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

[JEMC]

The Friday news, with the aftermath of yesterday’s Future Games Show

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

After Ubi came crawlin' back to Steam, Assassin's Creed Shadows blasts past a million players in under 24 hours and has already smashed Valhalla's player record
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/after-ubi-came-crawlin-back-to-steam-assassins-creed-shadows-blasts-past-a-million-players-in-under-24-hours-and-has-already-smashed-valhallas-player-record/
Bad news for Nobunaga and his ambitions: Assassin's Creed Shadows has parkoured past 1,000,000 players in under 24 hours. Naturally, Ubisoft immediately bragged about it on social media.
Ubisoft specifies 'players' rather than 'sales' here, mind you, and I reckon there are two reasons for that. The first is that more than a few of those shinobi will have accessed the game via their Ubisoft+ subscriptions instead of buying the game outright, so it'd be inaccurate to call them buyers.
The second—and I'm making some assumptions here—is that I think Ubi delights in making my life, specifically, harder. It's never been consistent in how it reports its own success. Back when AC Valhalla was the new hotness, the company only boasted that it was its biggest PC launch ever, without giving hard numbers. So is Shadows doing better than Valhalla? Your guess is as good as mine, but Ubisoft at least seems pretty happy with how the game's doing so far.
I'd be surprised if it wasn't doing better than the previous game in the series, though, if only because this is the first AC in a long time to hit Steam on launch day. I might be a freak in many respects, but I reckon I'm far from the only person whose policy with Ubisoft games has always been to wait for them to come unstuck from Ubisoft Connect and arrive on Steam before I finally buy them. I like having all my stuff on the same digital shelf, what can I say?
We do have some numbers, though, even if they don't come from Ubisoft itself. Shadows is sitting pretty right now with an all-time peak concurrent player count of 41,412 per SteamDB. That puts it squarely in third place, ahead of Valhalla but behind Origins and Odyssey. I'd be astounded if it didn't at least pip ahead of Origins, though—it only needs to beat its current peak by about 100 players and it's there.

The guys at the Humble Store have a new On Sale This Week round of games, tho some deals will last up to 10 days instead of 6: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/on-sale-now/.

Fanatical has a couple things:

• Deep Silver puts its games on sale with up to 92% deals during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/deep-silver
• The Mystery on the Move Bundle has up to 3 unknown games to get. No mention of when it will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-on-the-move-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 25.3.2 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-25-3-2

HIGHLIGHTS
New Game Support

• Assassin's Creed Shadows
• The Last of Us™ Part II Remastered

DEVELOPER UPDATES

• AMD Radeon™ Developer Tool Suite (RDTS) update with support for AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series graphics cards is available now. Learn more about all the latest updates to our developer tools here.
• AMD FSR 3.1 is now supported in over 110 available and upcoming games. Update your games with the AMD FidelityFX™ SDK  to have our latest technology, including AMD FSR 4 support.

FIXED ISSUES

• Incorrect gamma is exhibited while playing Counter-Strike 2 and using MSAA x8 on Radeon™ RX 9070 series graphics products.
• Intermittent application crash may be observed in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle when settings are set to “Very Ultra” quality and Path Tracing is enabled. Users experiencing this issue are recommended to use the default Ray Tracing settings as a temporary workaround.
• 3rd party tools that rely on our ADL SDK for detecting ROPs count will incorrectly report 64 ROPs.
• Lower than expected performance may be observed while playing Assetto Corsa Competizione on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products.
• Intermittent system or application crash may be observed while pressing Alt-Tab during gameplay on some AMD Radeon™ Graphics Products such as the Radeon™ RX 6000 Series.
• Intermittent system or application crash may be observed while using multiple high refresh rate (+120Hz) monitors with HDMI connections.
• Windows Update may overwrite the installed AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition with an older version of the graphics driver on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products.

Microsoft has announced and detailed DirectX Raytracing 1.2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/microsoft-has-announced-and-detailed-directx-raytracing-1-2/
Microsoft has announced the next version of DirectX Raytracing, also known as DXR, DirectX Raytracing 1.2. DXR 1.2 will come with two major features that aim to significantly improve performance. So, let’s take a closer look at them.
The two new features of DXR 1.2 are Opacity micromaps and Shader execution reordering.
Opacity micromaps aim to significantly optimize alpha-tested geometry. According to MS, they can deliver up to 2.3x performance improvement in path-traced games. By efficiently managing opacity data, OMM reduces shader invocations and greatly enhances rendering efficiency without compromising visual quality.
On the other hand, Shader Execution Reordering offers a major leap forward in rendering performance. This can make DXR be up to 2x faster in some scenarios than its previous version. SER achieves this by intelligently grouping shader execution to enhance GPU efficiency, and reducing divergence. The result is higher frame rates, something that will make raytraced titles smoother and more immersive than ever.
As MS pointed out, NVIDIA has committed driver support across its GeForce RTX GPUs. MS is also actively working with other hardware vendors, including AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, to ensure widespread adoption.

Microsoft crawls back to Steam ahead of schedule by leaking a screenshot of an app where you can launch Steam games through Xbox
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/microsoft-crawls-back-to-steam-ahead-of-schedule-by-leaking-a-screenshot-of-an-app-where-you-can-launch-steam-games-through-xbox/
Dear reader, while I do like Game Pass—it's often a good deal when the lineup's strong—I think you'll agree when I say I've never enjoyed the experience of using the Xbox app. Microsoft can't seem to cobble together a user interface that works after perfecting the concept back in the Windows XP days, and it's been a slow slide downhill ever since.
The company is, however, trying to walk that back with an upcoming project—it sort of stumbled at the first block, though, by accidentally playing its hands a little early. On a GDC 2025 blog, Microsoft accidentally flaunted an image before taking it down, shown below (via The Verge). You'll have to squint, but there's also a "Classified as Microsoft Highly Confidential" watermark on the top and bottom left of the image. Oops.
As you might be able to see, tucked cheekily next to the "Game Pass" tab is a label that clearly reads Steam. Coincidence? I think not! The Verge also reports that "sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell me that the company is currently working on an Xbox app update that will show every game you have installed on your PC".

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Gordon Freeman joins a retro pandimensional deathmatch in crossover mod Quake Champions Classic
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gordon-freeman-joins-a-retro-pandimensional-deathmatch-in-crossover-mod-quake-champions-classic/
Quake Champions was meant to be the game to revive the classic arena shooter. The pitch was old-school bunny-hopping and rocket-jumping arena deathmatching with just a little bit of Hero Shooter spice. Unfortunately, while it has a small but dedicated following, it never quite caught on as much as it could have.
Despite this, it sure left an impression on some very talented modders. Today, the boundary between worlds grew just a little bit thinner, as Gordon Freeman joins the deathmatch over in Quake’s chunky low-fi universe, as part of the ever-expanding mod Quake Champions Classic.
Quake Champions Classic has been around for a couple years now, part of the big Quake 1 renaissance that kicked off with Arcane Dimensions and brought us ambitious maps like The Immortal Lock. Gordon hopping through the wrong portal is a great excuse to mention here.
The work of solo developer Blue Key Games (also working on the promising Lovecraftian boomshoot They Came From Dimension X), Quake Champions Classic lets you play through any of Quake’s official campaigns (including the remaster’s new episodes and horde mode) or in deathmatches as an assortment of mismatched heroes, each with a special ability and some manner of passive perk.
Sadly they don’t get their full arsenals, but each does get a unique melee weapon. It should go without saying that Gordon gets his thoroughly peer-reviewed crowbar, and the noises it makes are every bit as obnoxious as you remember.
>> The article has a slightly over 2 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-official-pc-requirements/
Sony has just revealed the official PC system requirements for The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered. So, let’s see what PC setup you’ll need in order to run it.

Unreal Engine 5-powered narrative FPS adventure game, INDUSTRIA 2, gets first official gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/unreal-engine-5-powered-narrative-fps-adventure-game-industria-2-gets-first-official-gameplay-trailer/
Bleakmill Games has released the first official gameplay trailer for INDUSTRIA 2. INDUSTRIA 2 will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, so go ahead and take a look at its latest trailer.

Kingmakers just got a new official gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/kingmakers-just-got-a-new-official-gameplay-overview-trailer/
TinyBuildGames has released the official gameplay overview trailer for Kingmakers. Kingmakers is a game that took the Internet by storm when it was revealed in March 2024. So, make sure to check out its latest trailer.
>> This is the game about fighting medieval knights with modern weapons and vehicles.

New gameplay trailer for the STALKER-inspired FPS MMORPG, PIONER
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailer-for-the-stalker-inspired-fps-mmorpg-pioner/
It’s been a while since we last heard about PIONER, don’t you agree? Well, earlier today, GFA Games released a new gameplay trailer for it during the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2025 event.

WILL: Follow The Light is a new story-driven, first-person adventure puzzle game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/will-follow-the-light-is-a-new-story-driven-first-person-adventure-puzzle-game/
TomorrowHead Studio has just announced a new story-driven, first-person adventure puzzle game, called WILL: Follow The Light. WILL: Follow The Light is coming to PC in 2025, and below you can find its debut gameplay trailer.

KARMA: The Dark World is coming to PC on March 27th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/karma-the-dark-world-is-coming-to-pc-on-march-27th/
Wired Productions announced that its first-person cinematic psychological thriller, KARMA: The Dark World, will be released on March 27th. To celebrate this announcement, the team has also shared a new short trailer that you can find below.

New gameplay trailer for Remedy’s co-op FPS, FBC: Firebreak
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailer-for-remedys-co-op-fps-fbc-firebreak/
Remedy has released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming co-op FPS, FBC: Firebreak. This trailer features 3 minutes of action, so make sure to watch it if you are interested in it.

3D Realms and Saber Interactive have announced a new Painkiller
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/3d-realms-and-saber-interactive-have-announced-a-new-painkiller/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. 3D Realms and Saber Interactive have just announced a new Painkiller game. This will be a fast-paced action FPS with support for co-op and solo, and it will come out on PC in Fall 2025.
>> The original Painkiller was a very loved game. They better not screw this up.

Cronos: The New Dawn gets an official gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/cronos-the-new-dawn-gets-an-official-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Cronos: The New Dawn is a game that immediately caught my attention when it was revealed. And today, Bloober Team released an official gameplay overview trailer for it.