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

[JEMC]

The gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Another day without new promos at GOG. What are they working on?

Steam has three new deals:

• The Messenger is going to be 80% off until the 5th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/764790/The_Messenger
• Achilles: Survivor gets a 20% discount until the 12th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2922410/Achilles_Survivor
• IF you prefer, you can try the previous game, Achilles: Legends Untold 65% off until the same 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1314000/Achilles_Legends_Untold

Fanatical has a new Star Deal and a Sale:

• The new Star Deal is DOOM: The Dark Ages, with a 37% discount during 48 hours or until they run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/doom-the-dark-ages
• The for mer is part of the Bethesda QuakeCon Sale 2025 featuring up to 91% deals during 11 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/bethesda-softworks

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Itch.io is 'actively reaching out to other payment processors' after pressure from credit card companies to curtail NSFW content, and that compared to Valve, it has 'limited ability to push back'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/itch-io-is-actively-reaching-out-to-other-payment-processors-after-pressure-from-credit-card-companies-to-curtail-nsfw-content-and-that-compared-to-valve-it-has-limited-ability-to-push-back/
Itch.io appears to be scrambling for cover after credit card payment processors began pressuring it to remove or moderate its NSFW content, a move claimed to be at the behest of anti-porn groups like Collective Shout—an ongoing situation that's been causing a huge turmoil over the past week.
As part of compliance, Itch has been made to "deindex" many of its adult or NSFW games while it performs a review—not just porn or erotica, but games with adult, subversive, or suggestive themes.
In a recent follow-up FAQ, Itch has clarified that it's not only trying to get things even-keel as quickly as possible, it's also stated that it's seeking out other payment processors who don't faint after receiving 1,000 letters from anti-porn activists. Also, its response has been more chaotic because, simply put, it's a less regimented platform with less bargaining power than big brother Valve.
"The situation is evolving as we await final determinations from our current payment processors, Stripe and PayPal," the site writes. "There are still unknowns that prevent us from providing a fixed timeline.
"We are actively reaching out to other payment processors that are more willing to work with this kind of content. We have suspended the ability to pay with Stripe for 18+ content for the foreseeable future. Our immediate focus has been on content classification reviews and implementing stricter age-gating on the site."
As for why Itch's response was more dramatic than Steam's? It's down to scope: "Steam is a 'closed' platform where every product page is approved before it appears on the store. Because they were generally aware of the content they host, they could identify and act on specific pages.
"Itch.io is an open, 'UGC' (User-Generated Content) platform. With over 2 million product pages, anyone can publish content at any time with minimal barriers. We could not rely on user-provided tagging to be accurate enough for a targeted approach, so a broader review was necessary to be thorough."

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod turns The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim into a living painting
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-mod-turns-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-into-a-living-painting
Modder ‘brushboys’ has released an amazing new mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that will turn it into a living painting. This mod will let you re-experience this beloved TES game in a completely different way. Thus, it’s a must for all Skyrim fans out there.
Skyrim Painted Edition changes every texture in Skyrim SE to look like a painting. This includes everything from the ground and items to dungeons and dragons. The textures are made to look sharp and clear, even from far away. It also comes with a special ReShade setting that makes the game’s colors look nicer and gives it a warm, cozy feel.
This mod is also ideal for people with low-end PCs. The modder made all the textures 50% smaller than the original ones. This means the game uses less VRAM, so it will run better on most computers. You’ll get more FPS and smoother gameplay, while still keeping the game’s artistic style.
>> The article has some screenshots and a video.

You won’t believe how photorealistic NBA 2K25 looks on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/you-wont-believe-how-photorealistic-nba-2k25-looks-on-pc
The NBA 2K series had a lot of potential during the Xbox 360 days. Back then, it had some of the best graphics ever seen in a basketball game. Those were the good times. Today, NBA 2K games don’t feel as special. But thanks to the PC modding community, we can now see how real and amazing NBA 2K25 could actually look.
Both of these videos show a lighting mod made by modder “aka7.” The lighting in the mod looks super realistic. It also shows how the NBA 2K devs have not done a great job with lighting in the newer games.
It’s a shame because if one modder can make something this good, the devs should be able to do even better. But instead, 2K Games keeps releasing games that look almost the same every year. What’s even funnier is that this amazing lighting mod doesn’t even come with a big performance hit.
2K Games will share the first gameplay trailer for NBA 2K26 tomorrow. And I’m almost certain that it won’t look as good as this modded version of NBA 2K25. Now, if you search YouTube for “NBA 2K26 gameplay”, you will find some fake videos. These are from the PC version of NBA 2K25 with mods. I’m saying this because a lot will be fooled by them.
Sadly, there is a downside to all this. While the lighting mod by ‘aka7’ looks incredible, it’s currently locked behind a paywall and hasn’t been released to the public. That’s a shame because it looks phenomenal. I understand that the modder wants to earn some money, but this may put off a lot of PC gamers who would have otherwise used it.
>> The article has a couple of videos.

GAMING NEWS

Behold 35 minutes of new gameplay from Cronos: The New Dawn
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/behold-35-minutes-of-new-gameplay-from-cronos-the-new-dawn
Last week, Bloober Team shared a 10-minute gameplay video for Cronos: The New Dawn. And now, they’ve shared an even longer one. To be more precise, we now have 35 minutes of new gameplay footage. It’s rare to see a game studio share such a long video, so it seems like Bloober Team feels really confident about this game.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Patch 1.4.0 Released, Adds Official Support for XeSS and DLSS Frame Generation
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/clair-obscur-expedition-33-patch-1-4-0-released-adds-official-support-for-fsr-and-dlss-frame-generation
One of the coolest mods for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the one that added support for DLSS 4 Frame Generation. Sadly, that mod was behind a Patreon wall. Thankfully, though, you will no longer need it. Today, Sadfall Interactive released Patch 1.4.0, which adds official support for both Intel XeSS and NVIDIA DLSS Frame Gen. So, better late than never, I guess.