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

Hogwarts Legacy sold over 22 million copies, Warner Bros. exec brags it's 'the best-selling game of the year in the entire industry worldwide'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hogwarts-legacy-sold-over-22-million-copies-warner-bros-exec-brags-its-the-best-selling-game-of-the-year-in-the-entire-industry-worldwide/
Warner Bros. Games has announced that the Harry Potter action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy sold over 22 million copies by the end of 2023, with roughly 2 million of those sales over the December festive period. "But it’s not just the units sold that I’m so proud of, it’s just that it delighted the fans so much," Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad told Variety.
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Warner Bros. shared a bunch of fun facts about the game, with Haddad emphasising "many" players have gone through the game multiple times. Collectively they've played for 707 million hours, brewed 819 million potions, harvested 1.3 billion magical plants, rescued 593 million magical beasts, and defeated 4.9 billion dark wizards.

GOG has released three new Deals of the Day, that will last until Friday:

• The first one is The Invincible, 20% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_invincible
• The second one is Star Explorers, with a 40% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_explorers
• And the third one is Yakuza: Like a Dragon Hero Edition, with an 80% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/yakuza_like_a_dragon_hero_edition

Steam has a couple of new deals:

• Before We Leave will be 75% off until the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1073910/Before_We_Leave/
• The Early Access title Yet Another Zombie Survivors, that has a demo, is going to have a 25% discount until January, the 23rd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2163330/Yet_Another_Zombie_Survivors/

And Fanatical has a new Star Deal: Escape Simulator is going to be 34% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/escape-simulator.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Valve updates its Steam policy on AI so it can 'release the vast majority of games that use it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-updates-its-steam-policy-on-ai-so-it-can-release-the-vast-majority-of-games-that-use-it/
Last year, after a game developer declared Steam wouldn't accept any game that used AI, Valve clarified that it was "working through how to integrate it into our already-existing review policies" and that "our review process is a reflection of current copyright law and policies, not an added layer of our opinion. As these laws and policies evolve over time, so will our process."
Another step in that process has been taken, as Valve has released a new statement addressing AI content on Steam. "Today," it begins, "after spending the last few months learning more about this space and talking with game developers, we are making changes to how we handle games that use AI technology. This will enable us to release the vast majority of games that use it."
There are two changes coming to Steam that will make this possible. The first is an update to the Content Survey, which is a form that developers fill out when submitting a game to Steam. The survey will now have a section where developers have to disclose whether they've used AI during development, and whether it was pre-generated (used to create assets pre-release), or live-generated (used to create content while the game's being played).

LSFG 1.0 is a new competitor to DLSS 3 and FSR 3.0, enables Frame Generation in all PC games on all GPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/lsfg-1-0-dlss-3-fsr-3-0-frame-generation-all-pc-games/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. The author of the Lossless Scaling program has released a new version that can enable Frame Generation in all PC games on all GPUs.
Yeap, you read that right. With this program, you can enable Frame Generation in all games. And yes, you can enable FG even in games that don’t support DLSS 3 or FSR 3.0.
According to its author, the recommended minimum to have the best quality is 60 FPS in a game and a 120 Hz monitor. That’s exactly what NVIDIA and AMD recommend for both DLSS 3 and FSR 3.0.
From the looks of it, LSFG is not compatible with VRR monitors. According to its description, the game MUST be locked to half your monitor’s refresh rate for proper frame pacing. The appearance of any overlay above the LS window may also disrupt frame generation until LS is deactivated.
For example, owners of a 120hz monitor will have to lock their games to 60fps. Then, by using LSFG, they’ll be able to run it at 120fps with proper framepacing. Anything other than that and you may get framepacing issues. So, it’s not an ideal solution but hey, it works in all games and on all GPUs.
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The bad news here is that Lossless Scaling is not a free tool. So, in order to take advantage of its Frame Generation tech, you’ll have to buy it.
>> You're able to buy it from Steam (it's an update to Lossless Scaling). There's a link in the article.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Pokemon-inspired Palworld hits PC Early Access on January 19th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pokemon-inspired-palworld-hits-pc-early-access-on-january-19th/
Pocketpair has just announced that its Pokemon-inspired open-world survival and crafting game, Palworld, will hit PC Early Access on January 19th. In addition, the team shared the game’s PC system requirements which you can find below.

Helldivers 2 gets PC requirements & PC trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/helldivers-2-gets-pc-requirements-pc-trailer/
Sony has revealed the official PC system requirements for Helldivers 2. In addition, the team has shared the first PC trailer for it, so be sure to watch it.