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

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Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Capcom just had its best year ever, selling 41.7 million games
https://www.pcgamer.com/capcom-just-had-its-best-ever-year/
Capcom's business is videogames, and business is good: Better, in fact, than it's ever been. The Japanese giant published its end-year results on Wednesday, covering the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023, and this has been the best year in the venerable publisher's history (thanks, VGC).
Capcom sold 41.7 million games over the year, a big jump from the 32.6 million it managed the year prior, and this is its new record for games sold in a single year. This in turn led to record high profit, as well as its tenth straight year of income growth, and major contributors were Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (5.45 million units) and Resident Evil 4 (3.75 million, though bear in mind in this context that is one week's sales).
That's still only nine million-ish games though, and Capcom says most of the remainder is catalogue titles (i.e. games not released in this financial year) and spread across the Monster Hunter, Resident Evil, and Devil May Cry series. It says this accounts for 29.3 million game sales total, and the biggest contributors were Monster Hunter Rise (3.7 million), Resident Evil 2 (2.25 million) and Resident Evil 3 (1.95 million).
>> There's no mention of how the sales split between consoles or PC. Maybe we'll get that info in another article.

The Epic Store gives away The Sims™ 4 The Daring Lifestyle Bundle: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-sims-4--the-daring-lifestyle-bundle
The free game for next week is a mystery.

Steam has two new deals:

• The first one is Master of Magic, 30% off until next Wednesday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1623070/Master_of_Magic/
• The second one is Floodland, with a 50% discount until May, 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1336180/Floodland/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Capcom Heroic Collection, with up to 10 games to get during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/capcom-heroic-collection.

Fanatical has six new 24 hours flash deals and a new bundle:

• The first flash deal is Hi-Fi RUSH, 28% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/hi-fi-rush
• Distant Worlds 2 gets a 47% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/distant-worlds-2
• Luck be a Landlord is 50% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/luck-be-a-landlord
• The Forgotten City gets a 56% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-forgotten-city
• MONSTER HUNTER RISE takes a 58% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/monster-hunter-rise
• Sniper Elite 5 is the last flash deal, 64% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sniper-elite-5
• And the new bundle is the Retro Rampage Bundle, with 11 games with a 98% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/retro-rampage-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Valve overhauls Steam community rules with much more granular prohibitions
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-overhauls-steams-community-rules-and-content-guidelines/
Valve has made some big changes to the online conduct rules and rules and guidelines for Steam, which now break down in much greater detail what people are and are not allowed to do while using the service.
"Beginning today, you’ll see we’ve made some updates to Steam's Rules and Guidelines and Steam's Online Conduct Rules," Valve said in the announcement of the rule changes. "These updates are intended to add context and specificity to how we already apply these in practice to all behaviors and content across Steam."

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Screenshots and videos from a new Half-Life 2 Remastered Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/screenshots-and-videos-from-a-new-half-life-2-remastered-mod/
Modder ‘GameROOSH’ is currently working on a remaster mod for Half-Life 2, and shared some screenshots and a comparison video. This comparison video shows off some of the early graphical improvements that players can expect from it.
As GameROOSH noted, the following screenshots are from an early version and do not represent the quality of the final version. As such, consider them as alpha screenshots.
The modder plans to replace most of the game’s textures with brand new ones. In order to do so, GameROOSH will be using 8000×8000 pictures from the city they live in. Moreover, the modder will be using some models and some textures from other Source Engine-powered games.

Ever feel disappointed in yourself for abusing fast travel? This Skyrim mod stops you
https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrim-regional-fast-travel-mod/
I hate it when, partway through a fantasy series, the characters start skipping back and forth between locations that used to take three episodes and multiple frostbitten limbs to bridge. Game of Thrones, The Rings of Power, they all do it. And I get it, because I too cannot resist the temptation of fast travel. We already did the 'it's hard to get from this place to that place' subplot. Why do it again?
It damages the illusion a little though, doesn't it? The more the rules of the world are bent, the less weight the whole story seems to have. Some people hated the long boat rides in The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. I loved 'em. I used to try to walk across all of EverQuest with low level characters for fun. But like fantasy authors who don't want to describe the same gusty mountain pass for the third time, when I get the option to fast travel in most games, I take it. How can I resist?
One modder has a solution, or at least a sort of nicotine gum for habitual fast-travelers: The Regional Fast Travel mod for Skyrim Special Edition.
"Looking for a method to stop you from fast travelling all the time?" asks digitalApple. "This mod will add more rules to fast travel requests."

GAMING NEWS

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor STILL has traversal & shader compilation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-jedi-survivor-still-has-traversal-shader-compilation-stutters/
Respawn has just released Patch 4 for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PC. However, despite its claims, the game still suffers from both traversal and shader compilation stutters.

Diablo 4 Server Slam will support DLSS 3 Frame Generation
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/diablo-4-server-slam-will-support-dlss-3-frame-generation/
NVIDIA has announced that the Server Slam for Diablo 4 will support DLSS 3 Frame Generation. Diablo IV Server Slam will be available from May 12th to May 14th, and it will be open to everyone. As such, all RTX40 series owners will be able to test DLSS 3 before actually buying the game.

Warcraft III: Reforged Update 1.36 released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/warcraft-iii-reforged-update-1-36-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
Blizzard has just released Update 1.36 for Warcraft III: Reforged, and shared its complete changelog. According to the release notes, Patch 1.36 packs numerous balance tweaks and improvements.

F1 23 will support Ray Tracing and VR on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/f1-23-will-support-ray-tracing-and-vr-on-pc/
Codemasters has released the official PC system requirements for F1 23, confirming that this new F1 game will support Ray Tracing and VR on PC.

The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Update 4.03 released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-witcher-3-next-gen-update-4-03-released-full-patch-notes/
CD Projekt RED has just released Update 4.03 for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen, and shared its complete changelog. According to the team, this patch brings major improvements to the game’s Ray Tracing effects.