The Friday news!
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
Star Wars Battlefront 2 goes free on the Epic Store next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-battlefront-2-goes-free-on-the-epic-store-next-week/
With the holidays over and a new year off to a roaring start, the Epic Games Store has returned to its usual weekly cadence of free games. The 2021 giveaways begins with Crying Suns, an FTL-inspired strategy roguelike that, when we dove into it in 2019, we quite liked in some ways, and did not care for in others.
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Tales of galactic empires will continue in next week's freebie, which is a much higher-profile offering: The Star Wars Battlefront 2 Celebration Edition, which includes "the complete collection of customization content acquirable through in-game purchase," up to and including the Rise of the Skywalker update.
The Humble Store has two new sales (more or less):
Fanatical has two new deals:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
NVIDIA GeForce 461.09 WHQL driver available for download, brings security updates
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-geforce-461-09-whql-driver-download-security-updates/
NVIDIA has released a brand new driver for its graphics cards. According to the release notes, the NVIDIA GeForce 461.09 WHQL driver brings some security updates and improvements.
Moreover, this driver comes with a number of fixes. For instance, it fixes a blue-screen crash that could occur with the GeForce GTX750Ti. It also fixes some freeze and flickering issues that could occur with the GeForce GTX1080Ti.
>> Available from here.
Steam client beta adds extended support for PS5 and Xbox controllers
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-client-beta-adds-extended-support-for-ps5-and-xbox-controllers/
The Steam beta client, Valve's public test branch, has just rolled out an update that offers extended support for Xbox controllers. The biggest change here is the additional support for the Xbox Elite controller, which we recently declared the best PC controller, with the ability to bind the rear paddles in controller configurations.
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It's not just Xbox controllers getting some love here, though. There's a small update for PlayStation 5's DualSense controller too, allowing for LED customisation. The controller's LEDs can now either be enabled, disabled entirely, or only enabled when multiple DualSense controllers are connected to Steam.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
This Witcher 3 mod gives Geralt a snowboard to shred the slopes of Skellige
https://www.pcgamer.com/witcher-3-snowboarding-mod/
Geralt of Rivia is normally known for carving up monsters, but this new snowboard mod lets him carve something else entirely: the snowy mountains of Skellige, Velen, and Kaer Morhen. Rad.
Called Geralt VGX Snowboarder, this mod adds a snowboard that Geralt can find at an altar overlooking the bay of Kaer Trolde in Skellige. Interacting with the altar gives you a snowboard that Geralt can equip either as a sword or as boots. The video above shows it in action and, uh, I'm a little surprised by how convincing it looks?
GAMING NEWS
Rumor: Prey 2 reboot sequel might be in development at Arkane Austin
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/rumor-prey-2-reboot-sequel-might-be-in-development-at-arkane-austin/
It appears that Prey 2 could be in development in the form of a sequel reboot at Arkane Studios but with the collaboration of Human Head Studios, the original team of the series. Arkane Austin is allegedly working on a new project.
First The King of Fighters XV Screenshots Leaked Online
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/first-the-king-of-fighters-xv-screenshots-leaked-online/
SNK was planning to reveal the first official trailer for The King of Fighters XV on January 6th. However, and at the last minute, the team decided to delay the reveal for the near future. Despite that, though, the first screenshots for this upcoming fighting game have been leaked online.
>> shikamaru317 has made a thread about this.
Path of Exile: Echoes of the Atlas releases on PC on January 15th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/path-of-exile-echoes-of-the-atlas-releases-on-pc-on-january-15th/
Grinding Gear Games has announced that its next major expansion for Path of Exile, Echoes of the Atlas, will launch on PC on January 15th. According to the press release, the expansion delivers new end-game content, a new challenge league, new skills, and a new pinnacle boss simply known as The Maven.