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[JEMC]

Let's go with the news, all of them in one single post:

SALES & DEALS

Cultist Simulator has sold over 100,000 copies
https://www.pcgamer.com/cultist-simulator-has-sold-over-100000-copies/
Weather Factory are an indie studio founded by two former Failbetter employees who worked on Fallen London and Sunless Skies, and their debut game came out last year. Cultist Simulator is a singleplayer card game about being the head of an occult societ, delving into mysteries that ought not be delved, avoiding the police, and spending all your money on books. It's a fun puzzle to solve, but hardly a safe bet in the world of videogames.
However, it seems to have paid off. In a detailed blog post over on the Weather Factory website, co-founder Alexis Kennedy talks about how the studio's first year went. There's a complete budget in there, which isn't the kind of thing every studio shares, and full sales data. Cultist Simulator sold most of its copies on Steam (85,200 after refunds) with the rest via Humble, GOG, and itch.io. The total comes to a healthy 105,000, give or take.

 

At Steam, we have a new daily deal as well as a new weeklong sale:

• The daily deal is SOMA, 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/282140/SOMA/
• Exiled Kingdoms is 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/788270/Exiled_Kingdoms/
• RUSH is 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/844040/RUSH/
• Reignfall is half its usual price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/935930/Reignfall/
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands is 65% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/460930/Tom_Clancys_Ghost_Recon_Wildlands/
• Europa Universalis III Complete is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/25800/Europa_Universalis_III_Complete/
• And POSTAL 2 is 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/223470/POSTAL_2/

On the Humble Store, 505 Games is the star of the publisher sale, with up to 90% deals for the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/505-games-publisher-sale/

And at Fanatical, the Bundlefest has started:

• The first of the Bundlefest bundle is the Colossus bundle, with 13 games (including 2 hidden ones) split into 3 tiers of 3, 11 and 13 for the next 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/colossus-bundle
• The second one is the Festival Mystery bundle with 10 unknown games to choose from for the next 14 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/festival-mystery-bundle
• And if that's not enough, take a look at all the current bundles from here (with 2 new ones): https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle

 

SOFTWARE/DRIVERS

Aether Engine to be powered by Microsoft’s cloud computing service, Microsoft Azure
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/aether-engine-to-be-powered-by-microsofts-cloud-computing-service-microsoft-azure/
Hadean announced today that its Aether Engine will be powered by Microsoft Azure, allowing developers to more seamlessly scale their applications at increased speed and ease across the cloud. Hadean’s technology will also be integrated with other parts of Microsoft’s developer suite, including Visual Studio.
As the press release reads, today’s compute environment requires applications to run reliably at massive scale. In the gaming industry, there is an ever-increasing demand for larger and more complex multiplayer games. Hadean’s work with Microsoft will bring these experiences to life and allow developers to focus solely on building innovative and effective experiences for their users – whether in a game studio, a research institute, or simply on their machine at home.

 

MODS/EMULATORS

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GAMING NEWS

DiRT Rally 2.0 looks gorgeous on the PC in 4K
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/dirt-rally-2-0-looks-gorgeous-on-the-pc-in-4k/
DiRT Rally 2.0 releases in a few days and below you can find some 4K screenshots on Ultra settings for this new rally sim game. This may come as a surprise to some but DiRT Rally 2.0 is easily one of the most beautiful racing games on the PC, with some really impressive lighting effects.

Daedalic announces new tactical RPG, Iratus: Lord of the Dead
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/daedalic-announces-new-tactical-rpg-iratus-lord-of-the-dead/
Daedalic Entertainment and new development studio Unfrozen announced today a new fantasy RPG, Iratus: Lord of the Dead. In this new game, players assume the role of the resurrected necromancer Iratus who is trapped inside a dark dungeon prison and seeks vengeance against those who imprisoned him.

Fortnite brings back the devastating Infinity Blade
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-brings-back-the-devastating-infinity-blade/
Fortnite's Infinity Blade, which sowed chaos during the Winter Royale and was subsequently vaulted a couple of days later, has now returned to the battle royale, but with some tweaks and locked inside a separate mode.

Far Cry New Dawn's lush setting is built around 'real world' scenarios
https://www.pcgamer.com/far-cry-new-dawns-lush-setting-is-built-around-real-world-scenarios/
The world itself doesn't look all that awful, either. While games like Fallout and Metro present players with classic "blasted wasteland" environments, Far Cry New Dawn's world is lush and pretty. Associate narrative director James Nadiger told GamesIndustry that the more colorful, upbeat setting helps set New Dawn apart from other end-of-the-world games, and it's not entirely fantastical.
>> And there's a bunch of easter eggs.

The Bard's Tale 4 is getting a 'Director's Cut' overhaul
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-bards-tale-4-is-getting-a-directors-cut-overhaul/
I thought The Bard's Tale 4: Barrows Deep was an excellent dungeon crawler when it came out in the fall of 2018, but not everyone was quite so satisfied with the experience. I enthusiastically stand by my assessment—I enjoyed it throughout, even though the ending was a bit of a bummer—but if you're on the "disappointed" side of the divide, inXile is working on a "Director's Cut" version of the game that might give you a reason to take another look.

John Romero's Sigil, the spiritual successor to Ultimate Doom, is delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/john-romeros-sigil-the-spiritual-successor-to-ultimate-doom-is-delayed/
John Romero teased, and then revealed, a new Doom megawad late last year called Sigil, "an unofficial spiritual successor" to the fourth episode of Ultimate Doom. At the time it was expected to be out in February, but Romero announced today that because of complications with the physical editions, everything is being pushed back to April.

Technobabylon: Birthright is a 3D sequel to cyberpunk adventure Technobabylon
https://www.pcgamer.com/technobabylon-birthright-is-a-3d-sequel-to-cyberpunk-adventure-technobabylon/
Wadjet Eye's last game Unavowed was a high point for the publisher, but back in 2015 they put out another well-received adventure game called Technobabylon—a cyberpunk mystery about a killer called "the Mind Jacker".
(...)
Today developer Dave Gilbert tweeted that a sequel called Technobabylon: Birthright has been in the works "for awhile now" and attached a few screenshots.

Apex Legends update tackles crashes
https://www.pcgamer.com/apex-legends-update-tackles-crashes/
Apex Legends' second update is live now, but it's a pretty small one. The battle royale launched in a surprisingly polished, complete state earlier in the month, so presumably there's not much that needs fixing. My matches have been thankfully free of issues, but if you've been noticing a few crashes, this update aims to deal with that.
>> And then they revealed a few more fixes that this patch takes care about.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Operation Grand Heist season roadmap revealed
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-4-operation-grand-heist-roadmap/
Activision and Treyarch have revealed the roadmap for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's new season, Operation Grand Heist, which kicks off today on PS4 then seven days later on PC. Among the new modes and weapons, it adds Western-themed areas to the Blackout map and a new specialist, the Outrider, who returns from Black Ops 3.

Final Fantasy 15's final DLC, Episode Ardyn, has a release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-15s-final-dlc-episode-ardyn-has-a-release-date/
Episode Ardyn, the last of the Final Fantasy 15 DLC packs, is out on March 26, Square Enix has confirmed with the longest trailer of all time. Well, technically, it's not a trailer, more an animated prologue attached to a trailer, but it still takes a while to get to the bloody point. Scroll ahead to the 13:40 mark if you just want to see the in-game action. You get to play as Ifrit in Episode Ardyn, and it's nice to see this fiery summon making an appearance outside the game's brief finale.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall release date seemingly revealed by Microsoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/age-of-wonders-planetfall-release-date-seemingly-revealed-by-microsoft/
It's been a while since we heard anything of Age of Wonders: Planetfall, the sci-fi spin-off of the long-running 4X series, but now it seems to have a release date: August 6th. The source is Microsoft, which brazenly lists this date on its store. This hasn't been officially confirmed by publisher Paradox, but one of the major platform holders seems like a pretty good source on this kind of stuff.

Total War: Three Kingdoms trailer shows more realistic 'Records' mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-three-kingdoms-trailer-shows-more-realistic-records-mode/
So far we've seen plenty of the Total War: Three Kingdoms Romance mode but little of the more realistic version of the campaign, called 'Records'. It sounds like this mainly changes the power of heroes in battles. Instead of being lone warriors capable of fending off entire units, heroes fight as part of a unit of fighters. They are also more vulnerable than they are in Romance mode.