Tuesday news, part two:

Conan Exiles DLC introduces buildings and armour from Khitai
https://www.pcgamer.com/conan-exiles-dlc-introduces-buildings-and-armour-from-khitai/
Conan Exiles, which really only features the titular barbarian-king for a couple of minutes, is showing some love to Khitan players, and fans of the Khitan aesthetic with its first piece of post-launch DLC: The Imperial East Pack. Buildings, furniture, weapons and armour with a distinct Khitan bent can all be crafted using the DLC, adding a bit more variety of the Exiled Lands.

GTA Online's new Nightclubs will feature real-world performers
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-onlines-new-nightclubs-will-feature-real-world-performers/
Last month, DJs The Black Madonna and Tale of Us teased a collaboration with fellow artists Solomun and Dixon for something happening this summer in the city of Los Santos. Today Rockstar revealed that all four artists will bring their beats to Grand Theft Auto Online's new Nightclubs, sweaty palaces of the underground dance scene that also provide a respectable cover for your shadier business affairs.

>>And if you sign in this week and the next one, you'll get $300,000 GTA money.

Ubisoft's games are actually political, says CEO
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisofts-games-are-actually-political-says-ceo/
The Division 2, set in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, in the capital city of the United States, while the remnants of a corrupt government engineer a second Civil War, is not political. That was the message from creative director Terry Spier in an interview with Polygon during E3. It seemed to run contrary to everything we’d been told about the game, however. Now Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has responded to the criticism with a different message.
Ubisoft games are, in fact, political. But they’re also politically neutral.

Edmund McMillen's next game is a multiplayer strategy take on The Binding of Isaac (Updated)
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-binding-of-isaac-creator-edmund-mcmillen-is-working-on-a-multiplayer-game/
Update: With his next game due to be officially unveiled this week, Edmund McMillen took to Twitter to share more information about the mystery project, along with its first official artwork.
Previously, McMillen said he's working on a turn-based multiplayer game that's based on one of his old games but is not directly connected to The Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy, or his upcoming puzzle game, The Legend of Bum-bo. He's since clarified that it is, in fact, a Binding of Isaac game, but it's also something completely new. He describes it as "a spinoff that kind of connects the end of Isaac to ideas I have for a sequel," and it's set "after/during the end of the current game."

Star Control creators launch $2 million campaign to support legal fight against Stardock
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-control-creators-launch-dollar2-million-campaign-to-support-legal-fight-against-stardock/
Star Control creators Paul Reiche and Fred Ford have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for their defense in a legal battle against Star Control: Origins developer Stardock. Stardock filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the pair in December 2017 over Ghosts of the Precursors, a game they describe as "a direct sequel to Star Control 2: The Ur-Quan Masters"—a claim Stardock says they're not legally entitled to make.

Epic is suing a former Fortnite tester for leaking season 4 secrets in April
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-is-suing-a-former-fortnite-tester-for-leaking-season-4-secrets-in-april/
It's common practice for people involved in the development of new products—say, for instance, videogames—to sign non-disclosure agreements, legally-binding promises to keep everything hush-hush. And if you don't think they're taken seriously, consider the case of Thomas Hannah, a former Fortnite tester who Epic has sued for allegedly leaking its plans for the game's fourth season before it went live.

What the hell is going on with Hearthstone's matchmaking?
https://www.pcgamer.com/what-the-hell-is-going-on-with-hearthstones-matchmaking/
If you've ever played an online game, you've probably complained about the matchmaking. You've pubstomped low-rank players who never stood a chance, and you've been crushed by high-rank players you had no business facing. For a variety of algorithmic reasons, sometimes bad matches just happen. But for the best players in Hearthstone, they've been happening a lot lately.

Overwatch teaser points to new rolling hero
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-teaser-points-to-new-rolling-hero/
Another teaser has just been posted to the Overwatch Twitter account, following up on the cryptic alleyway image that went up last week. This time, a large ball of some sort rolls through the frame.

CD Projekt Red breaks down Cyberpunk 2077 trailer frame by frame in new series
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-red-breaks-down-cyberpunk-2077-trailer-frame-by-frame-in-new-series/
CD Projekt Red has launched an ongoing blog series that breaks down its Cyberpunk 2077 E3 trailer frame by frame. By the developer's reckoning, "almost every scene in the E3 2018 trailer tells a story of its own"—and while we gathered everything we learned from E3 2018 and more, it's always nice to hear from the developer itself.

So, guys, have you noticed something wrong with Steam when purchasing a game during this sale? Because I did, when I buy a game and reach that point where I have to check that mark where I accept the Steam rules, they've changed the message below it for this (in Spanish):

"Al hacer clic en el botón de abajo aceptas que Valve te proporcione acceso inmediato a este contenido digital en cuanto se complete tu compra, sin esperar el periodo de desistimiento de 14 días. Por lo tanto, renuncias expresamente a tu derecho a retractarte de esta compra."

Which, translated to English reads as:

"By clicking on the button below you agree that Valve will provide you with immediate access to this digital content as soon as your purchase is completed, without waiting for the 14 day withdrawal period. Therefore, you expressly renounce your right to withdraw from this purchase."

WTF is this? Since when there is a 14 day waiting period for buying games for your own use? And that renounce of the right to withdraw? Yeah, because that's going to work in front of any judge.

So, is it because I'm not using that Steam Guard crap or it's because someone at Steam has gone mad?

I don't even know what is a Steam Guard haha, but I decided to check it for you. So I bought some cheap indie with my Steam walled money (from selling cards) and at least at my end there is nothing unusual. Maybe it is an EU thing.

Never even knew there was a 14 day cooling off period.
Either way... I am entitled to a refund here regardless of what Valve says or thinks, their Terms of Service does not override your consumer rights.

"NVIDIA’s new NDA forces journalists to share positive opinions in order to receive confidential information"
On the surface this seems pretty disgusting.
I'll need to look into it a bit more to form a proper opinion though.

Same thing with that refund stuff.

The refund has been there for a while. It's a law in Germany and maybe even all of EU. So, that text doesn't mean shit here.

So it's not general and doesn't involve Steam Guard? Well, at least it's something. Thanks for checking it out.

We're also entitled to a refund here, so Valve can say whatever they want because law would be on my side.

It's for all the EU contries, I think.

The news:

SALES & "SALES"/DEALS

GOG's daily deal is J.U.L.I.A. Among the Stars, 75% off: https://www.gog.com/game/julia_among_the_stars"> https://www.gog.com/game/julia_among_the_stars https://www.gog.com/game/julia_among_the_stars

At Fanatical, we have another two new deals:

• Today's new dollar bundle is the Dollar Forever bundle, with 27 games for $1: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/dollar-forever-bundle
• The Early Access title Shaolin vs Wutang is 66% off for the next five days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shaolin-vs-wutang

SOFTWARE

Lawyers say that NVIDIA’s new NDA is fine and does not force journalists to be positive about it
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/lawyers-say-that-nvidias-new-nda-is-fine-and-does-not-force-journalists-to-be-positive-about-it/
Two days ago, Heise leaked the latest NVIDIA NDA which claimed that confidential information must be used solely for the benefit of NVIDIA. Naturally, a lot of critizised NVIDIA about it however Gamersnexus talked with a lawyer who stated that this NDA is fine and does not force journalists to write positive things in favour of NVIDIA.
(...)
Gamersnexus’ lawyer concluded that this NDA is valid and not restrictive, websites will be able to run stories based on information collected by other sources than NVIDIA, and that they are free to criticize NVIDIA.

MODS/EMULATORS

Xenia, the best Xbox 360 emulator, can now run Halo 3 with 30fps via the Vulkan API
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/xenia-the-best-xbox-360-emulator-can-now-run-halo-3-with-30fps-via-the-vulkan-api/
Back in May, we informed you about Xenia, the best Xbox 360 emulator that is currently under development, booting Halo 3. And today, we are happy to report that this emulator can run Halo 3 with 30fps via the Vulkan API.
Unfortunately, though, there are still a lot of graphical glitches that have not been resolved yet. In fact, Halo 3 does not look at all like Halo 3 due to all the graphical glitches you will witness below. Still, it’s pretty amazing that the game can run with 30fps.

Modder finds way to play Dark Souls as a Crystal Lizard
https://www.pcgamer.com/modder-finds-way-to-play-dark-souls-as-a-crystal-lizard/
Popular Dark Souls modder and explorer ZullieTheWitch has figured out a way to play the RPG as any of the enemies or NPCs. So yes, that means you can play as a Bonewheel, and it means you can play as a Crystal Golem. But more importantly, it means it's possible to play as a Crystal Lizard (see picture above).

The Battle for Middle-Earth: Reforged is a fan LOTR game in Unreal Engine 4, first teaser trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-battle-for-middle-earth-reforged-is-a-fan-lotr-game-in-unreal-engine-4-first-teaser-trailer/
The BFME: Reforged Team has announced The Battle for Middle-Earth: Reforged; a non-commercial project currently under development that aims to bring Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth to a brand new game engine, Unreal Engine 4.
As the team noted, all code will be rewritten completely and the gameplay of BFME: Reforged might be different from the original game. The team is currently focusing on bring the multiplayer mode of Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth in Unreal Engine 4, though it may add a single-player mode at a later date.

GAMING NEWS

Earthfall gets a massive new update, featuring weapons, audio and performance improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/earthfall-gets-a-massive-new-update-featuring-weapons-audio-and-performance-improvements/
Holospark has released a massive new update for its team-based co-operative shooter, Earthfall. According to the team, this patch brings significant optimizations to all core systems of the game, Art, FX, Audio and AI performance tuning, as well as some bug fixing.

Fallout 76 gets its first official multiplayer gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/fallout-76-gets-its-first-official-multiplayer-gameplay-video/
Bethesda has released the first official gameplay video for Fallout 76. In Fallout 76, players will be able to create their character with the S.P.E.C.I.A.L system and forge their own path in a new and untamed wasteland with hundreds of locations.

BLACKSAD: Under the Skin is a new adventure from the creators of Runaway and Yesterday
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/blacksad-under-the-skin-is-a-new-adventure-from-the-creators-of-runaway-and-yesterday/
Microids has revealed the first images of BLACKSAD: Under the Skin, the narrative adventure game developed jointly by Pendulo Studios and YS Interactive. Based on the world of the comic book series Blacksad, created by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido and published by Dargaud, the BLACKSAD: Under the Skin game will be released in 2019.

Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in pre-alpha stage, E3 2018 demo was the most polished build so far
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-is-currently-in-pre-alpha-stage-e3-2018-demo-was-the-most-polished-build-so-far/
CD Projekt RED’s Adam Kicinski revealed that Cyberpunk 2077 is currently in a pre-alpha stage. This was revealed during a new closed show in Marsaw where CD Projekt presented the same demo that was shown at E3 2018.

Take-Two CEO tries to justify microtransactions in NBA 2K; “we can’t really help those that want everything for free”
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/take-two-ceo-tries-to-justify-microtransactions-in-nba-2k-we-cant-really-help-those-that-want-everything-for-free/
In an interview with GameInformer, Take-Two’s CEO Strauss Zelnick tried to justify the microtransactions in the NBA 2K series. As Zelnick claimed, there are some gamers that want everything for free and Take-Two won’t be able to help those people.

PUBG creator decides to drop copyright charges against Epic Games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pubg-creator-decides-to-drop-copyright-charges-against-epic-games/
On Monday the 25th of June PUBG Corp., an organisation affiliated with Bluehole Inc. based in South Korea, officially declared their intention to drop a protracted lawsuit against Epic Games over allegations of copyright infringement. This comes after Bluehole had opened a court case in January against Epic Games claiming that their Battle Royale golden goose, Fortnite, had been created as an illegal replica of PUBG.

>>JRPGfan has made a thread about it.

The news, part two:

GTA Online's Motor Wars gets triple experience, in-game cash this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-onlines-motor-wars-gets-triple-experience-in-game-cash-this-weekend/
GTA Online's Motor Wars offers triple RP and GTA$ this weekend. For the remainder of the week, it'll grant you double.
Born during last year's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds-inspired battle royale renaissance, Motor Wars' weaponised vehicles, small maps, and busy UI stands it apart from the likes of PUBG and Fortnite. There's no forced stealth, no scavenging and no long distance pilgrimaging. You land with a fully-loaded gun, and your omnipresent minimap is brimming with colour-coded blips that identify vehicles, enemies and weapons throughout.

Beta test signups for Stalker-inspired battle royale game Fear the Wolves are now open
https://www.pcgamer.com/beta-test-signups-for-the-stalker-inspired-battle-royale-fear-the-wolves-are-now-open/
Vostok hasn't revealed much more about Fear the Wolves than the bare-bone basics, but it's now taking signups for an upcoming beta that will give players a chance to actually see the game from behind the trigger. "Fear the Wolves is reaching the next stage of development, and is now at a point where we love more player feedback," the studio said on Twitter.

Massive Overwatch update introduces the long-awaited Symmetra rework, LFG system, and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-update/
The new Overwatch patch finally brings the long-awaited Symmetra rework to the game's live servers. She's now classified as a damage hero, not a support, and her kit has been overhauled significantly.

World of Warcraft begins phasing out artifact weapons and other Legion-specific features
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-begins-phasing-out-artifact-weapons-and-other-legion-specific-features/
With the Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft on the horizon, Blizzard is beginning to slowly phase out some Legion-specific features starting with artifact weapons. Don't worry, you can still use them for now, but a blog post details that Magni Bronzebeard is summoning players to Silithus where they'll use the power of their artifact weapons to "draw out the darkness from Sargeras’ sword and help stabilize Azeroth’s grievous wounds."

Blizzard wants to patent Overwatch's 'Play of the Game' feature
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-wants-to-patent-overwatchs-play-of-the-game-feature/
Overwatch's Play of the Game feature is sometimes a bit of a mess, but overall it's a very popular feature. Players get credit for being a hero amongst heroes, and maybe even more importantly everyone else bears witness to their mighty deeds too. In fact, it's such an important part of the experience that Blizzard wants to patent it.

We Happy Few is getting a second chance in Australia
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-happy-few-is-getting-a-second-chance-in-australia/
We Happy Few was refused classification in Australia last month, meaning it was effectively banned in the country.
(...)
It might seem a bit silly for a country that does actually have an R18+ classification, although its introduction in 2013 doesn't appear to have had much on-the-ground impact for Aussie gamers. But the Classification Board announced today that it will consider an appeal of the RC next month, and extended an invitation to individuals or organizations to "apply for standing as an interested party."

Unravel 2 gets a ten-hour free trial on Origin
https://www.pcgamer.com/unravel-2-gets-a-ten-hour-free-trial-on-origin/
Is it a game for you? EA offered up a ten-hour trial of the original Unravel in 2016, and today it opened the doors on basically the same thing for Unravel 2. Available from Origin, the trial version offers ten hours of play across the game's first two chapters. The timer only counts down when you're playing (just be sure to log out of the trial when you're finish), and saved progress will carry over to the full game should you decide to pick it up.

PUBG makes Event Pass system fairer following player feedback
https://www.pcgamer.com/pubg-makes-event-pass-system-fairer-following-player-feedback/
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds launched its Event Pass progression and reward system last week, in concert with its new Sanhok map. After several days of feedback, developer PUBG Corp has adjusted its workings to better suit players. For now, these changes apply only to test servers.

Fortnite's mysterious missile may launch on July 1
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-missile-launch/
Fortnite season 4 delivered, among other things, a big missile sitting in a silo embedded in the western hills. In the real world it's best for everyone if missiles are never used, but in videogames it's a completely different situation: They're basically Chekhov's ICBM, and if you see one you can be pretty sure that sooner or later that sucker is going to go off.

Fortnite adds Playground mode and dual pistols
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-adds-playground-mode-and-dual-pistols/
Fortnite's latest v4.5 patch adds Playground Mode, a new slant on the Final Fight limited-time event mode, and dual pistols. Prance around the battlefield like Neo from the Matrix, Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Doomguy from Doom, or some other more contemporary double gun wielder.

Fortnite Season 5 release date revealed
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-season-5-release-date-revealed/
Last week, our own resident Fortnite aficionado James penned everything we know about Fortnite Season 5. Today, we have the Fortnite Season 5 release date and, all going well, a launch time: Thursday, July 12 at 1am PST / 9am BST.
As explained by Epic community coordinator Sean Hamilton, aka MrPopoTFS, the fifth campaign is set to roll out in two weeks' time. Here's the subreddit reveal in full.

H1Z1 releases a new 8x8km map called Outbreak
https://www.pcgamer.com/h1z1-outbreak/
Free-to-play battle royale shooter H1Z1 is getting a new map today called Outbreak, an 8x8km battle royale arena that features "new terrain, points of interest, and art and textures". And keep your eye out for few areas familiar to long-time players of H1Z1, because the map includes several landmarks from the original map (though they've been redesigned). You can see video of some of those landmarks above, such as Pleasant Valley and Misty Peak Dam, and there's an announcement trailer and some screenshots below.

Thursday news:

SALES & "SALES"/DEALS

Fortnite may have surpassed $300 million in revenue in a single month
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-may-have-surpassed-dollar300-million-in-revenue-in-a-single-month/
A recent SuperData Research report estimates that Fortnite Battle Royale pulled in $318 million in May, the first time it's broken the $300 million mark in a single month. The site also noted that the game's growth seems to be slowing: The console releases are continuing to expand, but the PC and mobile versions were both "flat compared to April."

State of Decay 2 surpasses 3 million players
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/state-of-decay-2-surpasses-3-million-players/
Microsoft has announced that the State of Decay 2 community now exceeds three million players. Undead Labs’ latest zombie game surpassed two million players on June 5th and it took them a little more than three weeks on order to hit the 3 million milestone.

Ultimate Custom Night, Five Nights at Freddy’s mashup with 50 selectable characters, is free on Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ultimate-custom-night-five-nights-at-freddys-mashup-with-50-selectable-characters-is-free-on-steam/
Scott Cawthon has released a “Five Nights at Freddy’s” mashup on Steam, called Ultimate Custom Night, featuring 50 selectable animatronic characters spanning seven Five Nights at Freddy’s games and custom difficulties. This Five Nights at Freddy’s mashup is currently available for free on Steam, so we strongly suggest downloading.
Those interested can download Ultimate Custom Night from here.

Meanwhile, GOG's daily deal is Among the Sheep - Enhanced Edition, 80% off: https://www.gog.com/game/among_the_sleep

The Spotlight deal on the Humble Store is Northgard, 33% off for the next 26 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/northgard

And at Fanatical, there are two new deals:

• The Star Deal is Beholder + Blissful Sleep Pack, 86% off for the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/beholder-plus-beholder-blissful-sleep
• Today's dollar bundle is the Dollar Jumbo bundle, with 25 games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/dollar-jumbo-bundle

SOFTWARE

-empty-

MODS/EMULATORS

Skyrim Enhanced Landscapes Mod aims to improve landscapes by adding thousands of objects
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/skyrim-enhanced-landscapes-mod-aims-to-improve-landscapes-by-adding-thousands-of-objects/
Modder ‘AceeQ’ has released a brand new mod for Skyrim Special Edition that aims to significantly improve its landscapes. Titled Enhanced Landscapes, this mod will improve Skyrim’s landscape by adding thousands of objects.
The new objects that have been added are floral objects, rocks, ruin clutter and a lot of other landscape assets. This mod also aims to improve the distant appearance of mountains, cliffs and other rock formations.
Those interested can download the mod from here. Do note that the Enhanced Landscapes mod requires DynDOLOD for Skyrim SE to generate proper Distant- and TreeLODs.

Ori and the Blind Forest will get a co-op mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ori-and-the-blind-forest-will-get-a-co-op-mod/
Modder ‘Cruze Bear’ is currently working on a co-op mod for Ori and the Blind Forest and shared the first video showing his mod in action. According to the modder, this co-op mod i still a work in progress and is very far from a release. Still, it will give you an idea of what you can expect.

GAMING NEWS

Official PC system requirements for Battlefield V Alpha, closed alpha begins on June 28th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/official-pc-system-requirements-for-battlefield-v-alpha-closed-alpha-begins-on-june-28th/
Electronic Arts and DICE have revealed the official PC requirements for the upcoming closed alpha of Battlefield V. The Closed Alpha will begin on June 28 and will be available for a limited time only, and PC gamers will at least need an AMD FX-8350 or an Intel Core i5 6600K with 8GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 / GTX 660 or an AMD Radeon HD 7850.

Chrono Trigger PC patch #4 released, features additional UI changes, various adjustments and revisions
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/chrono-trigger-pc-patch-4-released-features-additional-ui-changes-various-adjustments-and-revisions/
Square Enix has released the fourth PC patch for Chrono Trigger. According to the release notes, this patch comes with additional UI menu changes, as well as other adjustments and revisions.

The Cyberpunk 2077 E3 2018 demo was running in 1080p on a single NVIDIA GeForce GTX1080Ti
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-cyberpunk-2077-e3-2018-demo-was-running-in-1080p-on-a-single-nvidia-geforce-gtx1080ti/
CD Project RED’s Community Lead, Marcin Momot, has confirmed that the E3 2018 behind-closed-doors demo of Cyberpunk 2077 was running at 1080p and not in 4K. Despite earlier reports suggesting that the demo was running in 4K, Momot stated that CD Projekt RED showed the demo running in 1080p.

>>I hope they optimize the game some more, otherwise I'll have to play it at minimal settings.

Planetrism is a new sci-fi role-playing game powered by Unreal Engine 4 that looks gorgeous
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/planetrism-is-a-new-vr-sci-fi-role-playing-game-powered-by-unreal-engine-4-that-looks-gorgeous/
Mika Laaksonen and Kimmo Kaunela are currently working on an amazing sci-fi role-playing game where you experience the life of a colonist on an exoplanet light years away from Solar system, called Planetrism. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 4 and below you can find some stunning screenshots.

Shenmue 3 Official PC System Requirements, will require 100GB of free hard-disk space
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/shenmue-3-official-pc-system-requirements-will-require-100gb-of-free-hard-disk-space/
Ys Net has revealed the official PC requirements for Shenmue 3. According to the PC specs, PC gamers will at least need an Intel Core i5-4460 with 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti.
What’s also interesting here is that the game will require 100GB of free hard-disk space.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night E3 2018 demo available to backers, new story trailer released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-e3-2018-demo-available-to-backers-new-story-trailer-released/
505 Games and independent developer ArtPlay have announced the release of a new beta demo available to backers of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night at the $60 USD level and above. Now available as a digital download on Steam for PC, players will be treated to refined content and features, while previewing new enemies and NPCs and taking a deeper look at game narrative and quests.