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

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Here come the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Millions of people have bought Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, and even other devs are impressed
https://www.pcgamer.com/millions-of-people-have-bought-cyberpunk-2077s-phantom-liberty-expansion-and-even-other-devs-are-impressed/
Phantom Liberty, the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC that adds Idris Elba and some kind of rocket ship (I think? I haven't actually gotten to it yet), has done quite well for itself. That's according to a recent CD Projekt Red earnings call as well as the company's Twitter account, which was out yesterday boasting about 4.3 million copies of the DLC sold since launch.
For reference, CDPR was bragging about Cyberpunk selling 25 million copies early last month, in the heat of its post-2.0, post-DLC, "we've fixed the game now" victory lap. 4.3 million expansion sales on top of that is nothing to sniff at, and equals an estimated 20% "attachment ratio," or the number of people who bought Cyberpunk's base game that also bought the DLC. I feel like there's probably a better term for that phenomenon, but maybe that's why I don't have an MBA.
If you're wondering whether an attachment ratio of 20% is good or not, apparently it is. Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer—of Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and Pentiment fame—weighed in through the quote tweets to say that his own studio usually hopes for "a ~25% attachment rate for DLCs released within a few months of the base game," meaning "a 20% attachment rate on an expansion 2.5 years after launch is pretty impressive."

GOG has launched two new Deals of the Day and two new Sales:

• The first DotD is Hero of the Kingdom III, 90% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hero_of_the_kingdom_iii
• The second DotD is the NSFW game Treasure of Nadia, 50% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/treasure_of_nadia
• The new Weekly Sale arrives with up to 92% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/weekly_deals_4_november
• The Hack & Slash Sale features up to 90% discounts and will last 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20231130_hack_and_slash

Steam has several new deals:

• En Garde! will be 40% off until the 4th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1654660/En_Garde/
• The still in Early Access title The Planet Crafter, that has a demo, has a 25% discount until the 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284190/The_Planet_Crafter/
• The Construction Simulator Franchise is on sale, up to 70% off until next Tuesday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/constructionsimulator
• FAR: Lone Sails gets an 85% discount until Tuesday, the 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/609320/FAR_Lone_Sails/
• Frostpunk is going to be 80% off until the 12th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/323190/Frostpunk/
• And Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will feature an 84% discount until the same 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/367500/Dragons_Dogma_Dark_Arisen/

Fanatical has four new 24 hour Flash Deals, and these will be the last ones:

• The first one is DREDGE, 40% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dredge
• Exoprimal gets a 46% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/exoprimal
• Lost Castle features a 75% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/lost-castle
• And the last one, Police Stories, will be 85% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/police-stories

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity is terminating its agreement with Peter Jackson's former VFX studio, laying off 265 employees in the process
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-is-terminating-its-agreement-with-peter-jacksons-former-vfx-studio-laying-off-265-employees-in-the-process/
It's been a 'fun' and 'interesting' year for Unity. A retroactive runtime fee that drew the anger of basically every developer leading to a change in leadership, an AI program it's only recently done due diligence on, and some big, sweeping layoffs.
Back in May, Unity laid off 600 employees and closed half its offices. Earlier this month, it said further layoffs were 'likely'. According to a Reuters report, those layoffs have begun. Unity has scrapped a large part of its agreement with Weta Digital, which it acquired for $1.6 billion back in 2021. 265 employees—just ten shy of the 275 engineers Unity acquired back then—will lose their jobs.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

You can now play Cyberpunk 2077 as Ciri from The Witcher 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/you-can-now-play-cyberpunk-2077-as-ciri-from-the-witcher-3/
Earlier this month, we shared an AI voice mod for Cyberpunk 2077 that made V sound like Geralt from The Witcher 3. And today, we present you with two mods that will allow you to play CP2077 as Ciri from The Witcher 3.
The first one is an AI Voice Mod that changes Female V’s voice to Ciri. Then, by using it alongside the mod that changes the appearance of the Female V to Ciri, you can get the ultimate The Witcher 3 experience.
Let’s not forget that in The Witcher 3, Ciri told Geralt that she visited a world similar to that of Cyberpunk 2077. Back then, CD Projekt RED used that line as an easter egg for its upcoming title. Thanks to the modders, though, that dialogue line has become a reality.
>> The article has an over 7 minutes long video of the AI voiced mod.

Diablo 2 Remake Demo in Unreal Engine 5 Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/diablo-2-remake-demo-in-unreal-engine-5-available-for-download/
Diablo 2 fans, here is something really special for you today. 3D Environment Artist, Michal Wawruch, released a demo of his Diablo 2 Remake in Unreal Engine 5. Yeap, this is a playable demo of Diablo 2 in Unreal Engine 5 that lets you explore one of its environments. So, be sure to download it while you still can.
For this tech demo of Diablo 2, the artist recreated the Durance of Hate environment in Unreal Engine 5. And yes, the demo takes advantage of both Nanite and Lumen. So, if you are interested in it, you can go ahead and download it from this link. Wawruch claimed that an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1060 is the minimum required GPU for it.
Below you can find a showcase video for this Diablo 2 Fan Remake. Among other things, the video has a bunch of comparison scenes between the original version and the UE5 Remake. As you will see, the UE5 remake stays true to the original game. And don’t get me wrong. Diablo 2 Resurrected was an amazing remake. Graphics-wise, though, this fan remake takes it to a whole new level.

Starfield gets a 4K Texture Pack that improves all spaceships
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/starfield-gets-a-4k-texture-pack-that-improves-all-spaceships/
Modder ‘XilaMonstrr’ has released a new 4K Texture Pack for Starfield that improves the quality of all spaceships. Since this pack will improve the game’s visuals, we highly recommend using it. From what we could see, the modder used AI tools to upscale the vanilla textures. As such, this pack retains the game’s art style.
According to the modder, the original textures were mostly 1K and some 512 and 2K resolution. Thanks to AI tools, though, XilaMonstrr was able to upscale each and every texture to 4K. As noted, the biggest improvement is to decals (logos, signs, etc.). However, there’s some additional sharpness on contours of the ships as well.
This 4K Texture Pack is 4GB in size, and you can download it from this link. You can also find a 2K version of it, as well as a “4K Normal Maps/2K B&W Maps” version. These alternative versions are for those who don’t own the latest and greatest PC hardware.
>> The article has several comparison screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will support Ray Tracing, PC requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragons-dogma-2-will-support-ray-tracing-pc-requirements-revealed/
Capcom just dropped the PC system requirements for Dragon’s Dogma 2 on its Steam store page. Also, the team revealed that the game will support Ray Tracing effects. However, Capcom hasn’t spilled the beans on what exactly these Ray Tracing effects are.
>> That's the good news...

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragons-dogma-2-will-be-using-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech/
A few hours ago, Capcom revealed the PC requirements for Dragon’s Dogma 2. And, from the looks of it, this game will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. Moreover, the team shared a new gameplay video that you can find below. So, be sure to watch it after the jump.
>> ... and this, besides the gameplay video, is the bad news.

Homeworld 3 will support Ray Tracing, gets PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/homeworld-3-will-support-ray-tracing-gets-pc-requirements/
Blackbird Interactive has just released the official PC system requirements for its new sci-fi RTS, Homeworld 3. Moreover, the game will have Ray Tracing effects. Plus, it’ll support NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 and AMD’s FSR 2.