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

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The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Age of Wonders 4 has sold 250K copies in its first week, is the fastest selling game of the series
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/age-of-wonders-4-has-sold-250k-copies-in-its-first-week-is-the-fastest-selling-game-of-the-series/
Paradox Interactive has announced that Age of Wonders 4 has sold 250K units in its first week. As such, this latest AoW game is officially the fastest selling game in the series.

GOG has a new Deal of the Day and two sales:

• The new DotD is Crying Suns, 70% off in both the standard and Deluxe Editions during 46 hours.
• The Midweek Sale has up to 90% discounts during 4 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230517_midweek_sale
• And the Hack'n'Slash Sale comes with up to 90% discounts until the 24th of May: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_hack_n_slash

At Steam we find that One Hand Clapping will be 47% off until May, 23rd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/893720/One_Hand_Clapping/.

Fanatical has a new Star Deal and bundles:

• The new Star Deal is Hell Let Loose, 45% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/hell-let-loose
• There are 12 new bundles. If you think I'll go and post them all, you're insane. Go here and check them out by yourselves.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4369
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4369
Highlights
Gaming Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:

• The Outlast Trials
• The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
• Starship Troopers: Extermination Early Access

Fixed Issues
Intel® Core™ Processor Products:

• Battlefield: 2042 (DX12) may exhibit color corruption at the game menu.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (DX12) may experience color corruption in Quick Play Lobby

INTEL® ARC™ CONTROL FIXED ISSUES:

• Windows UAC Admin is required to install and launch Arc Control.
• The Live Performance Monitoring page may not apply the desired removal of some performance metric tiles.
• The Resizable BAR status may show an incorrect value on systems with multiple Intel® Graphics Adapters.

>> The article also shows in-game improvements compared to previous drivers, in case you want to check them.

Steam is ditching a Google tool that Valve says 'doesn't align' with its customer privacy approach
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-valve-google-analytics/
Valve is updating the system that shows game developers statistics about who's visiting their Steam pages. As part of that update, Steam will stop supporting Google Analytics—the most-used tool for tracking internet traffic—and developers who rely on it will instead have to use Steam's built-in traffic reporting tools.
"As time has gone on we've come to realize that Google's tracking solutions don't align well with our approach to customer privacy," Valve said in a blog post. Support for Google Analytics will end on July 1, which is also when Google is switching off an old system, called Universal Analytics, and replacing it with a new service called Google Analytics 4.

Steam just quietly added a new free trial system
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-just-quietly-added-a-new-free-trial-system/
It looks like Steam has quietly added a new feature: timed free game trials. While once upon a time (like a week ago), getting a 'free trial' of a game generally meant buying it, trying it out, and returning it before Steam's 2-hour refund window closed, it appears that publishers will now be able to offer time-limited demos in a more structured, formal way.
The first game to make use of the feature is this year's Dead Space remake, which you can play for an hour and a half, but I imagine more will follow. It's all rather simple: You just pop over to the game's store page and hit Play Now, which will kick off the download in your Steam client and let you enjoy 1.5 hours of a very unhappy space station.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod turns Doom 3 into an old-school Run-and-Gun shooter
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-mod-turns-doom-3-into-an-old-school-run-and-gun-shooter/
Modder ‘rulesnote’ has released an amazing gameplay mod for Doom 3 that turns it into an old-school Run-and-Gun shooter. This mod is called Runner’s Doom 3, and a brand new version of it is currently available for download.
Runner’s Doom 3 increases most enemies’ reaction speed and attack damages. It’s also worth noting that the player’s new walking speed is faster than the previous running speed, and the new running speed is more than double the previous speed. Moreover, it allows most enemies to be spawned instantly. Not only that, but players can also use the double-barrel shotgun in the main game.
Runner’s Doom 3 also packs numerous AI improvements. For instance, the Imps can now fire multiple fireballs, can move to you while shooting projectiles, and can more frequently dodge your shots. Wraiths will disappear and appear, approach you, and then explode themselves. Revenants will fire multiple rockets in succession, whereas the Mancubi can keep moving toward you while shooting projectiles. Cacodemons will also move faster than you and attempt to bite you.
>> There's a 4:31 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

Atomic Heart Update 1.6.0.0 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/atomic-heart-update-1-6-0-0-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
Mundfish has released a brand new update for its latest first-person shooter, Atomic Heart. According to the release notes, patch 1.6.0.0 fixes some rare issues with saves of the game, and packs a number of improvements.