festival Archives

AppWizard

June 14, 2025

Weekend PC Game Deals: Total War grabs, management freebies, demos to try, and more

The Humble Store has released two bundles: the Narrative Arc collection, which includes Mutazione, Venba, and Frank and Drake, with additional tiers featuring Season: A Letter to the Future, Dustborn, Harold Halibut, and Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out; and the Case and Consequences Collection, which offers Heavy Rain, Song of Farca, Lacuna, and Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments, with a second tier including Murders on the Yangtze River, BROK the InvestiGator, and Between Horizons. Both bundles are available for two weeks. The Epic Games Store is offering Two Point Hospital for free until June 19, coinciding with the launch of The Operator as the next free game. Valve's Steam Next Fest is running until June 16, featuring demos of upcoming games, along with several active free events, including Stardeus, Barony, Hell Let Loose, Construction Simulator, and Towerborne. The Steam Summer Sale is approaching, with significant promotions already launched by various publishers, including a Total War historical sale and early summer promotions from 505 Games. The GOG store is also offering DRM-free discounts across various genres.

AppWizard

June 12, 2025

Queens high school students take top prize in NYC Minecraft Battle of the Boroughs

A team of students from World Journalism Preparatory in Queens, named ‘Diamond Sword Bustamoney,’ won the inaugural NYC Video Games Festival in the high school division of the Minecraft Education “Battle of the Boroughs” competition. Their victory followed a three-stage tournament that included preliminary digital submissions, borough-level championships, and a final showdown on May 31. This is the first time a Queens school has won the title since the competition began in 2021. The event was organized by the New York City Department of Education in collaboration with Microsoft and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, originally conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team defeated the defending champions from Staten Island’s Tottenville High School. The winning team consists of five 11th-grade students.

AppWizard

June 11, 2025

Minecraft fan wins Latitude festival poetry competition for kids

A seven-year-old boy named Myles from Wymondham, Norfolk, won a poetry competition for children with his poem titled "A Friend Like Steve." He will perform it at the Latitude festival on July 24. The competition was organized in collaboration with the BBC and was open to children aged seven to eleven from Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. Myles' poem was praised by judge Luke Wright for its subject matter related to Minecraft. Two runners-up, eleven-year-olds Zara and Eleanor, were also selected to read their works at the festival. The competition aimed to showcase the creativity of young people, with a focus on the theme of friendship. The Latitude Festival will take place from July 24 to 27, 2025, featuring headliners like Sting and Snow Patrol.

AppWizard

June 10, 2025

Steam Next Fest – June 2025 Features Over 30 PC VR Demos

Steam Next Fest has begun, featuring over 30 PC VR games. Notable titles include Ghost Town, Of Lies and Rain, Don't Move, Puzzling Places, RAGER, Virtual Skate, Ultima Chess, Retronika, and Whispers of the Void (which has an updated demo). The event runs until June 16, 2025, at 10 AM PT. The list of participating games is based on information from Valve, and some titles may change or new demos may be introduced during the event.

AppWizard

June 5, 2025

Summer Game Fest 2025 preview: The big games and developers to expect at Friday’s livestream

E3 has transitioned into the Summer Game Fest, led by Geoff Keighley, featuring a livestream on June 6 at 2 pm Pacific on YouTube. New developers include Raw Power Games, working on a medieval sandbox game, and Soft Rains, developing a sci-fi action game. Big studios like 505 Games, 2K Games, Bandai Namco, Capcom, CD Projekt, Embark, IO Interactive, Square Enix, Techland, Xbox, PlayStation, Epic Games, Pearl Abyss, and Sega are expected to showcase new titles or updates. Additional partners include 1047 Games, Amazon Games, Annapurna Interactive, Atari, Bellring Games, Blumhouse Games, Coffee Stain, Devolver Digital, Dotemu, Dreamhaven, Enhance, Focus Entertainment, Frontier, Funcom, iam8bit Presents, Kakao Games, Kinetic Games, Kuro Games, Level Infinite, Magic the Gathering, Megabit, Meta Quest, Mundfish, NCSoft, Nekki, Neowiz, Netmarble, Niantic, Nintendo Switch 2, Nuverse, Playstack, PlaySide, PM Studios, Razer, Supermassive Games, Xsolla, and Yacht Club Games. An "intense body horror" game titled ILL and beta access to Soulframe will also be featured, with Hideo Kojima confirmed to attend.

AppWizard

May 26, 2025

Pick up the Left 4 Dead games for cheaper than a pack of gum in the new Steam sale that’s all about zombies, and also vampires

The Zombies vs. Vampires Fest on Steam is currently running through June 2 and features a variety of games centered around zombies and vampires. Notable titles include The Last of Us, Dying Light 2, Telltale's The Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Killing Floor 2, V Rising, Evil West, and Vampire Survivors. Left 4 Dead is available for one dollar. The sale ends on June 2 at 10 am PT.

AppWizard

May 24, 2025

Weekend PC Download Deals for May 23: Warhammer Skulls Festival

Retailers are offering sales on Warhammer products, including miniatures, rulebooks, and accessories, catering to both seasoned players and newcomers. Discounts are available on a variety of models, essential guides, and tools for enhancing gameplay.

AppWizard

May 22, 2025

Queens students advance in Minecraft esports competition ahead of NYC’s first-ever Video Game Festival

On May 5, over 270 students from Queens participated in the semi-finals of the 2025 Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs at Thomas Edison High School. The event was organized by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, NYC Public Schools, and the National Esports Association. This year's competition saw 3,295 students submit 659 entries, a 37% increase from last year and more than double the participation from 2023. Participants used Minecraft Education to create models of a sustainable New York City. The winning teams from Queens are: - Elementary Division: Team Sigma from PS 24 Andrew Jackson, led by Kerry McGarvey and Principal Bani Singh. - Middle School Division: Neo NYC from J.H.S. 185 Edward Bleeker, coached by Ana Silva-Collins under Principal Michael Leung. - High School Division: Diamond Sword Bustamoney from World Journalism Preparatory School, guided by Ernest Lai and Principal Michael Roberts Bacchus. These teams will represent Queens in the Mayor’s Cup Minecraft Education finals during the NYC Video Game Festival at Convene Brookfield Place in Manhattan. The festival will feature esports competitions, virtual reality experiences, indie game demonstrations, cosplay contests, and a career expo focused on the digital games industry. Deputy Mayor Adolfo Carrión Jr. highlighted the event's role in promoting career-connected learning and the city's digital economy. The final round will take place on May 31.

AppWizard

April 27, 2025

Utah-based director of ‘A Minecraft Movie’ addresses Sundance Film Festival’s big move

“A Minecraft Movie” is approaching a billion in global box office sales. Director Jared Hess expressed gratitude to fans for their support and creativity. He hinted at a possible sequel due to the film's success. The Sundance Film Festival will relocate from Park City, Utah, to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, marking the end of a 40-year relationship with Park City. A poll showed that 56% of Utah residents are disappointed by this decision. Park City Mayor Nann Worel and Utah Governor Spencer Cox both expressed their disappointment, while the Utah Film Commission Director mentioned potential future opportunities for the state's film community.

AppWizard

April 23, 2025

How to use the weird pictos in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Players can obtain weird pictos in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by trading a token with Tom before starting their journey to the continent. To utilize these pictos, players must reach Gestral Village, where they can interact with the merchant Jujubree in the bazaar. Jujubree will examine the weird pictos in the player's inventory, potentially leading to significant upgrades, such as enhancing an Augmented Aim picto from level two to level five. Players are encouraged to return to Jujubree with any additional weird pictos they find for further enhancements.