The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Death's Door reaches over 100,000 players in its first week
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/deaths-door-reaches-over-100000-players-in-its-first-week/
Zeldalike Death's Door has reached over 100,000 players in its first week, according to developer Acid Nerve. It's an impressive feat for the tiny corvid action-adventure, as most indie games don't attract that sort of playerbase at launch, and a game's first month is usually its best—let alone its first week.

GOG gets a new release: LongStory arrives with a 60% discount until August 3: https://www.gog.com/game/longstory

Steam has a new range of weeklong deals, and here's a few of them:

• Summer Memories is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227890/Summer_Memories/
• Tunguska: The Visitation gets a 36% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1601970/Tunguska_The_Visitation/
• Hello Neighbor is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/521890/Hello_Neighbor/
• The VR ONLY title 1976 - Back to midway, that has a demo, is 65% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1118070/1976__Back_to_midway/
• OUTBUDDIES DX is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1083310/OUTBUDDIES_DX/
• And Avencast: Rise of the Mage gets a massive 90% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/46410/Avencast_Rise_of_the_Mage/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• 2K Games puts its titles on sale with up to 80% discounts during the next 6 days. The keys are for Steam, except one that's also for EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/2k-sale/
• The Adventure Beyond Sale brings up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. The keys are for Steam, GOG and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adventure-beyond-sale/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Update 1.3.0 releases tomorrow, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/assassins-creed-valhalla-update-1-3-0-releases-on-august-12th-full-patch-notes/
Ubisoft has announced that Title Update 1.3.0 for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will release tomorrow, July 27th, and revealed its full patch notes.

Watch The Coalition’s GDC 2021 Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo, Alpha Point
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/watch-the-coalition-gdc-2021-unreal-engine-5-tech-demo-alpha-point/
At GDC 2021, The Coalition presented a new Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, Alpha Point. And a few minutes ago, Epic Games released the full GDC presentation in which The Coalition shows and discusses the tech powering it.

Tuesday news, part two:

Assassin's Creed Valhalla's next expansion, The Siege of Paris, arrives on August 12
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/assassins-creed-valhallas-next-expansion-the-siege-of-paris-arrives-on-august-12/
Eivor and the gang are going to enjoy Paris in summertime: Ubisoft announced today that the second Assassin's Creed Valhalla expansion, The Siege of Paris, is set to go live on August 12.

More than 1,500 Activision Blizzard employees condemn company leadership, call for 'compassion for victims'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/more-than-1500-activision-blizzard-employees-condemn-company-leadership-call-for-compassion-for-victims/
More than 1,500 current and former employees of Activision Blizzard have signed a letter condemning the company's response to a lawsuit alleging discrimination, sexual harassment, and "frat boy" culture at the company. "The statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their legal counsel … are abhorrent and insulting to all that we believe our company should stand for," the employee statement reads.

Splitgate's final release is delayed while studio revamps server infrastructure
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/splitgates-final-release-is-delayed-while-studio-revamps-server-infrastructure/
Suddenly popular Portal-inspired FPS Splitgate was scheduled to launch into 1.0 on July 27 after a couple of years spent in Early Access, but that's been delayed until August. It's not altogether bad news: the current open beta will continue, and studio 1047 Games has received $10 million from a venture capital firm to expand its development team and help solve its critical server issues.

Olympic athlete wins gold medal while wearing a Witcher medallion
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/witcher-fan-wins-olympic-gold-medal-while-wearing-geralts-medallion/
Vitalina Batsarashkina has two powerful passions in life: Shooting air pistols, and The Witcher. And as she demonstrated over the weekend at the Tokyo Olympics, she's very good at both: She wore a Witcher medallion while competing in the event, and she won a gold medal.
>> Nerd .

This lo-fi horror roguelike looks like the best Resident Evil spin-off Capcom never made
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/this-lo-fi-horror-roguelike-looks-like-the-best-resident-evil-spin-off-capcoms-never-made/
Draft of Darkness is a game I did not know existed this morning, and now it is a game I must play. It's one of those where to explain it you need to smoosh a lot of concepts together: it's a lo-fi, top-down horror roguelike, where combat happens via card battles and the game's overarching loop is about deckbuilding for each run. It's also one of those where, if you take a look at the trailer, you get the appeal instantly: and it's out in a few days.

UK games industry veteran Ian Richardson dies aged 53
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/uk-games-industry-veteran-ian-richardson-dies-aged-53/
UK veteran game developer and business director of Sumo Digital, Ian Richardson, has died at the age of 53.
Richardson was a part of the industry for over 30 years, mostly in business development and sales roles across studios like Rage, Europress, and Ocean Software. The last six years of his career have been spent at Sumo Digital as the studio's business development director. He was also an ambassador for the UK charity SpecialEffect, and helped that organisation raise significant amounts of money.

Your new favourite indie in five words: Fully destructible sword-wielding robots
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/your-new-favourite-indie-in-five-words-fully-destructible-sword-wielding-robots/
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone—try saying that ten times fast—launches today for PC and consoles after four years in Steam Early Access. Clone Drone's (sorry, I can't say it ten times fast, I'll make a mistake eventually) hook is that it's a third-person robot sword fighter where any part of any body can be sliced off.

It's refreshing to see how excited he is about it.

Intel's Process Roadmap to 2025: with 4nm, 3nm, 20A and 18A?!

https://www.anandtech.com/show/16823/intel-accelerated-offensive-process-roadmap-updates-to-10nm-7nm-4nm-3nm-20a-18a-packaging-foundry-emib-foveros

So going forward, Intel is rebranding it's nodes. So when Intel says "7nm," it's actually the same node as their "10nm." One thing I will say is that the density on Intel's rebranded 7nm is still higher than TSMC's 7nm so I can see why. But the naming will get a bit confusing.

Intel reveals the design of Alder Lake, Sapphire Rapids, Meteor Lake and Granite Rapids CPUs

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-reveals-the-design-of-alder-lake-sapphire-rapids-meteor-lake-and-granite-rapids-cpus

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT With Flagship RDNA 3 Navi 31 GPU Detailed: MCM Die, 15,360 Cores, 256-bit Memory, More Infinity Cache

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xt-with-flagship-rdna-3-navi-31-gpu-detailed-mcm-die-15360-cores-256-bit-memory-more-infinity-cache/

Dell no longer shipping Alienware Aurora R10/R12 systems to certain US states due to new power regulations

https://videocardz.com/newz/dell-no-longer-shipping-alienware-aurora-r10-r12-systems-to-certain-us-states-due-to-new-power-regulations

I see this as a plus since now, the users will be forced not to buy the shitty pcs. Least until they fix the power issues that is...

Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Mini-LED 49-inch ultra-wide monitor launches on August 9th

https://videocardz.com/press-release/samsung-odyssey-neo-g9-mini-led-49-inch-ultra-wide-monitor-launches-on-august-9th

"Additionally, Quantum Matrix Technology, which harnesses enhanced 12-bit gradation for greater control of the light source – the Quantum Mini LEDs makes dark areas darker and bright areas brighter with 2,048 dimming zones, ensuring viewers enjoy the content as it is meant to be seen. Quantum HDR 2000 offers a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, with certification received from VDE (Verband Deutscher Elektrotechniker), alongside a static contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1"

"Based on the high performance technology pioneered by the current Odyssey G9, the Odyssey Neo G9 features an ultra-wide 49-inch display with a 32:9 aspect ratio that offers Dual Quad High-Definition (DQHD; 5,120×1,440 resolution) with a rapid, 240Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time.** "

"The Odyssey Neo G9 provides Adaptive Sync on DP1.4 and HDMI2.1 VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) through HDMI 2.1 with NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatibility and AMD FreeSync Premium Pro"

Now it's a bit too big for me but it does make me excited about their future offerings.

One thing I will say is that, while it's a neat and interesting concept, I feel like without being able to upgrade your motherboard (which upgrades the CPU/GPU) the draw falls apart for me. Cause sure, you can change up the IO but most laptops including thin and light ones comes with all the IO you need so you don't have to change them. Sure you can change speakers and such but the likely hood of those failing is very low. And most laptops do allow you to upgrade the Ram and storage including thin and light ones. The battery is the only mixed bag as some have glue and others don't.

So for me, the idea of an upgradable laptop where you can't seem to upgrade the motherboard falls flat. Cause that's the one component that people actually want to upgrade 3-4 years down the line as stronger CPU/GPU come out. So while I like the idea, I'll wait and see if they ever announce upgradable motherboards.

Intel Alder Lake to launch on October 27th at ‘fully hybrid’ Innovation event?

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-alder-lake-to-launch-on-october-27th-at-fully-hybrid-innovation-event

Are you in the UK? Are you in need of a new chair but you don't like the one from the last (still open) contest? Well, I have good news for you:

*** NEW CONTEST ***

Win an AKRacing Onyx Chair from Scan Computers
https://hexus.net/gaming/features/hardware/148086-win-akracing-onyx-chair-scan-computers/

This contest is, sadly, UK ONLY.

So in other words, since they're unable to make smaller nodes, they just start calling them smaller until they catch up to the competition? Brilliant!

Also, not sure what to think of Meteor Lake. It really needs to make a big jump to catch up to AMD. Alder Lake already has troubles beating Zen 3, and Meteor Lake will most likely be pitted against Zen 5 by the time it releases.

A 49-inch monitor?

That's larger than my 46-inch TV ffs. Who has a desk large enough to fit a thing like that and still can see the entire screen?

The other way to look at it is before Intel was only some what off with there naming from reality and now they just as far off from reality as TSMC, Samsung etc.  None of the companies process node name actually close in anyway to the actual size of anything.  Which is why even after the name change Intel new 7nm is still slightly more dense then TSMC 7nm.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG's Midweek Sale comes with "games that will take you to the skies" up to 90% off until Saturday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210728_midweek_sale

Steam has three new deals:

• The new daily deal is Pumpkin Jack, 44% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1186640/Pumpkin_Jack/
• The new Midweek Madness deal is The Tenants, still in Early Access and 25% off until July 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009560/The_Tenants/
• And Monster Sanctuary will be 50% off until August 3: https://store.steampowered.com/app/814370/Monster_Sanctuary/

Fanatical has three new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Styx: Master of Shadows, 95% of f during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/styx-master-of-shadows-plugin
• To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Sonic Games are on Sale. Not going to lie, the deals aren't really good and most are Flash Deals: https://www.fanatical.com/en/franchises/sonic
• And the new Build Your Own Epic Quest Bundle comes with 19 games to choose your 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-epic-quests-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This hyper-realistic Minecraft map looks as good as the real deal
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/this-hyper-realistic-minecraft-map-looks-as-good-as-the-real-deal/
Community created Minecraft builds continue to blow people's minds, and a new map built by user qwryzu is another impressive example of what's possible with a lot of blocks. The build is called 'Vales of Amoril' and is a custom continent map complete with snowy mountains, dense forests, winding rivers, and lush valleys. The level of detail that qwryzu has put into the build is astonishing, I had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't a photograph.
On their Planet Minecraft page, qwryzu explains that the build took them four months of work, and plenty of practice through the other smaller maps they've created. They use the usual software for Minecraft building—World Machine and World Painter—but include the detail that all the rivers were created by hand, which is impressive considering the patience involved.

GAMING NEWS

Microsoft Flight Simulator July 27th PC Performance Update released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/microsoft-flight-simulator-july-27th-pc-performance-update-released-full-patch-notes/
Microsoft has just released the highly anticipated PC performance patch for Microsoft Flight Simulator. While this update does not feature the promises DX12 API, it significantly improves performance on all PC systems.

Marvel’s Avengers Update 1.8.2 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/marvels-avengers-update-1-8-2-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Square Enix has announced that Marvel’s Avengers has launched a free update with the first of the game’s end-game challenges: Omega-Level Threat: Family Reunion.

First Halo Infinite Multiplayer Tech Preview launches this weekend
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-halo-infinite-multiplayer-tech-preview-launches-this-weekend/
It appears that Microsoft and 343 Industries are sending invitations for the first multiplayer tech preview for Halo Infinite. Spotted by Wario64, this multiplayer preview event will launch this weekend.

Edge of Eternity now supports both NVIDIA’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/edge-of-eternity-now-supports-both-nvidia-dlss-and-amd-fsr/
Midgar Studio has released a new patch for Edge of Eternity that adds support for AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution. As such, Edge of Eternity is yet another game that supports both NVIDIA’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR.

Back 4 Blood Open Beta begins on August 12th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/back-4-blood-open-beta-begins-on-august-12th/
Warner Bros and Turtle Rock Studios announced that the Open Beta phase for Back 4 Blood will begin on August 12th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the teams released a new trailer that you can find below.

Medieval Dynasty leaves Early Access and fully releases on September 23rd
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/medieval-dynasty-leaves-early-access-and-fully-releases-on-september-23rd/
Toplitz Productions and Render Cube announced that Medieval Dynasty, their Middle Ages survival sandbox life sim, will leave Early Access and fully release on September 23rd.

Nixxes Software will help Sony port its next PS4/PS5 games to PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nixxes-software-will-help-sony-port-its-next-ps4-ps5-games-to-pc/
Earlier this month, Sony announced the acquisition of Nixxes Software. Nixes is well known for its quality PC ports and from the looks of it, the studio will help Sony port its next PS4/PS5 games to the PC.
>> Not much of a surprise, is it?