Spring Cleaning. That wonderful time of year where people go through their closets to make space, and in doing so discover forgotten gems lost to the bottom of plastic storage totes. But why should the joy of rediscovering a kitschy t-shirt, or a well-hidden holiday gift, be limited to cleaning our homes? With so many wonderful games out there it’s easy to have a backlog of titles that you always intended to go play, but for whatever reason never got around to and the Steam Spring Cleaning Event is the time to change that. By diving into your Steam Library and playing games that you haven’t looked at in a while (or at all), you can unlock and level up the new Spring Cleaning badge. But this event isn’t just for those with a hefty backlog of titles to work through as we said earlier, Spring Cleaning is a time of delightful surprises and so in that spirit the following games will be available to play FREE for the duration of the event (May 24th -May 28th)

Don’t Starve Together
Dead by Daylight
Cities: Skylines
Tyranny
Borderlands 2
Castle Crashers
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Left 4 Dead 2
Dirt 4

It’s a great time for games, so enjoy the weekend exploring Steam and finding a new classic to add to your all-time favorite list.

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Spring Cleaning. That wonderful time of year where people go through their closets to make space, and in doing so discover forgotten gems lost to the bottom of plastic storage totes. But why should the joy of rediscovering a kitschy t-shirt, or a well-hidden holiday gift, be limited to cleaning our homes? With so many wonderful games out there it’s easy to have a backlog of titles that you always intended to go play, but for whatever reason never got around to… and the Steam Spring Cleaning Event is the time to change that. By diving into your Steam Library and playing games that you haven’t looked at in a while (or at all), you can unlock and level up the new Spring Cleaning badge. But this event isn’t just for those with a hefty backlog of titles to work through… as we said earlier, Spring Cleaning is a time of delightful surprises and so in that spirit the following games will be available to play FREE for the duration of the event (May 24th -May 28th)

Don’t Starve Together
Dead by Daylight
Cities: Skylines
Tyranny
Borderlands 2
Castle Crashers
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Left 4 Dead 2
Dirt 4

It’s a great time for games, so enjoy the weekend exploring Steam and finding a new classic to add to your all-time favorite list.

Hello Insiders! Those of you who have been following the blog for the last few months will recognize me from previous posts about Xbox Feedback, our site dedicated to using your suggestions to direct new features and updates based on your ideas.

Today I’m here to announce that Xbox Feedback is improving and moving: Xbox Feedback is now Xbox Ideas! If you’ve already been to the new Xbox Ideas site, you might notice that the site feels familiar. We’re continuing to use the UserVoice platform to collect your ideas, but—in order to maximize the impact of your suggestions—we are changing how you submit your ideas by introducing the concept of Idea Drives.

An Idea Drive is a campaign that runs for a limited time (usually 1-3 months). Each Idea Drive will focus on a specific feature area or topic, sometimes with a limited number of ideas.

Phases of an Idea Drive

For most Idea Drives, there will be a Collection Phase where users can submit their own ideas about the feature.  For example, there is currently an Idea Drive for the Xbox Insider Program that is in the Collection Phase. The Idea Drive started with some ideas from Xbox Insider team members, but every day we’re adding more Ideas submitted by users.

Keep in mind that we very carefully moderate the list of ideas, and we will make edits for clarification on any ideas we accept. If you submit an idea that is a duplicate of an idea already posted, or if you submit an idea that is unrelated, it will not be posted to the Idea Drive.

Every Idea Drive will have a Voting Phase, submissions for new ideas are closed, and users are then encouraged to vote and comment. Our feature teams love these comments and read all of them, so comment away!

Finally, when voting ends, the Idea Drive will be closed but still visible on Xbox Ideas. During this time, our feature teams review the results of the drive. After the review, Idea Drive results will be posted on the Xbox Insider blog.

The last feature on the site is the Idea Drive Suggestion Box. This is your opportunity to pitch an Idea Drive of your own. If there’s an area of Xbox that you want to help improve, please suggest the Idea Drive here. Just like the Idea Drive forums, this area is highly curated, and specific idea requests or unrelated posts will be removed, so please focus on suggesting general Idea Drives. If we pick your Idea Drive then you can post your Idea. One tip: including comments with your specific ideas is an effective way to get others excited for the Idea Drive and vote for it.

We’ve posted a list of frequently asked questions about Xbox Ideas over on the site, which you can find right here.  We’re looking forward to sharing our next big announcement as well as the results of our first Idea Drives, so keep an eye on this space!

Head over to the new Xbox Ideas site, powered by UserVoice, and make your voice heard.  Remember, Xbox Ideas is driven by you!

Super Mario Run might not have as many rolling content updates as the likes of Pokemon GO and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, but that doesn’t mean Mario’s first foray into smartphone gaming is event-free. Take the new Gold Goomba Life Event, which just went live on the premium endless runner/platformer.

A smaller version of the Gold Goomba event, it’s essentially a way to make earning statues such as the Captured Goomba Statue, Captured Chain Chomp Statue, Captured Hammer Bro Statue and that all important Sappy Statue. So jump back in and give it a try!

Are you still playing Super Mario Run? If not, are you tempted to jump back once more? We want to hear your thoughts…

Space Hulk: Deathwing – Enhanced Edition is Now Available on Steam!

Space Hulk® Deathwing™ Enhanced Edition is a First-Person Shooter based on Games Workshop’s cult classic board game set in Warhammer 40,000 universe. Expanding upon the original game, and featuring a host of new content, new features and a richer multiplayer mode.

Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is Now Available on Steam!

Battle with swords and whips in this retro-style action game brought to you by game creator Koji Igarashi and Inti Creates! Play as Zangetsu, a demon slayer bearing a deep grudge, who must travel through perilous lands to defeat a powerful demon lurking in a dark castle.

There’s been a spate of retro re-releases as of late in Japan, with publishers reissuing classic titles (and a few obscure gems) on their original platform. Japanese firm Tommo is the latest publisher to leap aboard the bandwagon, with two Super Famicom titles getting a reprint.

It’s been confirmed that Shodai Nekketsu Kpuha Kunio-kun will be re-issued on 28th June, while Return of Double Dragon (known as Super Double Dragon in the West) will drop some authentic retro goodness on 12th July. Both reprints are, unsurprisingly, Japan only at the moment, with a respective price tag of 6,458 yen attached.

Are you a retro enthusiast? Would you fork out for some reissue Super Famicom/SNES games in 2018? Share your thoughts with us below…