Steam Deck Maker Valve to Sets New Console (Gaming News Roundup)
Valve, the maker of the popular Steam Deck handheld PC gaming console, is launching new video-game hardware, Steam Machine, in 2026.
The Steam Machine, a 6-inch cube gaming console meant for stationary play vs. the portable Steam Deck option, will debut next year along with the Steam Controller and VR headset Steam Frame.
“With over six times the horsepower of Steam Deck, Steam Machine has the power to play your whole Steam library, including your favorite AAA titles,” Valve says. “Just sign with your Steam account and your entire library is there.”
Per Valve, all three devices “are optimized for Steam and designed for players to get even more out of their Steam library.”
Pricing has not yet been revealed for the new devices, which are now available for wishlisting on Steam.
Watch Valve’s announcement of the new Steam Machine hardware and accessories below.
See more gaming news from this week in the roundup below.
NEW RELEASES
First-person sci-fi adventure and immersive sim “Ambrosia Sky” debuted with “Act One” of the video game Monday across PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. Acts Two and Three of the game will launch in 2026.
Per developer Soft Rains, “In ‘Ambrosia Sky,’ players assume the role of Dalia, a field scientist belonging to an enigmatic order in pursuit of human immortality. Dispatched to a farming colony on Saturn’s outer rings, a place she once called home, she finds it abandoned and overrun by hostile fungi. Those she knew are now dead, missing, or perhaps complicit. It’s up to Dalia to cleanse the contamination, discover the truth, and lay the dead to rest.”
In the first act, “Ambrosia Sky” “thrusts you into a mind-bending world of death, decay, and what comes after. Armed with a chemical sprayer and grappling hook, you’ll face unpredictable alien growths across the colony.”
Watch the launch trailer for “Ambrosia Sky” below.
TRAILERS
Microsoft’s Activision and Treyarch debuted a new trailer for the Milo Ventimiglia-led “Call of Duty: Black Ops 7” ahead of the game’s launch Nov. 14.
New details were also revealed about the game’s co-op campaign “Endgame,” which takes place after the conclusion of the first 11 missions.
Per Xbox, “Endgame is the culmination of the story, where the world fully opens up for 1-32 players in squads of up to four. Working together on Avalon across a variety of missions, players will wield personalized abilities and face unexpected challenges, putting everything they’ve mastered throughout the story to the test.”
RELEASE DATES
ProbablyMonsters announced an enhanced version of its action rogue-like “Storm Lancers” will launch Dec. 9 on Nintendo Switch and for PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Per the video game developers, “This version of ‘Storm Lancers’ will have HDR support, run at a smooth 60 frames-per-second and allows players to group up online through Nintendo GameShare and Steam Remote Play Together.
TECH
Roblox has made its rewarded video ads product available to “all ads-eligible creators” on the website. The goal with this development is “providing our developers with a more predictable, easy-to-implement solution to increase their earnings and gain more control over ad revenue,” according to Roblox.
Additionally, Roblox has launched a self-serve option for its License Manager tool, which allows any eligible IP holder—from major studios to brands with registered IP — to offer their IP for use on the gaming platform, and gives any eligible creator the chance to apply to adapt an experience to use it.
According to Roblox, since the launch of the License Manager with founding partners Lionsgate, Netflix, Sega, and Kodansha in July, creators have submitted over 1,500 license requests from the selection of available IP.
“We launched the licensing platform to fundamentally change how IP holders and creators collaborate across the platform,” said Greg Hartrell, Senior Product Director, Creator Content Ecosystem in a blog post. “This new system dramatically streamlines a historically complex IP licensing process, which previously involved lengthy negotiations and restricted partnerships to a select group of studios.
COLLABORATIONS
Riot Games has released a music video for the “Valorant” Game Changers Championship 2025. Titled “Go Off,” the music video features a reimagined version of “M.I.A.” by KATSEYE, which is this year’s championship anthem. It is available across streaming platforms.
The music video tells the story of the women in “Valorant” and the women who play it, celebrating the connection and community that they foster through the game.
The “Valorant” Game Changers Championship 2025 will take place Nov. 28-30 at at Riot’s LoL Park in Seoul.
MONETIZATION
Fortnite developers now have the ability to make in-island transactions with new tools from Epic. They will soon be able to publish games in-island and sell items directly from their islands using V-Bucks. These transactions are part of the Unreal Editor for Fortnite Creator Ecosystem Update and offer developers monetization opportunities beyond engagement payouts.
See the full list of items that developers are authorized to sell, how to join in the monetization and the updated developer guidelines on the Fortnite website.
