Where did consoles hurt you? Lmao, what a rant.

Zero drinking.

The Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Dead by Daylight is free to own on Epic Games Store for a limited time
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dead-by-daylight-is-free-to-own-on-epic-games-store-for-limited-time/
Epic Games and Behaviour Interactive have announced that Dead by Daylight is available for free on Epic Games Store. From today and until December 9th, PC gamers can visit its EGS page and acquire their free copy. (...) Epic Games is also giving away for free while True: learn (). while True: learn() is a puzzle/simulation game about things like machine learning, neural networks, big data and AI.
>> And next week, the free games will be "Godfall Challenger Edition" and also "Prison Architect".

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Roguebook will be 45% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/roguebook
• And the FlatOut Bundle, that includes 4 games, comes with a 90% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/flatout-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Take a look at Archosaur Games’ Unreal Engine 5 Teaser Tech Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-archosaur-games-unreal-engine-5-teaser-tech-video/
Archosaur Games has released a cross-platform teaser video using Unreal Engine 5 that was premiered today at the annual Unreal Open Day. This 45-second teaser tech video shows players for the first time what a next-gen cross-platform game will look like using UE5.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-Empty-

GAMING NEWS

New fifteen-minute-long gameplay video released for Dying Light 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-fifteen-minute-long-gameplay-video-released-for-dying-light-2/
Techland has released a new video for Dying Light 2: Stay Human, showcasing 15 minutes of brand new gameplay footage. According to the team, this new gameplay video shows off the game’s “A Place to Call Home” quest.

11 bit studios will be using Unreal Engine 4 & Unreal Engine 5 for its 10 upcoming projects
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/11-bit-studios-will-be-using-unreal-engine-4-unreal-engine-5-for-its-10-upcoming-projects/
11 bit studios has announced that after years of using its own proprietary technology, the company is now fully transitioning to Unreal Engine development. As part of a custom license agreement with Epic Games, 10 upcoming projects will be produced internally and externally under the 11 bit studios publishing umbrella. These games will be using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 technology.

Quake Remaster Update #2 released, adds Horde Mode and free add-on, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/quake-remaster-update-2-released-adds-horde-mode-and-free-add-on-full-patch-notes/
id Software and Nightdive Studios have released the second major update for Quake Remaster. According to the teams, this second patch adds a Horde Mode and a free add-on, and packs a number of quality-of-life improvements.

The Ascent Patch #5 released, packs performance, stability & gameplay improvements, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-ascent-patch-5-released-packs-performance-stability-gameplay-improvements-full-patch-notes/
Neon Giant has released the fifth update for sci-fi isometric action-shooter RPG, The Ascent. This new patch packs some performance and stability improvements, as well as some gameplay fixes.

Diablo 2: Resurrected Update 2.3 released, adds NVIDIA DLSS support, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/diablo-2-resurrected-update-2-3-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Blizzard has released a brand new patch for Diablo 2: Resurrected, that will update your game’s build to 67314. According to the release notes, Update 2.3 brings numerous gameplay, graphical and accessibility improvements. It also packs numerous bug fixes.

Free-to-play multiplayer dragon battle game, Century: Age of Ashes, is now available on Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/free-to-play-multiplayer-dragon-battle-game-century-age-of-ashes-is-now-available-on-steam/
Playwing has announced that its free-to-play multiplayer dragon battle game, Century: Age of Ashes, is now available on Steam. In order to celebrate this announcement, the team has also released the game’s launch trailer that you can find below.

Funcom and NUKKLEAR are working on an online multiplayer survival Dune game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/funcom-and-nukklear-are-working-on-an-online-multiplayer-survival-dune-game/
NUKKLEAR has announced that it is partnering with developer Funcom on their upcoming survival game set in the world of Frank Herbert’s Dune. NUKKLEAR will be taking on a co-development role, helping to realize the expanded scope of the title previously announced by Funcom.

First gameplay trailer released for the VR city creation game, Little Cities
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-released-for-the-vr-city-creation-game-little-cities/
nDreams and Purple Yonder have released the first gameplay trailer for their upcoming VR city creation game, Little Cities. In this game, players can create beautiful cities from the ground up and watch them flourish and come to life.

Aftermath is a new psychological survival thriller, gets a 2-minute in-engine teaser trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/aftermath-is-a-new-psychological-survival-thriller-gets-a-2-minute-in-engine-teaser-trailer/
One O One Games and META Publishing have revealed a new psychological survival thriller, called Aftermath. Moreover, the teams have shared a 2-minute in-engine teaser trailer that you can find below.

Ten minutes of gameplay footage from the Dragon’s Dogma-inspired action RPG, Arise of Awakener
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/ten-minutes-of-gameplay-footage-from-the-dragons-dogma-inspired-action-rpg-arise-of-awakener/
Gamera Game has shared a new developer diary for its Dragon’s Dogma-inspired action RPG, Arise of Awakener. This new dev diary packs ten minutes of brand new gameplay footage, so we strongly suggest watching it.

Chorus does not support any Ray Tracing effects at launch, runs silky smooth on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/chorus-does-not-support-any-ray-tracing-effects-at-launch-runs-silky-smooth-on-pc/
Chorus, the dark space shooter from Fishlabs Games, will release later today. And while the game supports NVIDIA’s DLSS tech, it will not support any Ray Tracing effects at launch.

Friday news, part two:

Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker Error 2002—What it is and what to do about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-14-endwalker-error-2002what-it-is-and-what-to-do-about-it/
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker is upon us, and the hype is very much real. (...)
The Error 2002 message may pop up for two reasons. The first is simply if the login server is experiencing high levels of traffic, which has a good chance of happening several times over the first few weeks of release.
The second reason is if the Data Center you're on exceeds 17,000 players waiting in the login queue. The cap is there to ensure things don't become too overloaded and buckle under pressure. With NA Data Centers having eight servers each and EU ones having six, that's roughly 2,000-3,000 people trying to log onto each server. I've been in queues close to 2,000 in the past, which makes me think we'll be seeing Data Centers capping out a couple of times over early access weekend.

Noble Fates is a castle management sim inspired by Rimworld
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/noble-fates-is-a-castle-management-sim-inspired-by-rimworld/
I'm a simple PC gamer, really. Just drop terms like kingdom management, simulation and Rimworld into a game blurb, and you have a degree of attention from me that borders on obsession. That's precisely what the PR folks behind upcoming kingdom sim Noble Fates did, and now I can't help but ruminate on how far this game will let me go in acting out my feudal fantasies.

US state treasuries are putting pressure on Activision Blizzard now, too
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/us-state-treasuries-are-putting-pressure-on-activision-blizzard-now-too/
The state treasurers of Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and Oregon are calling on Activision Blizzard to take action to address concerns expressed in November by shareholder group SOC Investment Group, and have requested a meeting with the company's board of directors to discuss the matter further.

GamesMaster got some kids to design a game, so now you can play Bouncing Bum Bums
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/gamesmaster-got-some-kids-to-design-a-game-so-now-you-can-play-bouncing-bum-bums/
(...)
Bouncing Bum Bums is not going to be troubling any game of the year lists, but this is what GamesMaster's all about. The kids want bums? A robot with a bum-bum mouth? Yeah screw it, let's go. Let's get a few shots in at E4 while we're at it.
>> You can play the game on your browser and there's a link on the article (arrow keys to move and space bar to grab the cows).

Epic asks leakers to not leak Fortnite Chapter 3, it leaks anyway on TikTok
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/fortnite-leak-chapter-3/
The relationship between Epic and Fortnite's small legion of data miners and leakers has always been a tense one. Perhaps no more so than when a new Fortnite season or chapter is around the corner. With Fortnite Chapter 3 on the horizon, Epic has reportedly been asking the usual leakers to abstain from spoiling anything related to the Fortnite Chapter 3 reveal event "The End."

Here's when Icarus unlocks in your time zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/icarus-release-time-date-steam-unlock/
It's almost time to hunt, build, survive, and gather precious exotic resources on a hostile alien world. Survival game Icarus releases on December 3 after several months of beta weekends. Icarus, from studio RocketWerkz (founded by Dean Hall of DayZ fame) is a session-based survival game and can be played solo or with up to 8 players. It's launching simultaneously across the world, so there's no need to mess with your Steam region settings.

Some kind of game-shaped thing based on The Matrix is coming
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/some-kind-of-game-shaped-thing-based-on-the-matrix-is-coming/
The Matrix is getting very meta. The fourth film in the series, The Matrix Resurrections, is set to debut later this month, resurrecting (get it?) the stylish cyber-dystopian tale of false lives. And based on a leak that appeared today on Reddit, we'll also at some point be getting "an Unreal Engine 5 experience" called The Matrix Awakens.

The Battlefield series is now in the hands of Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-battlefield-series-is-now-in-the-hands-of-respawn-co-founder-vince-zampella/
Battlefield 2042 doesn't include a singleplayer campaign, but something like a new Battlefield campaign is probably in the early stages of development. EA announced today that Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella will oversee the Battlefield series from here on out, and that new Battlefield "experiences" are coming from Ripple Effect, the studio that made Battlefield 2042's Portal mode, as well as a new Seattle-based studio led by Marcus Lehto, the former Bungie art and creative director who designed Master Chief.

After a decade of waiting, one of the most troubled RPGs of all time is getting an expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/after-a-decade-of-waiting-one-of-the-most-troubled-rpgs-of-all-time-is-getting-an-expansion/
The tale of Kingdoms of Amalur is a long and sad one, beginning with celebrity developers and ending in a salty morass of unpaid staff, a collapsed game studio, and charges of tax fraud. It took four years to sort that mess out: When it was all over, 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling agreed to a $2.5 million settlement, leaving Rhode Island taxpayers on the hook for another $28.2 million.
Compounding the sadness of the whole thing is that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is really quite good. THQ Nordic purchased the license to the game in 2018 but a remaster seemed unlikely, given the complications of intellectual property laws, but a couple years later we got one—and in less than two weeks from today, we're also getting a brand new expansion called Fatesworn.

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe will be out early 2022, for real this time
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-stanley-parable-ultra-deluxe-will-be-out-early-2022-for-real-this-time/
During the Game Awards in 2018, an expanded version of entirely serious office-life drama The Stanley Parable was announced with a release date of 2019. (...)
And so, the new trailer begins: "What does it mean to be a videogame developer? It means lying, boldly and brazenly to your audience, promising them release dates that are wildly outside the realm of reality." Then it confidently announces a new release date of "early 2022". However, this time it's "content complete." It even has a Steam page. I think it might actually be for real. (If you're reading this from the future and it's not, please don't laugh.)

Destiny 2's event for Bungie's 30th anniversary brings major armor changes that will enable full loadout swapping
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/destiny-2s-event-for-bungies-30th-anniversary-brings-major-armor-changes-that-will-enable-full-loadout-swapping/
In its customary "This Week at Bungie" update, the developer outlined some substantial quality of life changes coming to Destiny in its 30th anniversary event next week. Alongside some tantalizing images from the official Destiny 2 Twitter account and the Steam page teasing the paid elements of the release, for many players one of the most exciting changes will be to the way armor management works.

Following backlash, EA puts Battlefield 2042 Santa skin back in the sack
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ea-sacks-off-battlefield-2042-santa-skin-following-player-backlash/
It's not been a great week for Battlefield 2042. Amidst plummeting player counts, ongoing technical issues and negative player reviews, a leak yesterday revealed a Santa Claus skin that was planned for the game's next big update. It didn't go down well at all, and now it seems that Santa Claus is no longer coming to town, with EA DICE saying that they 'presently have no plans to utilize all the skins this holiday.'

Teardown's campaign now complete with flamethrowing robots and tornadoes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/teardowns-campaign-now-complete-with-flamethrowing-robots-and-tornadoes/
Teardown is a chaotic, destructive sandbox and a great puzzle game. From launch the game found a sizeable and dedicated player base that loves experimenting with its collapsible environments, a side of the game that the newly released Part 2 update leans into: It basically goes full Garry's mod, with rocket-boosters and wire-propelled catapults.

The Last Night to 'make a comeback' in 2022, says developer
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-last-night-to-make-a-comeback-in-2022-says-developer/
The trajectory of cinematic cyberpunk platformer The Last Night has been a sobering lesson to never fall in love with a 'First Look' trailer. The game's debut at E3 2017 was mesmerising; a hypnotic 120-second stroll through a dystopian city drenched in rain and neon, presented through a tasteful layering of pixel art and 3D graphics.

New World celebrates Christmas by getting players to grind tokens to please a big yeti
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-world-celebrates-christmas-by-getting-players-to-grind-tokens-to-please-a-big-yeti/
Amazon Game Studios has announced the latest batch of stuff coming to New World's public test realm, the game's standard way of testing out its latest content before releasing it to the masses. The PTRs pop up as temporary servers that all players are able to access, and provide pre-built characters for players to test out the content at various levels. This one's content, unsurprisingly, has a big winter vibe.

Let's end the news by checking the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• The Weekly Sale comes with a mix of games up to 80% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211129_weekly_sale
• The Midweek Sale is full of "engaging building games" up to 80% off for another 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211201_midweek_sale
• The first flash deal is Drakensang, 80% off during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/drakensang
• The second flash deal is Singularity, also 80% off for the same 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/singularity
• The Weekend Sale is full of adventure games with up to 90% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211203_weekend_sale
• Kangura Games has released four new titles on the store and they'll be on sale, from 20 to 50% off, until December 10th. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/news/4_engaging_titles_from_kagura_games_are_here
• Techland celebrates its 30th anniversary by giving away the game Crime Cities until the 9th of December: https://www.gog.com/game/crime_cities
• Techland also puts some of its classics on sale, up to 80% off until December 16: https://www.gog.com/promo/techland_classics

+Steam

• The first daily deal is The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, 35% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272160/The_Life_and_Suffering_of_Sir_Brante/
• The second daily deal is Accident, 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/852220/Accident/
• The first Weekend Deal is Teardown, still in Early Access, with a 20% discount until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1167630/Teardown/
• BIOMUTANT is 50% off until the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/597820/BIOMUTANT/
• Pathfinder and Outward are on sale, both alone and bundled, with between 40 and 70% discounts until Monday 6: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/pathfinder_outward
• A Plague Tale: Innocence will be 75% off until December 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/752590/A_Plague_Tale_Innocence/
• The Guildford Games Festival Sale comes with up to 80% discounts until Monday, December 6: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/guildfordgamesfestival2021
• And of course, there's also the (few) weeklong deals.

That's it for the week. Until next Monday, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

FTC Crashes NVIDIA’s Party by Suing to Block its $40 Billion Deal To Acquire Arm Holdings

https://wccftech.com/ftc-crashes-nvidia-party-by-suing-to-block-the-40-billion-deal-to-acquire-arm-holdings/


AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Launches In January & RX 6400 In March Next Year, Will Feature Entry-Level RDNA 2 ‘Navi 24’ GPU With 4 GB GDDR6 Memory

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-6500-xt-january-rx-6400-march-launch-rumor-entry-level-rdna-2-navi-24-gpu-4-gb-gddr6/


NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB Graphics Card Rumored For Launch on 27th January, Entry-Level Competition Against AMD Navi 24 & Intel ARC A300 Series

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-8-gb-graphics-card-rumored-for-launch-on-27th-january-entry-level-competition-against-amd-navi-24-intel-arc-a300-series/

I feel like these budget series cards are gonna have such awful price to performance ratios from both AMD and Nvidia that the 3060Ti will continue to be my entry level recommendation. Now yes, $400 MSRP or whatever the scalper price is would be nutty to suggest it being an entry level. But man, the GPUs are gonna be so shat judging by 6600XT/3060 that you may as well save up and get a 3060 Ti and not have to worry about being behind the consoles.

I really hope Intel doesn't shit the bed with their GPUs.

Take-Two has sent a trademark claim to Hazelight because of It Takes Two, forcing Hazelight to abandon any ownership of the game's name No details yet whether the game will be renamed or how this impacts its sales/marketing

"It Takes Two is the latest victim in a volley of trademark and copyright claims from publisher Take-Two, and just one of dozens of claims issued this year against a wide array of businesses and products.

US Patent Office records show Take-Two is behind filings to contest numerous names with connections to the words "rockstar", "social club", "mafia", "civilization" and more."

"If you look at the Trial and Appeals Board, you can see that Take-Two as filed at least extension requests for 25 challenges in the last three months. Most other game companies go back 6 or 7 years to get to that number. Take-Two is being very, very aggressive.

"It Takes Two by comparison, isn't a company name, and it's of limited use in any event due to the sheer number of goods and services that already use the phrase. I would suspect they simply wind up going untrademarked and relying on copyright."

Absolutely shameful showing from Take-Two. This is insane!

SCOOP: Sony is planning a new subscription service, code-named Spartacus, to take on Xbox Game Pass. It's being pitched as a three-tier service that will merge PlayStation Now with PlayStation Plus. Highest tier could include PS1/PS2/PSP games

Storck should sue them:

When Rhonin posted the other days that Take Two were suing ove the use of theterm Rampage, the link he posted showed all the other trademark/copyright cases they're involved in. They are clearly abusing the system.

But, even then, this one could have been somewhat reasonable given that both names are related to the videogames industry, and it could be argued that some people oculd think that both the videogame and the company had some form connection. But given that Take Two have waited until the game has been on the market for several months to make their move, that possibility no longer holds any ground, at least in my eyes.

3060 ti's high hash rate has destroyed such a good card. FE was suppose to be $400 USD/$550 CAD. Now non lhr ones are going for $1300 CAD ($975 USD) to non lhr being $1800 CAD (1400 USD).

Heck i had 6900 xt in my cart from Direct Drop AMD at retail price. That was cheaper than what some of these 3060 ti's going for.

Talking about this market is like a meta game in itself.