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

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Let’s go with the news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

There’s a new promo from GOG: the Turn-Based Promo will have games of this genre up to 95% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250115_turn_based_promo

Steam has three new deals:

• The Early Access title The Bus will have a 20% discount until the 21st of January: https://store.steampowered.com/app/491540/The_Bus/
• Colony Survival, also in Early Access, is going to be 50% off until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/366090/Colony_Survival/
• And the game Funko Fusion and its DLCs are on sale in the Funko Fusion Franchise Sale, featuring up to 50% discounts until January 28: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/1010Games/sale/funkofusion2025

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Frostpunk: Game of the Year Edition, with a 92% deal during at least 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/frostpunk-game-of-the-year-edition
• And publisher Slitherine Ltd. Games has its games on sale. No word on when the sale will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/slitherine-ltd

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Black holes, buildings on poles, and a 'sea urchin planet': PUBG creator's world-sized tech demo may be hiding some bizarre machine learning 'hallucinations'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/black-holes-buildings-on-poles-and-a-sea-urchin-planet-pubg-creators-world-sized-tech-demo-may-be-hiding-some-bizarre-machine-learning-hallucinations/
I've just set foot for the first time on PUBG creator Brendan Greene's new planet, and I've gotta say: it definitely looks like a planet. I see some rocks. I see a few trees. One day I walked around in a forest, the next, a desert. I see gentle hills and scattered boulders and a sun in the sky, but nothing out of the ordinary. At least not yet.
This is Preface: Undiscovered World, a tech demo from PlayerUnknown Productions, that uses Melba, Greene's new game engine, to create an "Earth-scale world" using "machine learning agents." Preface is the first step in what Greene estimates could be a "five or 10 year journey" to create a massively multiplayer sandbox the size of a planet (and perhaps the metaverse, maybe).
While all these rocks and trees and hills appear to be perfectly sensible and normal, this planet-sized planet I'm trudging around on may be hiding a few anomalies, at least according to the team building the game engine that generated this world.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Baldur's Gate 3 modder says the community's been making 'huge strides' towards custom campaigns: 'I think we'll see many of them refined, improved, and released this year'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3-modder-says-the-communitys-been-making-huge-strides-towards-custom-campaigns-i-think-well-see-many-of-them-refined-improved-and-released-this-year/
Baldur's Gate 3 mods enjoyed a new set of tools last year as part of its seventh patch, tools which it only took erstwhile modders two days to unlock. These untapped kits allow these expeditionary tinkerers to create whole new campaigns, in the vein of Skyrim's ambitious mods. At least, in theory.
In practice, it's a little more complicated than that. Since Larian has not officially recognised or condoned these unlocked toolkits, modders have been left on their own to muddle through without proper documentation. I talked to one of said modders, SquallyDaBeanz aka Brandon Giles, who is hard at work on two projects—restoring some "cut" content from Act 2, and remaking WoW's Forsaken starting zone.

GAMING NEWS

Assassin’s Creed Origins & Valhalla will now work with Windows 11 24H2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/assassins-creed-origins-valhalla-will-now-work-with-windows-11-24h2/
When Microsoft launched Update 24H2 for Windows 11, it broke compatibility with a number of Ubisoft games. To be more precise, Assassin’s Creed Origins and Valhalla could not run on the latest version of Win 11. Thankfully, Ubisoft has released patches that address these compatibility issues.

Forest Reigns is a new survival FPS from former STALKER devs
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/forest-reigns-is-a-new-survival-fps-from-former-stalker-devs/
VG Entertainment has announced a new story-driven survival FPS with RPG elements called Forest Reigns. For those who don’t know, VG Entertainment is made up of former STALKER and Survarium developers. So, if you are a fan of these games, you should definitely check this out.

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Patch 33.2 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/pubg-battlegrounds-patch-33-2-released-detailed/
KRAFTON has released and detailed the latest update for PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, Patch 33.2. According to the devs, this new update brings the excitement of Spring Fest 2025, fresh updates to Sanhok, and a brand-new Gunplay Labs feature.

New Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered Trailer Focuses on Bosses
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-tomb-raider-iv-vi-remastered-trailer-focuses-on-bosses/
Aspyr has shared a new trailer for Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered which focuses on some of the bosses that players will encounter. And while this trailer is a bit short, it features new in-engine footage from this upcoming remastered trilogy. So, if you are a TR fan, I suggest taking a look at it.