthstone® on April 7, bringing monumental changes to Blizzard’s smash-hit digital card game. This fiery new era will commence with the introduction of the Demon Hunter, the first all-new class to be added to Hearthstone since the game’s launch. All players will get the Demon Hunter class and corresponding Illidan Stormrage Hero free, as well as 30 of the class’s specially tailored cards—and even be able to dive right into the action with a pre-built decklist using those cards. Coinciding with this grand debut is Ashes of Outland™, the first expansion in the Year of the Phoenix, which takes players beyond the Dark Portal and into the war-torn realm that was the setting for 2007’s World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusade®. Additionally, Hearthstone will see a staggering array of features, updates, and in-game events—including substantial additions to the Battlegrounds game mode.

Continue here to read the full story.

SEGA announces a setback to the release of Two Point Hospital: Off the Grid, not even a week after they said to expect it tomorrow. They are only pushing this back by a week, so it's now due on March 25th, as they say they ran into some issues finalizing the add-on for launch:

Two Point Hospital: Off The Grid sees PC players tackle new Green challenges, explore new exciting regions and cure more unusual illnesses, but fans will have to wait just a little while longer, as the release of Off The Grid and the 'Exhibition Items Pack' both move to Wednesday March 25, 2020. Two Point Studios ran into some unexpected issues while finalising Off the Grid, which means they will need a couple more days to ensure PC players can enjoy this new expansion to the fullest. The 10% early adopter discount will be extended until April 1, 2020 for anyone who purchases Two Point Hospital: Off the Grid from the March 25, 2020. For more information about the delay head over to Two Point Hospital's blog here.

A post on Steam has new version 1.0.10.0 patch notes for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem outlining the latest fixes for the action/RPG. This includes a status report on the team indicating the COVID-19 pandemic will force a slowdown to WOLCEN Studio's recently announced plans for an improved "second dawn" for the game. On the bright side, they also announce a Wolcen stream with Diablo co-creator David Brevik will take place on March 22nd on the Geeks WorldWide channel on Twitch. Here's word:

Before sharing the patch notes with you, we want to communicate about the present situation in France and what it means for Wolcen in the next few weeks and give you some news about our team. First of all: everyone is fine!

But starting today at 12.00 CET, all travels in France are now forbidden except under exceptional circumstances or mandatory reasons.

We've already taken measures to protect Wolcen employees and ensure that most of our team members can work from home, but that's not possible for everyone. Since we don't want any of our employees to be put at risk, they will be staying home for an unknown duration.

We're still committed to providing you the best experience possible with Wolcen and we will continue to do as much as we can, work on the next league, fix bugs, but the overall pace will be inevitably slowed down.

Continue here to read the full story.

• Humble Capcom MEGA Bundle (pay what you want and help charity).
• Capcom MEGA Sale: The Humble Store.

• Red Alert 3 - Entropy Mode 0.3.0 (Beta) - Allied Update + Gamerules Update file.
• Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem -- Patch Notes 1.0.10.0 and Wolcen team status.

• SUCCUBUS: Forest of Flesh Gameplay. NSFW.

• War Stories: Jordan Mechner on Making Prince of Persia (ArsTechnica).

• The 2020 Game Development World Championship is underway with separate categories for Professional, Hobbyist, and Game Jam games.

• The new Xbox Insider Hub (Beta) launches today.
• Take on the Toughest Off-Road Challenge with Overpass on Xbox One.
• Moving Out Is Now Available For Digital Pre-order And Pre-download On Xbox One.
• Roundguard Brings Its Unique Combo of Dungeon Crawler and Bouncy Physics to Xbox One.
• MLB The Show 20 Out Today on PS4, 10 Features & Tips.
• Takumi Naramura Unveils Hidden Treasures Behind La-Mulana 1 & 2 – PlayStation.Blog.
• Smite Mulan Plus Bundle Launches Today, Free for PS Plus Members.
• Xbox Wireless Controller – Phantom Magenta Special Edition Is Now Available.
• Xbox Insider Release Notes - Beta and Delta Ring (2004.200314-0000).

• New Chrome build will allow you to block all cookies.

• Intel’s Cooper Lake Plans: The Chip That Wasn’t Meant to Exist, Fades Away.
• EIZO Launches ColorEdge CS2740- A 27-Inch 4K Professional Monitor with USB-C.
• Optional Windows 10 Updates Live for Several Versions of the OS.

• Coronavirus: Israel enables emergency spy powers.
• Uber sues LA’s Dept. of Transportation for warrantless record requests.

• GameStop Canceling Midnight Releases and Turning Off Demo Stations. Also, GameStop is Unprepared for COVID-19, Stores Reportedly Not Properly Sanitized…

Link of the Day: How to be socially distant - The Oatmeal. Thanks Ant.

A post to the Activision Blog explains a new Solo mode that's now live in Call of Duty: Warzone, which bypasses the group dynamic in the free-to-play battle royale shooter. Here's how this works along with some tips on how to succeed as a lone wolf:

For some Operators, three is a crowd; that’s where Solos, the newest mode in Call of Duty: Warzone, comes into play.

Solos is an option for players who are true mercenaries and only want to carry themselves across Verdansk. Only lone wolves need apply; Solo games are the quintessential experience for the player who want the ultimate challenge – all or nothing.

Here’s a quick breakdown of this new mode:

The Basics
In Solos, you drop into Verdansk alone with Battle Royale rules. That means no squadmates, no friends – only you and a pistol with a few bullets. Think of this as Free-For-All in a traditional Call of Duty game, but on a massive scale.

As you loot, complete Contracts, and survive against up to 149 other players, the circle collapse will roll in just as it does in a normal Battle Royale. The Gulag will still welcome in prisoners of the Warzone, but if you die in that 1v1 Gunfight, forget any form of redeployment – you’re out for good.

Continue here to read the full story.

Paradox Interactive now offers The Federations, the new expansion for Stellaris, their 4X grand strategy game set in space, where no one can hear you say Erin go Bragh. You can pick this up for Windows, macOS, and Linux on the Paradox Store, GOG.com, and Steam. Here's the Release Trailer and here's the announcement:

Paradox Interactive, the game company that isn’t afraid to push the limits of intergalactic diplomacy, today released Federations, the newest expansion to sci-fi grand strategy title Stellaris. This expansion focuses on the galactic community and its internal politics, offering expanded capabilities for federations and the establishment of a powerful galactic senate. Aspiring legislators now have the chance to showcase their political prowess on an astronomical level. Stellaris: Federations is now available for PC platforms at a suggested retail price of $19.99 / €19.99 / £15.49.

“The Federations expansion offers a new take on the game that our community has been asking for,” said Daniel Moregard, Game Director of Stellaris at Paradox Interactive. “We can’t wait for Stellaris fans to enter the high-stakes world of galactic diplomacy!”

Continue here to read the full story.

With DOOM Eternal due for release on Friday, it looks like 10:00 am EDT today marked the end of the review embargo. Here are the first evaluations of the latest installment in id Software's venerable first-person shooter series:

• Doom Eternal Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" - Angry Centaur Gaming.
• Doom Eternal is a masterful twitch shooter symphony with one sour note - Ars Technica.
• DOOM Eternal Review - AusGamers.com.
• Doom Eternal Review: Killing Demons Has Never Been Better - Digital Trends.
• Doom Eternal: Denuvo, Offline Mode, PC Graphics Settings & 4K-Max Settings Performance Impressions - DSOGaming.
• Doom Eternal review - the same orgiastic thrills with a creeping weight of story • Eurogamer.net.
• Doom Eternal review: "Screams at you to move faster and to fight harder and you can do nothing but obey" - GamesRadar+.
• Doom Eternal Review In Progress - GameSpot.
• Doom Eternal PC Review - GameWatcher.
• Doom Eternal Single-Player Review - IGN.
• Doom Eternal review: The glorious and gnarly anti-'Last of Us' - Inverse.
• Doom Eternal review - PC Gamer.
• Doom Eternal review: one of the best shooters in years - Polygon.
• Doom Eternal Review - Rock Paper Shotgun.
• Doom Eternal Review: You Remain Unbroken - USgamer.
• Doom Eternal review - cathartic combat, passable platforming, and stupid swimming - VG247.
• Doom Eternal Is a Dizzying Catastrophe - WIRED.

A post on GOG.com rounds up the various games from their DRM-free marketplace that can be played for free as a self-promotional public service for those shut-in by efforts at combating COVID-19. Here's word:

As many of you, fellow gamers, we at GOG.COM will spend some more time at home in the coming days and weeks for obvious safety reasons.

Aside from the Spring Sale deals, we gathered all the free games from our store in one place for you to enjoy.

Enjoy some of the best classic DRM-free titles at your home and stay safe!

• The Sims on Origin. Save up to 80%.
• Shrapnel Games Coronavirus Sale on Gamers Front.

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey - 1.5.3 Patch Notes & Sneak Peek. Thanks Eurogamer via Neutronbeam.
• Fortnite Battle Royale v12.20 Update patch notes. Get to the choppa!
• Fortnite Save the World Homebase status report 3.17.
• War Thunder - Meet major update "Viking Fury"! Here's a trailer.

• biped Official Gameplay Trailer.
• SnowRunner - Overview Trailer.

• Occupy White Walls by StikiPixels — Kickstarter. "Part a creative building game and part art platform of the future, OWW connects artists and art-curious players in new and original ways. In so doing, it has attracted one of the most vibrant and interesting communities in any online game. Occupy White Walls is a virtual world where you design and build a gallery, curate your own art collection and open it to other players." Actually already available in Early Access on Steam.

• College teams selected for ‘UMG Overwatch Collegiate Clash.”
• Breath of the Wild fans held $1K ‘feed all the dogs’ race. Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Sony to reveal new PS5 details in a ‘deep dive’ on March 18th.
• OVERPASS Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• R.B.I. Baseball 20 Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• SMITE Starter Pass Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2 Is Now Available For Xbox One.
• Deep Sky Derelicts- Definitive Edition Is Now Available For Digital Pre-order And Pre-download On Xbox One.
• LA-MULANA And LA-MULANA 2 Are Now Available For Xbox One.
• The Complex Is Now Available For Digital Pre-order And Pre-download On Xbox One.
• Xbox One S Roblox Bundle Lets You Play and Create Without Limits.
• This Week’s Deals With Gold And Spotlight Sale Plus Publisher Sale.

• UK mobile networks face problems.
• AirConsole Is Giving Everyone Free Access to All of Their Video Games During Covid-19 Lockdowns.
• Battery, Wi-Fi, and Camera Fixes Heading to the Galaxy S20 Series.
• Remarkable announces new e-paper tablet, starting at $399.
• Samsung launches 512GB eUFS 3.1 for smartphones. Thanks Neutronbeam.

Thanks Neutronbeam.

• Google is delaying the launch of its coronavirus information website to later this week.
• Social media giants warn of AI moderation errors as coronavirus empties offices.
• Facebook to award $100 million in grants, ad credits to small businesses.
• Twitch viewership is 10% higher than this time in 2019.
• Movies Anywhere’s new Screen Pass feature will let you loan your digital movies to friends.
• How to install apps and update them, with Ninite, adware-free. Thanks RedEye9.
• Build a private cloud with Synology's new DS220j and DS420j NAS.
• You Can Virtually Tour These 500+ Museums and Galleries From Your Couch.

• Australian Engineers Just Accidentally Solved a 58-Year-Old Quantum Mystery. Thanks Max.
• Seagate Introduces IronWolf 510 M.2 NVMe SSDs for NAS Systems.

• Vulnerability Summary for the Week of March 9, 2020. Thanks Ant.
• The Demise Of Symantec. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Vimeo freezes accounts after malware hunts for logins, coronavirus map app infected with evil code, and more.
• Virtual machines, real problems: VMware fixes bug trio including guest-to-host hole in Workstation, Fusion.
• Nigerian spammer made 3X average national salary firehosing macro-laden Word docs at world+dog.

• U.S. Senate votes to extend surveillance tools for 77 days.

• Stellaris: Federations PC Review - GameWatcher.

• Asus ROG Strix 750W Power Supply Review - Tom's Hardware. Thanks Neutronbeam.
• Corsair Scimitar RGB Elite Gaming Mouse Review - IGN.
• Gigabyte TRX40 Aorus Master Motherboard review - Guru3D.
• HyperX Cloud Flight S Wireless Gaming Headset Review - ThinkComputers.org.
• MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER GAMING X Review - The FPS Review.
• Noctua NH-L9i Chromax.Black Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review - Nikk Tech.
• Patriot Viper V380 RGB 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review - Hardware Asylum.
• Sabrent Rocket Nano USB 3.2 External Aluminum SSD Review - TweakTown.
• Wentai Aidan 1616 W Review - The Corsair AX1600i Challenger? - TechPowerUp.
• YoLuke 5MP PTZ WiFi Security Camera - OverclockersClub.

• There Sure Are A Lot Of Trains In The Half-Life Series. Thanks Neutronbeam…
• "Uncharted" Halts Production For Six Weeks. Thanks Ant…
• Onion Games' The Secret Onion Cellar now offers the promised free Romeo & Juliet game for newsletter subscribers. We have no details on what this "tiny" game entails…

Happy St. Patrick's Day! On occasions such as this I normally play stick in the mud with warnings about the dangers of being out-and-about drunken revelers and drivers, or, even worse, being a drunk driver yourself. All these cautions certainly still apply, but with "social distancing" being stressed so strongly these days, this is a problem that will probably take care of itself for most people. It's hard to say "kiss me I'm Irish" and still stay six feet away from people. So if you're staying home to be safe, please be merry. And if you're going out to be merry, please reconsider, but please be safe. Happy St. Paddy's.

Obituary: Stella from 'Modern Family' has died: The dog remembered as 'lovable.'

Green Links:	Thanks Ant and Neutronbeam.
Links:	Sylvester Stallone on Twitter: I guess we were ahead of our time… Load up on seashells.
Stories:	Oregon police want an end to 911 calls for toilet paper. How can The Onion survive if this is the real news? Thanks JDreyer. Dropkick Murphys will livestream a St. Patrick’s Day show with no audience. "Cats" Sweeps 2020 Razzie Awards.
Science:	FDA Approves the First Commercial Coronavirus Tests in the US. Greenland & Antarctica melting 6 times faster than in the 90s. Scientists can now edit multiple genome fragments at a time. Thanks Max.
Media:	STELLA'S BEST LEAF JUMPS OF ALL TIME. Thanks Boing Boing. Slow Speed Chase. I Challenged an Actual SWAT Team to Camo Hide and Seek.
Follow-up:	Asteroid Could Cause Atmospheric Explosion If It Gets Too Close.
The Funnies:	Savage Chickens.