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

[JEMC]

The Thursday news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Following Monolith's shock closure, GOG is offering 90% off its 2005 shooter FEAR and accelerating the game's preservation to recognise its doomed developer's 'contribution to gaming'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/following-monoliths-shock-closure-gog-is-offering-90-percent-off-its-2005-shooter-fear-and-accelerating-the-games-preservation-to-recognise-its-doomed-developers-contribution-to-gaming/
Yesterday, Warner Bros announced it was closing Monolith Productions in a "strategic change of direction". A studio with a 30-year legacy, Monolith's games include Blood, No One Lives Forever, Tron 2.0, Condemned: Criminal Origins, and more recently its excellent Middle-earth tie-ins Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, which introduced the remarkable Nemesis System. Amid the shock and anger at what seems an inexplicable decision, tributes have poured in for the studio and its incredible library of games. Among these is a double-barrelled blast of affection from GOG, which has accelerated its preservation efforts for one of Monolith's best games, as well as offering it at a deep discount for the next few days.
That game is FEAR Platinum, which bundles Monolith's fantastic shooter with its two expansions, Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate. Released in 2005, FEAR combined eye-popping bullet-time action with Japanese horror influences and some of the best enemy AI ever committed to code. Its shotgun is also my second favourite weapon in any FPS, behind only Unreal Tournament's mighty flak cannon.
GOG commemorates FEAR in two ways. First, it's accelerating the game's inclusion into its preservation program, designed to ensure old games remain playable and compatible on modern systems forever (or at least, as long as GOG is around). Posting on X, GOG explained that this inclusion into the preservation program had originally been "scheduled for a later timeframe", but due to Monolith's closure, it has opted to enrol the shooter into it by next month "to properly recognise Monolith's contributions to gaming."
Second, GOG is currently offering a 90% discount on its current version of FEAR Platinum from now until Friday. This means it's currently available for less than a pound in the UK, and around a dollar in the US. I don't recall much about FEAR's expansions, having not played them since they were released. But I've returned to vanilla FEAR numerous times over the years, and it's an absolute must-play for any FPS fan, and easily worth that price on its own.

The Epic Store gives away Mages of Mystralia: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/mages-of-mystralia
Next week, the free title will be Them's Fightin' Herds.

Other than the FEAR deal, GOG has a couple more things:

• There’s a Disney Publisher Sale, with up to 75% discounts during 3 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250227_disney_publisher_sale
• And they’re also expanding its GOG Preservation Program with some LEGO titles, that will be up to 85% off until the 6th of March. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/en/news/gog_preservation_program_introduces_the_legor_series

Steam brings these deals:

• SCS Software, the guys behind the truck games, puts its games on sale with up to 73% deals until Monday, March, the 3rd: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/4036972/sale/scs_weeklong
• Alone in the Dark, the latest one, is going to be 50% off until March 10: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1310410/Alone_in_the_Dark/
• Spiritfall will have a 45% discount until the 12th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1835240/Spiritfall/

And Fanatical has launched the BYO Sandbox Sensations Bundle, with 16 titles to choose from for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ games bundle during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-sandbox-sensations-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Valve expands Steam's Daily Deals program from 4 games to 6, also explains what Steam's Daily Deals program is
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valve-expands-steams-daily-deals-program-from-4-games-to-6-also-explains-what-steams-daily-deals-program-is/
Valve is expanding Steam's Daily Deals program to support six games per day instead of four, "allowing us to shine a spotlight on more games while giving us a deeper pool of offers to select from." And if you're not sure what Steam's Daily Deals program is, you're not alone, but don't worry, that gets explained too, and it's actually pretty interesting.
"Daily Deals have been around on Steam for well over a decade, and the feature has evolved quite a bit over the years," Valve wrote in a Steamworks update. "In 2024 alone, the Daily Deal program helped thousands of games gain dedicated visibility on the Steam homepage and relevant tags pages, helping those titles earn tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands of dollars each in the process."
Also worth noting is that Daily Deals aren't necessarily one-day affairs like the dearly departed flash sales of days along ago: The "primary visibility and promotion runs for 24 hours," but the discounts often run for a week, which "makes the promotion accessible to more players and allows the game to benefit from higher visibility on Top Sellers and other charts throughout Steam."
>> Great, yes... but it also mean more work for me when making these news posts :-/.

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 572.60 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-572-60
Highlights
Game Ready for NARAKA: BLADEPOINT DLSS 4
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 4 technology including NARAKA BLADEPOINT. Further support for new titles leveraging DLSS technology includes Monster Hunter Wilds.

Fixed Issues
Fixed Gaming Bugs

• [SteamVR] Some apps may display stutter on GeForce RTX 50 series [5088118]

Fixed General Bugs

• [Adobe Substance 3D Sampler] Crashing at launch with R570 branch drivers [5083712]
• [Adobe Substance 3D Painter] Texture corruption in baking results from GPU raytracing [5091781]
• [VRay 6] Unexpected Low Performance on CUDA Vpath Tests for Blackwell GPUs [4915763]
• [GeForce RTX 50 series] Various black screen issues [5088957] [5100062] [5089089]
• Audio issues when GPU is connected via DisplayPort 1.4 w/ DSC at very high refresh rates [5104848]
• Applications may display slight image corruption on pixelated 2D patterns [5071565]

>> As noted, this is also the driver that should fix the black screen problems.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

New trailers for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, The First Berserker: Khazan and Atomfall
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-trailers-for-wuchang-fallen-feathers-the-first-berserker-khazan-and-atomfall/
IGN has shared new short trailers for Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and The First Berserker: Khazan. Moreover, Rebellion has shared an official extended gameplay trailer for Atomfall.

Edge of Memories is a new JRPG from the devs behind Edge of Eternity
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/edge-of-memories-is-a-new-jrpg-from-the-devs-behind-edge-of-eternity/
NACON and Midgar Studio announced Edge of Memories, the new project set in the universe of Edge of Eternity. With Edge of Memories, players will be able to embark on a new adventure in the world of Heryon in Fall 2025 on PC.

The War of the Worlds: Siberia gets new beautiful in-engine trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-war-of-the-worlds-siberia-gets-new-beautiful-in-engine-video/
1CGS revealed new The War of the Worlds: Siberia gameplay footage during the IGN Fan Fest 2025 event. The brand new story-focused trailer introduces players to suspense and intrigue in the upcoming third-person action-adventure game, set in the world of H.G. Well’s legendary 1897 sci-fi novel.

MotoGP 25 will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, gets PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/motogp-25-will-be-powered-by-unreal-engine-5-gets-pc-requirements/
Milestone has announced the upcoming release of MotoGP 25, the official MotoGP videogame featuring all the riders and tracks of the 2025 season from MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. The game will come out on April 30th, and you can find its debut trailer below.

New Assassin’s Creed Shadows Gameplay Footage Leaks Online
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-assassins-creed-shadows-gameplay-footage-leaks-online/
It appears that some new gameplay footage for the new AC game, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, has been leaked online. Do note that this new footage may contain some story spoilers. So, consider this your warning. If you want to experience the game yourselves, you should skip the following videos.