Yea but considering the prices they charge... They really should be...

Impressive numbers. PC sales continues to be crazy!

Sure took them long enough jeez! Although the gamepass version still has a lot of issues.

Yeah, even without the Apple ones, those are great numbers all around. The whole COVID mayhem and the release of new hardware have had a huge impact on the market. We'll see how long it lasts, hopefully not for too long.

I hope the article's guessis is right and the improvements are based on the Windows Store version, not the GamePass one.

It helps that people (And businesses) were hanging onto old systems for longer, but we sorta' reached that point where Core 2/1st and 2nd gen Core are starting to become extremely antiquated even for basic tasks as even the Internet is becoming more system demanding with video conferences and the like becoming very popular that rely on modern codecs that aren't hardware accelerated on older devices. (I.E. H265)

Plus the move to 4k in general.

It does mean that once this upgrade cycle is done and dusted the PC market may do another slump for awhile. Boom and Bust.

Like I said before, AMD had to delay the non-OEM version of those chips by a quarter to give themselves somme supply to fulfill their OEM contracts. Which is also why I expect the non-X versions of the 5900 and 5800 to not be OEM-exclusive forever.

With the chip crunch, prices have really soared for some hardware, especially GPUs. That being said, can somebody explain me this???:

How can it be that the price of the RX580 exploded and the one of the 5700XT stayed mostly stable? And how justify the fact that the 580 is now ~$200 more expensive than the 5700XT??

Yes but Intel is managing to balance OEM and DIY just fine. There is no reason AMD can't balance it either seeing as how at the very least, their 6 and 8 core chips are now in stock and are very easy to find. Sure, they might release the 5900 and 5600 later on to DIY but imo, they should have released or announced them by now. Heck the funny thing is, AMD mentioned that their 5000 series APUs are coming to DIY later this year yet they didn't say anything about the 5900/5600. Like why not announce that as well? Regardless, I think the way they are treating DIY market where we have to pay a premium for X series until who knows when and now the APU situation is 110% nonsense.

And yea, the 5700XT and the 580 are really good mining cards which is for gamers is urghh worthy times.

So it is 4K... not in resolution but in dollars.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Total War sells over 36M copies, Creative Assembly now biggest UK developer
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-sells-over-36m-copies-creative-assembly-now-biggest-uk-developer/
The venerable Total War series of strategy games, which turns 21 this year, has sold over 36 million copies, Creative Assembly announced. Total War: Three Kingdoms accounts for a good portion of that—a smash hit in China, Three Kingdoms became the fastest-selling game in the series when it moved a million copies in a single week. The Warhammer games have been massive as well, with preorders for Warhammer 3 topping the Steam charts. Creative Assembly says 1.5 million people play Total War every month.
The developer now has 800 permanent staff and has opened a third studio in West Sussex, which it says makes Creative Assembly "the largest UK games developer". Studio director Gareth Edmondson said, "This is an incredibly exciting time for Creative Assembly with the highly-anticipated Total War: Warhammer III on the horizon and our new sci-fi-shooter IP in development."

GOG has several new deals:

• The new Midweek Sale features games for every mood with up to 85% discounts until Saturday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210414_midweek_sale
• The Special Home Focus Interactive Sale features up to 80% discounts until April 21st: https://www.gog.com/promo/focus_home_interactive
• The game Ghostrunner gets an additional DLC, the Metal OX Pack, and that's a good excuse to put the game 50% off until April 20 (the DLCs are also on sale): https://www.gog.com/game/ghostrunner
• And The Medium is available with a 20% discount until April 16 (25% off if you get the Deluxe Edition): https://www.gog.com/game/the_medium

Steam has several new deals, including 5 new Midweek Madness deals:

• The new daily deal is the Early Access title HROT, 15% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/824600/HROT/
• The Medium is 20% off until the 16th (like at GOG): https://store.steampowered.com/app/1293160/The_Medium/
• Satisfactory, still in Early Access, is 20% off until Friday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/
• Ghostrunner, that has a demo, is 50% off until Friday 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1139900/Ghostrunner/
• The VR ONLY title Arizona Sunshine gets a 63% discount until Friday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/342180/Arizona_Sunshine/
• The Sniper Ghost Warrior Franchise Sale brings up to 84% discounts until April 18: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SniperGhostWarriorFranchiseSale
• And the game Indivisible will be 60% off until April 20: https://store.steampowered.com/app/421170/Indivisible/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity Engine will add native support for NVIDIA’s DLSS tech in 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unity-engine-adds-native-support-for-nvidia-dlss-tech/
Unity Technologies and NVIDIA announced that Unity developers will soon be able to add NVIDIA DLSS to their creations. Before the end of 2021, NVIDIA DLSS will be natively supported for the High Definition Render Pipeline in Unity 2021.2.
At GTC 2021, Light Brick Studio demonstrated how Unity games can look with real-time ray tracing and DLSS. You can watch their full talk for free here. You can also check out a developer interview with Unity’s Mathieu Muller, senior product manager for high-end graphics.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half Life Alyx No VR Mod looks better than ever in this latest update video
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/half-life-alyx-no-vr-mod-looks-better-than-ever-in-this-latest-update-video/
Modder ‘SoMNst’ has released a new update video for a new VR Mod for Half-Life Alyx. As the title suggests, this mod will let you experience Half-Life: Alyx on non-VR devices, featuring full support for keyboard and mouse.
In this latest video, the modder showcases a new Viewmodel and some new animations. Moreover, the game now features a Camera “viewpunch“. Player speed has been fixed when player is ducked, and the player now moves slower when using ADS. Additionally, the zombies are now running instead of walking. This adjustment aims to make the game a bit more challenging. Headcrabs are also more aggressive.
>> Still no download link.

GAMING NEWS

Mass Effect Legendary Edition Official Remastered Comparison Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/mass-effect-legendary-edition-official-remastered-comparison-trailer/
BioWare and Electronic Arts have released an official remastered comparison trailer for Mass Effect Legendary Edition. This trailer showcases a side-by-side comparison of the stunning environmental, character, and visual effects improvements of the Remaster.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… will get a NieR Automata free DLC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nier-replicant-ver-1-22474487139-will-get-a-nier-automata-free-dlc/
Microsoft’s Windows Store has leaked a NieR Automata free DLC that will be coming to NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… This free DLC will add 4 costumes and 4 weapons from NieR:Automata in NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139….

New Microsoft Flight Simulator Update improves France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/new-microsoft-flight-simulator-update-improves-france-belgium-netherlands-and-luxembourg/
Microsoft has released a brand new update for Microsoft Flight Simulator. According to MS, this update brings flight simmers to France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team also released a new trailer that you can find below.

Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.21 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/cyberpunk-2077-update-1-21-full-patch-notes/
CD Projekt RED has released Update 1.21 for Cyberpunk 2077, and shared its complete changelog. According to the release notes, Patch 1.21 brings various memory management improvements (reducing the number of crashes). Moreover, it fixes numerous bugs and glitches.
>> And the CDP boss want to make it a game to be proud of.

Part two of the news:

Ubisoft will pull the plug on Rainbow Six Vegas servers and nine other games later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-will-pull-the-plug-on-rainbow-six-vegas-servers-and-nine-other-games-later-this-year/
Ubisoft is saying goodbye to some vintage Clancyverse games later this year.
Rainbow Six Vegas, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Rainbow Six Lockdown, and Ghost Recon Future Soldier will all see their online servers shut down, though any singleplayer content will still be available.

Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy is coming to Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/horizon-zero-dawns-aloy-is-coming-to-fortnite/
Horizon: Zero Dawn's Aloy is the latest to get Fortnite's Gaming Legends treatment.
The Horizon Zero Dawn bundle will be available in the item shop later this week, April 15. It includes the Aloy skin, a Blaze canister back bling, glider, emote, weapon wrap, and pickaxe inspired by Aloy's spear. Buying the items as a bundle will also grant a Horizon-themed loading screen.

Crusader Kings 3 is fixing same-sex relationship mods, plans to support marriages in future
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-is-fixing-same-sex-relationship-mods-plans-to-support-marriages-in-future/
Last month, a Crusader Kings 3 update accidentally broke a popular loophole used to allow same-sex concubine mods. Now, Paradox aims to fix that with a big modding update, with plans to support proper same-sex marriage mods in a later update.

Meet the newest Warframe: a ghastly space captain that reaps souls
https://www.pcgamer.com/meet-the-newest-warframe-a-ghastly-space-captain-that-reaps-souls/
Warframe's next big update is launching today, but Digital Extremes has given us an exclusive sneak peak of its latest warframe: A cyberwraith equivalent of Davy Jones that harvests mortal souls so it can turn into a nightmarish demon. His name is Sevagoth and he's also the main character in the new Call of the Tempestarii quest.

‘The end’ is coming to Call of Duty: Warzone next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-end-is-coming-to-call-of-duty-warzone-next-week/
The long-anticipated nuclear apocalypse may be coming to Call of Duty: Warzone next week: A cryptic tweet from the official Call of Duty account warns that "the end is near" indicated that something—something bad, based on the look of that grinning skull—is going to happen at 12 pm PT/3 pm ET on April 21.

Capcom says last year's ransomware attack exploited an 'old VPN' that had been kept online due to Covid-19
https://www.pcgamer.com/capcom-says-last-years-ransomware-attack-exploited-an-old-vpn-that-had-been-kept-online-due-to-covid-19/
In November 2020, Capcom announced that it had been hit by a ransomware attack: Hackers had infiltrated the company's servers, encrypted data on its devices, and claimed to have downloaded over 1TB of data. According to one malware researcher at the time, the hackers also left behind a demand for $11 million in Bitcoin in exchange for the encryption key.
In its final report on the matter, released today, Capcom denied that any specific ransom demand had been made, and said that it was never actually in contact with the hackers.

Call of Duty: Warzone has banned over 475,000 cheaters to date
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-warzone-has-banned-over-475000-cheaters-to-date/
Activision is continuing its campaign against Call of Duty: Warzone cheaters. In an anti-cheat progress report published today, the publisher announced that over 475,000 Warzone accounts have been permanently banned since the game's release in March 2020. That's an average of around 36,500 bans per month, or about 1,200 bans every day.

David Gaider reveals his 'Snyder Cut' ideas for Dragon Age 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/david-gaider-reveals-his-snyder-cut-ideas-for-dragon-age-2/
We recently said that Outriders is the most divisive game of 2021 so far, but I'm not sure that even it can hold a candle to Dragon Age 2. We liked it a lot, saying it had "the best RPG combat ever" and possibly gaming's "best storytelling" in our 94% review, but an awful lot of Dragon Age fans were somewhat more tepid on the whole thing overall.
>> Like that could happen.

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 becomes a roguelite in its new free expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-vermintide-2-becomes-a-roguelite-in-its-new-free-expansion/
Vermintide 2, a first-person brawler about smiting tides of vermin for loot, is the kind of game that lends itself to high skill challenge runs. So it’s nice to see that its forthcoming Chaos Wastes update adds a “roguelite inspired” game mode, which is all about pushing deeper into the game’s hellish quarters for greater rewards.

2 new games have been added to the Blizzard Arcade Collection
https://www.pcgamer.com/2-new-games-have-been-added-to-the-blizzard-arcade-collection/
Say what you like about Blizzard’s pre-Warcraft games, but they do have at least one thing going for them: They exist. But when the Blizzard Arcade Collection released back in February there were two notable absences in Lost Vikings 2 and RPM Racing. The former, obviously, is a sequel to cooperative puzzle-platformer The Lost Vikings, while the latter is a 1991 prequel to Rock N Roll Racing, also released on 16-bit systems. Both have now been added to the Arcade Collection.

Dev calls out player who refunded his game after saying it was 'amazing,' player apologizes and rebuys it
https://www.pcgamer.com/before-your-eyes-steam-refund-two-hours/
By many accounts, Before Your Eyes is a smart and affecting game, and the control system seems cool: It uses your webcam to determine when you blink. It's also a short game, and at least one player took advantage of that fact by completing it in under two hours and then refunding it on Steam.

Satisfactory Update 4 hits Early Access, brings hover packs, ziplines, drones, and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/satisfactory-update-4-hits-early-access-brings-hover-packs-ziplines-drones-and-more/
Satisfactory players waited a year for Update 4, a major addition to the Early Access building game that included programmable drones, ziplines, and a giant freaking particle accelerator. When Update 4 was released to Satisfactory's experimental branch back on March 16 I went on a big tour of the new features with game director Mark Hofma. Anyone could opt-in to play the buggier experimental version of the game, but now you don't have to do that to get a piece of Update 4—it's live on the main Early Access build as of today.

Warzone developer starts a GoFundMe for legal battle against Activision, who also have a game called Warzone
https://www.pcgamer.com/warzone-developer-starts-a-gofundme-for-legal-battle-against-activision-who-also-have-a-game-called-warzone/
"Hello, my name is Randy, and I'm being sued by Activision for being an indie game developer." That's how Randy Ficker, creator of a browser and mobile game called Warzone, begins his GoFundMe page. Ficker and Activision are involved in a trademark dispute over the name Warzone as applied to a videogame, and things are getting heated.
>> I'm sorry for him, he has no chance of winning, even when he's right.

Big changes are coming to Apex Legends' resident medic, Lifeline
https://www.pcgamer.com/big-changes-are-coming-to-apex-legends-resident-medic-lifeline/
Respawn may be preparing to prescribe Lifeline a heavy dose of nerfs and reworks, according to developer comments on a recent Reddit AMA.
Among dozens of questions regarding balance changes coming in Apex Legends' next season, Redditor CSKaay asked what was being done about Lifeline's kit. As the game's purest "support" character, Lifeline has always been in a tricky spot—her last major rework letting her revive allies with her drone, giving her freedom to keep fighting while a shield protected the downed teammate.

Diablo 2: Resurrected players used old mods to access hidden classes
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-2-resurrected-players-used-old-mods-to-access-hidden-classes/
Last weekend's Diablo 2: Resurrected alpha might've ostensibly limited players to three classes. But it seems crafty modders were able to use years-old tricks to access other classes in the dungeon-crawler's line-up.

The monitor won't be cheap, that's for sure, but the listing is a placeholder, not the actual retail price.