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

[JEMC]

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store gives away Call of the Sea: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/call-of-the-sea.
And next week, they'll give away Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War.

GOG has a Special Sale: the 2023 Pégases Awards, with up to 75% discounts until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_pgases_awards.

Steam has two new deals:

• Souldiers will be 40% off until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1419160/Souldiers/
• And Lawn Mowing Simulator gets a 60% discount until March 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1480560/Lawn_Mowing_Simulator/

The Humble Bundle has the new Humble Heroines: Warriors, Dreamers and God Slayers, with 8 games to get during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/humble-heroines-warriors-dreamers-and-god-slayers.

And Fanatical has two new 24 hours Flash Deals and a new bundle:

• The first Flash Deal is WRC Generations, 45% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/wrc-generations
• The second Flash Deal is Far Cry® 6 Game of the Year Edition, 71% off. The key is for UbiConnect: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/far-cry-6-game-of-the-year-edition
• And the Build Your Own SAGA Bundle features 16 titles to choose your 3, 5 or 7 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-saga-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS AND STORE NEWS

Epic gave away 'nearly 700 million' free games last year, will keep it going this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-store-2023-free-program/
Nestled among the stats in the Epic Games Store 2022 Year in Review blog post that went up today is some expected but pleasant news: Epic isn't done giving away free games.
"Our weekly Free Games Program will continue in 2023," the company wrote.
It's been 2023 for a couple months now, and Epic didn't stop giving away free games each week—Kerbal Space Program was a highlight in early January—so we kind of already knew this, but it's nice to get confirmation that the gravy train will chug along through at least the end of this year.

Epic launches self-publishing tools, calls out Valve again: 'Steam has created a real problem for the industry'
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-store-self-publishing/
The Epic Games Store is now open for self-publishing. For $100, the same fee Valve charges for Steam submissions, anyone can submit a game for inclusion in the Epic Games Store library. Epic's system is similar to Steam Direct, which Valve introduced in 2018, and will probably result in Epic's library ballooning dramatically over the next year.
There are a few notable differences between Steam and Epic's self-publishing rules, however. In some ways, Epic's game submission guidelines are more permissive than Steam's, but Epic also has two big rules that Steam doesn't. Paraphrased, they are:

• No pornographic games
• Multiplayer games must have crossplay with other PC stores

>> That's good news for developers and small studios, as long as they don't do NSFW games. But I do wonder if the multiplayer modes will have to use Epic's tools.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Hogwarts Legacy March 8th Update improves performance, Ray Tracing & stability, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/hogwarts-legacy-march-8th-update-improves-performance-ray-tracing-stability-full-patch-notes/
Avalanche has just released a new update for Hogwarts Legacy. According to the developers, the March 8th Patch improves overall gameplay, Ray Tracing, performance, stability and online connectivity.

Path of Exile March 7th Patch 3.20.2b released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/path-of-exile-march-7th-patch-3-20-2b-released-full-patch-notes/
Grinding Gear Games has released a brand new update for Path of Exile. According to the release notes, the March 7th update adds 400 more foiled Unique Item options that the Voidborn Reliquary can yield. Furthermore, it fixes a number of bugs that plagued the game.

Valheim Update 0.214.2 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/valheim-update-0-214-2-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
Iron Gate has just released a brand new update for its viking survival game, Valheim. According to the release notes, patch 0.214.2 comes with various fixes for the Mistlands, as well as various performance optimizations.

Forza Horizon 5 March 8th Patch fixes benchmark crash, improves stability
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/forza-horizon-5-march-8th-patch-fixes-benchmark-crash-improves-stability/
Playground Games has released a new hotfix patch for Forza Horizon 5. According to the release notes, this hotfix resolves a crash and improves overall game stability.

Echoes of the Living is a new survival horror game with fixed camera angles, inspired by classic Resident Evil games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/echoes-of-the-living-is-a-new-survival-horror-game-with-fixed-camera-angles-inspired-by-classic-resident-evil-games/
MoonGlint has released a demo for its upcoming survival horror game, Echoes of the Living. Echoes of the Living is a game heavily inspired by the classic Resident Evil games, and features fixed camera angles.
>> Fixed cameras, tank controls, zombies & others and a city. Nope, it doesn't look like the old Resident Evil games. At all.

Returnal March 9th Update aims to reduce stuttering, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/returnal-march-9th-update-aims-to-reduce-stuttering-full-patch-notes/
Climax Studios has released a brand new update for the PC version of Returnal. According to the release notes, the March 9th Update aims to reduce stuttering. Moreover, it improves overall stability by addressing a couple of crashes.

Private Division is working on a performance patch for The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/private-division-is-working-on-a-performance-patch-for-the-outer-worlds-spacers-choice-edition/
A couple of days ago, Private Division released a “Next-Gen” version of The Outer Worlds, called The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition. However, it appears that this remaster had major performance issues.
(...)
Anyway, this whole mess forced Obsidian to issue an official statement, claiming that Private Division is currently working on a performance patch.