Steam Hits New Record for Concurrent Users

While Xbox Live and PlayStation Network were experiencing technical difficulties over the holidays, Steam's holiday sale helped it break new records in the number of concurrent users.

Valve's digital games store and service broke the 8.4 million mark on January 1, and according to Steam's Game and Player Statistics page, it reached an all-time high yesterday at 11:10 a.m. with 8,500,245 concurrent users. That's a record for concurrent usage, up from 8,020,700 people back in June 2014.

The number of concurrent Steam users probably peaked during the holiday because people had more free time to play games, and the incentive to keep checking Steam every day because of its annual sale, which introduced new discounts every 12 hours.

The most popular game on Steam by far at the moment is Dota 2, as it usually is, with a peak of 879,827 players. It's followed by Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which had 383,584 players, Team Fortress 2, which has 92,606, and then Football Manager 2015, which had 77,749 players.

In September, Valve announced that Steam has more than 100 million active accounts, which is up by 25 million from the 75 million figure announced in January 2013.

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Dota 2

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Kung Lao Returns to Mortal Kombat X

The blade hat wielding Shaolin monk Kung Lao will be a playable fighter in Mortal Kombat X, Developer NetherRealm has revealed.

The news comes via the cover story of Games Master magazine in the UK and Pelaaja in Finland. Like all characters in Mortal Kombat X, Kung Lao will have three unique combat style variations which give him access to different moves best suited for different play styles. Buzz Saw is best for an aggressive style and projectile attacks, Tempest is best for a defensive style and maintaining control of the stage, and Hat Trick lets Kung Lao toss his hat, make it hover in place, and call it back at any time.

NetherRealm also revealed the new Factions mode, which will let each player choose one out of five factions to join when fighting online. Each faction is affiliated with different characters in the game, and winning matches and other challenges will contribute "war points" to your faction.

Along with series incumbents Scorpion and Sub-Zero, a host of other new characters have been announced for the game, such as Quan Chi, D'Vorah, Ferra/Torr, Cassie Cage and Kotal Kahn. Familiar faces, such as Raiden and Kano, are also returning to the series. Former boss Goro will be a playable character for those who pre-order.

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Mortal Kombat X

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Xbox One Devs Can Now Use More of the Console's CPU

Xbox One developers can now use more of the console's CPU power, according to a recent report on its latest software development kit (SDK) from Eurogamer's Digital Foundry.

The latest update gives developers access to a seventh core (out of a total of eight) on Xbox One's CPU. Microsoft can now allow developers to use more of Xbox One's CPU as it continues to use less of the CPU itself for background operations related to Kinect's infrared and voice detection capabilities.

If developers want to use the seventh CPU core, they have to give up voice detection along with other Kinect functionality. However, even if they do, a user can still choose to use system-level voice commands, which will automatically use as much as 50 percent of that seventh core, causing problems for the developer. According to Digital Foundry, the leaked SDK also indicated that Microsoft intends to address this issue in future updates.

The only reason we know about these changes is because a hacking group called H4LT recently leaked the latest version of Xbox One's SDK. It's been suggested that the leaked SDK will allow developers to start creating homebrew applications or pirate games for Xbox One, but encryption technologies and server-side authentication mean that the SDK mostly a curiosity, at least for now.

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Watch Marvel's "Human-Sized" Ant-Man Teaser

Marvel Entertainment has released the first teaser preview for the Ant-Man, which you can watch above.

Technically, it's the first "human-sized" teaser preview for the movie, following the release of the "ant-sized" trailer (below) released yesterday, a joke referencing Ant-Man's ability to change his size.

The first trailer for the movie will air on ABC, 8 p.m. January 6, during an episode of Marvel's show Agent Carter. Marvel also announced that it will air the first trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron on January 12 during the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship on ESPN starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.

Ant-Man, in case you're unfamiliar with the comics, follows con-man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), who must embrace his inner-hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), protect the secret behind his Ant-Man suit from a new generation of threats.

Ant-Man is set to hit theaters on July 17.

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Marvel Entertainment

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Aliens: Colonial Marines Removed From Steam

Aliens: Colonial Marines, the first-person shooter that was panned by critics and triggered a class action lawsuit over allegedly false advertising, has been delisted from Steam.

Although Steam customers can still play the Gearbox-developed FPS if they already own it, the title is no longer available to buy on the Steam store. Also missing is the Rebellion-developed Aliens vs. Predator, also a first-person shooter that did not win over critics when it shipped in 2010.

The removal of both games could be due to the expiration date of various licence agreements between Sega and rights holder 20th Century Fox. Alien: Isolation, the latest title in the series, is still available to buy on Steam.

Upon its release in February 2013, Aliens: Colonial Marines was panned by GameSpot reviewer Kevin VanOrd as a "shallow bit of science-fiction fluff with cheap production values and an indifferent attitude".

Disappointment among fans led to a class action lawsuit which claims the game was falsely advertised at trade shows.

Legal representatives for developer Gearbox claimed the studio had no responsibility in the matters raised by the suit, and in July requested that the developer should be dropped from the lawsuit.

Then in September, publisher Sega fired back at Gearbox, claiming that the studio took liberties when discussing an in-development version of Aliens: Colonial Marines.

The case continues.

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UK Gaming Deals: White or Black PS4 Just £280 at Amazon

The UK branch of online retail giant Amazon is selling new PlayStation 4 consoles for £280, representing a £50 saving on the RRP.

Shoppers can claim either a white or black system for £279.99, which is notably lower than the going price across a range of other retailers, from GAME (£330) to John Lewis (£310). Some reports circulating online suggest that Amazon is adding a free digital copy of Driveclub with each system, though this bundle deal appears to have expired.

Meanwhile, UK retailer Argos is also selling the system (black only) for £280, with the console available to pick up in stores straight away or delivered at the additional price of £4.

The PlayStation 4 has been recorded as the second-fastest selling console in the UK since hardware sales records began, having sold one million sales after 42 weeks of trading.

By comparison, the PS2 (the best-selling console of all time, at 150 million sales worldwide) reached its first UK million after 50 weeks. Microsoft's Xbox 360, which held a dominant position in Britain's games market for eight years, hit its first million after 60 weeks.

Only the Wii, a phenomenon at the time of its release, managed to hit a million faster in the UK, achieving the feat as quick as 38 weeks.

GameSpot's gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site. Got questions? Email news@gamespot.com or ask us in the comments!

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Gaming Deals: Get Crysis 3 for $5, and More

Green Man Gaming has the best new deals of the day, with games like Crysis 3, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Syndicate, and more discounted to $5. You can find the full list of games included in Green Man Gaming's Play More for Less sale here.

Toys R Us still has a "buy 1 get 1 30% off" deal on all Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games.

Below you'll find the rest of today's best deals divided by platform:

PlayStation 4

Sony still has a $400 PlayStation 4 bundle that lets you choose one out of four games: Destiny, NBA2K15, Far Cry 4, or LittleBigPlanet 3.

Sony has introduced the fourth week of holiday sales on the PlayStation Store, which has been extended to January 6, 2015. Some highlights from the fourth week of offers:

Other PS4 games deals:

Xbox One

Walmart has an Xbox One with Halo: The Master Chief Collection for $350.

Newegg is currently offering the Xbox One Assassin's Creed Unity bundle (which also comes with 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag) with an extra controller and one year of Xbox Live for $350.

Other Xbox One games deals:

Microsoft published its list of weekly deals for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Now through January 6, you can save on a number of big-name games, including Alien: Isolation, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Destiny, Forza Horizon 2, and Grand Theft Auto V. You can find the full list of Xbox One and Xbox 360 discounts here.

PC

Humble Bundle's Eye Candy 2 Bundle includes FRACT OSC, Dust: An Elysian Tail, and five more visually stunning games if you pay $10 or more.

Electronic Arts has launched its own promotion for PC games through Origin, offering 50 percent off on a range of Battlefield, Need for Speed, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Sims games. Some highlights from the sale:

You can get SimCity 2000 for free from Origin.

Green Man Gaming has a huge sale on games under $5, and is also offering a 22 percent discount on digital games with the code HAPPYN-EWYEAR-22OFFG.

If you're a fan of the Decent games, check out GOG.com's weekend Interplay sale, which is offering the publisher's games for as much as 50 percent off, including Decent 1 + 2 for $5.

Other PC games deals:

3DS

Sears has the 3DS XL for $130, in stores only.

PS Vita

Mobile

Hardware

Save $10 on Tritton headsets for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at Amazon.

Amazon has Corsair mice, keyboards, and other PC gaming accessories for as much as 30 percent off.

GameSpot's gaming deals posts always highlight the best deals we can find regardless of retailer. We also occasionally use retailer affiliate links, which means that purchasing goods through those links helps support all the great content (including the deals posts) you find for free here on the site. Got questions? Email news@gamespot.com or ask us in the comments!

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PS4

PC

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Reality Check - How Science Can Make VR Better

Flex those mental muscles and join Cam Robinson on a journey of discovery in Reality Check, the show that investigates the science behind your favourite games, and spawns a few wild theories of its own.

Subscribe to for notifications when new shows are available!

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EA Responds To Origin Account Security Concerns

Electronic Arts' online store Origin has not suffered a breach of its account database, the Battlefield and Mass Effect publisher said this week after some users reported unauthorized purchases on their accounts.

"We found no indication at this point of a breach of our Origin account database," an EA representative told PCGamer. "Privacy and security of user account information are of the utmost importance to us. We encourage our players to use Origin user ID and passwords that are unique to their account, and to report any activity they feel may be unauthorized to EA customer support at help.ea.com."

Writing on Reddit earlier this week, some users reported suspicious behavior on their Origin accounts, including game purchases that they never made. EA confirmed to PCGamer on Tuesday that it was investigating the matter, though it's unclear how widespread the issues were.

It appears EA's customer support department is working with affected users to remedy fraudulent account activity. PCGamer also points out that Origin now has a two-step authorization system (similar to Steam's) that alerts you when your account is access on a new device.

In other Origin news, the store is holding a year-end sale that offers deep discounts on a huge number of games. The deals end January 6.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Kid Calls 911 Over PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Outage

The recent Christmas Day PlayStation Network and Xbox Live network outages caused headaches for people hoping to connect and play games. But one Florida teenager thought the downtime was enough of a problem to call 911 to see if authorities could do anything about it.

WPTV reports that a teenager from Palm Beach County called 911 dispatch, asking about the outages: "I was wondering, do you guys know anything about that?"

The dispatcher told the caller to check in with platforms holders instead. Authorities went on to tell the young man, "Last time I checked, that wasn't an emergency. Try going outside or read a book."

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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