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[JEMC]

The Thursday news. Again, all in one post:

SALES & DEALS

Steam's daily deal is Night in the Woods, 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/481510/Night_in_the_Woods/

On the Humble Store, Plague Inc: Evolved is the new Spotlight Deal, 60% off for the next 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/plague-inc-evolved

And at Fanatical, there are two new deals:

• The new Bundlefest bundle is the Legends Bundle, that consist of 3 Legend bundles based on FPS, Strategy or Anime games for the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/collections/legends-bundles
• And the Resident Evil franchise is on sale for the next 24 hours, up to 80% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/franchises/resident-evil

 

SOFTWARE/DRIVERS

Denuvo 5.6, used in Metro Exodus, has been cracked in five days
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/denuvo-5-6-used-in-metro-exodus-has-been-cracked-in-five-days/
Metro Exodus and Far Cry New Dawn are the latest games powered by the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. From the looks of it, 4A Games and Ubisoft have used a new version of this anti-tamper tech, Denuvo 5.6, which has been cracked in just five days.
This version of Denuvo is newer than what was used in Ace Combat 7 and Resident Evil 2 Remake. Still, this didn’t really stop the scene groups from cracking the game. Now as with all the Denuvo cracks, this does not remove the anti-tamper tech. As such, players cannot use this cracked version in order to measure the performance impact that Denuvo has on this specific title.
>> It's a lost battle.

 

MODS/EMULATORS

Paradox has launched its own modding platform with Microsoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/paradox-has-launched-its-own-modding-platform-with-microsoft/
Paradox Interactive has launched Paradox Mods, a modding platform that works across both PC and Xbox One. The publisher partnered with Microsoft to launch it, and you can start downloading mods now.
Paradox's games typically have great mod support and armies of diligent modders churning out everything for overhauls to minute tweaks right from the get-go, so this probably isn't going to change much on PC. I use Steam Workshop for all my Paradox games, and it's fine.
The new platform will allow Xbox One users to enjoy some of those mods, however, or at least the 30 console-tested Surviving Mars mods it's launching with. For modders, getting their mods out to both PC and console players is as simple as uploading it, where it will become available for everyone. Presumably, however, some mods will be more suited to the PC version. There are considerably more mods available on PC, too, where the platform also supports Cities: Skylines and Stellaris.

Deus Ex gets a new Topaz Gigapixel AI-enhanced texture pack, demo version available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/deus-ex-gets-a-new-topaz-gigapixel-ai-enhanced-texture-pack-demo-version-available-for-download/
Modder ‘DaveW’ has released a demo version of a brand new AI-enhanced texture pack for the classic Deus Ex game. This mod uses Topaz Gigapixel AI upscaling techniques in order to improve the textures and keep them as close to the original vision as possible.
Unfortunately I haven’t installed Deus Ex and the modder did not release any comparison screenshots in order to showcase these new textures. As such, I can’t really comment on the quality of the textures and whether they are better than those included in some other texture packs that were released for this shooter.
The only screenshot we’ve got from this AI-enhanced texture pack is the following one, however the downside here is that this is a coloured area so we can’t really be sure about the overall quality of the new textures. They appear to be better but that’s it.
>> It would be better to read some user opinions, but if you don't care and want to try it now, you can get this mod from ModDB.

Mr. X becomes Mr. Sex in a revealing Resident Evil 2 thong mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/mr-x-becomes-mr-sex-in-a-revealing-resident-evil-2-thong-mod/
Resident Evil 2 is an excellent game, but it's also very one-sided. We're thrown into the lap of a flimsy rookie cop who becomes a hero on his first day. Meanwhile, Mr. X has been hitting the gym, keeping close track of his macronutrient intake, and ignoring his friends to get that hard body, the hard body required to properly represent Umbrella as an unstoppable PR tyrant. Killing you is just damage control.
Finally, we can admire all the hard work Mr. X put in head on. The Beach Boy X mod strips Mr. X of his clothes but for some sweet shades, flip-flops, and an Umbrella thong. The medium is the message.
Download the Beach Boy X mod here, where you'll also find some simple installation instructions. Careful though, because these files are hot.

 

GAMING NEWS

Open-world space action single-player RPG, Starpoint Gemini 3, has been officially announced
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/open-world-space-action-single-player-rpg-starpoint-gemini-3-has-been-officially-announced/
LGM Games, creators of the Starpoint Gemini franchise, announced today a brand-new title. The new installment is an open-world space action single-player RPG that puts the player in the cockpit of Captain Jonathan Bold, a space adventurer travelling the vast universe of Starpoint Gemini 3.

Fallout 76 player who spent 900 hours in-game says they've been banned
https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-76-player-who-spent-900-hours-in-game-says-theyve-been-banned/
There's someone out there who loves Fallout 76 so much they've played it for more than 900 hours. The heart is a strange thing. Tragedy has unfortunately struck this unlikely relationship, as the survivor in question has also, over the course their long journey, amassed a ridiculous amount of ammo, so much that Bethesda apparently reckons it's an exploit and they've been indefinitely banned from digital West Virginia.

Former EA and DICE boss is making a futuristic co-op action game
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-ea-and-dice-boss-is-making-a-futuristic-co-op-action-game/
Former Electronic Arts chief design officer Patrick Söderlund has revealed a little bit about what he's been up to since leaving the publisher last year and founding a new outfit called Embark Studios. More than 50 employees have been hired since then, an office has been established in Stockholm, and—this is the interesting part—work has begun on a new game.

Apex Legends' new weapon is an energy assault rifle with a hitscan beam mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/apex-legends-is-getting-a-new-gun-tomorrow/
As promised, here it is: The Havoc is an energy assault rifle compatible with the Turbocharger hop-up that eliminates the autofire charge delay, and more interestingly the Selectfire Receiver, which enables shooter to switch from a standard autofire mode to a hitscan charged beam weapon, meaning that you're going to instantly hit whatever you're aiming at.

What is happening to everyone in The Sims 4 StrangerVille?
https://www.pcgamer.com/what-is-happening-to-everyone-in-the-sims-4-strangerville/
Strange things are happening in The Sims 4. In a brief preview this morning, EA and Maxis premiered a new soon-to-be-available game pack for the ever-expanding Sims universe, called StrangerVille.

Hearthstone designer wants to know why people aren't playing it as much
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-designer-wants-to-know-why-people-arent-playing-it-as-much/
Hearthstone is still the king of digital CCGs, but it also appears to be kind of stuck: Monthly active users have been on the decline for awhile, and Activision Blizzard COO Coddy Johnson said during the company's most recent earnings call (the one where the company announced record revenues and laid off 800 people at the same time) that it "experienced sequential declines in net bookings from players making in-game purchases." Wondering why? Lead balance designer August Dean Ayala wants to know, too. So a couple of days ago he asked.
>> And you can get some free cards from the HCT Winter Championship.

Anthem's 'Day One' patch is live now
https://www.pcgamer.com/anthems-day-one-patch-will-actually-go-live-today/
The Day One patch is now live, weighing in at just under 5GB in size. If you're already playing Anthem, you should be able to download it now, and if you're waiting for the full release, you'll get it when you get it.

Space Engineers finally gets a release date after five years in Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/space-engineers-is-leaving-early-access-after-more-than-five-years/
Space Engineers, one of the best space games on PC, is finally leaving Early Access after more than five years and 200 updates. The stellar sandbox will reach 1.0 on February 28, accompanied by a major survival overhaul. It will be one of the biggest overhauls it's seen and, according to Keen Software's Marek Rosa, Space Engineers will evolve from a sandbox into a game.

The Division 2 PC technical test starts today
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-division-2-pc-technical-test-starts-today/
Ubisoft is hosting a PC technical test in The Division 2 for a couple of days, starting today, for a limited number of randomly selected players. Check your inbox for an invite. The test will end on Friday.

Black Ops 4 loot boxes weren't part of the original plan
https://www.pcgamer.com/black-ops-4-loot-boxes-werent-part-of-the-original-plan/
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4's design director, David Vonderhaar, has defended an interview where he said Blackout characters would be only be locked behind missions. The interview resurfaced after the latest update, Operation Grand Heist, snuck loot boxes into the game and trapped the new characters inside them.

Untitled Goose Game release date pushed back
https://www.pcgamer.com/untitled-goose-game-release-date-pushed-back/
Untitled Goose Game, where you play a horrible goose and must ruin everyone's day with your honks and mischief, has been delayed. Originally due out early this year, it's been pushed back to the equally vague later this year. The goose, of course, is to blame.

THQ Nordic raises funds to buy even more studios
https://www.pcgamer.com/thq-nordic-raises-funds-to-buy-even-more-studios/
THQ Nordic has acquired a lot of games and studios over the last few years, and the publisher has just raised over £171 million/$223 million that it intends to put towards even more acquisitions. It's big, but it wants to be bigger.
11 million new Class B shares were issued on Wednesday, and the money raised has been earmarked for "new acquisitions of franchises, game development studios or other assets which complement the operations," THQ said in a statement.
>> They want more?!