Yea maybe but I think Sony's main reason to port games to PC in the first place is to earn more profit from those that aren't interested in buying a ps5. Heck, you can't even get a ps5 right now even if you wanted to and that will probably be the case for the next few years. But that doesn't mean the game development costs are getting any cheaper hence why they haven't released any exclusives yet because the user base is so low. So I think it largely depends on what they want to do cause I don't think it's about attracting people to ps5 anymore because the audience is different and won't impact sales of the ps5 for the most part.

But we will see and yea, it's gonna take them a while to port 17 ps4 games.

Of course it's about making more money, and in some cases it may even be because the game didn't sell enough in the console and they're doing the PC port just to get back all the invested money (Days Gone would almost fill this criteria), but Sony knows that their console will be sold at a profit sooner or later, and the more they sell, the more profits they'll get from it. Just like PS4, which was due to some price cuts a long time ago, but they didn't because it still sold well and that mean more money for them.

Because of that, Sony won't risk that side of their business, and their position as a media center for the living room, by launching their latest games on PC alongside the console version.

Besides, some of their games sell well for longer periods of time, like Gran Turismo, so launching them earlier in the gen is not as big of a problem as it could seem.

By the way, those 17 unknown entries in Steam aren't all games, they are games and DLCs. For all we know, it could be 17 games or 5 games and 12 DLCs for those games.

Yea but I don't think porting games to PC even on day 1 will hurt their console business for the most part and even though selling console hardware is profitable eventually... We have seen that the profit is minimal. Majority of the biggest sellers on consoles are third party games that are also available on PC from day 1 yet they sell a ton more on consoles. The reason is that the barrier to entry on consoles is significantly less compared to PC, especially with todays market. Not to mention that the user experience is much more streamlined. Imo if Sony thought that there would be any risk in their console business by porting games to PC, I doubt they would have started going this path in the first place.

We went from No PS Games on PC to Ps3 Games on PC via PS Now to PS4 Console Exclusives on PC to PS4 First Party Exclusives on PC. I think the next or next next logical step is for them to port first party games onto PC day 1. It might sound crazy but once up on a time, the idea that Horizon Zero Dawn would be ported onto PC sounded like madness yet here we are.

I think it's just a matter of when and not if. I think MS is continuing to prove that porting games onto PC day 1 is benefiting them greatly without digging into their console business, especially with some of the lesser known titles. The Series X and Series S are continuing to be sold out even though all their games can be found on PC day 1. I think Sony will follow suit eventually because of how expensive it is to build AAA games in the modern era.

We'll have to disagree here. I don't see Sony releasing any 1st party game oin console and PC at the same, as least in the short to mid term and, even then, I doubt they'll try it with one of their big IPs.

No, I think that those entries in Steam are for ports of already released games.

The only exception to that, and it's a far fetched one, is for their VR games that, launching also on Steam with support for Valve's Index, could allow Sony to increase the budget and scale of those VR games.

Here come the Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition hits highest Steam concurrent players for a BioWare game
https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-hits-highest-steam-concurrent-players-for-a-bioware-game/
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition launched on Friday, and the Steam numbers suggest it's had a pretty successful launch weekend.
The remastered trilogy is the number one trending game on SteamDB right now, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 59,817 on Sunday. As noted by industry analyst @BenjiSales on Twitter, it marks the highest concurrent players on Steam for any BioWare game. It's also the second-highest concurrent player count for any EA game on Steam, only beaten by Apex Legends.

GOG's new Weekly Sale is full of "exciting" Indie games up to 90% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210517_weekly_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• The daily deal is Remnants, still in Early Access, 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/574180/Remnants/
• And Sky Haven, also in Early Access, will be 20% off until May 23: https://store.steampowered.com/app/674090/Sky_Haven/

The new Humble Deckbuild & Battle Bundle features up to 7 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/deckbuild-battle

Fanatical's new Star Deal is F1 2019 - Legends Edition, 96% off during the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/f-1-2019-legends-edition
Keep in mind, tho, that it actually started yesterday and that they've almost run out of keys, so a new Star Deal will go live very soon.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Black & White 2 gets a 4K HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/black-white-2-gets-a-4k-hd-texture-pack/
Modder ‘merendas235’ released a 4K HD Texture Pack for Black & White 2. As its name suggests, this pack will overhaul all of the game’s textures in order to improve its visuals.
From what I can see, merendas235 has used AI techniques in order to improve the quality of the vanilla textures. Thus, the new textures have the same art style as the vanilla ones.
The modder has provided a comparison video. This video will give you an idea of the improvements this pack brings to the table. Thus, I strongly suggest watching it before downloading the pack (as it’s around 6GB in size).
>> Available from Nexus Mods.

This Resident Evil Village third-person mod turns Ethan into a headless monster
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-resident-evil-village-third-person-mod-turns-ethan-into-a-headless-monster/
Resident Evil Village might continue Resi 7's pivot into first-person horror, but one modder is attempting to bring the latest entry back to the series' third-person roots. Just don't lose your head over it quite yet, okay?
Spotted by Eurogamer and currently in development on the developer's Patreon, FluffyQuack's mod is described as "very experimental" for good reason. The biggest, I reckon, is that our man Ethan Winters is missing his head. A heavily-armed decapitated man in a parka might be a good shout for a new Resi monster, but it's an odd look for our cowering protagonist.
The mod also breaks a few interactions with in-game objects, and Ethan's gun isn't quite aiming where it's supposed to. The camera will also snap back into first-person on occasion. But it's certainly impressive in how it mostly works, and an earlier video shows Quack strolling around House Beneviento in third-person as one of Lady D's daughters.

A modder has turned Serious Sam 4 into Mario Kart
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-modder-has-turned-serious-sam-4-into-mario-kart/
A modder has taken Serious Sam 4, a game about anything other than a fun karting experience, and turned it into just that.
Pan's 7Smoke Racing mod takes the FPS and essentially turns it into a PC Mario Kart. Tracks like Cheep Cheep Beach, Dry Dry Desert, Thwomp Ruins, and Neo Bowser City have all been recreated for the mod, and look surprisingly similar to their Nintendo counterparts. The mod comes with 20 tracks in total, split into five different cups. There's also a gold rush battle mode with nine arenas, no doubt a nod to Mario Kart's coin rush mode.
>> You can find it at Steam.

Heroes of Might and Magic 2 fans are building it a better engine
https://www.pcgamer.com/heroes-of-might-and-magic-2-fans-are-building-it-a-better-engine/
Heroes of Might and Magic 2 is one of the best fantasy turn-based strategy games of all time, overshadowed only by its successor, whose active modding scene has produced excellent HD mods and unofficial expansion packs. But Heroes 2 has hardly been abandoned: The ongoing Fheroes2 project, which was begun over a year ago, is on course to deliver the definitive Heroes 2 experience.
Fheroes2 is a multiplatform, open source recreation of the Might and Magic 2 game engine with a dream list of features, including improved AI, larger resolution support (and window resizing), faster unit splitting, hundreds of bug fixes, and the most coveted of all features: an instant battle option to skip easy fights, and a restart button to replay the battle manually if you're dissatisfied with the results. The videos also show off the highly polished animations, making me slow down and watch the tiny horseys gallop across the map.

There's an FOV fix for Mass Effect Legendary Edition already
https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-fov-fix-mod/
Though it's up to a rating of Very Positive now, Mass Effect Legendary Edition launched to mixed user reviews on Steam. Among the complaints were the absence of a field-of-view slider, leaving it with a tight FOV of 70. Modders have already come to the rescue, however, with JadeBarker uploading Better Camera (Higher FOV) to NexusMods on the day its Mass Effect Legendary Edition section opened.
Anyone who modded the original games will be familiar with Coalesced.bin, the file in your BioGameCookedPCConsole directory you'll need to replace to get most mods working. Just be sure to back it up first. Once you've swapped it for the version in the mod you'll be able to press F10 in-game to push your FOV up to wherever you find it most comfortable. Note that one problem with altering the FOV is that the second level of zoom on the Mako's cannon (accessed by pushing ctrl) won't work. Guess you can't have everything.

New Skyrim HD Texture Packs overhaul all armors, actors & clutter
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/new-skyrim-hd-texture-packs-overhaul-all-armors-actors-clutter/
Modder ‘kartoffel’ released three HD Texture Packs for Skyrim Special Edition that overhaul all armors, actors and clutter. These packs come in two versions, with the highest versions of these three packs weighing around 14GB.
Do note that these packs are for the Special Edition of Skyrim, and not for the Original.
>> Check the article for its descriptions and links, all from Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

Here are 3 minutes of unedited PC gameplay footage from Biomutant
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-3-minutes-of-unedited-pc-gameplay-footage-from-biomutant/
THQ Nordic has released a new video, showcasing three minutes of unedited gameplay footage from the PC version of Biomutant. This video will give you a glimpse at what you can expect from the PC version of this upcoming title.
>> Why do they (almost) always show gameplay from someone that sucks at the game?

Fallout 76 Steel Reign Update is now available on PTS
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/fallout-76-steel-reign-update-is-now-available-on-pts/
Bethesda has released the Steel Reign Update for Fallout 76 on its PTS (Public Test Server). This update brings all-new quests to Fallout 76 with the Steel Reign questline, which picks up right where you left off with the Brotherhood of Steel at the end of Steel Dawn.

New Starfield screenshots leaked online, to be exclusive on PC and Xbox consoles
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-starfield-screenshots-leaked-online-to-be-exclusive-on-pc-and-xbox-consoles/
In September 2020, we shared the first leaked screenshots for Starfield. And, from the looks of it, some new screenshots were leaked earlier today. These screenshots are from the game’s 2018 build, meaning that they are a bit old and do not represent the quality of the game.

First gameplay footage for The Division Heartland leaked online
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-footage-for-the-division-heartland-leaked-online/
A few days ago, we informed you about a new free-to-play Tom Clancy’s The Division game, Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland. And from the looks of it, its first gameplay footage has been leaked online.

Guilty Gear -Strive- gets a story trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/guilty-gear-strive-gets-a-story-trailer/
Arc System Works has released a Story Trailer for Guilty Gear -Strive-, casting a spotlight on the game’s Story Mode. This trailer comes with lots of exciting new scenes including battles between Giovanna and Nagoriyuki, Sol working with the newly red-haired Jack-O’ and startling revelations from “That Man,” Asuka R. Kreutz.

Here are 20 minutes of gameplay footage from The Wild at Heart
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-20-minutes-of-gameplay-footage-from-the-wild-at-heart/
GameInformer has shared a video, showcasing the first 20 minutes of gameplay footage from The Wild at Heart. The Wild at Heart is a 2D game that appears to be inspired by the Pikmin games, and releases on PC on May 20th.

Monday news, part two. Warning, it's a long post:

Blizzard relents on WoW Classic's overpriced cloning fees
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-relents-on-wow-classics-overpriced-cloning-fees/
World of Warcraft Classic is about to enter The Burning Crusade, and that means splitting the throwback MMO's servers between the new expansion and a pure, vanilla experience. But if you wanted to clone a character between both, Blizzard was hoping to charge you a fairly hefty $35 fee.
Naturally, the WoW community balked at the idea of paying effectively the cost of a new game to have an existing character copied.
Responding to feedback on the WoW forums yesterday, community manager Kaivax explained that Blizzard was making a "course correction" on these fees, which have been lowered to $15.

Sega wants to develop some kind of 'super game' within the next five years
https://www.pcgamer.com/sega-wants-to-develop-some-kind-of-super-game-within-the-next-five-years/
Sega's latest financials reveal the publisher is planning something it calls a "super game" to be released within the next five years.
Spotted by VGC, the publisher's latest presentation outlined the company's plans going forwards. Key to Sega's five-year-plan is this unknown "super game", which the publisher only describes as a new IP with global reach. Sega doesn't expect massive profitability at first, but hopes the game's reach will help it grow massively over time.
>> shikamaru317 made a thread about this several days ago.

Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's new worlds won't exist outside the expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-odysseys-new-worlds-wont-exist-outside-the-expansion/
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey is about to completely rework the way the immense space sim renders planets. But if you don't buy the expansion, you'll be cut off from these strange new worlds entirely, effectively splitting the game's worlds in two.

Activision confirms Rambo and Die Hard are coming to Call of Duty: Warzone next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-confirms-rambo-and-die-hard-are-coming-to-call-of-duty-warzone-next-week/
After several days of heavy-handed teasers, Activision has finally confirmed that '80s action hero icons and fellow Johns Rambo and McClane will come to Call of Duty: Warzone as premium operator skins on May 20.
>> And they've also revealed that they've banned over 500K cheaters so far.

Players do the math on Destiny 2's new transmog system and the grind is even worse than expected
https://www.pcgamer.com/players-do-the-math-on-destiny-2s-new-transmog-system-and-the-grind-is-even-worse-than-expected/
To understate things substantially, Destiny 2 players did not react entirely well when Bungie unveiled the new transmog system—"armor synthesis" in the game's lingo—last month.
Now the system is live, and it's somehow even worse than anticipated. It's confusing and grindy, yes, but there also appears to be a hard timegate on the rate at which the base armor synthesis resource can be earned, which means players must spend a solid 4-5 hours of gameplay just to earn a bounty, which also involves a substantial grind, after which you can finally transmog a single old piece of gear (which you have of course already earned previously).

Fall Guys studio accidentally leaks the source code onto Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/fall-guys-studio-accidentally-leaks-the-source-code-onto-steam/
The weekend got off to what was likely a very interesting start for Fall Guys studio Mediatonic, which apparently—somehow—managed to leak the game's source code in an accidental Steam update.
>> Oops!

Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker is coming November 23, check out the new 6-minute trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-endwalker-is-coming-this-fall/
Everything is up in the air with the Covid-19 pandemic delaying games left and right, but Final Fantasy 14's next expansion is coming November 23, slightly behind it's regular schedule.
Update: At the end of the Final Fantasy 14 keynote livestream, game director Naoki Yoshida gave a proper release date: November 23, 2021. He acknowledged that this is a bit later than expected due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the development team didn't want to compromise on features in order to release it early.
>> And the next upcoming class is the deathly Reaper.

Australian ban of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut overturned
https://www.pcgamer.com/australian-ban-of-disco-elysium-the-final-cut-overturned/
The expanded edition of the best RPG there is, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, was refused classification in Australia earlier this year. (...)
It's an embarrassing failure of Australian law that even after fighting to get an R18+ rating for videogames, anything that features drugs with stat boosts—in Disco Elysium, taking speed increases motorics and psyche, though there are also negative consequences—will be refused classification. Now, after Za/um Studios applied to have the refusal reviewed on April 16, that refusal has been overturned and replaced with an R18+ rating.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition project director says multiplayer could make a comeback
https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-project-director-says-multiplayer-could-make-a-comeback/
One of the biggest omissions from the Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, at least in my eyes, is multiplayer support. (...)
But there may be hope for those, like me, who would very much like to see it come back. In an interview with CNet, Walters said that there's at least room for the possibility.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition changes the photo of Tali's face
https://www.pcgamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-changes-the-photo-of-talis-face/
There are a lot of small changes in the remastered Mass Effect Legendary Edition. For instance, a minor NPC from a side mission in the first game named Elanos Haliat, who was originally given a human model by mistake, now appears turian as he was supposed to.
Another change that's more likely to set the internet on fire is that the photo of Tali, the romanceable quarian engineer who was one of the trilogy's more popular characters, now has a different face.

Base One's modular space station building looks cool, may be a bit buggy
https://www.pcgamer.com/base-ones-modular-space-station-building-looks-cool-may-be-a-bit-buggy/
If you were disappointed by Spacebase Startopia's lackluster remake, you may be interested in Base One, another space-based management sim. It released on Steam last week to mixed user reviews—bugs and pathfinding issues seem to be the biggest complaints—but there may still be something to like here, or something that'll improve with patches.

Cartoonishly violent puzzle-slasher Grindstone is out next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/cartoonishly-violent-puzzle-slasher-grindstone-is-out-next-week/
Nintendo Switch and mobile gamers have been enjoying Grindstone's charmingly brutal puzzle-slasher since 2019 and 2020. Now, like almost all games, it's coming to PC. Capybara Games has announced that Grindstone will release exclusively on the Epic Games Store on May 20, this Thursday.
>> Since it launches this Thursday and Epic hasn't revealed the next free game, I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the next free game.

Roblox has eradicated any mention of being a game
https://www.pcgamer.com/roblox-has-eradicated-any-mention-of-being-a-game/
While I don't think I'll ever fully understand the juggernaut that is Roblox, the one thing I for sure know is that Roblox is a game creation tool. Right? Well, not anymore according to its creators—now it's an experience.
>> Whatever...

New World addresses concerns over microtransactions
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-world-addresses-concerns-over-microtransactions/
Amazon Games' MMO New World is currently in Alpha and regularly adding new features. One of these features, the recently added storefront, sparked worry among players who fear that New World may go the route of games that hide progress behind real money purchases. To address these concerns, Amazon Games Studio Director Rich Lawrence has written an open letter to players, trying to assuage these fears.

Blizzard and Epic vets hope to 'revolutionize' RPGs with new studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-and-epic-vets-hope-to-revolutionize-rpgs-with-new-studio/
A number of former Blizzard and Epic Games developers have formed Lightforge Games, a new independent studio specializing in RPGs. The team says it's working on "a new cross-platform, social videogame where players have the power to create worlds and tell stories in unprecedented freedom."
>> As with any new game studios, I wish them good luck. They'll need it.

Gnosia is like an Among Us visual novel, and it's coming to PC this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/gnosia-is-like-an-among-us-visual-novel-and-its-coming-to-pc-this-year/
Thanks to Among Us, many of us have experienced the tense fun of an impostor game—finding our team members missing, with no idea of whodunnit, followed by group discussions over potential suspects. For visual novel Gnosia, the current impostor trend is perhaps just lucky coincidence—the game originally released in 2019 for Playstation Vita, where it spread via word of mouth, before great reviews by Japanese outlets turned it into a definite hit. (...)
While impostor gameplay always sounds like a good time, Gnosia also has the draw of a visual novel, featuring a large cast of colourful characters, such as a "person" looking suspiciously like an alien and a… beluga whale in a space suit. Now, publisher Playsim has announced a PC version for 2021.

AMD Radeon RX 6600 series to feature up to 8GB GDDR6 memory and PCIe Gen4 x8 interface

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6600-series-to-feature-up-to-8gb-gddr6-memory-and-pcie-gen4-x8-interface

"The card will rely on the x8 width of the interface."

Now the kicker about that is if you have a pci-e 3.0 motherboard, you will get pci-e 3.0 8x which has caused issues in the past with AMD cards. As an example, the 5500XT came with 8 lanes as well and you got lower performance with 3.0 vs 4.0.

https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Radeon-RX-5500-XT-8G-Grafikkarte-275704/Specials/PCI-Express-3-vs-PCI-E-4-GPU-1339415/

"Igor was also able to gain access to a BIOS of Navi 23 Mobile Radeon SKU. Thus, we can see a much lower maximum clock speed than desktop variants (2350 MHz vs the rumored 2684 MHz)."

Now those are max clocks, we don't know what the actual clocks for the mobile versions will be yet but it will be interesting to see how these perform as AMD has been performing quite a bit better than Nvidia at lower resolutions in desktop.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 graphics card cost 3 times more than NVIDIA MSRP in Europe vs 6000 series costing 2 times more

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-30-graphics-card-cost-3-times-more-than-nvidia-msrp-in-europe

We did just have another mining crash so maybe it will come back to normal soon enough? Please?

Intel 11th Generation Core Tiger Lake-H Performance Review: Fast and Power Hungry

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16680/tiger-lake-h-performance-review

It trades blows against the 5000 series in cpu related benchmarks and workloads. Sometimes Intel is faster, sometimes AMD is faster. While it's a big increase in performance compared to 10th gen laptops... There's one big problem... And that's power. Typically it will hang around 65 Watts which then will Thermal Throttle to 35 Watt compared to Ryzen 5000s 35-45 Watts. Here is peak power during Turbo:

No gaming tests yet which is what I am waiting to see. I will post it when the gaming reviews are out. Overall it's kinda annoying because with AMD, you get the god tier battery life but with Intel, you get additional features like Thunderbolt 4 and PCI-e gen 4 SSDs and more GPU lanes. No perfect CPU in the mobile space this generation. It does feel like a preview of Alder Lake S since Intel can't make Tiger Make power efficient with 10nm.

If only...

Are you from North America? Do you want a fight stick? If the answer is yes to both, then I have potential good news for you!

*** NEW COMPETITION ***

Qanba Obsidian Fight Stick ft. Antinomy of Common Flowers Giveaway
https://wccftech.com/qanba-obsidian-fight-stick-ft-antinomy-of-common-flowers-giveaway/
With the recent release of tag-team fighting game Antinomy of Common Flowers on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, we were offered to give away a Qanba Obsidian fight stick featuring exclusive artwork from the game.

I know the article talks about the Switch and PS4, but that fight stick also works for PC, only that you'd also have a useless game (unless you also own a PS4 or Switch):

I can see Sony releasing day 1 on PC, just not in the current time frame.

As for the whole "PS has no games", I know Xbox got that, but that was a double dose of fanboys on the other side tossing that for years, as well as MS not actually churning out a slew of brand new heavy hitters. Sony isn't going to really fall into the latter factor, but it likely will with the ormer, but a company like Sony won't really care what the minority fanboys from both sides say about PS games going to PC (we've already seen the silly rage fests that happened on Twitter when HZD/DS was announced for PC, and the broken PS4's, Sony didn't care then, they won't now).

Yuri is right though, as it is the most straightforward most logic step to take with the plan of porting to PC. If they kept porting only a few, less stellar titles 3-5yrs after every gen, then they'll be stuck at the same pace they are now. MS started this out last gen at a slow pace, but now they've ramped up to not only day 1, but also PC tailored games as well (AoE IV). I don't see Sony sticking to the current plan till the end of time, it's pure stagnation if anything.