Lol at Friendship with benefits as best visuals. Champions of Corruption reminds me a lot to Flexible Survival; too many similarities to be all coincidental...

That said, my list ain't much better in that regard...

Time for the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has a new sale and also a new release:

• Bethesda has put its games up to 80% off for the next 5 days: https://www.gog.com/promo/20201125_bethesda
• And the game Dread Nautical launches on the store with a 40% discount until December 3rd: https://www.gog.com/game/dread_nautical

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-empty-

GAMING NEWS

Crysis Remastered Update 1.3.0 released, improves performance & fixes the broken vegetation physics
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crysis-remastered-update-1-3-0-released-improves-performance-fixes-the-broken-vegetation-physics/
Crytek has released a brand new update for the PC version of Crysis Remastered. According to the release notes, update 1.3.0 finally fixes the broken vegetation physics. Furthermore, it brings a number of performance improvements and enhancements.
>> And it brings a huge performance increase in CPU bound scenarios.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update 1.0.4 releases tomorrow, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/assassins-creed-valhalla-update-1-0-4-releases-tomorrow-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Ubisoft has announced that a major new update for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release tomorrow. In addition, the team has shared its complete changelog, revealing all the improvements and fixes that will be coming with it.

Watch Dogs Legion Update 2.20 adds manual Save, will add CPU optimizations in DirectX 12
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/watch-dogs-legion-update-2-20-adds-manual-save-will-add-cpu-optimizations-in-directx-12/
Ubisoft has announced that a brand new update for Watch Dogs Legion will release later this week on the PC. According to the release notes, update 2.20 will add CPU optimization with the aim to increase framerate on high-end PCs in DirectX 12 mode.

Cryospace is a new isometric horror game, heavily inspired by Alien and Philip K. Dick novels
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cryospace-is-a-new-isometric-horror-game-heavily-inspired-by-alien-and-philip-k-dick-novels/
Games Operators has announced a new isometric horror game that is heavily inspired by Alien and Philip K. Dick novels, Cryospace. Cryospace is coming to PC in 2022 and in order to celebrate this announcement, the publisher released its announcement trailer that you can find below.

16-bit platformer Super Catboy coming to PC in Autumn 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/16-bit-platformer-super-catboy-coming-to-pc-in-autumn-2021/
Assemble Entertainment and Pixelpogo have announced the action-platformer Super Catboy. Inspired by the golden era of 16-bit platformers during the ‘90s, the game combines the charm of cat videos and the thrill of intense shooters to create a one-of-a-kind cat-tastic escapade.

New Ubisoft job listings hint at potential Rocksmith sequel
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-ubisoft-job-listings-hint-at-potential-rocksmith-sequel/
After five years, Ubisoft stopped releasing new DLC tracks for Rocksmith Remastered earlier this year. Since then the userbase has been on the look-out for details regarding a potential sequel to Ubisoft’s Rocksmith franchise. Now, job listings may have let the cat out of the bag.

Next-Gen Metro game will still focus on single-player story-driven gameplay, will have multiplayer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/next-gen-metro-game-will-still-focus-on-single-player-story-driven-gameplay-will-have-multiplayer/
In a recent 10th anniversary studio update 4A games promised that it will put more emphasis on the single-player story-driven component for its next Metro game which is currently in development for the PC and next-gen consoles.

Thursday news, part two:

Total War Saga: Troy's multiplayer is finally here for you to declare war on all your friends
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-troys-multiplayer-is-finally-here-for-you-to-declare-war-on-all-your-friends/
Without wanting to start a discussion about Total War AI, multiplayer tends to make each game in the series just a little bit better. Creative Assembly's depiction of the Trojan War lacked multiplayer support when it released back in August, as the team wanted to focus on the campaign, but it was always a fixed point on Total War Saga: Troy's 2020 roadmap. The multiplayer for up to eight players launches in beta on November 26. The update will also include support for community maps, a whole new co-op campaign and more.

V and Jackie drive a crappy car to the big city in a new Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay video
https://www.pcgamer.com/v-and-jackie-drive-a-crappy-car-to-the-big-city-in-a-new-cyberpunk-2077-gameplay-video/
CD Projekt has dropped a new Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay video showcasing nearly seven minutes of action from the early stages of the Nomad lifepath. The trailer, actually a series of brief clips spliced into a sort of "day in the life" montage, sees our Cyber-hero V fixing up his shitbox, doing a bit of smuggling with his apparently-new partner Jackie, having a chat with a creepy border agent, then cruising the rainy streets of Night City and, of course, getting into a gunfight.

Watch Dogs Legion multiplayer delayed into 2021
https://www.pcgamer.com/watch-dogs-legion-multiplayer-delayed-into-2021/
London. The Big Smoke. I don't make it down to the sprawling English capital too often, but when I do, I try to make sure I've a few pals to help me navigate its winding streets. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a wee bit longer before I can do the same in Watch Dogs: Legion, with Ubisoft today announcing that multiplayer won't be coming to their digitized capital until sometime next year.

CD Projekt assures investors that Cyberpunk 2077 is really, actually, definitely releasing December 10
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-reassures-investors-that-cyberpunk-2077-is-really-actually-definitely-releasing-on-december-10/
CD Projekt released its third quarter consolidated financial results today, and there are two main points to take note of. One, The Witcher is still killing it: The company earned $28 million in revenues on the quarter, "mostly generated by sales of games from The Witcher universe," CFO Piotr Nielubowicz said. And two (and more important), Cyberpunk 2077 is still scheduled to arrive on December 10.

Cuphead's 'The Delicious Last Course' DLC is delayed again
https://www.pcgamer.com/cupheads-the-delicious-last-course-dlc-is-delayed-again/
It's been a rough go for Cuphead's The Delicious Last Course DLC. It was announced in June 2018 with launch expected sometime in 2019, but a year later it was delayed into 2020. "We want to be absolutely certain that this next adventure feels at home in the world of Cuphead and is full of moments that surprise and delight players," Studio MDHR said at the time.
But with 2020 nearly over, The Delicious Last Course has been delayed again, this time because of the difficulties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unto the End is a stylish combat platformer that encourages you not to fight
https://www.pcgamer.com/unto-the-end-is-a-stylish-combat-platformer-that-encourages-you-not-to-fight/
Unto the End was announced in mid-2017 as a "2D cinematic combat-adventure" about a father in a Viking-inspired fantasy world who embarks upon a quest for revenge after his family is killed. "But that's just the setup," developer 2 Ton Studios said at the time. "What we really want to shine is the narrative that only the player's actions can craft."

Buy Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam and you get an exclusive short story
https://www.pcgamer.com/buy-cyberpunk-2077-on-steam-and-you-get-an-exclusive-short-story/
Anyone who buys Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam, whether as a pre-order or after release, will receive an exclusive short story called '2AM — She Calls'. To be clear, this is not an in-game reward. It's a story written by Cyberpunk 2077 story lead Tomasz Marchewka that will presumably show up as a pdf in your game files. As explained on Twitter, the story "will show you the hostile streets of Night City as seen by Frank, an ex-NCPD officer working the night shift as a Combat Cab driver." Buying Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam will also net you some other exclusives, "including avatars, posters, and a wallpaper", presumably for display on your Steam profile.

Blizzard is working to solve World of Warcraft server issues caused by Shadowlands
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-is-working-to-solve-world-of-warcraft-server-issues-caused-by-shadowlands/
After the launch of World of Warcraft's latest expansion Shadowlands, players on some of the more popular servers have been experiencing queues of several hours and, when they finally do get into the game, disconnections and serious amounts of lag.
Blizzard's community manager has acknowledged the problems, posting on the official forums that "we’ve been monitoring and working around the clock to solve these issues".

Nicalis hits Cave Story fan game with DMCA takedown notice
https://www.pcgamer.com/nicalis-hits-cave-story-fan-game-with-dmca-takedown-notice/
Publisher Nicalis has issued a DMCA takedown notice against the Cave Story Engine 2 repository, which collects the various different versions of Cave Story Engine 2, a fan-made enhanced version of the original Cave Story by Daisuke Amaya, also known as Studio Pixel.

Fall Guys teases its new, bigger winter season
https://www.pcgamer.com/fall-guys-teases-its-new-bigger-winter-season/
Fall Guys' community director previously teased that work on Season 3 was underway, and now the official Twitter account has announced the theme of the bumble royale's third season: winter.

So hardware unboxed is reporting on the weird pricing issue when it comes to the 6800 XT and how you can't find any AIBs hitting that $650 MSRP. The lowest seems to be $100+ more than the MSRP.

You will need to skip to 9 minutes and 56 seconds.

But the jist of it is that according to AIBs, the markup they are making is lower than ever and AMD is charging the AIBs a lot more than what the $650 MSRP is supposed to be. It's why the cards are so expensive compared to reference. Nvidia seems to be doing this for the 3070 as well.

I doubt that anyone got the 3080 TUF for $700

The scalpers did

So, does anyone have any (realistic) idea when this fall's graphics cards will actually hit the market? I'm asking because I'm getting kind of impatient with my GTX 770, and I'm getting interested in a temporary upgrade (somewhere along the lines of GTX 1650 or so; exact card still undecided though) if supplies stay low for a long time.

So, AMD and NVidia both do in a sneaky way what 3DFX tried to do in 1999, releasing their own cards and screw the board partners over. Back in the days, 3DFX got screwed right back by the board partners and the competition, but this time the board partners don't have much leverage and both sellers are doing it, so they can't simply switch their GPU chip suppliers this time around.

I think March-April seems more realistic right now. Definitely not this year anymore, and I doubt January or February will be enough to build up stock - and hopefully bring down the prices a bit from their current (extreme and over-)high.

Pretty much yea. In some ways its a good thing cause it shows that we are in a competitive market once again. And those that are able to buy the FE/Reference are getting killer deals, especially as the coolers on both sides are quite good this time around. But it does put AIBs in a bit of an awkward spot where they really need ways to offset the cost or give an excellent reason for people to choose them over FE/Reference. Of course right now, because of the stock levels, everyone is buying whatever they can get their hands on loll.