The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG's Midweek Sale is only for the bravest, because it's full of games with permadeath mechanics up to 90% off until the 22nd: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210519_midweek_sale

Steam has five new deals, including three "Midweek" Madness deals:

• The new daily deal is AMID EVIL, that has a demo, 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/673130/AMID_EVIL/
• AI War 2 is 60% off during the next 50 hours: https://store.steampowered.com/app/573410/AI_War_2/
• The first of the Midweek Madness deals is the Early Access title Space Haven, 25% off until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/979110/Space_Haven/
• Publisher PLAYISM celebrates its 10th anniversary with up to 80% discounts until Saturday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/playism
• And Cyberpunk 2077 gets a 20% discount until May 27: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1091500/Cyberpunk_2077/

Now that its Spring Sale has finished, the Humble Store has two new sales:

• The first one is a TableTop games Sale, with up to 75% discounts during the next 6 days. Most keys are for Steam, but there are some GOG keys as well: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tabletop-sale/
• The second one is a Strategy Sale, with up to 80% deals during the next 6 days. Like the above sale, most keys are for Steam, with some also for GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/strategy-sale/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’s latest trailer may hint at the game coming to PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ratchet-clank-rift-aparts-latest-trailer-may-hint-at-the-game-coming-to-pc/
Sony released today a new trailer for Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart that may possibly hint at a future PC release. The ending of the trailer clearly states that it will be a Playstation 5 console exclusive, and not a Playstation 5 exclusive.
>> Well, I wasn't expecting a classic Sony IP like Ratchet & Clank to come to PC so soon.

Marvel’s Avengers Patch 1.7.0 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/marvels-avengers-patch-1-7-0-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Crystal Dynamics has released a brand new update for Marvel’s Avengers. Patch 1.7.0 resolves numerous issues for both its single-player and multiplayer modes. Furthermore, it brings a number of combat changes and improvements, as well as some visual changes.

Here are nine minutes of gameplay footage from The Forgotten City
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-nine-minutes-of-gameplay-footage-from-the-forgotten-city/
IGN has shared a new video, showcasing nine minutes of gameplay footage from The Forgotten City. The Forgotten City is a new first-person RPG that will be using Unreal Engine and will release on PC this Summer.

The Ascent releases on July 29th, gets a brand new trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-ascent-releases-on-july-29th-gets-a-brand-new-trailer/
Curve Digital announced that the highly anticipated debut title from Swedish indie studio Neon Giant, The Ascent, will release on July 29th. In order to celebrate this, the publisher released a new trailer that you can find below.

Biomutant gets a new trailer that explains its concept & gameplay mechanics
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/biomutant-gets-a-new-trailer-that-explains-its-concept-gameplay-mechanics/
THQ Nordic has released a brand new trailer for Biomutant that explains its concept and gameplay mechanics. Biomutant is an open-word, post-apocalyptic Kung-Fu fable RPG that is coming to PC on May 25th.

Battlefield 2021/Battlefield 6 leaked GIFs show the game in action
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/battlefield-2021-battlefield-6-leaked-gifs-show-the-game-in-action/
Yesterday, we shared some leaked screenshots from the upcoming reveal trailer of Battlefield 2021/Battlefield 6. And today, some GIFs have been leaked from that trailer that show the game in action.

The news, part two:

GTA Online and Red Dead Online get new races, big summer updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-online-and-red-dead-online-get-new-races-big-summer-updates/
In a new blog post, Rockstar has outlined upcoming updates for both GTA Online and Red Dead Online, and in both, the races are on. According to the post, the GTA Online summer update will, "bring back car culture in a big way". What that means is largely left vague, safe for hints at new race types, multi-party robbery missions, and new customisation options.

Die Hard's Nakatomi Plaza is coming to Call of Duty: Warzone this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/die-hards-nakatomi-plaza-is-coming-to-call-of-duty-warzone-this-week/
Activision is going big on famous '80s action heroes in Call of Duty: Warzone's Season 3 Reloaded update. In addition to the previously announced operator skins coming for John McClane and Rambo, Verdansk itself will also see significant facelifts to celebrate Die Hard and First Blood, movies that are likely older than most of the people playing Warzone.

Portal 2 update opens the door to bigger and better level designs
https://www.pcgamer.com/portal-2-update-opens-the-door-to-bigger-and-better-level-designs/
Valve has rolled out another new update to Portal 2 that removes the 100MB limit on Workshop file sizes, potentially enabling the creation of much larger and more ambitious mods and levels than were previously possible.

Extremely metal retro shooter Amid Evil now has RTX lighting
https://www.pcgamer.com/extremely-metal-retro-shooter-amid-evil-now-has-rtx-lighting/
Amid Evil is my favorite blend of '90s aesthetics and modern tech in any retro shooter. It's pixely and full of low-poly enemies, but each world you travel through is wholly unique. You can kill snake men and sorcerers in a cosmic void and skate along the tops of gargantuan machinery in an oppressive no man's land. I played through every stage, and am planning to do it all again with RTX on thanks to today's update.

Summer Games Done Quick 2021 will include two blindfolded speedruns
https://www.pcgamer.com/summer-games-done-quick-2021-will-include-two-blindfolded-speedruns/
I've never really understood the appeal of speedruns. I respect the effort and ingenuity required to pull them off—finishing Fallout: New Vegas in under 15 minutes is definitely an accomplishment—but it's not something I'd want to sit and watch for hours on end. Lots of other people feel differently, though, and thus we have events like Summer Games Done Quick, the week-long speedrun extravaganza for charity that will return on July 4.
>> I share the same thoughts about speedruns.

Take-Two is releasing 62 games by 2024, and we have guesses about what they are
https://www.pcgamer.com/take-two-is-releasing-62-games-by-2024-and-we-have-guesses-about-what-they-are/
Take-Two held its spring quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, bringing another fiscal year to a close with a casual five million more copies of GTA 5 sold. Take-Two reiterated that it has new versions of GTA 5 coming to the next-gen consoles, though naturally it didn't say a peep about when we should expect GTA 6. But the company did lay out a surprisingly detailed chart on what kinds of games it has coming out in the next three years.

Don't expect any new Hollow Knight: Silksong news at E3 this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/dont-expect-any-new-hollow-knight-silksong-news-at-e3-this-year/
In an effort not to keep fans in suspense, Team Cherry's Director of Marketing and PR, Matthew 'Leth' Griffin, recently announced on the Hollow Knight Discord that no new Hollow Knight: Silksong announcements or blog posts were planned for this year's E3.

This fighting game glossary helps you tell your air reset from your elbow
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-fighting-game-glossary-helps-you-tell-your-air-reset-from-your-elbow/
Infil, the person behind The Complete Killer Instinct Guide, a website for, you guessed it, all things to do with fighting game classic Killer Instinct, has released a new project called The Fighting Game Glossary.

Fans translate Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Mohawk language sequences
https://www.pcgamer.com/fans-translate-assassins-creed-valhallas-mohawk-language-sequences/
As with previous games in the series, Assassin's Creed Valhalla contains some detailed and faithful historical elements that are left for fans to puzzle out. One example of this in Valhalla comes when you discover the area of Vinland, populated by people from the Mohawk who speak to your character in untranslated dialogue. Now the Assassin's Creed fan group Access the Animus has, with no little help from Montreal's Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, translated all of this Mohawk dialogue (thanks, Eurogamer).

Four Cyberpunk 2077 lawsuits against CDPR have been combined into one mega lawsuit
https://www.pcgamer.com/four-cyberpunk-2077-lawsuits-against-cdpr-have-been-combined-into-one-mega-lawsuit/
Four separate lawsuits against CD Projekt Red have been consolidated into one mega lawsuit by the court.
CD Projekt Red provided an update regarding the ongoing suits, writing in a translated blog post "The court has consolidated the lawsuits and appointed a lead plaintiff. Following this consolidation, all four lawsuits will be subject to potential common court proceedings."

Phasmophobia's latest update lets ghosts do even more creepy stuff
https://www.pcgamer.com/phasmophobias-latest-update-lets-ghosts-do-even-more-creepy-stuff/
Over the last couple of updates, ghosts in Phasmophobia have become able to do increasingly unsettling things, from moving around corners and opening doors, to blowing out candles.
The latest update makes the supernatural buggers now even harder to evade, as their movement speed now increases over time if they see you during a hunt, and they will only leave off if they can't find you at your last known location. This change applies to all ghosts except Revenants. Ghosts will also remember the location they saw you in during the last hunt and will search that place first during the next hunt.

So right after IBM reveals its 2nm process, TSMC comes with an even smaller one... good!

I wonder how small they can go given the "provides a path to electronics manufacturing processes of 1nm and lower" part of the article.

Oh, no! What a tragedy!

NVIDIA to announce GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti during Computex 2021 Keynote?

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-to-announce-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-and-rtx-3070-ti-during-computex-2021-keynote

9 new games add NVIDIA DLSS support this month:

DLSS mass adoption hype!!!

AMD confirms B2 stepping for Ryzen 5000 series brings no functionality or performance improvements

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-b2-stepping-for-ryzen-5000-series-brings-no-functionality-or-performance-improvements

Guess that means XT variants might not be happening

[TFT Central] AU Optronics Showcase New Panel Technologies Including 4K 144Hz OLED and 8K4K Panels

https://www.tftcentral.co.uk/blog/au-optronics-showcase-new-panel-technologies-including-4k-144hz-oled-and-8k4k-panels/

"AUO’s 32-inch UHD 4K inkjet printing OLED panel is driven by oxide backplane and offers industry-leading ultra-high frame rate of 144Hz with 4K 140 PPI resolution. The inkjet printing OLED technology will meet the increasing demand for high image quality and high frame rate in both medical and gaming applications."

Gotta love the OLED adoption

But PC-SSDs will never be fast enough for that game!

The irony is that Playstation games do indeed have loading screens, they are just cleverly disguised but they are there including in Ratchet and Clank. But regardless of which, the if the RTX IO numbers are anything to go by, when Direct Storage launches for PC, it will decimate the PS5 SSD speeds. Especially since Direct Storage has support for hardware decompression block if the GPU manufacturers decide to add that in for next time.

As someone who just ordered a VR headset with a combined 4896×2448 120hz display it make me quite happy to at least start seeing DLSS support on VR games.  Hopefully any graphically demanding VR game going forward will at least consider having DLSS support because even with my 3090 am not very optimistic in maintaining that resolution and frame rate without some help from things like DLSS.

Especially since I been watching a lot of youtube VR reviewers and what am seeing is that even people with a 3090 have a hard time maintaining 90hz on HP Reverb 4320 x 2160 resolution depending on the game.

They (TFT Central) have just published their review of the LG UltraFine 32EP950 OLED Pro which it's NOT a gaming monitor (60Hz and no support for any kind of variable refresh tech), but it can give some insight into how awesome those OLED monitors could be.

Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer in 2022

End of an era

Yea if 4k is the last boss, VR is like the real last boss. You really need super beefy hardware if you don't want to turn down settings so DLSS is certainly a very good application for it.

Yea pretty much. I know that LG is coming out with their 4k 42 inch OLED TVs but if we can get a 32 Inch 4k gaming TV in a reasonable enough price, I'd be 110% on board!