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

[JEMC]

The first, and quite packed, Thursday news post:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Palworld has sold 12 million units on Steam in two weeks
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/palworld-12-million-sold-units-steam/
Pocketpair has just announced that Palworld has sold 12 million units on PC via Steam. In total player count, the game is over 19 million players, with 7 million coming from Xbox. Palworld came out on January 19th, meaning that it took almost two weeks to hit this milestone.

EA earnings call show EA Sports FC was a game of two halves, as it fails to out-sell the last FIFA but still makes more money
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-earnings-call-show-ea-sports-fc-was-a-game-of-two-halves-as-it-fails-to-out-sell-the-last-fifa-but-still-makes-more-money/
Last year saw one of the biggest re-branding exercises in our industry's history as EA, which over decades had built the FIFA series into a juggernaut that saw off all competition, ended its relationship with football's world governing body. FIFA 23 (released in 2022) was the last in that series and 2023 saw the release of EA Sports FC 24, a name that became unavoidable to anyone who watched football in the latter half of the year: pitch hoardings, sponsorships, ads everywhere.
(...)
All the marketing clearly paid off because, while it's a slightly mixed bag, EA Sports FC 24 sold comparably to FIFA 23 and, thanks largely to Ultimate Team, has made more profit. EA held an investor call for Q3 of the financial year 2024 (the three months up to December 31st, 2023) and in both prepared remarks and on the call the company's suits were pleased if not quite cock-a-hoop.
(...)
EA's Chief Financial Officer, Stuart Canfield, put a little more meat on the bones. "Strength in our live services business, particularly in EA SPORTS FC Ultimate Team, was partially offset by some softness in the full game," said Canfield. 'Softness' is a nice executive euphemism for "didn't sell as many copies", and later in the results EA clarifies the full game sold around 5% fewer copies than FIFA 23. For a more localised example, the UK's Entertainment and Retail Association released sales figures for the UK market in early January, showing EA Sports FC had sold 2.25 million copies versus 2.39 million for FIFA 23. But what really matters to EA is that growth in Ultimate Team. "Live services net bookings grew to a record $1.71 billion in Q3, up 3 percent year over year, or up 5 percent in constant currency, exceeding our expectations," purred Canfield, who did at least throw a sop about driving "healthy engagement". As for the full game sales being slightly down, that may have been to be expected in a major transition year for the series, but like any good CFO Canfield's got a bunch of other reasons, one being that a World Cup happened in 2022.

This week, the Epic Store gives away Doors: Paradox: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/doors-paradox-5896c7.
Next week, they'll give away Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! and Lost Castle.

Steam has two new deals:

• Patron will be 80% off until the 7th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538570/Patron/
• Eastward gets a 40% discount until the 14th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/977880/Eastward/

We have a new Humble Bundle: the Controller'd Chaos Bundle, with up to 8 items to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/controllerd-chaos.

Fanatical has a new Sale and bundle:

• The Capcom Carnival Sale features up to 86% discounts. I haven't seen when it will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/capcom
• And the Platinum Collection BYOB for February has launched with 22 games to choose from for your 3, 5 or 7 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod adds functional cars to Red Dead Redemption 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/mod-cars-red-dead-redemption-2/
Red Dead Redemption 2 fans, here is something special for you today. Modders ‘Western’ and “rdr.outlaw” have released a new cool mod that adds functional cars to the game.
The car model of this mod is inspired by the 1929 Ford Model A. It comes in four different colors, and you can spawn it at any time.
The mod has startup revving and breaking sounds, as well as a horn. The car also has working headlights that can illuminate the path ahead of you. This will be useful at night. Additionally, it has breaklights that glow and trigger when you break. And yes, the car also has rotating wheels.
In short, this is one of the coolest mods you can get for Red Dead Redemption 2. So, waste no time and download it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a showcase video for it. So, make sure to watch it. After all, it will give you a pretty good idea of what the mod is all about.

GAMING NEWS

First gameplay trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 showcases its Unreal Engine 5-powered graphics
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2/
Paradox Interactive has released the first gameplay trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 which will be using Unreal Engine 5. This trailer will give you an idea of the new version that The Chinese Room is creating. So, be sure to give this trailer a go.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons-remake-official-pc-requirements/
505 Games has revealed the official PC system requirements for Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake. In addition, the publisher shared an official comparison video between the vanilla version and this upcoming remake.

Stellar Blade Gets a State of Play 2024 Gameplay Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/stellar-blade-state-of-play-2024-gameplay-trailer/
Shift Up has released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming action-adventure game, Stellar Blade. This trailer shows off the game’s beautiful graphics, its main cast, and some environments. It will also give you a glimpse at its combat system. So, be sure to give it a go.

SEGA has announced a new Sonic game, Sonic X Shadow Generations
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/sega-announced-sonic-x-shadow-generations/
At the State of Play January 2024, SEGA revealed a new Sonic game, called Sonic X Shadow Generations. And although we don’t have any additional details about it, you can find its debut trailer below. My guess is that SEGA will share more information about it tomorrow. Therefore, I’ll make sure to update this article with it once we get a press release.

Silent Hill 2 Remake gets its first proper gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/silent-hill-2-remake-gets-its-first-proper-gameplay-trailer/
Konami has just released the first proper gameplay trailer for Bloober’s upcoming remake of Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 2 Remake will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, and this trailer shows off its amazing graphics. It will also give you a glimpse at the game’s combat mechanics.

First gameplay trailer for Ken Levine’s new title, Judas
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-ken-levines-new-title-judas/
Ghost Story Games has released the first gameplay trailer for its upcoming game, Judas. Judas is developed by the creator of Bioshock, Ken Levine, and as you will see, Judas shares some similarities with it.

Here’s a new gameplay trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-a-new-gameplay-trailer-for-dragons-dogma-2/
Capcom has presented a new gameplay trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the State of Play January 2024. This trailer focuses on the game’s action and combat mechanics, so be sure to watch it if you are looking forward to it.

First gameplay trailer for Death Stranding 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-death-stranding-2/
Kojima Productions has just released the first gameplay trailer for Death Stranding 2. This trailer focuses on the game’s story. As such, it contains spoilers for the first Death Stranding game. So, be sure to avoid it if you haven’t played it yet.

Until Dawn is officially coming to PC in 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/until-dawn-is-officially-coming-to-pc-in-2024/
Sony has officially announced that a remastered version of Until Dawn will be released on PC in 2024. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Metro Awakening will be officially released on PC in 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metro-awakening-will-be-officially-released-on-pc-in-2024/
Deep Silver and Vertigo Games have announced a new Metro VR game, Metro Awakening. Metro Awakening is a story-driven first-person adventure built exclusively for VR. And yes, Deep Silver has confirmed that it will be coming to Meta Quest 2+3 and Steam VR in 2024. This won’t be a PS5 VR exclusive.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden gets an official gameplay breakdown trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/banishers-ghosts-of-new-eden-gets-an-official-gameplay-breakdown-trailer/
Focus Entertainment has shared an official gameplay breakdown trailer for DON’T NOD’s upcoming story driven action RPG, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.