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

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We’ve made it to the Friday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 left a gaping, $28 million hole in Paradox's year-end financial report
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-left-a-gaping-usd28-million-hole-in-paradoxs-year-end-financial-report/
Paradox aired its year-end report—where it chats all the money it has and hasn't made for the benefit of investors—earlier today, but don't worry, I watched it for you. Long story short? Paradox raked in a whole lot of cash this quarter: 23% more than it earned in the same quarter last year, making it Paradox's "second-best quarter ever". Hooray! Also, it managed to make 162% less operating profit for an overall loss of 245.4 million Swedish kronor (around $28 million). Uh oh!
And the reason is, well, yeah, it's Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
"The profit line, or EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] is affected by a big writedown of the game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2," said Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester. If you'll recall, Paradox announced last November that its troubled sequel to cult classic Bloodlines 1 hadn't sold as well as it had hoped, leading to a write-down of 355 million kronor.
Profit was also impacted by "scheduled amortisation of the entire capitalised development cost [for Bloodlines 2] over the period from October to December 2025, amounting to MSEK 345.7." Unlike the wince-inducing write-down, though, that's just a fairly bog-standard bit of accounting for the game's development costs (though those would, perhaps, have been lower had the game not been such a nightmare to create).
Absent the write-down, Paradox's profit would've shaken out to around 110 million kronor—still a hefty chunk less than its operating profit in the same quarter last year (395.3 million kronor), but, you know, still a profit.
Now, to be fair, vampires weren't the only thing taking a bite out of Paradox's bank account last quarter. Wester and Paradox CFO Alexander Bricca pointed out that the volatility of foreign exchange rates has also been doing a number on the company. "The dollar was down, I think 12% if you look at the quarter average, [the] Euro down 5, 6%—so, all in all it impacts our top line quite significantly," Bricca told investors.

The Humble Store presents the Winter Indie Spotlight Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/winter-indie-spotlight/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake Gets PC Requirements, PC Demo Coming on March 5th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/fatal-frame-ii-crimson-butterfly-remake-gets-pc-requirements-pc-demo-coming-on-march-5th/
KOEI Tecmo has announced that a PC demo for FATAL FRAME II: Crimson Butterfly Remake will come out on March 5th. This demo will let you try the game before it comes out. Moreover, the publisher shared the game’s official PC system requirements. So, let’s dive in.

Darkhaven is a new ARPG from ex-Blizzard devs with a fully deformable world
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/darkhaven-is-a-new-arpg-from-ex-blizzard-devs-with-a-fully-deformable-world/
Moon Beast Productions today announced Darkhaven, a new action RPG that aims to return to the genre’s roots. At the same time, the game aims to push the genre forward with a fully dynamic, persistent world.

First Title Update for Highguard Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-title-update-for-highguard-released-full-patch-notes/
Wildlight Entertainment has released the first title update for its free-to-play PvP raid shooter, Highguard, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this first patch brings to the table.

A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei Is a New Martial Arts-Themed Action RPG
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/a-whisper-of-fall-jinyiwei-is-a-new-martial-arts-themed-action-rpg/
Chengdu Cangmo has announced a new martial arts-themed ARPG game that is set in ancient China, called A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei. This game will be coming to PC and PS5, and you can find its debut trailer below.

Genigods: Nezha is a new Unreal Engine 5-powered action RPG
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/genigods-nezha-is-a-new-unreal-engine-5-powered-action-rpg/
Genigods Lab has announced a new hardcore action RPG that will be using Unreal Engine 5, called Genigods: Nezha. To celebrate this announcement, the devs shared the game’s debut trailer, which you can find below.