BuildKit Brief — Gaming & Tech — August 12, 2026

Play Path of Exile 2 at gamescom 2026

In just two weeks, Path of Exile 2 will be heading to gamescom in Cologne, Germany. If you’re attending, make sure to pop by our booth to play the special demo available exclusively at the event. gamescom ONL kicks off on August 25th at 11am PST.

Fan Art Competition

It’s been a while since we last hosted a fan art competition, and with the recent updates to Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2, we’re sure our community artists have plenty of inspiration to draw from.

• Forum avatar based on the winning submission
• Your choice of Path of Exile poster signed by developers
• Your choice of two Path of Exile or Path of Exile 2 T-shirts
• 2 x random Path of Exile Pin
• Chaos Orb Socks
• Chaos Orb Deskpad

Path of Exile 2 ExileCon Qualifiers Begin Next Week

It's finally happening! The ExileCon Path of Exile 2 Qualifiers kick off next week, culminating in a live final where the top racers from all four qualifier events will compete for the championship title in New Zealand.

• Qualifier One - August 6 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Two - August 13 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Three - August 20 2PM PDT
• Qualifier Four - August 27 2PM PDT
• Flights to Auckland, New Zealand for the weekend of ExileCon
• Accommodation in Auckland for the weekend of ExileCon

Fan Art Competition

It’s been a while since we last hosted a fan art competition, and with the recent updates to Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2, we’re sure our community artists have plenty of inspiration to draw from.

• Forum avatar based on the winning submission
• Your choice of Path of Exile poster signed by developers
• Your choice of two Path of Exile or Path of Exile 2 T-shirts
• 2 x random Path of Exile Pin
• Chaos Orb Socks
• Chaos Orb Deskpad

Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame Interview with Zizaran

Yesterday, Path of Exile 1 Game Designers Andrew and Octavian sat down with community streamer Zizaran to discuss Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame. In case you missed it, check out the VOD below.

Path of Exile 1: Curse of the Allflame Developer Interview

Later this week, Game Designers Octavian and Andrew will join Zizaran to discuss Path of Exile: Curse of the Allflame. Tune in to hear the team discuss the latest developments and answer questions from the community. 2pm Tuesday August 4th PDT - at See you there!

• 2pm Tuesday August 4th PDT - at https://www.twitch.tv/zizaran

League check: Allflame is live

Current PoE1 challenge league: **Allflame**. Started Jul 24, 2026.

Counter-Strike 2 Update

Fixed a case where grenades could be thrown through level geometry Cache Fixed various gaps in map Fixed collision in various spots across map Fixed flickering on some assets Removed boost spot in Outside A Shelter Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes) Added…

• Fixed a case where grenades could be thrown through level geometry
• Fixed various gaps in map
• Fixed collision in various spots across map
• Fixed flickering on some assets
• Removed boost spot in Outside A
• Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)

Cologne 2026: Ranked Series

Today we're shipping the Ranked Series of Cologne 2026 Major stickers--new stickers that indicate a team's final standing in the design. As with all items in the Cologne 2026 Shop, 50% of the royalties support the teams, players and tournament organizer.

Deadlock isn't even 'out' yet, but Valve's new game is a true monster in the making

Valve's Deadlock will be a serious contender when it's fully released on Steam, mixing great character design with fantastic fundamentals. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Deadlock isn't even 'out' yet, but Valve's new game is a true monster in the making

Matchmaking Update

This update includes a revamp to how the matchmaking system works, as well as the introduction of a new matchmaking mode. You can now choose to play in Standard Mode (unranked), or the new Ranked Mode introduced in this update.

Minor Update - 07-28-2026

- Stamina bucket 3 heroes (slowest) have their ground dash time increased from 0.7s to 0.72s and air dash time from 0.49s to 0.51s- The Orb Spawners in base that give 10 souls on hit now split to nearby players on expire- Fixed the party member / team mate audio volume slider for voice…

Beta Patch Notes - v0.110.0

Another beta patch just dropped! This one contains a host of balance changes and reworks. Notably, Mirage and Pillar of Creation have been reverted back to their pre-0.109.0 versions and have also been slightly buffed and nerfed, respectively.

• Buffed Neow's Abundance card:
• Now always creates Upgraded powers
• Upgrade changed to lower Energy cost by 1
• Reworked Tezcatara's Toasty Mittens relic: "At the start of your turn, Exhaust the top card of your Draw Pile and gain 1 Strength." -> "At the start of your…
• Buffed Tezcatara's Seal of Gold relic: Gold loss decreased from 5 -> 3
• Changed Nonupeipe's Beautiful Bracelet relic:

Slay the Spire 2 reverses card reworks in a new round of experimental balance changes

New Slay the Spire 2 patch notes undo previous redesigns, while making fresh reworks and balance adjustments for the roguelike deckbuilder. Read the full story on PCGamesN: Slay the Spire 2 reverses card reworks in a new round of experimental balance changes

Beta Hotfix Patch Notes - v0.109.1

Got a tiny patch today with one important hotfix for players playing in Traditional Chinese! BUG FIXES: Synced corrected Traditional Chinese translations to fix broken plural evaluation

• Synced corrected Traditional Chinese translations to fix broken plural evaluation

HOI IV | Open Beta SE™ Update 2

Generals! Hello, I’m Pdxen, Tech Lead for Hearts of Iron and I want to welcome you to the second update of the Summer Open Beta. In this update we are changing the topic from balancing to updating the tech stack of the game. A lot has happened with computers since Hoi4 was released.

• Updated the threading libraries used in HoI4 to work better for some more modern hardware configurations
• Increased MP hardening to host operations such as kicking and banning players in MP

HOI IV Dev Corner | Army Quality and Expertise

Hi everyone, Jamor here again. I want to thank you for good, informed feedback and suggestions in the previous airborne dev corner. I hope I can benefit from the community’s collective insight once more.

• What are the shortcomings of the current system of unit experience and casualty replenishment?
• How would you feel about a system where there were trade-offs between army size and quality?
• What would you like to see in a system intended to make the system more interesting and varied?

HOI IV Dev Corner | National Focus Flavor

Hello all! Today we're kicking off a new round of Dev Corners, this time turning our attention to a project we haven't touched on yet.

• Do you think focus trees of different countries should interact more with each other, and what sort of focuses? Shared branches are one way to achieve this o…
• When focus trees have optional focuses with political flavor, do you mainly prefer: national spirits that grant bonuses that fit your regime, unique country…
• Do you think there are underrated mechanics that focus trees don’t always interact with? (We’ve heard license bonuses for example).