Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

It's Monday... *sigh* and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

1. Pre-purchase New World
2. Pre-purchase New World
3. RimWorld - Ideology
4. F1 2021
5. Valve Index VR Kit
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Red Dead Redemption 2
8. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
9. Death's Door
10. Days Gone

Death Stranding has sold 5 million copies, has “performed quite well”
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/death-stranding-has-sold-5-million-copies-has-performed-quite-well/
Jay Boor, Head of Publishing at Kojima Productions, announced that Death Stranding has sold 5 million copies on PC and PS4. In addition, and contrary to some rumors, Boor said that the game has performed quite well.

GOG starts the week with new sales and releases:

• The new Weekly Sale is full of classics up to 86% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210726_weekly_sale
• There's also a Humble Games Special Sale with up to 75% discounts during the next week: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210726_humble_sale
• Tunguska: The Visitation launches with a 25% discount until August 2: https://www.gog.com/game/tunguska_the_visitation
• Second Sight returns to the store, and it comes back with a 50% discount until August 2: https://www.gog.com/game/second_sight
• And three classic games from Big Finish Games launch at GOG, with 50% discounts until the 9th of August. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/news/discover_3_classic_gems_from_big_finish_games

Steam has two new daily deals:

• Call of the Sea is 25% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1042490/Call_of_the_Sea/
• Mini Metro is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/287980/Mini_Metro/
• There's also a DreamHack Beyond Event, that started on the 24th and will last until July 31. Check it out: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/dreamhack_beyond

The Humble Store has several sales:

• There's an Age of Empires Franchise Sale, with up to 50% discounts during the next 4 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/age-of-empires-franchise-sale/
• Rockstar puts its games up to 70% off during the next 4 days. The keys are for its launcher, Steam or EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/rockstar-publisher-sale/
• And the Summer VR Sale brings up to 80% discounts during the next 4 days. While most keys are for Steam, there are a couple that are also for GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/summer-vr-sale/

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Iron Harvest, 78% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/iron-harvest
• And Gearbox puts its published games up to 91% off during the next 4/5 days (depends on the game): https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/gearbox-publishing

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Careful where you download Windows 11, some installers are packed with malware
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/careful-where-you-download-windows-11-some-installers-are-packed-with-malware/
As is the case with all software, where exactly you download Windows 11 from matters. If you venture outside the confines of Microsoft's Windows Insider program, you could end up with more than you bargained for, as there is an installer making the rounds which contains a malicious download manager.
According to Kaspersky, the malicious installer is labeled 86307_windows 11 build 21996.1 x64 + activator.exe. It checks in at 1.75GB, so at a glance, it might appear to some as a legitimate installation file. However, most of that space belongs to a single DLL file containing "a lot of useless information."
It does not actually Windows 11 at all. Instead, it asks for permission to fetch a second executable that it pitches as a download manager for Windows 11, complete with a license agreement to also install a bit of sponsored software. Users who accept the agreement end up with a variety of not-so-fun applications installed on their PC, with varying levels of maliciousness.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

You can now play the Resistance 1 & 2 PS3 games on the PC with 60fps
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/you-can-now-play-the-resistance-1-2-ps3-games-on-the-pc-with-60fps/
The team behind the best Playstation 3 emulator, RPCS3, has released a new version that brings major improvements to the Ratchet & Clank & Resistance games.
Now what’s really impressive here is that you can finally play the first two Resistance games with constant 60fps. While the 60fps patches for these games came out last year, it was impossible to run them at full 60fps. However, and thanks to this latest version, RPCS3 can finally run them.

The best graphics mod for Mass Effect Trilogy is now compatible with Legendary Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-best-graphics-mod-for-mass-effect-trilogy-is-now-compatible-with-legendary-edition/
ALOT (A Lot of Textures) is undoubtedly the best graphics mod for the first three Mass Effect games. This mod is so good that Bioware used it as a reference for improving the graphics of its remasters in the Legendary Edition. And yesterday, CreeperLava released the first version of ALOT that is compatible with Mass Effect Legendary Edition.
As CreeperLava noted, Mass Effect Legendary Edition still has some low-res textures that look better in ALOT. As such, CreeperLava ported these textures to the LE to get the best of both worlds.
Additionally, CreeperLava remade and improved the original ALOT’s Improved Static Lighting (ISL) component for the LE.

This mod is becoming the fantasy grand strategy game you can't get elsewhere
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/this-mod-is-becoming-the-fantasy-grand-strategy-game-you-cant-get-elsewhere/
Anbennar is a sprawling fantasy mod for Europa Universalis 4 that has been in the works for years. It's a passion project that started as translating one guy's homebrewed D&D fantasy setting into a playable mod, but has grown far beyond those origins into a multi-author shared world—and one of the most impressive EU4 mods out there. It's a total conversion, utterly remaking the game as a fantasy world complete with fictional continents, nations, governments, species, and religions.
The latest update, called Of Gods and Gears, adds systems for crafting works of magical Artificiery, and a religion based around that. It also adds Vampires, and a set of missions for vampiric rulers. It uses new mechanics for EU4 to rework how Orcs hold territory, and how adventurous humans try to conquer it and forge their own nations. The update also adds new mission trees for several nations, emphasizing missions for Goblins, Gnomes, Kobolds, and a human guild whose mechanics are impacted by the addition of magical artificiery.
If Anbennar sounds cool to you, great news: There's a Crusader Kings 3 version in the works. In the meantime, you can find Anbennar for Europa Universalis IV on the Steam Workshop. For updates on the mods, there's also Anbennar on Twitter.

GAMING NEWS

Dead Space Remake won’t have microtransactions, will have cut content from the original
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dead-space-remake-wont-have-microtransactions-will-have-cut-content-from-the-original/
A few days ago, Electronic Arts announced the official remake of Dead Space. And, according to its creative director Roman Campos-Oriola, the game will not have any microtransactions at all.

Battlefield 2042 vs Bad Company 2 vs Battlefield 3 Early Graphics Comparison
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/battlefield-2042-vs-bad-company-2-vs-battlefield-3-early-graphics-comparison/
As we’ve reported, Battlefield Portal will feature re-imagined maps from older Battlefield games. And Cycu1 has released two videos in which they compare Battlefield 2042 with Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3.

Stadia exclusive Submerged: Hidden Depths is coming to PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/stadia-exclusive-game-submerged-hidden-depths-is-coming-to-pc/
Uppercut Games has announced that its Stadia exclusive game, Submerged: Hidden Depths, will be coming soon on PC. In addition, the company revealed the game’s official PC system requirements that you can find below.