Friday news, part two:

Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons solo adventure to add 35 new cards in January
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstone-descent-of-dragons-solo-adventure-to-add-35-new-cards-in-january/
Hearthstone's Year of the Dragon enters its final phase on December 10 with the launch of Descent of Dragons, an epic clash of good and E.V.I.L. that will see the League of E.V.I.L. attempting to resurrect Galakrond, Progenitor of all Dragonkind, while the League of Explorers enlists the help of Dragon Aspects to stop them. That clash will culminate in Galakrond's Awakening, a new solo adventure that, for the first time in a long time for Hearthstone PvE, will add 35 new collectible cards.

Three new heroes have come to Hearthstone Battlegrounds in the latest update
https://www.pcgamer.com/three-new-heroes-have-come-to-hearthstone-battlegrounds-in-the-latest-update/
Normally, the week before a new Hearthstone expansion lands finds the game at its most stale. Which, okay, is true of the current constructed ladder, but is less of a problem because players are having so much fun in the Battlegrounds mode. A new patch has just gone live which sees a trio of new heroes are joining the party, and a pair of familiar faces also returning from a tune-up in Team 5's workshop.

GTA Online's Diamond Casino Heist will be the game's 'most complex operation' ever
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-onlines-diamond-casino-heist-will-be-the-games-most-complex-operation-ever/
GTA Online players have been able to gamble themselves into penury at the Diamond Casino and Resort since July, but soon it will be time to get down to what they've really wanted to do all along: Rip the place off. Starting on December 12, players will be able to take part in The Diamond Casino Heist, which is being billed as "the biggest, most audacious, most complex criminal operation" in the history of Los Santos.

Watch 13 minutes of Borderlands 3's first expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/watch-13-minutes-of-borderlands-3s-first-expansion/
Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot, the first campaign expansion for Borderlands 3, is coming on December 19. You can get a taste of what it's all about right now, though, courtesy of a new 13-minute gameplay video showcasing the corridors of Handsome Jack's favorite joint.

Riot is teaming with outside studios to make single-player League of Legends games
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-is-teaming-with-outside-studios-to-make-single-player-league-of-legends-games/
League of Legends studio Riot Games recently announced plans to move beyond the mega-MOBA League of Legends with a pile of new games including a fighting game, an FPS, a card game, and even a management sim. But it's also looking to broaden the appeal and footprint of League of Legends with a new publishing label announced today called Riot Forge, through which it will partner with other developers to create "bespoke games that enable players of all types to experience League in new and exciting ways."

Bungie reveals more changes coming in Destiny 2: Season of Dawn
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-reveals-more-changes-coming-in-destiny-2-season-of-dawn/
The latest This Week at Bungie is mainly a recap of the big Destiny 2 announcements that dropped earlier this week, including a teaser for Saint-14's return and a livestreamed look at some of the other changes coming in Season of Dawn. But it expands on all of that a bit with some bullet-point specifics on more granular changes, including small increases to Power and Pinnacle reward caps and a long-awaited buff to Thundercrash, the Striker Code of the Missile Super ability, that's been given a boost to base damage, in-flight damage, and the amount of time you can stay in the air after it's activated.

It's all downhill from here in free, turn-based skiing game Alpine Alpaca
https://www.pcgamer.com/its-all-downhill-from-here-in-free-turn-based-skiing-game-alpine-alpaca/
Without wanting to generalise about lazy, smelly alpacas, they sure are great at skiing. Surprisingly so! So thoughtful, so considered: the creatures take the sport one step, er, one slide at a time. This I learn from Alpine Alpaca, a free, silly browser game where you take on a mountain by picking movement cards from a deck.

Phoenix Point has been delayed on Xbox Game Pass and the Microsoft Store
https://www.pcgamer.com/phoenix-point-has-been-delayed-on-xbox-game-pass-and-the-microsoft-store/
Phoenix Point's Epic Games Store exclusivity ruffled feathers but was quickly walked back when it was announced that the turn-based tactics game would also launch on the Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass for PC. It launched on December 3, but the Microsoft version remains MIA.

Minecraft is YouTube's most popular game of 2019, with 100 billion views
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-is-youtubes-most-popular-game-of-2019-with-100-billion-views/
It's been more than a decade since players started building their first dirt hovels in Minecraft, and while most games wind down long before that, Mojang's sandbox has no problems with relevancy, even in the face of Fortnite's popularity. This year, it was the most watched game on YouTube, generating a ridiculous 100.2 billion views.

Spintires: Chernobyl's new teaser gives off Death Stranding vibes
https://www.pcgamer.com/spintires-chernobyls-new-teaser-gives-off-death-stranding-vibes/
Spintires: Chernobyl looks pretty gloomy, as you might expect from a sim about trudging through the muddy Exclusion Zone with only your truck for company. It's due out in a week and you can get a glimpse of it in action in the teaser above.

I Am Jesus Christ is a 'realistic' sim where you fight Satan
https://www.pcgamer.com/i-am-jesus-christ-is-a-realistic-sim-where-you-fight-satan/
The trailer for I Am Jesus Christ, which claims to be a "highly realistic simulation game" is a lot to take in. It's a first-person sim where you'll be able to go around performing miracles, like summoning fish, healing the sick and fighting Satan with your magic hands.

And these are the deals we'll find at GOG and Steam during the weekend:

+GOG

• The first of the available sales is the Activision Sale with up to 75% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191202_weekly_sale_activision
• Next comes the Paradox weekly sale with up to 80% deals: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191202_weekly_sale_paradox
• The Midweek Sale, available for another 22 hours, is full of Ubisoft games up to 75% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191204_midweek_sale_ubisoft
• Time for the Headup Game's Anniversary Sale and its up to 80% discounts, available for3 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191206_weekend_sale_headup
• And the last one is the "weekend" sale, filled with space themed games, that will last 5 days and features up to 85% deals: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191206_weekend_sale

+Steam

• The first one is a daily deal, Tick Tock: A Tale for Two with a 50% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/790740/Tick_Tock_A_Tale_for_Two/
• The other daily deal is Blazing Beaks, also 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/585710/Blazing_Beaks/
• The first of the weekend deals is Remnant: From the Ashes, 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/617290/Remnant_From_the_Ashes/
• Miscreated is free to try for two days and 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/299740/Miscreated/
• The free to play Minion Masters is giving away Minion Masters - Crystal Conquest for a limited time: https://store.steampowered.com/app/489520/Minion_Masters/
• And Daedalic Entertainment is the star of the publisher weekend sale, and features up to 96% discounts: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/daedalic/

No more news until next week. Meanwhile, have a happy and gaming weekend.

*** NEW CONTEST ***

• Guru3D 2019 December 9th contest: Win a Macube 310P White Chassis + Castle 240 EX White: https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/guru3d-2019-december-9th-contest-win-a-macube-310p-white-chassis-castle-240-ex-white.html

Been a lot of shoddy reporting on this. Thought 2 million in 2 days was amazing, considering both gamepass and that only Reach is on PC atm. But it's not sold 2m. The source they link to literally just says between 1m and 2m sales. Yet sites are reporting "Nearly 2m", or even this as "More than 2m" lol. Journalism!

Regardless of the bad reporting, it's done great and seems like a good and long overdue release on PC.

Edit: Oh says at the bottom of the article now lol. You'd think they'd update the title, instead of keeping the misinformation xD

"UPDATE: Steam Charts has updated its stats, claiming now that the game has sold between 1 million and 2 million copies." 

The Community/User profiles really are dreadful. Found the "Mouse-Like Joystick" setting, and it's a million times better for the right analog for games like Skyrim, yet the community profile uses the awful "Joystick Camera" setting...

Still now I've used it for a few days, it's till great. Batteries are still going after 20+ hours, unlike the XBO controller which kills a pair of AA's in 7-8 hours.

Gaming journalists have never been among the best ones out there... and nowadays, regular ones aren't that great either. At least they have improved, as seeing in one of today's news article.

By the way, glad your finding better ways to use your Steam controller.

Here come the Monday news!

SALES & DEALS

Red Dead Redemption 2 Steam launch sales
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/red-dead-redemption-2-steam-launch-sales/
It’s been almost three days since the launch of the Red Dead Redemption 2 on the Steam platform. Right now the game is sitting at number sixteen on Steam’s top games list with 36,528 active players, while Grand Theft Auto V is at number four with 115,357players. Furthermore, and according to SteamCharts, the game has sold between 200,000 and 500,000 copies so far.
There are several reasons that could affected the launch sales. First of all the game has been available on consoles for over a year now. The game was exclusive for a month on the Rockstar Launcher and on the Epic Store.

Humble Choice goes live with Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Phantom Doctrine, and 8 more
https://www.pcgamer.com/humble-choice-goes-live-with-shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-phantom-doctrine-and-8-more/
The Humble Monthly Bundle was a subscription service with a mystery twist: For $12 a month, subscribers got a mix of games ranging from high-profile big-budget releases to obscure indie stuff nobody's every heard of. The catch was that you didn't know what most of them would be before you paid. It was still often a good way to pick up games on the cheap because there was no term commitment required, so you could, as in April, grab Assassin's Creed: Origins for $12 (one game, usually a big one, was always revealed early), and then be on your way.
I say "was," because the Humble Monthly is now officially done and gone—replaced, as announced in October, with Humble Choice. Like its predecessor, it's a subscription-based service, but there's no surprise involved. Instead, the Humble Store will put together a list of ten or more games each month, from which subscribers can choose up to nine to keep.

GOG starts the week without the regular weekly sale (Winter Sale incoming?), but that doesn't stop them from having a new Paradox weekly sale, with up to 75% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191209_weekly_sale_paradox

Steam has two new daily deals:

• Deliver Us The Moon is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/428660/Deliver_Us_The_Moon/
• And Plague Inc: Evolved is 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/246620/Plague_Inc_Evolved/

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Dying Light Enhanced Edition + Free copy of Call of Juarez, 70% off for the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/dying-light-enhanced-edition-plus-free-call-of-juarez
• And there's also the new Staff Picks Winter Build Your Own Bundle with 30 games to build your own bundle of 3, 5 and 8 games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/staff-picks-winter-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Assassin’s Creed: Origins – Denuvo vs Denuvo-free benchmarks – Significantly less stuttering, faster loading
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/assassins-creed-origins-denuvo-vs-denuvo-free-benchmarks-significantly-less-stuttering-faster-loading/
As we’ve already reported, a “games cracking” group was able to completely remove Denuvo and VMProtect from Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Therefore, we’ve decided to test the UPLAY and the pirated versions in order to see whether these DRMs have any negative effect on the game’s performance.
(...)
As we reported back in 2017, Assassin’s Creed: Origins suffers from major stuttering issues on quad-core CPUs (especially if your CPU does not support Hyper Threading). And as we discovered today, Ubisoft has not reduced them. Now what’s really interesting here is that the pirated version had less stutters. Do note that both of these versions had LONG stuttering issues (we’re talking about stutters that last 3-4 seconds) and made the game unplayable. Still, the pirated version had significantly less stutters; there were some but they were not as frequent as those found in the UPLAY version. Moreover, and as with most games that do not use Denuvo, the pirated version of Assassin’s Creed: Origins loads faster.
Framerate wise, we did not experience any differences between these two versions. What this means is that Denuvo and VMProtect do not bring a framerate hit in Assassin’s Creed Origins.

MODS/EMULATORS

Halo Reach Evolved & Halo Reach Forge Collection are the first big mods for Halo: Reach PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/halo-reach-evolved-halo-reach-forge-collection-are-the-first-big-mods-for-halo-reach-pc/
Last week, Microsoft and 343 Industries released Halo: Reach on the PC. As we’ve already reported, Halo: Reach supports mods from the get-go. And today, we are presenting you the first two/three big mods for it that are currently available for download.
>> Check the article for the description and links of those 3 mods.

This 4.6GB HD Texture Pack for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind adds new normal, specular & occlusion maps
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-4-6gb-hd-texture-pack-for-the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-adds-normal-specular-occlusion-maps/
Modder ‘Hasphat’ released a pretty interesting mod for The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This HD Texture Pack, which is 4.6GB in size, adds normal, specular & occlusion maps for over 2400 textures. This pack aims to overhaul the game’s visuals, therefore we highly recommend downloading it.
According to the modder, this pack is a vast improvement over Environmental Normal Maps PBR and renders it moot. Metal armors and weapons are now more shiny and the mod is compatible with Tribunal and Blood Moon. Moreover, the modder has fixed all missing ground textures.
Those interested can download this Normal Map PBR mod from here. Do note, however, that you will need MGE XE v10.1 with PBR, otherwise you won’t be able to use this HD Texture Pack.

This HD Texture Pack for Deus Ex overhauls all of its characters, decorations and items
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-hd-texture-pack-for-deus-ex-overhauls-all-of-its-characters-decorations-and-items/
Modder ‘BerƵerker’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for the first Deus Ex game. According to its description, the Helios Texture Overhaul mod improves the textures of all the characters, decorations and items.
This HD Texture Pack is around 890MB in size and we highly recommend downloading it. The modder tried to stay as close to the original material as possible, so I’m pretty sure that even purists will like this mod.
>> Available from ModDB.

This Red Dead Redemption 2 mod lets you spawn a flyable hot air balloon
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-red-dead-redemption-2-mod-lets-you-spawn-a-flyable-hot-air-balloon/
I'm still waiting patiently for the day when the modding community figures out how to get airplanes and helicopters into Red Dead Redemption 2, but until then this hot air balloon mod by Krank will have to do. Once installed you can conjure up a balloon wherever you are and fly it around freely, getting some amazing bird's eye views of Red Dead's sprawling slice of the Wild West.
The balloon moves way faster than it realistically should. Don't expect to find an accurate simulation of a hot air balloon here. But it's a thrill being able to float around that massive world without being stuck on the back of a horse. The latest version of the mod added inertia and smoother controls, and it even has controller support if you're playing Red Dead with a gamepad.

Remember Hocus Pocus? It's back in Doom form
https://www.pcgamer.com/remember-hocus-pocus-its-back-in-doom-form/
Hocus Pocus was a 1994 side-scrolling platformer published by 3D Realms in glorious 256-color VGA. You played a wizard's apprentice with some magic spells and a steady supply of rapid-fire potions.
For the last five years or so modder Ravage has been working on a total conversion for Doom 2 that transforms it into first-person Hocus Pocus. Shoot magic at scorpions and bats, shout "Yahoo!" in the original game's Mario-esque voice, and collect crystals while circle-strafing at Doom-speed. As the ever-vigilant Dominic Tarason points out on Twitter, "the hidden levels are recreations of other shareware-era games."
You can download Hocus Pocus Doom by heading to the ZDoom forums. Make sure you've got the latest stable version of GzDoom.

GAMING NEWS

Gears 5 – Operation 2: Free For All coming on December 11th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gears-5-operation-2-free-for-all/
The Coalition will be releasing a major update for Gears 5 on December 11th. Operation 2: Free For All will feature fourteen-player Free For All, Arcade Blitz, 2v2 Gnashers, two Heroes, two villains, seven maps and few more thing.

Insurgency: Sandstorm Update 1.5 brings major performance improvements, new Domination mode & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/insurgency-sandstorm-update-1-5-brings-major-performance-improvements-new-domination-mode-more/
New World Interactive has released a new major update for Insurgency: Sandstorm. Update 1.5 brings major performance improvements for both high-end and mid-tier PC systems. Furthermore, it adds a new Domination mode.

Black Mesa Beta is now complete, from start to finish, and is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/black-mesa-beta-is-now-complete-from-start-to-finish-and-is-available-for-download/
And the time has finally come for all Half-Life fans. No no no, Valve has not announced Half-Life 3… yet. However, Crowbar Collective has released the complete version of Black Mesa in a beta form.

Cyberpunk 2077 world map may be bigger than you think, E3 2018 demo traced in the leaked map
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-world-map-may-be-bigger-than-you-think-e3-2018-demo-traced-in-the-leaked-map/
A few days ago, we informed you about the leaked map of Cyberpunk 2077. And while some were disappointed by its size, it appears that things may actually be better than you thought. Reddit’s members have traced the E3 2018 demo in order to get a sense of the game’s scale. They also provided a closer look at the city and compared its scale with the leaked map.

Total War: WARHAMMER II – New legendary lord Repanse de Lyonesse free DLC coming on December 12th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/total-war-warhammer-ii-new-legendary-lord-repanse-de-lyonesse-free-dlc-coming-on-december-12th/
Total War: WARHAMMER II is coming towards the end of its DLC cycle. The Shadow and The Blade paid DLC will be releasing next week on December 12th. Just like before we will also get a free DLC, the legendary lord Repanse de Lyonesse.

The Suicide of Rachel Foster is coming to the PC in February 2020
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-suicide-of-rachel-foster-is-coming-to-the-pc-in-february-2020/
The Suicide of Rachel Foster is a first-person narrative adventure-thriller game by One O One Games and Reddoll Games. The game will be available through Steam in February.

Valfaris free ‘Full Metal Mode’ update is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/valfaris-free-full-metal-mode-update-is-now-available-for-download/
Big Sugar has announced that the free ‘Full Metal Mode’ update for heavy metal action-platformer Valfaris is now live on the PC. This update brings a New Game+ variant, Full Metal Mode, that remixes various aspects of gameplay.

eFootball PES 2020 Data Pack 3.0 is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/efootball-pes-2020-data-pack-3-0-is-now-available-for-download/
Konami has released a brand new Data Pack for its latest soccer title, eFootball PES 2020. According to the team, Data Pack 3 adds new stadium updates, new National kits, player faces and other in-game content.

First screenshots and gameplay trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront 3-inspired game, Galaxy in Turmoil
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/first-screenshots-and-gameplay-trailer-for-star-wars-battlefront-3-inspired-game-galaxy-in-turmoil/
Frontwire Studios has released the first screenshots and an official gameplay trailer for Galaxy in Turmoil. Galaxy in Turmoil is a massive 32v32 player maps multiplayer game. According to the devs, it will have full ground to space battles and an all new never before seen competitive mode.

2K Games has officially confirmed that a new Bioshock game is under development
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/2k-games-has-officially-confirmed-that-a-new-bioshock-game-is-under-development/
2K Games today announced the founding of Cloud Chamber, the newest, wholly owned game development studio under the Company’s publishing label. According to the press release, Cloud Chamber has started to work on the next iteration of the globally acclaimed BioShock franchise. This new BioShock game will be in development for the next several years, and will target next-gen platforms.

Monday news, part two:

Battlefield 5 is getting Wake Island and custom games next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/battlefield-5-is-getting-wake-island-and-custom-games-next-week/
Battlefield 5's Wake Island map, originally from Battlefield 1942, will be popping into existence next week, but ahead of that you can get a quick look thanks to the Wake Island overview trailer. I'm not particularly nostalgic about the map, which was last in Battlefield 3, but it looks like a blast.
>> That's this week.

Ylands, the sandbox survival game from the makers of Arma, goes free and exits Early Access on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/ylands-the-sandbox-survival-game-from-the-makers-of-arma-goes-free-and-exits-early-access-on-steam/
Two years after we last looked at Ylands, "a promising sandbox game" and toolkit in development at Arma studio Bohemia Interactive, it's finally exited Early Access and is now in full release on Steam.

Rust has tubas now
https://www.pcgamer.com/rust-has-tubas-now/
The headline says it all: Rust, the game about waking up naked and alone on a strange island, mere hours away from death due to exposure and starvation, now has tubas. And not just tubas! The game's first paid DLC, announced last month, also includes a piano, a drum kit, guitars, a trumpet, a pan flute, and other cobbled-together instruments—all of them fully playable—of the sort you'd expect to find on a Gilligan's Island with guns. I'm sure no one will annoy anyone with these.

The Elder Scrolls: Legends development has been halted
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-elder-scrolls-legends-development-has-been-halted/
Three years ago, we said that Bethesda's Hearthstone-a-like The Elder Scrolls: Legends "is a refreshing take on CCGs, but its future remains cloudy." Today that future became clearer, and not in a good way: Bethesda announced on Reddit today that new content development is "on hold for the foreseeable future." The Asia-specific version of the game being operated separately by Gaea Mobile will not be affected by the change, but the expansion planned for this winter will not be released.

A scene from the new Star Wars will premiere in Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-scene-from-the-new-star-wars-will-premiere-in-fortnite/
Star Wars is coming to Fortnite again with a scene from Rise of Skywalker to be shown at the in-game cinema.

This AI writes a text adventure while you play it
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-ai-writes-a-text-adventure-while-you-play-it/
AI Dungeon 2 by Nick Walton uses OpenAI to simulate an old-school text adventure of the Zork variety, only instead of having to read the designer's mind to figure out what to type to use this thing on that thing, you write plain English and get results. It helps to start sentences with verbs but you'll get a response to basically anything, and that response is likely to be surprising. I played a wizard exploring a ruin and within a handful of turns I'd found out I was responsible for the state of these ruins and confronted a younger version of myself.

Tropico 6's first DLC is out now
https://www.pcgamer.com/tropico-6s-first-dlc-is-out-now/
Absurdist dictator simulator Tropico 6 was released in March and is only receiving its first paid DLC now. Developers Limbic Entertainment have been busy however, with a series of free updates over the last several months, the seventh of which, the Seguridad Social update, coincides with the release of this DLC.

Twin Peaks VR finally gets a trailer, ahead of its release this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/twin-peaks-vr-finally-gets-a-trailer-ahead-of-its-release-this-month/
An official Twin Peaks VR game was announced last year, and since then we've not heard a single quiet peep about the game. But thankfully it's still happening, and yes, it's still releasing in 2019, and yes, BOB features in it. Which is a very good reason not to play it.

Death Come True is an FMV game from the creator of Danganronpa
https://www.pcgamer.com/death-come-true-is-an-fmv-game-from-the-creator-of-danganronpa/
Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka is working on a mystery FMV game, Death Come True, announced today. Details are slim at the moment, but the characters have been teased and the lead actor will be revealed tomorrow, once the countdown on the official site ends.

Can you believe it? Intel is going to bring back the Haswell based G3420 processor, build with the 22nm process due to its 14nm process supply issues

https://www.techspot.com/news/83078-haswell-back-intel-reverses-decision-discontinue-22nm-pentium.html

And, in case someone is wondering, it doesn't look like they've bothered to fix the numerous security problems of it

Ok, guys, you can now join our PC Secret Santa thread!

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=241476

*** NEW CONTEST ***

Hexus joins the fun with a bang!

• HEXUS EPIC Giveaway Day 1: Win an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti https://hexus.net/tech/features/graphics/137402-day-1-win-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-ti/

This competition is GLOBAL.