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JEMC on 10 February 2025
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Let’s go with another Monday with lots of news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Manor Lords, the best city builder of 2024, hits 3 million sales as players continue to fill its maps with muddy medieval towns
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/manor-lords-the-best-city-builder-of-2024-hits-3-million-sales-as-players-continue-to-fill-its-maps-with-muddy-medieval-towns/
Our favourite city builder of 2024, Manor Lords, is having a pretty great 2025 as well. Following a meaty update that introduced a pair of new maps, bridges, building upgrades and a bunch of fixes, it's now hit the 3 million sales mark. Not bad for solo developer Slavic Magic—though that characterisation did net the developer a bit of flak last year, since contractors have also contributed to the game.

Final Fantasy 14 is, you guessed it, still making bank for Square Enix as Dawntrail rakes in the big bucks, though it might not be all sunshine and tacos
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14-is-you-guessed-it-still-making-bank-for-square-enix-as-dawntrail-rakes-in-the-big-bucks-though-it-might-not-be-all-sunshine-and-tacos/
It's been confirmed for a while that the Final Fantasy 14, which reached its 10th year recently, has been a load-bearing game for Square Enix's balance sheets. That was as per a fiscal report ending in March 2024 (the pre-Dawntrail times) that saw it making up 68.4% of its operating profits.
This was then confirmed again, when a report for the first half of the fiscal year ending in March 2025 (the post-Dawntrail times) said that it was, uh, still doing that, forming part of an MMO segment that raked in ¥13.1 billion (about $86 million) for the company (while its "HD games" segment lost it ¥1.2 billion, or $7.8 million).
Well, I am once more here to report that Final Fantasy 14 is continuing to do exceptionally well in yet another set of financial reportage—but this time the results are consolidated. Snazzy! Because this is a summary, there aren't any numbers to go off for FF14 specifically, but Square says the segment's been doing just as well—better, even.
"In the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) Game sub-segment, net sales and operating income rose compared with the same period of the previous fiscal year on the launch of 'FINAL FANTASY XIV: Dawntrail,' the latest expansion pack for 'FINAL FANTASY XIV.'" For reference, that full fiscal year's report saw the segment pulling in ¥19.3 billion (approx. $126 million) in operating income, and ¥47.3 billion (around $310 million) in net sales, so Dawntrail is making more than that.

Hell has frozen over, pigs are flying, and a Square Enix game has actually managed to exceed the publisher's ludicrous sales expectations
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/hell-has-frozen-over-pigs-are-flying-and-a-square-enix-game-has-actually-managed-to-exceed-the-publishers-ludicrous-sales-expectations/
Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a videogame failing to meet Square Enix's sales targets. Last year saw Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 falling short of whatever number the publisher cooked up in suited-up boardrooms, and before that it said Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy undershot expectations, and called Marvel's Avengers disappointing. Ouch.
It's a tale as old as time, but wait. I'm here to report an anomaly. A telenovela twist. One of Square Enix's children has not only satisfied its sales targets, but it actually managed to bring out an incredibly rare "stronger sales than initially assumed" from the publisher's latest financial report. And no, for once, it's not Final Fantasy 14 being paraded around as the golden child—though it's still the publisher's major moneymaker, for what it's worth.
This time it's the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake which, while Square Enix doesn't say how many units sold across all its platforms or just how much better it did sell than expected, does specifically mention it as a reason behind "sub-segment operating income" increasing, along with "lower development cost amortization and advertising expenses compared with the same period of the previous year."

Steam has several deals and events/sales:

Humble Bundle presents the Better With a Friend: Co-op Adventures Bundle, featuring up to 6 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/better-with-friend-coop-adventures.

And Fanatical has two deals:

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Steam makes its ban on games that rely on in-game ads even more explicit, so no 'watch this to continue playing' stuff will be making its way to our PCs
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valve-bans-games-that-rely-on-in-game-ads-from-steam-so-no-watch-this-to-continue-playing-stuff-will-be-making-its-way-to-our-pcs/
First reported by Gaming on Linux, Valve has added a new advertising page to its Steamworks developer documentation. The page outlines what kinds of advertising and promotion it will allow on Steam, while explicitly banning in-game ads as a revenue model on the ubiquitous PC gaming platform.
Product placement is still in, so long as "such portrayals are not disruptive and are appropriate within the context of the game." Valve gives a racing game with real life sponsors on the cars as one example of what's okay, and it sure sounds like my dream reboot of Pepsiman could still find a home on the store, thank god. Cross-promotions are allowed too, but Valve states "under no circumstances is it okay to charge developers to participate in a bundle or sell access to a store page or other page on Steam." Last, paid advertising campaigns outside Steam that lead to a store page are also fair game.
What's been banned is any form of in-game advertising that gates access to, or otherwise interferes with, gameplay. "Developers should not use paid advertising as a business model in their game, such as requiring players to watch or otherwise engage with advertising in order to play," Valve writes on the page. Basically, it sounds like a blanket ban on any sort of "watch this ad to play the game" design, and it also extends to in-game ads being tied to rewards like power ups or in-game currency.
Update 10/02/2025: As noted by SteamDB on Bluesky, while this specific page on Steam's advertising policy is new, the policy itself is not. Valve has had a ban on these kinds of in-game ads in Steam games for the last five years at minimum, viewable on its pricing policy page.

NVIDIA RTX Mega Geometry Tech Demo Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-rtx-mega-geometry-tech-demo-released/
Today we have two cool tech demos to share with our NVIDIA fans. The first one shows off the RTX Mega Geometry tech, whereas the second focuses on the RTX Neural Texture Compression.
The good news here is that these tech demos work on pretty much all RTX GPUs. In other words, they are not exclusive to the RTX50 series. Thus, all who own an RTX GPU can download and try them.
RTX Mega Geometry accelerates BVH building, making it possible to ray trace up to 100x more triangles than today’s standard. RTX Mega Geometry intelligently updates clusters of triangles in batches on the GPU. In theory, this should reduce CPU overhead and increase performance and image quality in ray-traced scenes. Plus, it can reduce VRAM consumption.
On the other hand, RTX Neural Texture Compression employs AI to compress textures. As such, it can lower VRAM utilization by up to eight times while preserving visual integrity. This is a cool tech that will help all GPUs that have less than 16GB of VRAM in future titles. Well, that is provided the games support it.
You can download these tech demos from here and here. Once you download the SDKs, you can find the demos inside their folders. Since these are demos from the SDKs, they may not blow you away. Thus, make sure to temper your expectations.
Below you can also find a video for RTX Neural Texture Compression. Sadly, I could not find any for the RTX Mega Geometry demo.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 4K Mod now overhauls over 3900 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-4k-mod-now-overhauls-over-3900-textures/
Modder ‘Romi’ has released a new version of his amazing 4K Texture Pack for Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth. The pack is now 27GB in size, and overhauls over 3900 textures. Thus, it’s a must for everyone who currently plays it.
Even on Ultra Settings, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth has a lot of low-res textures. And that’s exactly what this mod aims to resolve. Right now, it upscales most of the non-4k nature textures. So, expect better textures for things like trees, cliffs, rocks, stones, ground, grass, flowers, and puddles.
I’ve been using this pack and I highly recommend downloading it. You can do so from this link. Its installation is also super easy. All you have to do is drop the files into the “Final Fantasy 7 RebirthEndContentPacks~mods” folder.
Romi also suggests using these commands to improve the LODs MipMaps and Texture streaming. So, you might also need to add them to your Engine.INI file.
>> Besides the changes to the .ini file, the article also has an over 7 minutes video.

Classic Doom just got a Doom: The Dark Ages-inspired Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/classic-doom-just-got-a-doom-the-dark-ages-inspired-mod/
The Darkfall dev team has released the first version of Doom Darkfall, a new Doom: The Dark Ages-inspired mod for classic Doom. This mod brings the gameplay, weapons, chainshield, melee items & more from Doom The Dark Ages to the original Doom 1 & 2.
It’s basically a simple but cool mod for all old-school Doom fans. So, waste no time and make sure to download it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a gameplay video for it.
Do note that this is the second pre-alpha for Doom Darkfall. As such, you might see many visual placeholders, and may encounter some gameplay issues. The team will fix most of them as development progresses.
>> In the article you’ll find an almost 10 minutes video of the mod.

Bloodborne PC Remaster Mod V0.87 Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/bloodborne-pc-remaster-mod-v0-87-available-for-download/
Modder ‘fromsoftserve’ has released version 0.87 of his amazing remaster mod for Bloodborne. This is a must-have for everyone who wants to play Bloodborne on PC via the PS4 emulator, shadPS4. So, let’s take a look at it, shall we?
For those unaware, Bloodborne Remaster Project aims to provide the best visuals for it. The mod enables dynamic shadowcasting for the entire game. It also modifies the range and visibility of shadows. Not only that but it packs some higher-quality textures.
Version 0.87 brings big updates to Hunters Dream, Central Yharnam, Cathedral Ward, Old Yharnam, Hemwick, and Burgertown. Moreover, Cainhurst has snow again.
Bloodborne PC Remaster V0.87 comes in two versions. The first is without the Upscaled Textures (so it’s ideal for those who want to use it alongside some other HD Texture Packs). The second version has the new enhanced textures.
>> There’s an almost 50 minutes video of it.

First Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 4K Mod Improves All Faces
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/first-kingdom-come-deliverance-2-4k-mod-improves-all-faces/
Modder ‘CRT’ has released the first 4K Texture Pack for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 that improves the faces of all in-game characters. This includes all NPCs, as well as the main story characters.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one of the most optimized PC games of 2025. However, the game does have a lot of low-res textures. And that’s where this 4K Texture Pack comes in. By using it, you will be able to enhance all of the faces in the game.
Below you can find a comparison between a vanilla and a modded face. Just look at how much better the new texture is. This is exactly what I want to see from HD Texture Packs. So, kudos to CRT for delivering such a solid pack.
>> In the article there’s a comparison screenshots as well as a video.

Baldur’s Gate 3 just got a Warcraft-inspired custom campaign
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/baldurs-gate-3-just-got-a-warcraft-inspired-custom-campaign/
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Warcraft fans, here is something special for you today. Modder ‘SquallyDaBeanz’ has just released Forsaken, a custom campaign that is set in the universe of Warcraft. So, let’s take a look at it.
Forsaken is a recreation of the Undead starting zone “Tirisfal Glades” from World of Warcraft (Classic/Vanilla). This first release includes only the teaser level starting area. The ultimate goal is to, one day, include more areas from WoW. So, let’s hope that the modder will not abandon it.
Right now, the mod has 5 quests and a new storyline. It also allows you to interact with NPCs, explore a town, and fight some monsters. Plus, there is a new Party Camp.
In future versions, the modder plans to add Skill Checks and Inspiration Points. We may also get complete NPC dialogue and branching conversation paths. Moreover, there are plans for custom music triggers and varied combat music, new loot, new areas (duh), as well as more puzzles and secrets.
This mod sounds too ambition for one person. So, I don’t really know whether this mod will ever be completed. Still, and contrary to other mods, we have a teaser for it so that’s at least something.
>> There are two videos in the article.

Starfield just got new HD Texture Pack for all male & female NPCs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/starfield-just-got-new-hd-texture-pack-for-all-male-female-npcs/
It’s been a while since the last mod we shared for Starfield, don’t you agree? Well, today we bring you a must-have HD Texture Pack that covers all male and female NPCs.
This mod will mainly enhance the faces of the NPCs. As such, it’s a must as the default NPC faces were not that great.
Going into more details, the mod comes with HD diffuse maps with adjusted skin tones and unique facial details for each map. Every face now has its own eye color and reflections. You can also expect enhanced HD normal maps and 1k specular maps. Plus, there are new balanced AO maps to better match ages and racial details.
You can download the mod from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find some screenshots. These screenshots will give you an idea of what you can expect from it. As such, I recommend viewing them before downloading it.

Here's a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth mod to make catching chocobos trivial
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/heres-a-final-fantasy-7-rebirth-mod-to-make-catching-chocobos-trivial/
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, has said, "As someone who plays games on PC, I sometimes use mods myself," and added that "I see it as a positive thing myself." Which is why I expect there to be absolutely no complaints about the coming influx of mods that make the more boring parts of Cloud's Big Adventure easier to rush through on your way to the next game of Queen's Blood.
Modder LordGregory is responsible for this one, Easy Chocobo Catch, which means you won't have to replay any of the auto-fail stealth sequences where you sneak up on that region's chocobo. Normally these are something you need to cross off your bottomless checklist of tasks before you can use a region's Chocobo Stops as fast-travel points, and given that some chocobos have special traversal moves, may need to be completed before you can access parts of each map.
Where normally you'd have to sneak up on the head chocobo, bypassing their guards by hiding behind mine carts or whatever, with Easy Chocobo Catch the birds won't see you even if you crouch-walk right in front of them. It also triples your speed for good measure. Catching chocobos isn't the most difficult challenge in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but it's yet another point of slowdown and friction in a game with so much friction it can feel like wading through dry sand.
While you're browsing Nexus Mods, have a look at Most Combative Team Members, which makes your party members more likely to attack while you're not controlling them, and Silent Chadley and Mai in the Open World, which casts Shushaga on your talkative cyborg friends. Now if only there was a mod to get rid of the autofail stealth bit in the protorelic quest. Or give the game a satisfying ending.
>> The article has no media.

Sony enforcers execute a legal visceral attack on the BloodbornePSX demake, continuing its mission to eradicate all traces of FromSoft's beloved RPG on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/sony-enforcers-execute-a-legal-visceral-attack-on-the-bloodbornepsx-demake-continuing-its-mission-to-eradicate-all-traces-of-fromsofts-beloved-rpg-on-pc/
It's been a hectic week for throwback game specialist and Bloodborne superfan Lilith Walther. The designer behind Nightmare Kart revealed a nifty-looking expansion for her brilliant Bloodborne spoof a few days ago, which brings sniper rifles and harpies to its cosmic horror karting. Yet around the same time, Sony took a threaded cane to her earlier work, a more straightforward demake of Bloodborne with PS1 era visuals, released in 2021.
In a thread on Bluesky, Walther outlined the situation, which started with her posting a video promoting BloodbornePSX on YouTube. "I have now been provided with evidence that Markscan is working under Sony to issue a legitimate DMCA takedown on my video." Walther subsequently explained that the takedown was aimed not at the video itself, but the download link in the description. In compliance with the request, Walther removed the link, but also said she had taken the decision to "not make the fan game available to download in the future."
This is likely because MarkScan, the company working as a copyright enforcer on behalf of Sony, also issued a takedown notice for Bloodborne PSX's Itch.io page. In its notice (via The Verge) MarkScan claims it has found "copyright infringements" on the itch page, and that Walther is therefore "indulging in acts of digital piracy".
(...)
Perhaps that's because MarkScan is cracking down on Bloodborne-related fan projects at large. The enforcer was also behind the recent removal of a 60 fps patch compatible with the ShadPS4 emulator, one of the few ways you can technically play Bloodborne on PC. The patch's creator, Lance McDonald, commented on X that the DMCA takedown was "from the same company that SIE hired to take down the 60fps patch".

The best way to play Diablo 1 on pretty much anything just got an update for a 20-year-old Apple OS that runs on a dead chipset, one lunatic somewhere presumably rejoices
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-best-way-to-play-diablo-1-on-pretty-much-anything-just-got-an-update-for-a-20-year-old-apple-os-that-runs-on-a-dead-chipset-one-lunatic-somewhere-presumably-rejoices/
It's my understanding that, for some reason, people keep making ARPGs. This befogs me. As a people, we really kind of hit the nail on the head with Diablo 1. Do we need more? More enemies? More loot? More graphics? Of course not. We only need more ways to play Diablo 1 on more and more esoteric devices.
Enter DevilutionX, a source port for the original Diablo that has, for years, been merrily making Blizzard's classic playable on just about anything. No, really, anything. Modern Windows? Of course. MacOS? Try something harder. 3DS? You betcha. Want to play OG Diablo on your Amiga, original Xbox, or Vita? Of course you do; who wouldn't? With DevilutionX, it's all possible (so long as you have a legit copy of the original game, like the one on GOG).
I've actually waxed lyrical about the port before—it's how I played D1 for the first time a couple of years ago—and now I'm here to inform you that it's just got a new update. The headline item of the 1.5.4 patch is, I guess, that the new version has tweaked its gamepad support to better make use of your controller in this PC game from 1996. Specifically, it's now easier to zip about stash using your DualSenses, XInput devices and what-have-you.
But what I actually want to talk about is the supported platforms added by the new version. Specifically, DevilutionX has made someone's day somewhere by adding support for macOS 10.4 PowerPC, and made probably a few more people's day by adding support for Windows XP, which I know some of you sickos are still using. Not that I blame you.

Doom 3 Essential HD Pack v2.0 Remaster Mod Update 2025
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/doom-3-essential-hd-pack-v2-0-remaster-mod-update-2025/
Modder ‘H3llBaron’ has released a 2025 Update for his amazing Essential HD Pack v2.0 Remaster Mod for Doom 3. This mod will completely overhaul id Software’s horror take on the Doom franchise. As such, it’s one I highly recommend using.
Going into more details, Doom Essential HD Pack v2.0 Remaster upscales and enhances all of the textures in the base game, the Resurrection of Evil DLC, and The Lost Mission Mod. Moreover, it reworks and improves details for all levels, mapobjects, characters, monsters, and weapons.
This fan remaster also adds omitted/unused micro details and effects from E3 Alpha Tech Demo 2002. Plus, it includes the E3 Alpha Pistol, Shotgun and Machinegun.
With this mod, all the dead bodies stay on the place. Bullet shells will also stay forever in the ground. And that’s not all. Players can expect full self shadows on every model of the game. Oh, and there are also new effects for impacts, liquids and glasses to the game.
>> In the article there’s a less than two minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

EA has removed Denuvo from Immortals of Aveum
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ea-has-removed-denuvo-from-immortals-of-aveum/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. EA has just removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Immortals of Aveum. Immortals of Aveum came out in August 2023, meaning that it took around one and a half years to remove it.

Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone hits Steam Early Access on March 6th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/chernobylite-2-exclusion-zone-hits-steam-early-access-on-march-6th/
The Farm 51 has announced that Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone will be coming to Steam Early Access on March 6th. To celebrate this announcement, the team has also shared the game’s story trailer, which you can find below.



Please excuse my bad English.

Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet    Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.