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

[JEMC]

Let’s go with the Thursday news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away

• Mortal Shell: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/mortal-shell
• World of Warships — Anniversary Party Favor: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/world-of-warships-world-of-warships-—-anniversary-party-favor-68fa01

Next week, the free game will be Jurassic World Evolution 2.

GOG has launched the META + Owlcat Publisher Sale, with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250313_meta_owlcat_publisher_sale.

Steam has two deals and three sales:

• Barro is going to be 90% off until the 18th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/618140/Barro/
• Rail Route will have a 50% discount until the 25th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route/
• And these are the sales:
  • Capcom couldn’t wait any longer and has launched its Spring Sale, with up to 87% deals until March 24: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/capcom/sale/spring
  • The Humble Games Showcase 2025 has both upcoming and already launched games, but no discounts… yet: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6869120/sale/HGShowcase2025
  • And it’s a similar story with The Wired Spring Sale, with already launched and upcoming sales, but the discounts are nowhere to be seen yet: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33134072/sale/WiredSpringSale

Fanatical has three new 24 hours Flash Deals and a bundle:

• These are the Flash Deals:
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio has a 35% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/metaphor-refantazio
  • Dragon's Dogma 2 Deluxe Edition is 50% off: :https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dragons-dogma-2-deluxe-edition
  • And Street Fighter™ 6 - Ultimate Edition gets a 60% discount:https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/street-fighter-6-ultimate-edition
• The Bundle is the Batman: Arkham Collection, 88% off during 8 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AI will be crammed in more of the graphics pipeline as Nvidia and Microsoft are bringing AI shading to a DirectX preview next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/ai-will-be-crammed-in-more-of-the-graphics-pipeline-as-nvidia-and-microsoft-are-bringing-ai-shading-to-a-directx-preview-next-month/
Yes, I know: more AI. Love it or hate it, that's the way things are going. For us gamers, it started with upscaling, then frame gen, then Multi Frame Gen, and soon, it seems, fully AI-generated frames.
At GDC today Nvidia announced that "neural shading support will come to DirectX preview in April, unlocking the power of AI Tensor Cores in NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs inside of graphics shaders used to program video games…
"Nvidia RTX Neural Shaders SDK enables developers to train their game data and shader code on an RTX AI PC and accelerate their neural representations and model weights with Nvidia Tensor Cores at runtime. This significantly enhances the performance of neural rendering techniques, allowing for faster and more efficient real-time rendering with Tensor Cores."
In other words, AI will be used not just to interpolate frames and generate new ones based on a traditionally rendered frame but also to help render that original frame. It's AI being added to another step of the rendering pipeline.
The end-goal might presumably be to have the game engine tell the GPU information about the primary in-game qualities—objects, movement, and so on—and have AI flesh out the rest of the picture.
>> As I was reading the article I was getting more and more angry.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Batman: Arkham Knight just got an amazing X-Men Wolverine Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/batman-arkham-knight-just-got-an-amazing-x-men-wolverine-mod/
Now here is something really cool. Modder ‘Kalunn’ has released a new mod for Batman: Arkham Knight that allows you to play as X-Men’s favourite mutant, Wolverine.
This mod replaces Batman’s moveset with a new one for Wolverine. As such, all the hits and grabs are made for Wolverine’s mutant abilities. Then, you can use a skin mod to make Batman look exactly like Wolverine himself.
Now I know, it makes no sense to have Wolverine drive the Batmobile. Or sound like Bruce Wayne. Or interact with Batman’s sidekicks. Still, this is a cool mod that deserves the spotlight. At least in my opinion. Moreover, you can use this mod that adds Deadpool suit variants for Nightwing and Red Hood.
>> The article has an almost 5 minutes video.

There's hope yet for Classic Offensive after its Steam rejection: The team behind the Counter-Strike 1.6 revival mod is in touch with Valve about its 'concerns'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/theres-hope-yet-for-classic-offensive-after-its-steam-rejection-the-team-behind-the-counter-strike-1-6-revival-mod-is-in-touch-with-valve-about-its-concerns/
PC Gamer's Ted Litchfield expressed hope in January that there might be room for Valve to reconsider its rejection of Classic Offensive, an eight-years-in-the-making mod for Counter Strike: Global Offensive that aims to recreate the experience of Counter-Strike 1.6. And it's a good day for Ted, because an update posted today on X says Valve has made contact with the team over its "concerns" the mod may violate Steam guidelines.
(...)
"We were contacted by Valve this morning," the Classic Offensive dev team said in a new message shared on X. "They have reached out to us with concerns that our mod may no longer be compliant with their guidelines and the Steam Subscriber Agreement. In light of these concerns, we are auditing the current build of the mod to ensure nothing is in violation of those guidelines."
So it's not quite we're back, but it is we're talking, and that's a big step in the right direction. There's still a chance Valve will shoot the whole thing down, but the newly-opened line of communication means there's at least an opportunity to figure things out first: Determine how the mod violates Steam's guidelines, and what can be done about it. Maybe nothing—it's possible the algorithms were right, and the whole thing is irretrievably sunk—but maybe something, too.

'Diversify your fashion endgame' with this Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that gives Henry fly new gambesons, pourpoints, and caftans
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diversify-your-fashion-endgame-with-this-kingdom-come-deliverance-2-mod-that-gives-henry-fly-new-gambesons-pourpoints-and-caftans/
The last time I saw my version of Henry in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 he was covered in dirt and blood and wearing a pair of pants he stole off a corpse. Not exactly a fashion kingpin, let alone an actual king.
And even for those who have been more successful with their Henry: he doesn't ever really exude drip, does he? As modder Laie puts it, maybe it's time to "diversify your fashion endgame" in KCD2.
The Outer Garments mod lets Henry say yes to the dress, except instead of a dress it's a series of top-layer garments made from NPC-exclusive assets that have been paired with recolored accessories. Adorn the lad with some sharp-looking gambesons, pourpoints, and caftans and you'll notice his swag increase by a factor of 10.
"I found it a pity that there are so many cool looking gambesons/pourpoints/caftans in the game, yet you never get to see them much throughout a normal playthrough," Laie says. "I was an avid KCD1 player back in the days and after hundreds of hours poured into that game, I came out thinking that combat jacket, which is basically a type of gambeson that can be worn on top of armor, was the coolest piece of gear among all the fashion options available in KCD1, and its absence in KCD2 is sorely missed."
With the mod installed you'll find Hank's new duds at the armorer northeast of the fountain in Kittenberg. The items will be tier 4 quality. Here's just a handful to choose from.
>> The article has some screenshots showing lots of new dress options.

GAMING NEWS

Lost Soul Aside, Mecha BREAK, Phantom Blade Zero, and Stellar Blade will support DLSS 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/lost-soul-aside-mecha-break-phantom-blade-zero-and-stellar-blade-will-support-dlss-4/
NVIDIA has announced six new games that will support DLSS 4 when they come out. These six games are Lost Soul Aside, Mecha BREAK, Phantom Blade Zero, Stellar Blade, Tides of Annihilation and Wild Assault.

New Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 trailer released, focused on Gustave
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-clair-obscur-expedition-33-trailer-released-focused-on-gustave/
Sandfall and Kepler Interactive have released a new trailer for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This trailer dives deep into Gustave’s backstory and reveals the personal stakes that drive him forward.

PC demo for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land coming on March 17th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-demo-for-atelier-yumia-the-alchemist-of-memories-the-envisioned-land-coming-on-march-17th/
KOEI Tecmo has announced that a PC demo for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land will be released on March 17th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer for it. Plus, you can find below its official PC system requirements.