There is just so many rumors right now and nothing concrete. Playing it by ear...

It's Thursday and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store is giving away... Borderlands 3! https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/borderlands-3
Next week, the free game will be also unknown.

GOG has two new sales:

• There's a new flash deal: Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight is 55% off during the next 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/moonstone_a_hard_days_knight
• There's a Bethesda Sale featuring up to 80% discounts until May 26: https://www.gog.com/partner/Bethesda

Steam has a new sale featuring the games from the Syberia franchise, that celebrates its 20th anniversary with between 20 and 80% discounts until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Syberia20Years

There are two new deals at Humble:

• There's a new Humble Bundle: the Battles of Yore Bundle, featuring up to 9 games to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/battles-of-yore-bundle
• And the Humble Store has a new flash deal: Hero's Hour will be 23% off during the next 26 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/heros-hour

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Latest version of RPCS3 offers major performance improvements in God of War 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Red Dead Redemption & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/latest-version-of-rpcs3-offers-major-performance-improvements-in-god-of-war-3-metal-gear-solid-4-red-dead-redemption-more/
The RPCS3 team has released a brand new version of its incredible Playstation 3 emulator that packs major performance improvements to a number of games.
Going into more details, Nekotekina optimized SPU performance which reduced SPU bottlenecks across the board allowing for higher RSX (PS3 GPU) utilization. Metal Gear Solid 4 saw the largest improvement from this change with most users seeing a 25-50% performance uplift.
Thanks to these improvements, Red Dead Redemption now runs faster by 5-20%. However, there are still some performance issues in towns, so the game is not yet marked as “playable”.

18-minute gameplay trailer released for Fallout 4’s DLC-sized Mod, Fallout London
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/18-minute-gameplay-trailer-released-for-fallout-4s-dlc-sized-mod-fallout-london/
The modding team behind the DLC-sized mod for Fallout 4, Fallout London, has released a brand new gameplay trailer for it. This trailer features 18 minutes of gameplay footage, thus it will give you a glimpse at what the team aims to create.

GAMING NEWS

Battlefield 2042 Update 4.1 releases tomorrow, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-2042-update-4-1-releases-tomorrow-full-patch-notes-revealed/
DICE has announced that Update 4.1 for Battlefield 2042 will release tomorrow. Moreover, the team revealed the full changelog for this patch that you can find below.
According to DICE, the focus for this update is to deliver further fixes, and Quality of Life improvements. Furthermore, the team will bring updates to All-Out Warfare rotations, alongside some balance changes to weapons and Specialists.
>> That tomorrow is today.

Sniper Elite 5 gets a new gameplay trailer that focuses on its Kill Cam
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/sniper-elite-5-gets-a-new-gameplay-trailer-that-focuses-on-its-kill-cam/
Rebellion has released a new gameplay trailer for Sniper Elite 5 which showcases the enhancements made to its Kill Cam. For the first time in the series, Kill Cam can now be triggered by particularly clinical shots using SMGs and pistols as well as for eliminations using rifles and takedowns.

New in-game trailer released for Hogwarts Legacy
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-in-game-trailer-released-for-hogwarts-legacy/
Warner Bros has released a brand new in-game trailer for Hogwarts Legacy. This new trailer showcases some of the game’s environments during rainy nights.

Project Palianytsia is the next game from the creators of The Sinking City and the Sherlock Holmes series
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-palianytsia-is-the-next-game-from-the-creators-of-the-sinking-city-and-the-sherlock-holmes-series/
Frogwares has announced they are working on a new title, codenamed Project Palianytsia. According to the studio, Project Palianytsia is a mix of eldritch horror coupled with Victorian-era mystery, aimed at fans of Frogwares’ The Sinking City and Sherlock Holmes series.

Hitman 3 will get Ray Tracing Shadows & Reflections on May 24th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/hitman-3-will-get-ray-tracing-shadows-reflections-on-may-24th/
IO Interactive has announced that the PC version of Hitman 3 will support Ray Tracing effects on May 24th. The company will be using Ray Tracing in order to enhance the game’s reflections and shadows. Additionally, IO Interactive will also add support for NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR 1.0.

Thursday news, part two:

Tiny Tina's Wonderlands did a lot better than Take-Two expected
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/tiny-tinas-wonderlands-did-a-lot-better-than-take-two-expected/
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands seems to have been a hit for Take-Two, with the publisher saying the game "outperformed our expectations" in its latest earnings report.

Amanita Design's next adventure will playfully explore 1984-style propaganda
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amanita-designs-next-adventure-will-playfully-explore-1984-style-propaganda/
There's really nothing quite like an adventure by Amanita Design, makers of memorable and beloved games like Samorost and Machinarium. So I'm sure I'm not the only one thrilled to see the Czech indie collective has just announced a new game. It's called Phonopolis, and the "hand-crafted adventure" will be the studio's first dive into full 3D graphics. Check out the beautiful and intriguing (but painfully brief) teaser above.

There's Warzone XP in King Kong's crown jewels
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/theres-warzone-xp-in-king-kongs-crown-jewels/
Operation Monarch, the latest live event in Call of Duty: Warzone, is the kind of crossover you'd expect from Fortnite. It adds King Kong and Godzilla, though the two behemoths aren't real interested in battling each other. (...)
Players will find their own ways to have fun, however, and one bold soldier did so by jumping a helicopter, flying it into the Eighth Wonder of the World's upper thigh region, and farming Warzone XP using the helicopter blades. Yes, as the player in question put it in a Reddit post that was first flagged NSFW then removed by the humorless mods of r/CODWarzone, "You get XP for tickling Kong's sack."

V Rising developers will make offline mode available 'as soon as possible'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/v-rising-developers-will-make-offline-mode-available-as-soon-as-possible/
V Rising is a new survival game from Swedish developers Stunlock Studios, and it's doing rather well for itself. Since launching in Early Access, as is traditional for survival games, the game about Dracula becoming a lumberjack to get enough wood to rebuild a castle shot up the Steam charts. It's number seven at time of writing, and has earned a user review rating of Very Positive.

Last year's best strategy game finally comes to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/last-years-best-strategy-game-finally-comes-to-steam/
Old World had our resident strategy buff frothing at the mouth, in excitement I hasten to add, at a 4X that was actually doing some new things. In our review Fraser described it as "a brilliant 4X, and one that I'd actually recommend over Civilization at the moment. It feels like a genuine step forward for the genre, boasting so many inventive, smart design decisions."
The game was released in July last year as an Epic store exclusive, and impressed us so much that it eventually scooped our Best Strategy gong for 2021. Now the exclusivity period has ended and the game's out on Steam and GOG, alongside a 10% launch discount and new DLC that is thrown-in for free if you take the plunge in the next fortnight.

EA's split with FIFA reportedly led to layoffs at its customer support studios
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/eas-split-with-fifa-reportedly-led-to-layoffs-at-its-customer-support-studios/
Up to 100 customer service workers at EA's Austin studio may be made redundant, with more in line at EA's Galway customer service office in Ireland, according to internal emails obtained by Kotaku this week.
The layoffs reportedly come in the wake of the publisher's split with FIFA, and an executive rethink as to how EA supports its sports franchise going forwards. Many of the jobs facing the axe worked in supporting live operations for FIFA '22, but it sounds like EA wants to outsource that work going forwards.
>> I don't know how was their customer service until now, but outsourced CS tends to be worse than the original.

This year's PC Gaming Show airs June 12 at 12:30 pm PT
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/pc-gaming-show-date-time-2022/
There's technically no E3 this year, but like migratory birds guided by Earth's magnetic field, flocks of game announcements will pass through Southern California this June anyway. 2022's most exciting group, recognizable by their RGB plumage, will congregate at the eighth annual PC Gaming Show on Sunday, June 12 at 12:30 pm Pacific, which will be livestreamed on Twitch, YouTube, and other major streaming platforms.

AMD Computex 2022 ‘High-Performance Computing’ By CEO, Dr. Lisa Su, To Feature Next-Generation Desktop & Mobile PC Innovations

https://wccftech.com/amd-computex-2022-ceo-dr-lisa-su-keynote-high-performance-desktop-mobile-pc-products/

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 to feature 512 CUDA cores, 4GB 64-bit memory, launches May 31st

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1630-to-feature-512-cuda-cores-4gb-64-bit-memory-launches-may-31st

Skip obviously

AMD X670E (Extreme) chipset for Ryzen 7000 “AM5” CPUs rumored to support PCIe Gen5 for GPU and storage

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-x670e-extreme-chipset-for-ryzen-7000-am5-cpus-rumored-to-support-pcie-gen5-for-gpu-and-storage

PlayStation Network Launcher Could Be Coming To PC: Report

https://www.dualshockers.com/playstation-network-launcher-could-be-coming-to-pc-report/

Oh boy, another launcher...

Next gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt planned to release Q4 2022

Borderlands 3 for free in the Epic Games Store.

Radeon Preview Driver, 50 Game Benchmark

This is the "DX11 fix" driver update. At 1440p/4k, it goes down to 2% in average. So while gains in some games are impressive, overall, not much has changed. Nvidia also updates their drivers that improves performance as well and hey, free performance from both camps is always good.

Framework Laptop upgrades to 12th gen Intel

https://community.frame.work/t/introducing-the-new-and-upgraded-framework-laptop/18646

Tested: AMD’s Ryzen 7 6800U brings big performance to the tiniest laptops

https://www.pcworld.com/article/703044/703044.html

Pretty impressive what it can do

Acer gaming laptop offers glasses-free 3D powered by an Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU

https://www.techradar.com/news/acer-gaming-laptop-offers-glasses-free-3d-powered-by-an-nvidia-rtx-3080-gpu

Guess Acer didn't get the memo that 3d is dead. Still I wouldn't mind getting this to play the hentai games that used the 3d tech back in the day.

Sega Is Delisting Classic Sonic Games From Digital Stores Ahead Of Sonic Origins' Launch

https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/04/26/sega-is-delisting-classic-sonic-games-from-digital-stores-ahead-of-sonic-origins-launch

When a country goes in big on crypto:

That bit at 1:05 makes me think of the Cryptoland fiasco:

Watch at your own peril.

RPCS3 is insane!

Also after looking at the requirements of Hitman 3 with Ray Tracing. AMD needs to make sure this doesn't happen with Lovelace vs RDNA 3:

AMD's RX 6000 series is just bad for RT. - Focus was more on compute/crypto I guess.

Roll on the Radeon 7000 series.

Ah already posted nvm