BuildKit Brief — Gaming & Tech — July 01, 2026

0.5.4 Patch Notes

0.5.4 Patch Notes This patch introduces a brand new Atlas Passive Tree for Runes of Aldur, expanded Expedition customisation, level-scaling Unique Items, a new currency item for Atziri’s Temple, and more. Runes of Aldur Changes Added an Expedition Atlas Passive Skill Tree.

• This patch introduces a brand new Atlas Passive Tree for Runes of Aldur, expanded Expedition customisation, level-scaling Unique Items, a new currency item f…
• Added an Expedition Atlas Passive Skill Tree. You can earn Atlas Passive Points for this by defeating each Boss in The Grand Expedition questline.
• Added a new currency, Liquid Verisium: Immediately start a Runic Remnant Encounter with a random Runic Inscription This can be purchased from Farrow using Ve…
• Grand Expeditions now have 1 to 2 Expedition Map Modifiers applied to the area. The following new Grand Expedition modifiers have also been added:
• Increased number of Runic Monster Markers
• Runic Monsters are Duplicated

Path of Exile 2 0.5.4 Patch Preview

Soon, we’re planning to deploy a major new update for Path of Exile 2. Patch 0.5.4 introduces a brand new Atlas Passive Tree for Runes of Aldur, expanded Expedition customisation, level-scaling Unique Items, a new currency item for Atziri’s Temple, and more. Check out the preview video below!

ExileCon 2026 Path of Exile 2 Race Qualifier Events

At ExileCon this November, we will be hosting competitive Path of Exile events live on the main stage. Both events will be the culmination of a series of four qualifier events where the best racers will compete for a spot in the finale.

• Qualifier One - August 6 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Two - August 13 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Three - August 20 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Four - August 27 2PM PDT
• The first player to kill Tavakai in each event will receive the following:
• Flights to Auckland, New Zealand for the weekend of ExileCon

League check: Ancestors is live

Current PoE1 challenge league: **Ancestors**. Started Jun 25, 2026. Ends in ~15 days (Jul 16) — plan your next character.

Play the Return of the Ancestors Event on June 25th PDT

The Ancestors have heard your call. The beloved Trial of the Ancestors mechanics return to Path of Exile in a three-week event starting June 25 (PDT)! Harness the power of Phrecian Ascendancy classes and new Tattoos to challenge the legendary Karui chieftains.

• Start Date: 3PM June 25th PDT
• End Date: 3PM July 16th PDT
• Based on: Mirage
• Standard, Hardcore, Standard Solo Self-Found and Hardcore Solo Self-Found versions available. The event also has a Ruthless mode available which uses the sam…
• This event is not voided. Items and characters will transfer to parent leagues at the end of the event. Upon migration, your characters’ Ascendancy points wi…

Path of Exile's most unique league is back with a chaotic, class-fusing twist

A new Path of Exile event is about to start, as developer Grinding Gear Games attempts to test the limits of just how much action RPG it's possible to squeeze into your life.

Counter-Strike 2 Update

Champions Autograph Stickers are now available for purchase in the Major Shop, congratulations to the Falcons!

• Champions Autograph Stickers are now available for purchase in the Major Shop, congratulations to the Falcons!
• Highlight Souvenir Charms are now available for purchase in the Major Shop, featuring 10 highlights for each of the six stages of the Cologne 2026 Major, and…

Team Falcons' Finale

Taking on the toughest Playoff bracket in Major history, the Falcons made a triumphant statement at the IEM Cologne 2026 Major. Facing the defending Major Champions in the Quarterfinals, Falcons defeated Vitality 2-1, with each map taking 24 rounds to determine a winner.

The IEM Cologne 2026 Grand Finals

Following one of the most unforgettable days in Major playoff history, Saturday's Semifinals left two teams standing in pursuit of a Major Championship.

Minor Update - 06-30-2026

- King of the Hill objective has been rethemed and renamed to "Unstable Rift"- Unstable Rift no longer requires an Urn delivery to trigger the start of the event. It now has a variable start time of +/- 1 minute. There is a global announcement 25s before it spawns.

Minor Update - 06-11-2026

- Urn give up time reduced from 75s to 60s- Urn bounty reduced by 10% (unreduced for trailing team)- Breakables health permanent bonus reduced from 15/25/35 to 15/20/30 for level 1/2/3- Kill comeback bounty values increased by 8%- Street Brawl: All ability and item range/radius values are reduced…

New Deadlock update aims to stop snowballing - and it's looking like Holliday season

Valve's latest Deadlock update is here, and this week is mostly about hero balance changes, although there are some notable tweaks that should push back against the recent trend for matches to snowball.

Major Update #2 - v0.107.1

Hey Slayers, our second major main branch update is here with 4 patches in 1 (not including hotfixes)! While we'll be covering a lot of things that beta players will already be used to, there are also a few big changes that will be totally new for everyone.

• The Bestiary is now available in the Compendium
• Added three more Badges:
• Damage Leader - Dealt the most damage to enemies in multiplayer
• Debuffer - Applied the most Debuffs in multiplayer
• C-c-c-Combo - Played 20 cards in a single turn
• Terminal run modifier can no longer bring a player below 1 HP

Slay the Spire 2's creator reveals the inspiration for its most controversial foe: "I was playing too much Deadlock."

Slay the Spire 2 is full of strange and sinister creatures, and I'm always curious where the ideas for them originated.

The Neowsletter - June 2026

Hey Slayers, it's time for the June Neowsletter! In this issue we're covering a couple of big roadmap items we've checked off our list as of yesterday's main branch patch and answering some of your recent questions. Let's dive in... Dev Update The first feature we want to highlight is the Bestiary.

Thunder at our Gates | Patch 1.19.2

Generals! Today marks the last pre-summer patch with fixes and tweaks to Thunder At Our Gates. After this the team will have limited presence in the office for the summer period.

• Right click the game in Steam
• Go to Properties, then Game Versions & Betas
• Select 1.19.1
• Default Public Version will use the latest public build, in this case 1.19.2
• Expeditionary Leader trait Non-Core Attack and Defence reduced from +15% to +10%.
• Tuned down the "Spirit of St. Bernard" spirit, which in combination with other things could give 105% casualty trickleback and unending armies of resurrected…

HOI IV | Open Beta Weekend (1.19.2)

Generals! We decided it would be best to run 1.19.2 as an Open Beta over the weekend to get some potential player input over the weekend. This will allow us to make any necessary fixes as well that might pop up as a result from having a wider testing net. The upside is earlier patch notes!

• Right-click the game in your library
• Select Properties from the drop-down menu
• Select Game Versions & Betas
• Select the beta branch called open_beta
• Pending hotjoins can be overwritten by new requests, resulting in an inability to launch the game
• Players bypass the hotjoin flow when joining a lobby that has loaded into the map, but not started yet

Hearts of Iron IV - Celebrate 10 Years With Us

Generals! It’s been a week since launch, and we are working on our usual post release support. 1.19.1 released yesterday, doing a first balance pass, as well as quite a few encountered issues. We are working on 1.19.2 to be released before the summer break.