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

[JEMC]

The gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam has new deals and sales/events:

• Humanica, still in Early Access, will be 25% off until the 22nd of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2112740/Humanica/
• The Medium gets a 75% discount that will last until September 22: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1293160/The_Medium/
• Welcome to ParadiZe is going to be 90% off until the same 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1519090/Welcome_to_ParadiZe/
• These are the new sales/events:
  • Star Treck celebrates its 60th Anniversary showing the upcoming games in the franchise and putting some of the existing games on sale with up to 75% discounts that will end between the 14th and the 15th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46254968/sale/StarTrek60
  • The Hello GameDev Conference 2026 features upcoming releases as well as bringing some games on sale, up to 75% off, The deals will end beween the 14th and the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46159949/sale/HelloGameDevConference2026GamesShowcase
  • Publisher Erabit shows a few upcoming releases and has games up to 70% off. Most, but not all, deals will end September 15: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ErabitPublisherSale2026

Fanatical has a new Star Deal and s new bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Zombie Army Trilogy , with a 95% discount during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/zombie-army-trilogy
• Today’s bundle is the BYO Play on the Go BundleFest Edition, featuring 23 titles for your bundles of 2+, 4+ or 5+ games. It will last 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-play-on-the-go-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 616.92 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-616-92

HIGHLIGHTS
Game Ready for 007 First Light, Active Matter, Aniimo & WARDOGS
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for 007 First Light’s Path Tracing Update as well as the latest new games and updates supporting DLSS and RTX technologies including Matter, Aniimo, PUBG, and WARDOGS.

FIXED ISSUES
Fixed General Bugs

• Intermittent flicker may be observed in browsers when navigating to certain websites [6673430]
• Fixed an issue where virtual displays could not be created after updating to driver 616.56 [6674464]
• Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) sessions may display a black screen after updating to driver 616.56 [6687328]

Steam may have leaked achievements for countless forthcoming PC games via a third party site, including Persona 6, Ace Combat 8, and even some unannounced games
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steam-may-have-leaked-achievements-for-countless-forthcoming-pc-games-via-a-third-party-site-including-persona-6-ace-combat-8-and-even-some-unannounced-games/
Exophase, a site dedicated to tracking achievements for games across all major platforms including Steam, appears to have been flooded with a bunch of achievements lists it really shouldn't have yet. These include a huge—and importantly, yet to be unverified—list of major forthcoming games including Persona 6, Deus Ex Remastered, Horizon Hunters Gathering, Judas, Kingdom Hearts 4, and many more.
Among those, possibly the biggest surprise is Persona 6. It doesn't even have a release window yet, but its achievements list—assuming it's as legitimate as it looks—is rife with plausible spoilers. You have been warned: there is a lot in there, considering Atlus hasn't even shown gameplay footage yet.
Recent updates
Since publishing this article, the creator of Balatro, localthunk, has confirmed the game speculated to be a Balatro-related project is not, in fact, a Balatro-related project. "Just thought I’d let you know that the only thing I’m working on these days is a big content update for Balatro. The game you’ve reported on is not affiliated with me or Balatro at all. Plenty of people like to emulate the Balatro design language and that’s all this is."
>> Take it with a pinch of salt.

Corporations want to kill physical media because it suits them, but Big Box PC game packaging just got a second chance
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/corporations-want-to-kill-physical-media-because-it-suits-them-but-big-box-pc-game-packaging-just-got-a-second-chance/
If you were alive and sentient in the nineties you probably harbour some fondness for the "big box" PC games of yore. Back then, rather than buy an ephemeral digital license for a game, you'd head to a store to buy a huge box bedecked in lavish art, inside which you'd find a handful of 3.5-inch floppy discs or a CD-ROM, usually a substantial glossy manual, and if you were lucky, maybe even some extras like stickers or drink coasters.
There's been renewed interest in the ye olde big box PC game, especially in the wake of Sony's announcement it will discontinue physical PlayStation games. Some proactive folk have gone viral for manufacturing their own physical Steam games. Now GOG has offered its own alternative: printable big boxes based on scans of real commercial packages from the golden era of game packaging.
In collaboration with Big Box Collection—which is a fan-operated trove of big box 3D scans—GOG is now offering those 3D scans with five entries in its GOG Preservation Program. These include the newly added Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Armikrog, while games already in the Preservation Program including Descent, Hitman: Codename 47, and Myst will also receive the treatment.
"We’re delivering flat, printable versions of the same box art, so you can cut, fold, and glue your own physical big box at home," reads GOG's announcement. "A proper papercraft project for anyone who misses shelves full of PC game boxes."

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Unofficial PC Version of Wave Race 64 Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unofficial-pc-version-of-wave-race-64-available-for-download/
Another day, another unofficial PC version of a classic console game. This time, we’re looking at an unofficial PC port of the fantastic arcade speedboat racing game, Wave Race 64. So, let’s dive in.
This PC version was created by statically recompiling the game’s MIPS code into C with N64Recomp. It runs on N64ModernRuntime, using RT64 as the renderer and RecompFrontend for the menus and controller support.
Now, the good news is that the game supports widescreen monitors and unlocked frame rates. The game keeps its own update rate. It runs at 30 Hz during races and 20 Hz in the menus and Time Trial mode. RT64 then smooths each object’s movement between game frames, allowing the game to run at your display’s refresh rate. The physics, camera, and timers are all left untouched.
Wave Race 64 was one of the best-looking games of Nintendo 64. At that time, it had some of the best water effects. And, since this game never came out on PC, it’s cool to have an unofficial PC version of it.
What’s also cool is that the latest version of this PC port comes with an HD texture pack. Brian Tate has improved 1,828 HD texture mappings across 1,806 images. He has also replaced nine recordings and added native rendering. This includes Direct3D 12 on Windows and Metal on Mac. HD textures, custom music, and high water are enabled by default on a fresh install.
Those interested can download it here (Github). As with most recompilations, it does not include any in-game assets. This means you’ll need to own the original game and provide your own ROM file to play it. Right now, this PC port is only compatible with Wave Race 64 (USA) (Rev A).
>> The article has two videos.

GAMING NEWS

The Blood of Dawnwalker Hotfix Patch 1.0.4 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-hotfix-patch-1-0-4-released-detailed/
Rebel Wolves has released Hotfix 1.0.4 for The Blood of Dawnwalker and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new Hotfix brings to the table.

Bandai Namco Has Removed Denuvo From CODE VEIN 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bandai-namco-has-removed-denuvo-from-code-vein-2/
Bandai Namco has just removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from CODE VEIN 2. CODE VEIN 2 came out at the end of January 2026, meaning that it took a bit more than seven months for the publisher to remove it.