What are we all playing this Steam Next Fest?

Saturdays are for… Wait, wrong game round up post. This isn't a What are we all playing this weekend?, this is where we'll be shouting about the gems (and lumps of coal) we've discovered in this week's Steam Next Fest.

From June 15th - 22nd, Valve are hosting a section on Steam where developers can share demos of their upcoming games. Though, while it's a good opportunity to find games to add to our wishlist, it is also a tad overwhelming. With roughly a gazillion demos to choose from, how on earth can you sift through them?

With the power of collective action!

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Assassin's Creed Shadows' final update adds one last story mission and a wearable Black Flag Resynced advert

Mostly decent open-world ninja sim Assassin’s Creed Shadows is getting its last big update today, as Ubisoft begin the process of shooing players away from the year-old RPG and towards the gleaming, nipple-adding newness of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. The Shadows patch even includes an unlockable outfit based on Edward Kenway’s pirate garb, displaced only 150 or so years out of its appropriate time period for your synergistic brand awareness pleasure.

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Another Xbocalypse begins: Microsoft are reportedly closing or spinning off Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Compulsion

Xbox are reportedly closing or spinning off Psychonauts developers Double Fine, Hellblade studio Ninja Theory, and South of Midnight creators Compulsion Games, as Microsoft commence efforts to yet again "reset" their billion dollar gaming business after already laying off thousands of staff, cancelling games, and closing several studios over the past couple of years.

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Nvidia G-Sync Pulsar monitors can successfully beat biology to hone motion clarity in games - though they're not yet worth the price

Back when I first tried a G-Sync Pulsar monitor at an Nvidia shindig in February, I clung to the hope that maybe, finally, gaming display tech had made its first real breakthrough in years. Dozens, if not hundreds of samey screens would be revealed as incompetent fools in the searing light of Pulsar’s innovative genius; Nvidia’s own frame generation systems would weep in shame that they once tried to mock up the fluidity and motion clarity that Pulsar could deliver for real.

Now, I have one such Pulsar monitor – an identical 1440p, 360Hz Asus ROG Strix XG27AQNGV to the one from that demo – to test at length, and can at last say with certainty: yeah, s'alright. Pretty decent. Doesn’t make much of a difference in some games but it can look quite nice. Probably too expensive, mind. Why can’t I hear any weeping?

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The Witcher 3 online mod adds multiplayer Gwent battles in its latest update, a bit like CD Projekt's Gwent game but with more losers being ridden around by winners

The Witcher 3's multiplayer mod, the world's premier tool for forming big towers of multiple Geralts precariously perched atop each others' shoulders, has added another string to its bow. You can now meet up with some mates at a tavern to play games of Gwent against them, a concept so appealing CD Projekt made a whole game out of it.

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Pumping out new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games faster is reportedly the plan at Xbox, as the spectre of potential corporate rejigging looms

As reports suggesting major changes are brewing at Xbox, likely involving mass layoffs, continue to swirl, the console maker's current boss' plans for the future apparently involve pushing out new Fallout and Elder Scrolls games in speedier fashion. Asha Sharma's desire to whip out new entries in flagship series reportedly comes as Microsoft are considering spinning out or restructuring Xbox as a subsidiary.

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How Croakwood captures the challenge of a townbuilder like Anno but avoids the stress and pressure

If, like me, you walk through this world forever thinking about Chicken Run, you too may expect at any moment to discover the animal kingdom is actually made up of industrious town-building critters. Though, hopefully they're not looking to attack and tie us up if ever they're rumbled. Especially when the towns they're making look as delightful as those in frog townbuilder Croakwood. I could watch their hustle and bustle all day.

The next game from Parkitect developer Texel Raptor, Croakwood puts you in the role of mayor and town planner for a small community of frogs. Hidden under the canopy of leaves and trees surrounding a small pond, the amphibian settlement would be easy to miss as you stroll through their wood. Especially when you consider the frogs themselves are only a few centimeters tall.

But there's more going on in this townbuilder than meets the eye, as the developers have been exploring ways to capture the challenge of a demanding management game without introducing the stress and pressure that traditionally comes with them.

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