The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Here's your chance to win our favourite gaming headset and microphone of 2021
https://www.pcgamer.com/epos-argos-giveaway/
Are your ears begging for some new audio goodness, or have your Discord pals had enough of your old muffled microphone? Then it's your lucky day as PC Gamer is teaming up with Argos and EPOS to give you the chance to win two of our top picks in the PC Gamer Hardware Awards 2021: the award-winning EPOS H6PRO headset and the B20 microphone. Not only that, but UK dwellers will receive a £250 voucher to spend at Argos, while those outside the UK will receive an equivalent voucher to spend on the EPOS website.
(...)
To win these goodies, all you have to do is head over to this thread on the PC Gamer forums, tell us which EPOS product from Argos.co.uk is your favourite, and then fill out the widget to enter. Make sure you enter by 11:59 PM GMT on August 17 and complete all instructions for the chance to win. Good luck!
>> Good luck!

The hot new co-op farming game is called Dinkum
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-hot-new-co-op-farming-game-is-called-dinkum/
New farming and life sim Dinkum takes the cozy island living formula and soups it up with what the genre desperately needed: crocodiles. This Australian-inspired island won't dispel any of the memes about the outback being dominated by wildlife waiting to murder you. Given that, I'll be planting crops and petting the excessively large wombats back in town instead, thank you.
Dinkum launched last week in early access, wrangling a peak of almost 9,000 players on Sunday and earning an "overwhelmingly positive" batch of 95% user recommendations so far. Neither is a small feat for a self-published indie game in early access. Solo developer and Australian local James Bendon says he wants to "recreate a little bit of his childhood magic and nostalgia," with Dinkum's Aussie-based biomes and animals.

Steam has several new deals, including a new range of weeklong deals:

• The first Midweek Madness deal is Terraformers, still in Early Access, 20% off until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1244800/Terraformers/
• Life is Strange: True Colors will be 50% off until July 21: https://store.steampowered.com/app/936790/Life_is_Strange_True_Colors/
• PC Building Simulator will be 70% off until Thursday 21: https://store.steampowered.com/app/621060/PC_Building_Simulator/
• Halo Wars: Definitive Edition gets a 75% discount until the 21st of July: https://store.steampowered.com/app/459220/Halo_Wars_Definitive_Edition/
• Necromunda: Hired Gun will be 50% off until the next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1222370/Necromunda_Hired_Gun/
• The Steam VR Fest features up to 80% discounts from now until the 24th: https://store.steampowered.com/vr/
• And here are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Tavern Master is 15% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1525700/Tavern_Master/
  • Unforeseen Incidents gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/501790/Unforeseen_Incidents/
  • Paper Dolls: Original / 纸人 is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1051310/Paper_Dolls_Original/
  • Röki is 65% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1067540/Rki/
  • Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon Game gets a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/886900/Chef_A_Restaurant_Tycoon_Game/
  • And Agent A: A puzzle in disguise, that has a demo, is a massive 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/801480/Agent_A_A_puzzle_in_disguise/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The tinyBuild Publisher Sale features up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG (2) and EGS (1): https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/tinybuild-publisher-sale/
• The Koch Media Publisher Sale also comes with up to 90% discounts during 6 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/koch-media-pub-sale/

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is the LucasArts Adventure Pack, 80% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/lucasarts-adventure-pack
• And the new Essential VR Bundle brings 6 games with a 89% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/essential-vr-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity CEO apologizes for calling developers 'f**king idiots,' promises to do better
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-ceo-apologizes-for-calling-developers-fking-idiots-promises-to-do-better/
Unity CEO John Riccitiello did not make many new friends when he said last week that developers who don't consider monetization early in the process of making games are "fucking idiots." His point was relatively innocuous—if you want to make money, you better think about how you're going to do it so you don't accidentally annoy your players—but the wording was decidedly not great.
Reacting to the immediate (and entirely predictable) backlash, Riccitiello dismissed reports of his statement as "clickbait" and "out of full context," although he added that he was "deeply sorry if what I said offended any game dev." This didn't help very much: Several responses to his tweet noted that saying sorry if people were offended isn't really the same as being sorry for what was said. Perhaps with that in mind, Riccitiello posted a more robust apology over the weekend, saying that he is listening to criticism and "will do better."
>> Imho, he could do better by quitting.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Swelter, story-driven mod for Half-Life 2, gets a teaser trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/swelter-story-driven-mod-for-half-life-2-gets-a-teaser-trailer/
The team behind an upcoming story-driven mod for Half Life 2, called Swelter, has released a debut teaser trailer for it. This trailer features in-engine footage, so it can give you an idea of what you can expect from it (visual-wise).
Swelter takes place several years before the events of Half-Life 2, and tells about the internal contradictions within the Resistance forces that arose during the rebellion against the Combine in the post-Soviet city of Central Asia.
The mod will feature classic HL2 shooter gameplay, puzzles, and will allow you to drive a controlled vehicle. Additionally, players can expect to freely explore the game’s areas.

Reshade 5.3.0 available for download, brings performance improvements in OpenGL & DX12
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/reshade-5-3-0-available-for-download-brings-performance-improvements-in-opengl-dx12/
The developer of one of the most used post-processing injector tool, Reshade, has released a brand new version of it. According to crosire, Reshade 5.3.0 packs performance improvements to both OpenGL and DirectX 12. Moreover, it fixes a number of bugs that plagued this tool.
Going into more details, Reshade 5.3.0 fixes mouse input and input blocking in Gothic (and other games using DirectInput 7). It also resolves an issue that prevented using Reshade in UWP applications. Additionally, it addresses an issue that could cause screen darkening when using MSAA swap chain in D3D10/11 games.
>> There's a link to this new version in the article.

Gran Turismo 4 gets remastered on PC thanks to these mods
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/gran-turismo-4-gets-remastered-on-pc-thanks-to-these-mods/
Although Polyphony has not released any of the Gran Turismo games on PC, PC gamers can enjoy a remastered version of GT4 via PS2 emulation. By using the following mods, PC gamers can significantly improve the visuals of this classic console racing game.
Naturally, in order to play Gran Turismo 4 on PC, you will need a PS2 emulator. Right now, PCSX2 is the best Playstation 2 emulator so we highly recommend using that one.
>> Ah, GT 4! The last GT game I played because I found it boring as f*ck. Anyway, there's a long video showing the improvements.

GAMING NEWS

John Romero is working on a new FPS that will be using Unreal Engine 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/john-romero-is-working-on-a-new-fps-that-will-be-using-unreal-engine-5/
John Romero has announced that he is working on a brand new FPS that will be using Epic’s Unreal Engine 5. Although Romero did not reveal much, we do know that this will be an original new IP. So yeah, no Daikatana 2 for you.

Tuesday news, part two:

EVE: Valkyrie blinks out of existence in a few weeks
https://www.pcgamer.com/eve-valkyrie-blinks-out-of-existence-in-a-few-weeks/
Earlier this month, CCP rather snuck out the announcement that it would be ending support for EVE: Valykrie, the once-heralded VR space shooter that was an early demonstration of the technology's potential, alongside its non-VR version, Warzone. For a game that's mainly about PvP dogfighting, the end is nigh.

EA says LGBTQIA+ identities 'are a fact of life, not a toggle to be switched on and off' in The Sims
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-says-lgbtqia-identities-are-a-fact-of-life-not-a-toggle-to-be-switched-on-and-off-in-the-sims/
Electronic Arts says that it will not add a toggle to The Sims 4 that will let players disable a new, incoming feature that will allow them to select the sexual orientation of their Sims through three prompts.
Currently, who your Sim is attracted to can shift with gameplay and they will "WooHoo," to use the Sims vernacular, with any gender. But an update coming later this month will give players the ability to set various options including whether their Sim is attracted to men, women, both, or neither.

Monkey Island in-game footage shows off the remake's controversial new art direction
https://www.pcgamer.com/monkey-island-in-game-footage-shows-off-the-remakes-controversial-new-art-direction/
The first reveal of Return to Monkey Island gameplay earlier this month did not go as planned: A day later, Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert said he wouldn't be talking about the new game anymore because of the "personal attack comments" arising from its updated visual style. But Gilbert's Monkey Island cohort Dave Grossman has a somewhat different approach to the matter.
Grossman shared a 10-second clip of Return to Monkey Island gameplay earlier today on Twitter, showcasing hero Guybrush Threewood walking between buildings. And, yeah, that's it. Enter stage left, exit stage right.

Activision further embraces Steam with official publisher homepage
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-further-embraces-steam-with-official-publisher-homepage/
Activision is coming back to Steam in a big way in 2022. We've known for a while now that the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the first CoD to arrive on Steam since 2017, but it looks like Activision is getting ready for its grand return by gussying itself up with an official publisher homepage.

There's now a $20,000 bounty for anyone who can achieve the impossible in Halo 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/theres-now-a-dollar20000-bounty-for-anyone-who-can-achieve-the-impossible-in-halo-2/
If you have an abundance of time and a talent for Halo 2, you might be in with a chance of winning a five-figure bounty. All you have to do is achieve something that's never been done before in history.
Streamer Charlie 'Cr1tikal' White is offering $20,000 to anyone who can achieve a full 'Legendary All Skulls On' (LASO) playthrough of Halo 2 Anniversary without dying. That means a max difficulty playthrough with (almost) every modifier activated, whose effects range from 'your foes have more health' to 'all enemies are invisible now'. The only modifier you have to keep deactivated is the 'Envy' skull, which replaces your torch with an active camouflage system. Good luck.

Dead Cells promises 2023 will be 'by far our biggest year' since launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/dead-cells-promises-2023-will-be-by-far-our-biggest-year-since-launch/
Developers Motion Twin and Evil Empire have supported Dead Cells in seriously impressive fashion since the game's launch way back in 2018. Players have enjoyed a wealth of free updates alongside a smattering of paid-for DLC expansions, but most enjoyable of all is that the creators don't just add more stuff. Instead, they try to come up with a new mechanic or idea that whole new runs can be built around.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Graphics Card Allegedly Delivers Over 160 FPS In Control With RT & DLSS at 4K, 2x Performance Gain Over RTX 3090

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-graphics-card-allegedly-delivers-over-160-fps-in-control-with-rt-dlss-at-4k-2x-performance-gain-over-rtx-3090/

Tbh Control running in RT Ultra at 160FPS with an unknown DLSS setting isn't the real story. The real story is going to be the 4090 being able to run Control at 4k Native at 90 FPS with Ray Tracing set to Ultra.

This should mean that a 4080 will most likely be a 4k 60fps Native with Ray Tracing set to Ultra while 4070 Ti or lower are similar to Ampere where it's 4k DLSS or 1440p Native for Ray Tracing set to Ultra games. But I wouldn't be surprised if some games like Cyberpunk still require DLSS in Quality mode to get above 60fps when Ray Tracing is enabled.

AIDA64 update brings AMD Zen 4 optimized AVX-512 and AVX2 benchmarks

https://videocardz.com/newz/aida64-update-brings-amd-zen-4-optimized-avx-512-and-avx2-benchmarks

Poor Intel, removing AVX 512 just when Ryzen started implementing it

AMD EPYC 9654 “Genoa” 96 Core CPU Benchmarked In Cache & Memory Benchmark – Over 2x Inter-Cache Bandwidth Versus Milan-X & Up To 30 TB/s L1 Transfer Rates

https://wccftech.com/amd-epyc-9654-96-core-genoa-cpu-tears-apart-milan-x-sapphire-rapids-cache-latency-benchmarks-up-to-30-tbps-over-2x-performance-increase/

AMD Ryzen 7000 6-core CPU with 4.4 GHz clock and Gigabyte X670E motherboard spotted together

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-7000-6-core-cpu-with-4-4-ghz-clock-and-gigabyte-x670e-motherboard-spotted-together

One thing I do hope is that with Ryzen 7000, AMD lowers the price of their 6 core CPUs to sub $250 assuming the 13600k costs around $300. The main reason is that the 13600k is going to give you 14 cores (6P 8E) vs Ryzen is only 6 cores 12 threads. So imo, it's about time we go back to 8 cores 16 threads for around $300 era.

C'mon, Yuri. You really hope AMD will lower the price now, after what they did with the 5000 series and with Intel wanting to raise them? Unfortunately, not a chance in hell.

Intel Arc A380 discrete GPU reviews: “it’s like living in the middle of a minefield”

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-arc-a380-discrete-gpu-reviews-its-like-living-in-the-middle-of-a-minefield

Hopefully we see massive improvements when Battlemage comes around

Supply Chain Overstocked, NAND Flash 3Q22 Price Drop to Broaden to 8~13%, Says TrendForce

https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20220719-11310.html

Alienware Unleashes the Ultimate AMD Advantage Laptop and Industry-First 480Hz Display Technology

https://www.techpowerup.com/296975/alienware-unleashes-the-ultimate-amd-advantage-laptop-and-industry-first-480hz-display-technology

Feels like Alienware and companies in general needs to focus less on hz and more on panels. I'd rather take 144hz mini-led display or OLED over 480 IPS anyday of the week.

The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has three new Deals of the Day and two new sales:

• The first DofD is Empires: Dawn of the Modern World, 50% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/empires_dawn_of_the_modern_world
• The second DotD is Star Control: Origins - Galactic Edition, 65% off until Friday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_control_origins_galactic_edition
• The third DotD is Paradise Lost, with a 70% discount until the 22nd: https://www.gog.com/en/game/paradise_lost
• There's a Special Sale featuring Batman games up to 75 or 80% off (apparently, GOG isn't sure what it is). The sale will last until Monday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220720_batman_sale
• The Midweek Sale features simulation and exploration games up to 90% until the 24th: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220720_midweek_sale

Steam has three new deals:

• The new daily deal is UNO, that has ademo, 60% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/470220/UNO/
• The Riftbreaker, that also has a demo, will be 30% off until July 25: https://store.steampowered.com/app/780310/The_Riftbreaker/
• And Satisfactory, that's still in Early Access, gets a 40% discount until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/526870/Satisfactory/

And Fanatical has a new Star Deal and a new bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Shenmue III, 81% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shenmue-iii
• And the new Mighty Mystery Bundle brings up to 10 unknown games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mighty-mystery-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly Mod V1.5.2 is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-anomaly-mod-v1-5-2-is-available-for-download/
The team behind the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly project has released a brand new version of it. According to the release notes, version 1.5.2 brings a number of fixes and Quality of Life improvements to the engine and to the game.
In case you didn’t know, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly is a mod for Call of Pripyat that aims to be the most stable and customizable experience for fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. This project is also using the Monolith 64-bit engine, a custom fork of the X-Ray engine.

GAMING NEWS

No More Heroes 3 releases on PC on October 11th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/no-more-heroes-3-releases-on-pc-on-october-11th/
XSEED Games has announced that No More Heroes 3 will release on PC on October 11th. In order to celebrate this announcement, the publisher has also released a new trailer that you can find below.

No Man’s Sky Endurance Update 3.94 released, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-endurance-update-3-94-released-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Hello Games has just released the 20th free update for No Man’s Sky, called Endurance. In order to celebrate this release, the team released a brand new trailer that highlights its key features, and revealed its full patch notes.

Part two of the news:

As longtime Star Wars: The Old Republic creative director leaves, Bioware says it's 'committed' to the game's future
https://www.pcgamer.com/as-longtime-star-wars-the-old-republic-creative-director-leaves-bioware-says-its-committed-to-the-games-future/
Charles Boyd, creative director of Star Wars: The Old Republic and a 16-year Bioware veteran, has announced his departure from the game and studio. Bioware released a statement thanking Boyd, and took the opportunity to both reaffirm its commitment to the game, and lay out a five-person 'design leadership team' who'll shape its future.

First glimpses of Yakuza 8 appear on monitors in Sega office video
https://www.pcgamer.com/first-glimpses-of-yakuza-8-appear-on-monitors-in-sega-office-video/
Japanese mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakura took a jaunt down to Sega's development HQ recently, and while there managed to grab the world its first tantalising glimpse of Yakuza 8.

Bloodlines 2 'is in good hands' but won't appear at this year's PDXCon
https://www.pcgamer.com/bloodlines-2-is-in-good-hands-but-wont-appear-at-this-years-pdxcon/
We recently included Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (opens in new tab) on our list of games that we can't believe are still in development. We haven't heard anything substantial about it since early 2021, after all—we don't even know which studio is working on it at this point. But Fredrik Wester, CEO of publisher Paradox Interactive, recently said, again, that everything is fine.

Bungie levels multimillion lawsuit against cheating pest who threatened developers to 'keep your doors locked'
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-levels-multimillion-lawsuit-against-cheating-pest-who-taunted-and-threatened-keep-your-doors-locked/
Bungie's general counsel certainly keeps busy, and recent years has seen the studio take an increasingly aggressive approach towards would-be cheaters, hackers, and malicious jerks. It's perhaps no surprise that a studio which is one of the pioneers of a truly live service approach to game development should also take point on dealing with some of the inevitable problems around bad actors, and this particular target is a doozy.
A lawsuit filed in Seattle district court sees Bungie taking aim at one Luca Leone, who the Destiny 2 developer alleges of creating multiple accounts to evade bans, livestreaming himself cheating, and threatening the developers' employees.

Into the Breach launches free Advanced Edition update
https://www.pcgamer.com/into-the-breach-launches-free-advanced-edition-update/
Into the Breach: Advanced Edition, the major free update to our 2018 Ultimate Game of the Year, is now live on Steam, and that means we can now lay our eyes on the full rundown of everything that's changed.
>> Not only on Steam but also GOG.

Leaked Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC factions confirmed as the Champions of Chaos
https://www.pcgamer.com/leaked-total-war-warhammer-3-dlc-factions-confirmed-as-the-champions-of-chaos/
Last week, an update on the upcoming Immortal Empires campaign for Total War: Warhammer 3 accidentally leaked a DLC adding four factions with wonderfully Warhammer names to the Chaos race's roster. They're called the Ecstatic Legions, the Fecundites, Legion of the Gorequeen, and Puppets of Misrule. (I'm pretty sure I used to own a Metallica EP with a live version of Puppets of Misrule on it.) Creative Assembly has confirmed the leak was accurate, announcing the Champions of Chaos Lords Pack.

Lost Ark's new card-throwing arcanist class is basically Gambit from the X-Men
https://www.pcgamer.com/lost-arks-new-card-throwing-arcanist-class-is-basically-gambit-from-the-x-men/
The latest class to join Korean fashion-fantasy MMO Lost Ark is the arcanist, a third advanced class for mages alongside the existing bard and sorceress. Arcanists are part of July's Spells in Spades update, which also adds support effects to make climbing the item levels faster, higher difficulty levels for the Valtan Legion Raid and Abyssal Dungeons, a pool party event with water pistols, and beach-themed cosmetics.

Full DualSense support is cool, even if it is wired, but 48:9 aspect ratio support for Spider-Man Remastered?!?