Skip to main content

Steam’s Greenlight adds 20-plus new games

Giana Sisters
Image used with permission by copyright holder

In case you haven’t been paying attention over the past few months, Valve Software recently added an additional facet to its Steam online gaming service. Dubbed “Greenlight,” the program allows Steam users to vote on relatively small-budget titles that are hoping to earn worldwide distribution through Steam. Those games that earn enough votes will effectively be given a free distribution deal through Valve’s service, sidestepping a huge, costly part of the ordeal game developers must go through to get their titles out to the general public.

“Greenlight allows developers and publishers to post information and media about their game in an effort to convince Community members that their game should be released on Steam,” as Valve puts it.

Recommended Videos

Initially, Valve planned to announce Greenlight titles 10 at a time (as demonstrated by the September list), but as you’ve probably gathered from that headline the number had to be increased for this latest batch. “Given the number and quality of games submitted, and the ship date of many of the top-ranking titles, the decision was made to increase the size of this group,” Valve claims, without making any indication of how many titles might be included in future Greenlight announcements.

Anyway, you’re here to read about the upcoming games. Have a look:

Afterfall InSanity Extended Edition

AirBuccaneers

Blockscape

Contrast

Fly’n

Folk Tale

Forge

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Project Giana) [pictured above]

Gnomoria

Interstellar Marines

Lost Story: The Last Days of Earth

Miasmata

Miner Wars 2081

NEOTOKYO

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Perpetuum

POSTAL 2 COMPLETE

Secrets of Grindea

The Intruder

The Stanley Parable: HD Remix

Yogventures!

Full descriptions of each of these games can be found by visiting the Greenlight section on Steam. As Valve’s official press release points out, these titles will come available on Steam over the course of the next few months. They’re currently in various stages of development, so this is less of a notification of what you can now see on Steam, and more of a “please keep your eyes peeled for these things in the near future.”

As per usual, pricing and availability details on each of these games is up in the air, likely until an official announcement is made regarding when they might officially appear on Steam.

Earnest Cavalli
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Earnest Cavalli has been writing about games, tech and digital culture since 2005 for outlets including Wired, Joystiq…
3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (October 18-20)
A zombie crawls toward a player on a boardwalk in Dead Island 2.

It's the middle of the month, so another batch of games just came to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalog. There's a solid mix of scary games here just in time for Halloween and hidden gems in the PS4, PS5, and PSVR2's libraries that are well worth your time. If you're wondering what you should play this weekend, I can safely say that you'll have a good time with any of these three games.
Dead Island 2
Dead Island 2 - Extended Gameplay Reveal [4K Official]

It can be hard for zombie games to stand out because so many exist. Dead Island 2 had the benefit of being infamous because it was constantly delayed and shifting developers during development. It finally launched almost seven years after its initial announcement. Despite those development woes, Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver's Dead Island 2 is a surprisingly solid action game. It stands out because of its particularly satisfying melee combat and extraordinarily detailed dismemberment system. Dead Island 2 is a fitting game to play ahead of Halloween and definitely the headliner for October's batch of PS Plus additions.

Read more
A new Steam message reminds you that you don’t own your games
The Steam Deck OLED on a pink background.

Players began to notice a new message in their Steam carts on Thursday. Before completing a purchase, they saw a new message situated underneath the "Continue to payment" button, complete with a little computer graphic. It said: "A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam," with a link to the subscriber agreement.

In clearer language, Valve finally makes it clear that you don't own the PC games you buy. Instead, you're granted a license for the software.

Read more
3 new PS Plus games you should play this weekend (October 4-6)
Ellie and Riley look at each other in The Last of Us Part 1's version of Left Behind.

It's October, so it's finally time to start watching more horror movies and playing more horror video games to get in a spooky mood. Thankfully, recent additions to PS Plus are making it very easy to settle into that vibe. On top of that, a wrestling video game has just hit PlayStation Plus Essential ahead of the last big WWE events of the year. All of that has informed my picks for the three games PS Plus subscribers should check out this weekend.
The Last of Us Part I
The Last of Us Part I - Announce Trailer | PS5 Games

At this point, The Last of Us is so iconic that it needs little introduction. It was a landmark horror video game that set new standards for video game narrative with its tale about Joel and Ellie. It was originally released for PS3 in 2013 and remastered for PS4 in 2014. The Last of Us Part I is a remake built for PS5. It gives the entire game a visual overhaul and adds accessibility features and an overall game feel to bring the adventure more in line with its 2020 sequel. If you haven’t played The Last of Us yet, you need to try it out now that the definitive version of it is on PS Plus.

Read more