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

[JEMC]

These are the Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Valve says almost 6,000 games made over $100K on Steam last year
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/valve-says-over-5000-games-made-over-usd100k-on-steam-last-year/
In a new talk at the Game Developers Conference Valve has shared some Steam data that, among other things, shows a lot of developers are making a lot of money. The March 10 presentation was given by communications lead Kaci Aitchison Boyle and Tom Giardino, who works on the business side of things, and various photographs of the slides shown were shared on BlueSky by GameDeveloper's Chris Kerr (first spotted by PCGN).
The headline stat is that 5,863 games earned more than $100,000 in revenue in 2025 on Steam, with the slide showing steady growth in this regard over the last five years: in 2020, just over 3,000 games earned as much. Obviously a lot of big publisher are included in that figure, but smaller developers are also finding considerable success on the platform.
Valve provided this stat in the context of worries about over-saturation on Steam, and Giardino says its approach to discovery is that "we just want to put the right games in front of the right customer." An example of its success in this regard are the platform's "daily deals." Valve says 1,500 games were featured as a daily deal last year, 69% of which had never featured in these sales before. 8.2 million Steam users bought at least one, which Valve says is an increase of 125% (presumably on 2024's figures).

The Epic Store is giving away two games:

• Cozy Grove: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/cozy-grove
• Isonzo: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/isonzo

Next week, the free games will be Electrician Simulator and World of Warships — Epic Anniversary Tachibana Pack.

Steam has (at least) three new deals and one new event:

• RUNNING WITH RIFLES has a demo and an 85% discount that will last until the 18th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/270150/RUNNING_WITH_RIFLES/
• The Last Faith is going to be 55% off until March 19: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1274600/The_Last_Faith/
• Cloudpunk gets a 65% discount until the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/746850/Cloudpunk/
• Meanwhile, the Curious Odyseey Festival has demos and games up to 90% off. The deals will end between the 17th and the 23rd of March: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45897815/sale/CuriousOdyssey

Humble Bundle has two new deals for us:

• Frictional Games: Amnesia, SOMA, Penumbra has up to 6 games to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/frictional-games-amnesia-soma-penumbra
• Metroidvania Mayhem Bundle features up to 10 items to get (9 games + 1 coupon) during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/metroidvania-mayhem-bundle

Fanatical has new Flash Deals and a bundle:

• These are the new 24h Flash Deals:
  • Revenge of the Savage Planet has a 62% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/revenge-of-the-savage-planet
  • Resident Evil Remake Trilogy is 67% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-remake-trilogy
  • Sniper Elite V2 Remastered gets a 90% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sniper-elite-v-2-remastered
• BYO Spring Bundle (2026) comes with 16 titles to choose from for your 1+, 5+ or 10+ game bundles during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-spring-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Rise of the Tomb Raider Just Got a 24GB HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-just-got-a-24gb-hd-texture-pack/
Modder ‘f80h’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Rise of the Tomb Raider. This pack brings 2K,4K, and 8K textures to the game. Thus, RotTR will now look sharper and better than before.
Going into more details, the modder used AI tools to enhance the vanilla textures. As such, this HD Texture Pack retains the art style of the vanilla version. The pack overhauls about 7000 normal maps and color textures.
You can go ahead and download the HD Texture Pack from this link. Do note that you will need all the files if you want to improve each and every texture, especially if you own a high-end GPU.
First, you’ll need to install the 2K pack. This has textures that in the vanilla version were smaller than 2K. They were upscaled X2 or X4 (for icons ui graphics, logos) up to 2K. Then, you’ll have to install the 4K pack. This has textures that were 2K in vanilla base game (but now are 4K).
Afterward, you can install the 8K pack. This pack upscales the game’s 4K textures to 8K. And finally, we have the Enhanced Textures. These are custom new textures, mostly for animals.
As I said, for the best results, you’ll have to install all of them. This isn’t like other HD Texture Packs that are separated by 2K, 4K, and 8K versions. In this case, the packs cover completely different textures. So, install all of them.
>> The article only has one comparison screenshot… that doesn’t show much.

New The Witcher 3 Kaer Morhen Mod Brings Back Elements and Areas From The Witcher 1
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-the-witcher-3-kaer-morhen-mod-brings-back-elements-and-areas-from-the-witcher-1/
Modder ‘OlivierR45455566465’ has released a new cool mod for The Witcher 3. This mod greatly expands Kaer Morhen’s fortress and its surroundings. Additionally, it brings back elements and areas from The Witcher 1. Not only that, but it adds some new ones as well.
Going into more details, this mod fully restores Kaer Morhen’s second floor and basement. It also aims to restore to the map of Kaer Morhen these historical landmarks, which had not been imported from the previous game by the developers.
Thanks to this mod, each Witcher now has their own unique room. The mod also integrates Kaer Morhen’s basement, which includes a secret room for players to find, inspired by The Nightmare of the Wolf. On top of that, it entirely recreates the old Kikimore’s mine that Geralt visits along with Eskel, in TW1’s The Price Of Neutrality’s DLC. Finally, it adds to the map the leftovers from Sabrina Glevissig’s (now 40 years old) camp.
>> The article has no media.

Cancelled LucasArts Star Wars shooter that 'would have just made Disney money' is playable online for the first time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/cancelled-lucasarts-star-wars-shooter-that-would-have-just-made-disney-money-is-playable-online-for-the-first-time/
In 2013, patron of the arts Disney killed two Star Wars games when it bought and subsequently shuttered LucasArts. Alongside the infamous cancellation of action adventure 1313 ("infamous" in that I thought it looked cool and extrapolated that to lots of people caring about it) was First Assault, a multiplayer FPS where you'd team up as either rebels or stormtroopers and shoot lasers at each other, as seen in the hit film Star Wars.
Now, if some fairly convincing footage doing the rounds on YouTube is to be believed, First Assault is playable online, with a public Discord available for anyone who wants to join in. The slice is from the originally planned beta tests, which along with the Discord suggests a team of modders have been working for a while now to get the thing playable. It also suggests they either have reason to believe they're legally in the clear, or are else posturing one of the all time great come-at-me-bro's, since Disney now own the license.
The game itself looks a bit juddery, but with some chunky, grounded combat and an impressive rendition of Tatooine's sandy streets. Ships take off in the background, the dense structures make for some interesting layouts, and the footage shows off a few different classes and weapons. And, yes, it's all very Battlefront.
>> The article has an almost 30 minutes video. PCGamer also has another article with an interview to the modders, who think that Disney won’t care (link).

The Witcher 3 Online Update v1.12 Is Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-witcher-3-online-update-v1-12-is-available-for-download/
The modding team behind the Multiplayer Online Mod for The Witcher 3 has released a new update for it. So, let’s see what this update brings to the table.
(*** Three paragraphs explaining what The Witcher 3 Online is ***)
From what I can see, Update 1.12 is a small hotfix. It does not contain any major tweaks, changes, or improvements. To be more precise, it adds the ability to use real equipment mode in CPC. It also fixes an issue where jumping would sometimes be synced as rolling. And that’s it.
>> The article doesn’t have any media.

GAMING NEWS

Pearl Abyss adds Denuvo to Crimson Desert a week before release
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pearl-abyss-adds-denuvo-to-crimson-desert-a-week-before-release/
Crimson Desert is one of the most anticipated games of 2026. Pearl Abyss will release the game on March 19th. However, a few hours ago, the team updated its Steam store page, revealing that the game will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech.