Hereare today's deals at Fanatical and the Epic Store, both available for the next 24 23 hours

• Fanatical: Assetto Corsa Ultimate Edition, with the game and 7 DLCs, is 70% off: https://www.fanatical.com/es/game/assetto-corsa-ultimate-edition
• Epic Store: Little Inferno is the new free game: https://www.epicgames.com/store/es-ES/product/little-inferno/home

*** NEW CONTEST ***

• HEXUS EPIC Giveaway Day 14: Win a £700 EKWB gift voucher https://hexus.net/tech/features/cooling/137492-day-14-win-700-ekwb-gift-voucher/

This contest is GLOBAL.

The Monday news!

SALES & DEALS

SuperData report: Red Dead Redemption 2 sold 408K units on Epic Games Store in its first month
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/superdata-report-red-dead-redemption-2-sold-408k-units-on-epic-games-store-in-its-first-month/
SuperData has shared its monthly report, stating that Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC found meek interest on Epic Games Store. Red Dead Redemption 2 came out exclusively on Epic Games Store and Rockstar’s launcher in its first month.
According to the report, Red Dead Redemption 2 sold 408K units as a first-month exclusive on the Epic Games Store. SuperData noted that these figures pale in comparison to other exclusive launches like Borderlands 3. Speaking of Borderlands 3, Gearbox’s title sold 1.78 million units in its debut month.
Furthermore, and according to Steam Charts, the game has sold so far between 200K and 500K copies on Steam. Now there is a possibility that most PC gamers bought RDR2 on Rockstar Launcher instead of EGS or Steam. Still, it will be interesting to see whether its PC sales we’ll increase over time.
In other news, consumers spent $9.5 billion digitally across all games in November. Combined spending across console, PC and mobile was up 5% compared to the same month last year thanks to a 20% year-over-year increase in mobile spending.
>> And it's also entirely possible that, since the first game didn't get a PC release, it doesn't have a big fanbase on PC like other games do.

Rust has made more money than Garry’s Mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/rust-has-made-more-money-than-garrys-mod/
Facepunch studios programmer Garry Newman has posted a yearly review that contains a bit of interesting fact: Survival game Rust has now made more money than his eponymous Garry’s Mod, or Gmod. With Rust having grossed $142 million at 9 million copies sold, it has surpassed GMod at a humble $108 million. GMod has still outsold rust in terms of copies, however, with 16 million total sales. This might come as a surprise to some, because GMod is 15 years old this year, while Rust released in 2013. Doing the math, that means both games have sold over a million copies for each year of release, while Rust has sold 1.5 million for each year.

Save up to 50% on select PC games at the Microsoft Store
https://www.pcgamer.com/save-up-to-50-on-select-pc-games-at-the-microsoft-store/
Microsoft has discounted dozens of PC games at the Microsoft Store, with savings of up to 50 percent on select titles, such as Forza Motorsport 7 Ultimate Edition and Age of Empires: Definitive Edition. Combined with Steam's Winter Sale and discounts at GOG, disposable income doesn't stand a chance this time of year.
That's okay, because it's all about perspective—are you spending $24.99 on Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition, or saving $25? The answer is both, of course, but being able to flesh out your game libraries is one of the benefits of the digital distribution era.
There are 89 games in all that are on sale at the Microsoft Store right now. Most of them are up to 50 percent off, though there are a few that go even further (Goat Simulator is 75 percent off, for example).

Origin's Holiday Sale is now live, with games up to 85% off
https://www.pcgamer.com/origins-holiday-sale-is-now-live-with-games-up-to-85-off/
The holiday season is in full swing, and just about every major game store is taking part in the festivities. Steam's Winter Sale started yesterday, the Microsoft Store discounted a few games today, and now EA's Origin store is joining the party.
(...)
You can check out all the discounts from the Origin Holiday Sale page. According to the store's official Twitter account, the sale ends on January 3rd, so you have plenty of time to decide what to buy.

Dig through a pile of indie deals in the Itch.io Holiday Sale
https://www.pcgamer.com/dig-through-a-pile-of-indie-deals-in-the-itchio-holiday-sale/
Holiday sales are now ticking away at all the usual places: Steam, Epic, Origin, Ubisoft, Microsoft. And also over at indie storefront Itch.io, which is offering an array of "Holiday Picks" for 2019, and also a bunch of games that just happen to be on sale now.
One thing about Itch.io sales is that they generally don't have the bells and whistles, or basic organization, of those on the bigger sites. It's kind of like the MySpace of digital storefronts: It works, it's fine, but that layout is from a whole different era. It makes the sale more difficult to browse than it should be, which is a shame because there's some good stuff here.
>> It will last until January 2nd.

At GOG, Bethesda has joined the Winter Sale with up to 70% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20191221_winter_sale_bethesda

On the Humble Store there are three new sales:

• The Call of Duty IP (well, only two titles) are up to 60% off for the next 8 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/call-of-duty-flash-deal/
• EA has its games up to 80% off for the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/ea-holiday-sale/
• And Final Fantasy XIV is on sale, 50% off for the next 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/final-fantasy-14-flash-deal/

Fanatical has three new sales:

• The new Star Deal is Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark, 66% off for the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/fell-seal-arbiter-s-mark
• Publisher Devolver Digital has its games up to 90% off for the next 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/devolver-digital
• And the new Mayhem Bundle brings 9 games split into two tiers of 8 and 9 games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mayhem-bundle

And today's free game on the Epic Store is Ape Out: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/ape-out/home

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Get a new Apex Legends skin and ten free games with Twitch Prime this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/get-a-new-apex-legends-skin-and-ten-free-games-with-twitch-prime-this-month/
Twitch is wrapping up 2019 with a total of ten free games for Prime subscribers in December, plus bonus loot in games including Red Dead Online, GTA Online, Borderlands 3, and Apex Legends.
The Games With Prime lineup for December, available until January 2, includes Hue, When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, Hover, Sherlock Holmes: The Devil's Daughter, and Toejam and Earl: Back in the Groove. On December 26, five more games will be added to the list, all from Devolver Digital: Enter the Gungeon, Ape Out, Witcheye, Heavy Ho, and Gato Roboto. There's a little bit of a tighter window on grabbing those, as they'll only be available until December 31.
Also available now, and possibly the highlight of the month (although I do really like me some Ape Out) is an exclusive Cyber Attack skin for Crypto, the latest legend to be added to EA's far-future battle royale Apex Legends. Twitch said the new skin is the first of 12 planned Apex Legends content drops that will only be available to Prime subscribers.

Popular 3DMark 11 benchmark heads to the chopping block alongside Windows 7
https://www.pcgamer.com/popular-3dmark-11-benchmark-heads-to-the-chopping-block-alongside-windows-7/
UL Benchmarks is getting ready to retire a few of its older benchmarking applications, including 3DMark 11, which some people still use to gauge their PC's graphics performance (and especially in the overclocking community, mostly in pursuit of world records). According to the developer, 3DMark 11 and a few others "no longer provide useful, comparable results on modern hardware."
Incidentally, UL Benchmarks has chosen January 14, 2020, as the day of forced retirement for the affected applications. That's the same day Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 7, a fact UL Benchmarks is keenly aware of.

MODS/EMULATORS

This mod will turn The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into a real-time strategy game, demo released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-mod-will-turn-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-into-a-real-time-strategy-game-in-2020-demo-released/
DisgruntledWombats is working on a pretty interesting mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Skyrim RTS Mod Revamped. As its title suggests, this mod aims to bring RTS elements into Skyrim with a Campaign – as well as separate battle ‘modes’/maps. The modder and his team aim to release this mod in 2020. Furthermore, there is a demo that you can download and test right now.
The demo comes with two maps. Map 1 is where you play as Imperials against Stormcloaks. It will allow you to build your bases buildings (via the activators next to the stone bases), and should have enemy units come towards your base (give it roughly 3-6 hours in game time + Ulfric (RTS Ulfric, not the original) needs to be alive.
On the other hand, Map 2 is where you play as Stormcloaks against Imperials. It has the recruitment office building activator, proper unit spawner images, should allow you to recruit units as followers.
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

This mod brings Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra to The Witcher 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/this-mod-brings-henry-cavill-and-anya-chalotra-to-the-witcher-3/
Netflix’s The Witcher live-action series is now available, starring Henry Cavill and Anya Chalotra. As such, we are happy to present you today a mod from Adnan that is based on that series. This mod basically aims to bring these two actors to CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3.
According to the modder, Geralt’s mod includes head & body meshes, as well as body hair textures and face scars from the show. It also has different face textures for all in-game occasions, as well as the toxicity effects from the show. Furthermore, players will find a new hair colour for Hairworks.
On the other hand, Yennefer’s mod includes head meshes, face textures and re-coloured body, as well as eyes from the show.
>> Blasphemy! If you're up to this monstrosity, you, shameless being, can go to Nexus Mods.

You can now play the single-player campaign of Halo: Reach as an ODST soldier
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/you-can-now-play-single-player-campaign-of-halo-reach-as-an-odst-soldier/
Xulah has released a pretty cool new mod for Halo: Reach, called ODST campaign overhaul. As the title suggets, this mod will let you play the single-player campaign as an ODST soldier. This mod currently adds an ODST player model, as well as third-person camera viewpoint.
Furthermore, it brings some gameplay changes and tweaks. For instance, it sets damage reduction at 150%, adds 2X health regeneration rate, removes shields, and does not allow you to get headshot. Moreover, it sets move speed to 75% and jump height to 85%.
>> You can get this still in development mod from Nexus Mods.

Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition's official Christmas mod might not be entirely historically accurate
https://www.pcgamer.com/age-of-empires-2-definitive-editions-official-christmas-mod-might-not-be-entirely-historically-accurate/
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition is celebrating its first holiday season with an official Christmas mod, Winter Celebration 2019, that you can download for free until next year. The mod adds lots of cheery, festive touches that, I'm sorry to say, raise some questions about historical accuracy.
I won't dispute that it snowed at some point during the medieval era, possibly even multiple times, but I'm less certain about the use of icicles as projectile weapons. Did villagers venture outside to root around in naturally occurring piles of gift-wrapped presents so they could feed their family? We may never know for sure, but I have my doubts.

GAMING NEWS

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare December 20th Update released, full patch notes unveiled
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-december-20th-update-released-full-patch-notes-unveiled/
Infinity Ward has released a minor patch for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. According to the release notes, the December 20th Update brings a number of improvements to player collision near walls.

Free demo released for the Star Wars: Battlefront 3-inspired game, Galaxy in Turmoil
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/free-demo-released-for-the-star-wars-battlefront-3-inspired-game-galaxy-in-turmoil/
Frontwire Studios has released a free demo for its Star Wars: Battlefront 3-inspired indie game, Galaxy in Turmoil. In addition, the team has launched a Kickstarter campaign, aiming to raise $500K in the next 31 days.
>> You can try the demo from Steam.

Demo released for the CRYENGINE-powered Lovecraftian horror adventure game, The Alien Cube
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/demo-released-for-the-cryengine-powered-lovecraftian-horror-adventure-game-the-alien-cube/
Alessandro Guzzo is currently working on a Lovecraftian horror adventure game, called The Alien Cube. The Alien Cube will be using CRYENGINE, and there is a free demo that you can download right now.
>> This demo is also at Steam.

New Halo: Reach update improves aiming precision for mouse & keyboard, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-halo-reach-update-improves-aiming-precision-for-mouse-keyboard-full-patch-notes/
343 Industries has released a brand new update for Halo: Reach. According to the release notes, the December 18th update addresses a mechanic for mouse + keyboard players which improves precision of aiming when taking damage.

F.I.S.T. is a new Unreal Engine-powered Metroidvania-style game that will support Ray Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/f-i-s-t-is-a-new-unreal-engine-powered-metroidvania-style-game-that-will-support-ray-tracing/
TiGames is currently working on a Metroidvania-style game that will be using Unreal Engine. This game is called F.I.S.T., and NVIDIA has announced that it will support real-time ray tracing on the PC. Thus, the green team released a new gameplay trailer that you can find below.

Star Citizen Alpha 3.8 is now available to all backers, key features and new trailer revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-citizen-alpha-3-8-is-now-available-to-all-backers-key-features-and-new-trailer-revealed/
Cloud Imperium has announced that Star Citizen Alpha 3.8 – New Frontiers is now available to all backers. According to the team, Alpha 3.8 is a massive update to the Star Citizen Universe with additions spanning technology, progression and content.

Here are twelve minutes of new gameplay footage from Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, featuring Future Trunks
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-twelve-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage-from-dragon-ball-z-kakarot-featuring-future-trunks/
At Jump Festa 2020, Bandai Namco presented a new gameplay demo for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. This new demo featured the fight between Future Trunks and Metal Freeza, and below you can find a video from it.

Fallout 76 hackers can now steal all of your inventory items on public servers
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/fallout-76-hackers-can-now-steal-all-of-your-inventory-items-on-public-servers/
It appears that a new hack has appeared for Fallout 76 that allows hackers to completely steal your inventory items on public servers. And since there is no fix for this hack yet, players should currently avoid playing the game on public servers.

Monday news, part two:

Halo: Combat Evolved testing could begin in January, 343 Industries says
https://www.pcgamer.com/halo-combat-evolved-testing-could-begin-in-january-343-industries-says/
(...)
"As we close the year out and start to look at what’s ahead of us in 2020, I wanted to give you an update on progress we’re making on the other games heading to MCC on PC. Right now, we have a good-sized army of developers working through different development streams to support our efforts across ongoing Reach updates and quality of life improvements in addition to Halo: CE Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, and Forge & Theater support (Reach first). Halo: ODST (Campaign) and Halo 4 are a little further out but rest assured they’re also coming to MCC on PC in 2020," 343 said.
"If work continues on its current trajectory, we are looking good to start [Halo: Combat Evolved] flights in January."

CD Projekt has a new deal with The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-has-a-new-deal-with-the-witcher-creator-andrez-sapkowski/
The Witcher has been a pretty big deal in Poland for a long time, but it was virtually unknown to Western audiences prior to 2007, when CD Projekt released the first game in its groundbreaking RPG trilogy. It came to light much later that Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski had licensed the property for an up-front sum instead of a percentage deal, because he thought videogames were stupid and it wasn't going add up to anything anyway.
But it did—it really did—and in 2018, Sapskowski issued a demand for more money, to the tune of 60 million PLN, which works out to $15.6 million. CD Projekt said no, but it also said that it would work toward reaching an "amicable resolution" of the matter. In February 2019 it was reported that "reconciliation" between the two parties was in the works, and now it appears that the goal has been reached: The company announced today that Sapkowski and CD Projekt have "signed an agreement further solidifying their relationship."

Crusader Kings 3 developers show new features in video diary
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-developers-show-new-features-in-video-diary/
A new developer diary for Crusader Kings 3 details some of the game’s new features and changes to important core game mechanics. Key changes to the game focus on shrinking the size of the player’s court, making the characters more relevant, and deepening the plots systems. Your councillors now have greater control of what happens in your realm, but greater impact when sent out on the job. Plots now focus on uncovering secrets about a character—discovered using your spymaster—then using those secrets as a hook to force their behavior via blackmail. There’s also a little more information about wandering characters, outlined in a written developer diary earlier this week. In short, if you don’t give someone a job, they’ll go elsewhere looking for one, as will people from other lands. Finally, a big update to the game: You can now purposefully fabricate claims, changing expansion via conquest from a roulette to a deliberate strategy.

Beautiful visuals abound in cyberpunk action game Evolutis
https://www.pcgamer.com/beautiful-visuals-abound-in-cyberpunk-action-game-evolutis/
Inspired by the visuals of 80s anime like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, peppered with a healthy dose of Blade Runner, Evolutis is a 2D story-driven action game coming in 2020. Made by Portuguese developers Poke Life Studio, the alpha footage and preview visuals are absolutely gorgeous. Evolutis was initially announced as crowd-funded, but now it looks like the publisher PM Studios is going to put it out.

See Half-Life: Alyx tested on several different VR setups
https://www.pcgamer.com/see-half-life-alyx-tested-on-several-different-vr-setups/
The YouTube channel Tested went to Valve recently to play a few hours of an early build of Half-Life: Alyx on a variety of different VR setups, from Valve Index to Windows Mixed Reality and the original HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Though they're focused on the headsets rather than the game—which is clearly still in a very early state—they do seem quite impressed by it.

American Truck Simulator goes to Idaho in new DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/american-truck-simulator-goes-to-idaho-in-new-dlc/
Do you like trucks? Do you like hauling things in trucks? I do, and I am very excited to tell you that American Truck Simulator is going to Idaho very soon. Announced by SCS Software on Twitter, the DLC covers… the entire state of Idaho. Where else did you think that sentence was going? It's a nice upgrade for American Truck Simulator players, who are slowly gaining an ultra-detailed map of the United States to drive about in. It's especially nice because right now heading to the Southwest from the Northwest involves hopping a bit of I-80 in the corner of Nevada, but now you can roll across the Rockies to Boise and beyond.

Insurgent FPS Freeman: Guerilla Warfare now has mod support
https://www.pcgamer.com/insurgent-fps-freeman-guerilla-warfare-now-has-mod-support/
Insurgent shooter Freeman: Guerilla Warfare has rolled out official mod support, say developers KK Game Studio. Along with a functioning Steam Workshop, KK has released a rather bombastic trailer showing off what can be done with the modded game. Naturally that includes both historical scenarios, which makes sense given the game, and Anime Girls, because that is what every game with mods gets eventually. I am sure those mods make lots of people happy, but there are a lot of them and I recognize only about 5% of the characters.

Hellblade 2 confirmed for both PC and Xbox Series X
https://www.pcgamer.com/hellblade-ii-confirmed-for-both-pc-and-xbox-series-x/
A Microsoft representative has confirmed that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 will be released for both PC and the upcoming Xbox Series X. In a tweet to a fan, GM of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg said that the game is being made "exclusively" for both Microsoft's new console and the PC. While many had suspected that the game would make its way to PC via the Xbox Game Pass service, there wasn't an official public confirmation the game would make it to PC at all. Having Hellblade 2 come to PC fits with Microsoft's current overall strategy of treating both the Xbox Console and PC Gaming as their domain.

Damn, saw this one too late. I got 3 cards... 3 times most innovative gameplay. But since I generally don't know anybody who wants steam cards and they expire, I just turned them into gems.

Well, except one, so if you want it, I can give it to you.

Hey, no worries. They're your cards and you can do what you want with them.

I'll gladly trade one, sure. Is there any card that you want?

I found one you got twice from Civ V, one of the few games we have in common on Steam (we actually have many games in common, just most of mine are on GOG). I send you a trade offer for that one, you can accept it or make a counter-offer if you prefer.

I know Epic is a 4 letter word around these parts, but these endless 10 dollar coupons coupled with the constant stream of free games means, I'll probably be spending a decent chunk of change on their store this holiday season.  I mean, I already have a ton of games there, but I still have yet to spend a cent on their store.  I think now's the time to start.

Trade accepted! We both got something we wanted.

I feel sorry for your wallet!

Seriously! And I'm a fairly new father so I buy more games than I reasonably have time to play. But yet here I am. Still buying. :)