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

[JEMC]

The Tuesday news (and the AMD driver that I forgot to put yesterday):

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Half-Life just smashed its concurrent players record thanks to a fan campaign
https://www.pcgamer.com/half-life-just-smashed-its-concurrent-players-record-thanks-to-a-fan-campaign/
It is the year of our lord 2022, and Half-Life 1 just enjoyed its highest number of concurrent players on Steam since it hit the platform 19 years ago.
Depending on which Steam stats tracker you're looking at (the numbers are slightly different between SteamDB and the official Steam stats page), Half-Life 1 was being played by anywhere from 12,280 to 12,310 players across the world on the balmy afternoon of August 14. Its previous record was 6022, set during a week when the game was free-to-play in January 2020.

GOG has launched a Special Quakecom 2022 Sale, with up to 80% discounts until the 22nd of August: https://www.gog.com/partner/quakecon_2022.

Steam has a few new sales, including new weeklong deals:

• The first Midweek Madness deal is Coromon, 30% off until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1218210/Coromon/
• PAYDAY 2 celebrates its 9th anniversary with a 75% discount until August 18: https://store.steampowered.com/app/218620/PAYDAY_2/
• Publisher No More Robots puts its games up to 75% off until next Monday for its 5th anniversary: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nomorerobots2022
• And here are some of the weeklong deals:
  • ULTRAKILL, still in Early Access, is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1229490/ULTRAKILL/
  • Machinika Museum gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1507190/Machinika_Museum/
  • The Pathless is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1492680/The_Pathless/
  • Primal Light gets a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/771420/Primal_Light/
  • Gears Tactics is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1184050/Gears_Tactics/
  • And Blackwake gets an impressive 90% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/420290/Blackwake/

The Humble Store also has a Quakecom 2022 Sale, with up to 80% discounts during the next 6 days. The keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/quakecon-sale/.

And Fanatical has four new deals for us:

• The first flash deal is The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition, 66% off until tomorrow: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-anniversary-edition
• The second flash deal is Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire - Obsidian Edition, 82% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/pillars-of-eternity-ii-deadfire-obsidian-edition
• Here we also find a Quakecom 2022 Sale, with up to 82% discounts: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/bethesda-softworks
• And there's the Summer Mystery Bundle, with up to 10 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/summer-mystery-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD (Radeon) Software Adrenalin 22.8.1
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-22-8-1
Highlights

• Support for
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered
  • Thymesia
  • Radeon Boost using Variable Rate Shading for Halo Infinite
• Enhanced Sync improvements have been introduced in the latest version of AMD Software to provide further stability, and a better overall experience with your AMD PC.

Fixed Issues

• Display may flicker black when switching between video playback and gameplay windows on some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon RX 6700 XT.
• Video output will freeze in Project Zomboid.
• Games based on LOVE2D engine may be rendered incorrectly.
• Stormworks: Build and Rescue crashes during start up.
• Mixed Reality Headsets may flicker black or experience jitter during movement with some AMD Graphics Products such as the Radeon RX 6800 XT Graphics.
• Enhanced Sync may cause a system crash during gameplay with video playback on extended monitors.

Unity rejects proposed takeover by AppLovin
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-rejects-proposed-takeover-by-applovin/
Engine creator Unity has officially rejected a takeover offer by AppLovin. The tech firm, known for its mobile marketing and analytics platforms like AppDiscovery and SparkLabs, had previously offered $17.54 billion to buy the well-known software developer, whose engine has powered games like Kerbal Space Program and Pillars of Eternity.
The offer was made on condition that Unity drop its own $4.4 billion bid to purchase ironSource, a Tel Aviv-based company that is a rival to AppLovin. But in a statement, Unity CEO John Riccitiello said. "The board continues to believe that the ironSource transaction is compelling and will deliver an opportunity to generate long-term value." Unity itself further added that AppLovin's offer "would not reasonably be expected to result in a 'Superior Proposal' as defined in Unity's merger agreement with ironSource."
>> A positive news for a change, even if it's doesn't alter the whole picture.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Dark Souls Archthrones, DLC-sized mod for Dark Souls 3, gets new screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/dark-souls-archthrones-dlc-sized-mod-for-dark-souls-3-gets-new-screenshots/
The team behind Dark Souls Archthrones has released four new screenshots from it. Dark Souls Archthrones is a DLC-sized mod for Dark Souls 3, featuring an alternate story and five unique worlds.
In Dark Souls Archthrones, players will be able to access its five worlds via the Nexus of Embers. Players will encounter numerous bosses, and they will also be able to find some allies. Additionally, the mod will have a reimagined version of Lothric and other Dark Souls locales.
It’s also worth noting that Dark Souls Archthrones will have elements from Demon’s Souls. As such, players can expect a world layout, soul form, world tendency, and more. Its dev team also plans to add many new enemies, NPC questlines and many secrets to find.

This mod brings the horses from The Witcher 3 to Skyrim Special Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-mod-brings-the-horses-from-the-witcher-3-to-skyrim-special-edition/
WillOhTheWisp has released a pretty cool mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition that adds to it the horses from The Witcher 3. As the modder noted, the mod has a vast new variety of horse coat colors, converted from The Witcher 3, Fera’s Roach and Horse Overhaul, and Fera’s Tribute Horses.

Prospective Starfield modders are organizing early to make a fan patch
https://www.pcgamer.com/prospective-starfield-modders-are-organizing-early-to-make-a-fan-patch/
First spotted by PCGamesN, a group of modders is already coalescing to create a Starfield Community Patch to address bugs in the game, even though we're still more than half a year out from the highly-anticipated sci-fi RPG's planned release.
>> I mean, it's a Bethesda game, of course it will have mods.

GAMING NEWS

No Man’s Sky Endurance Update 3.99 released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-endurance-update-3-99-released-full-patch-notes/
Hello Games has released a brand new patch for No Man’s Sky. According to the release notes, the Endurance 3.99 Update adds a glass version of the freighter stairs to research and construct. Moreover, it fixes a number of issues that plagued the game.

Take a look at the upcoming overhauled version of XIII Remake
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-the-updated-version-of-xiii-remake/
In June 2022, Microids announced that it’s working on an overhauled version of XIII Remake. And today, Sony released a trailer that showcases 3 minutes of gameplay footage from this version.

Metal Slug Tactics and Deliver Us Mars have been delayed until 2023
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metal-slug-tactics-and-deliver-us-mars-have-been-delayed-until-2023/
Focus Home Interactive and KeokeN Interactive have announced that Metal Slug Tactics and Deliver Us Mars have been delayed until 2023.

Genshin Impact Update 3.0 detailed, goes live on August 24th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/genshin-impact-update-3-0-detailed-goes-live-on-august-24th/
miHoYo has announced that Update 3.0 for Genshin Impact will go live on August 24th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team revealed its key features, and shared a new gameplay trailer for it.