Monday news, part two:

Starfield quietly drops Russian language support and Bethesda won't say why
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-quietly-drops-russian-language-support-and-bethesda-wont-say-why/
Bethesda has quietly removed Russian language support from its upcoming sci-fi RPG Starfield, and nobody seems to know why.
The change came to light by way of a nondescript entry in the Steam store page's changelog on SteamDB, which indicates that Russian and Russian subtitles were both removed from the game's listed supported languages on April 11. The https://store.steampowered.com/app/1716740/Starfield/">Internet Archive confirms that Russian language support was listed on the Starfield Steam page as recently as March 29.
>> As stated in the article, likely because it won't be launched in Russia.

Dark and Darker is still kicked off Steam, so Ironmace is 'going old school' with BitTorrent for the latest playtest and fans are loving it
https://www.pcgamer.com/dark-and-darker-is-still-kicked-off-steam-so-ironmace-is-going-old-school-with-bittorrent-for-the-latest-playtest-and-fans-are-loving-it/
Back in February, Ironmace promised that there'd be one more Dark and Darker playtest before the game went into early access release. The situation became unexpectedly complicated shortly after that, though: A legal beef with Nexon flared up, and Dark and Darker was deslited from Steam.
But Ironmace wants to push ahead with that final playtest, so it's doing things old-school—and I mean literally.

You're dead and stalked by Death Stranding monsters in this indie game about grief
https://www.pcgamer.com/youre-dead-and-stalked-by-death-stranding-monsters-in-this-indie-game-about-grief/
The screenshots and trailers on Steam don't do De-Exit: Eternal Matters any favors. This indie game, developed by SandBloom Studio, may have a cutesy voxel-based look, but it takes its subject matter very seriously.

Vampire Survivors' latest DLC is a perfect $2 jolt of the game I fell in love with last year
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-latest-dlc-is-a-perfect-dollar2-jolt-of-the-game-i-fell-in-love-with-last-year/
Vampire Survivors has gotten its second round of DLC, Tides of the Foscari, and like the first, Legacy of the Moonspell, there's a lot to love here: more characters, maps, items, and secrets for 2022's best roguelike, all for just two bucks. While the starting map, Lake Foscari, didn't immediately light my fire, the continuation of Vampire Survivor's signature secrets and unlocks really won me over.

The story of Rockstar's logo is a glimpse at the chaos of its early days
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-story-of-rockstars-logo-is-a-glimpse-at-the-chaos-of-its-early-days/
Rockstar's transformation from DMA Design—the Scottish developer behind the Lemming series as well as Grand Theft Auto—into an international publishing behemoth is a tale that's been told several times before. (...)
One story that hadn't been told in full is how the company's immediately recognizable logo with the R and star against a yellow background came to be. Until now, as Time Extension has tracked down former Rockstar designer Karen Scott (then Karen Mui), who explained how she and artist Jeremy Blake created the image that's become inseparable from the company.

CA clarifies how to unlock Ulrika in Total War: Warhammer 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-unlock-ulrika-in-total-war-warhammer-3/
Total War: Warhammer 3 has a new DLC, Forge of the Chaos Dwarfs, and with that paid DLC's release comes a "free-LC" for everyone. This time, it's a legendary hero for Kislev and Empire factions named Ulrika Magdova.

The Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition remaster has an optional HUD with a Doom-style ouch face
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-rise-of-the-triad-ludicrous-edition-remaster-has-an-optional-hud-with-a-doom-style-ouch-face/
In case you missed it, there's a 4K remaster of Rise of the Triad, the cult first-person shooter where you first-person shoot cultists, due out this year. It's a collaboration between Apogee Entertainment, Nightdive Studios, and New Blood Interactive, who recently shared some extra details on how they're updating this classic.

This grappling hook horde survival shooter's free demo already has me hooked
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-grappling-hook-horde-survival-shooters-free-demo-already-has-me-hooked/
First spotted by AlphaBetaGamer, Van Hellswing's free demo already gets my hearty recommendation. It's basically like Devil Daggers⁠—horde mode PFS survival against floating, swarming enemies⁠—except you're trapped in a vertically complex arena and given a sick grappling hook.

Stardew Valley is getting a surprise update with new content
https://www.pcgamer.com/stardew-valley-is-getting-a-surprise-update-with-new-content/
Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone, the creator of megahit farm builder/RPG Stardew Valley, announced via Twitter that the game will be receiving a 1.6 update. Though Barone qualifies that it's "mostly changes for modders" and much smaller in scope than 2020's 1.5 addition, it will have new content and is a large enough project that Barone is taking a break from working on the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier to deliver it.

That Renfield movie with Nic Cage has a Vampire Survivors-style tie-in game, and it has no right to be this good
https://www.pcgamer.com/that-renfield-movie-with-nic-cage-has-a-vampire-survivors-style-tie-in-game-and-it-has-no-right-to-be-this-good/
I'm gonna level with you⁠—I did not have high hopes for Mega Cat Studios' tie-in game for Renfield, a horror-comedy with Nicolas Cage playing Dracula in what looks like a riff on What We Do In The Shadows. (...)
Wouldn't you know it though, Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood kinda whips. It passed possibly the most crucial test for me in that I sat down to play it for a quick "yea or nay" writeup and kept at it for way longer than I planned, promising "ok, this is the last run" to myself no less than four times.

Diablo 4 dungeons won't waste your time with boring objectives and dead ends when it launches this June
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-dungeons-wont-waste-your-time-with-boring-objectives-and-dead-ends-when-it-launches-this-june/
If there was one prominent criticism of Diablo 4's beta, it was the lack of dungeon variety and the monotony of the objectives within them.
Blizzard published a blog post today that looks a lot like patch notes for Diablo 4's June 6 release. Among a list of class changes, there's a section about how Blizzard took all the beta feedback and tweaked the layout of several dungeons in the Fractured Peaks zone.

Diablo 4 is bafflingly refusing to implement map overlay at launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-is-bafflingly-refusing-to-implement-map-overlay-at-launch/
If you were eagerly hoping that Diablo 4 would feature an overlay map when it releases in June, it's bad news. It's been confirmed that there are no current plans to add what has traditionally been a series staple to its newest iteration.

American McGee wants to move on from Alice and asks fans to do the same
https://www.pcgamer.com/american-mcgee-wants-to-move-on-from-alice-and-asks-fans-to-do-the-same/
American McGee is putting the pain and frustration of EA rejecting his latest Alice game behind him, and he's asking that fans of the series do the same.
(...)
Understandably, the news hit McGee and his fans pretty hard. At the time, he said he was done "with game production in general," adding "I have no other ideas or energy left to apply toward getting a new Alice game made. Nor do I have any interest in pursuing new game ideas within the context of the current environment for game development." That still appears to be true, with McGee saying he's doing his best to move on from the series and wants everyone else to move on too.

Sega splurges $776 million on Angry Bird creators Rovio
https://www.pcgamer.com/sega-splurges-dollar776-million-on-angry-bird-creators-rovio/
Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish-founded studio behind the Angry Birds games, has agreed to its purchase by Japanese gaming giant Sega. Sega Sammy Holdings will pay $776 million (€706m / £625m) for the acquisition, which includes all eight of Rovio's global studios, and it's buying the company to "strengthen its position" in mobile gaming, which has always been Rovio's main focus.
>> Ryuu96 made a thread during the weekend about this possible deal, now apparently confirmed.

First of all, congratulations for what will be a great gaming PC, and also one that last long with those 64GB of RAM.

And while you've already set your eyes on a monitor, there's a site with a search feature that can ehlp you compare different monitors/TVs, with the option to search for size, resolution, panel type, etc. Here it is if you're interested: https://www.displayspecifications.com/en/display-finder

I hope AMD learns the lesson, but it's still smarter if I leave my options open to both AMD and Nvidia, and we don't know if Nvidia will learn that lesson or not.

Wow congrats! That's one hell of a beast hot damn! Just remember to set the expo timing and enable memory context restore when you get it. It will save you from slow boot times!

Congrats to you too! I guess upgrade season is upon us lol. 4090 TUF is one beast of a 4090.

Yea that's a nice TV for it's price. I would also looked into the Samsung QN90B series when they go on sale.

https://www.rtings.com/monitor/reviews/samsung/43-qn90b-qled

The main difference is that the QN90B is MiniLED with 360 local dimming zones vs 8 on the Gigabyte. But the Gigabyte one has better viewing angles as far as I can tell and better text clarity at 144hz.

nVidia GeForce RTX 4070 Meta Review

https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/comments/12oiqcd/nvidia_geforce_rtx_4070_meta_review/

- Compilation of 17 launch reviews with ~5320 gaming benchmarks at all resolutions

AMD’s 96-core EPYC Genoa-X engineering sample with over 1GB of cache goes on sale in China

https://videocardz.com/newz/amds-96-core-epyc-genoa-x-engineering-sample-with-over-1gb-of-cache-goes-on-sale-in-china

AMD Ryzen 7040 Phoenix rumored to launch in late April, nearly 4 months after being announced

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-7040-phoenix-rumored-to-launch-in-late-april-nearly-4-months-after-being-announced

Oh, I saw your posts earlier, I'll change the setup for sure. There's a reason why we buy fast drives... :P I'm considering clocking the memory up to 6400, to get those last few percent performance, but it's probably completely redundant. I think I'll keep the GPU stock, I'm going for low temps and a long and healthy life first and foremost. This isn't the kind of money one can spend on a regular basis.

I looked at that Samsung, and many other OLED and QLED sets. The great thing about QLED is that it doesn't suffer from burn-in, from my understanding. Apparently though, Samsung displays, even the newer G7, have some trouble with even the newer nVidia cards. Their version of g-sync "support" seems to disable HDR, and vice-versa, which is an issue. Buying a display is a lot harder than finding parts for the rig itself, at least in my opinion. So many potential trade-offs! I'll be wanting a new keyboard as well, mine has served me long enough. I'm thinking of something with an integrated wrist support, since I now have old-man hands. For the mouse, I'll just get another 502, the X model is a bit wider and fits my hand well. Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2 seems to be out of stock everywhere, I hear it's a nice one (I have the Ultimate Stealth today).

If anyone has a good suggestion for keyboard, feel free!

Awesome. I will say that from what I have seen, overclocking memory on Ryzen to 6400 is not the easiest thing even if the motherboard supports it due to infinity fabric speed. So that is one thing to be aware of that even if your motherboard and ram runs at 6400, if your infinity fabric is not able to run at half that, the ratio will get goofed and you will have severe performance penalty. It's the main reason I got a 6000 mhz CL30 kit to keep those timings low out of the box.

And that's interesting as I haven't heard about that issue. But yea I agree that finding the perfect display is one hell of a chore lol. I am wanting 4k 32 inch miniled or OLED monitor that's flat but alas, that isn't happening. I would have gotten the Samsung Neo G7 but that curve is a bit too much for me. Maybe next year lol.

I'm almost sure the QN90B supports GSync HDR (as well as FreeSync HDR with LFC) but it can be a bit jank to set up since sometimes you have to do it in a certain order to not auto-disable other stuff.

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(Click here for the top 100)

GOG has launched a new Publisher Sale with Activision Blizzard featuring up to 67% discounts until May 2nd: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_activion_blizzard_sale.

Steam has four new sales and also new weeklong deals:

• The Earth Appreciation Festival 2023 arrives with up to 90% discounts until the 24th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/appreciateearth2023
• Publisher Yogscast Games celebrates its own Spring Sale putting its games up to 90% off until April 24: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/yogscastgames/sale/yogscastspringsale
• Publisher CI Games also puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts, but until the 1st of May: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/cigames/sale/2023
• Not wanting to be left behind, Publisher Raw Fury has decided that they also want some action, and have also puts its games up to 90% off until May 1st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/rawfurypublishersale2023
• And these are nothing but a minuscule sample of the weeklong deals:
  • The quite new Phantom Brigade, that has a demom will be 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/553540/Phantom_Brigade/
  • BLACKTAIL gets a 34% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1532690/BLACKTAIL/
  • Nova Drift, still in Early Access, is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/858210/Nova_Drift/
  • Necromunda: Hired Gun gets a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1222370/Necromunda_Hired_Gun/
  • Seasons after Fall is 80% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/366320/Seasons_after_Fall/
  • And Panzer Dragoon: Remake gets a 90% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1178880/Panzer_Dragoon_Remake/

There are three new sales at the Humble Store:

• Publisher Kalypso puts its games up to 80% off during 6 days. The keys are all for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/kalypso-publisher-sale/
• The Mechs & Mechanics Sale features up to 90% discounts during 6 days. There are keys for Steam. GOG, EGS, UPlay and the Rockstar thing: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/mechs-machines-sale/
• And the PvE-Players Vs Enemies Sale comes with up to 90% deals suring 6 days. There are keys for Steam. GOG, EGS(1) and UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/pve-sale/

Fanatical has launched the Intrigue Bundle, with 11 games and a 97% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/intrigue-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

First look at The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with DLSS 3 Frame Generation
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-look-at-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-with-dlss-3-frame-generation/
Earlier this month, we informed you about a DLSS 3 Frame Generation that is in development for Elden Ring and Skyrim. And yesterday, PureDark released a video that gives us a glimpse at this DLSS 3 Mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
In this video, PureDark simulated a CPU-bottleneck scenario in order to showcase the framerate improvements that DLSS 3 Frame Generation brings to the table. And, as with other games using DLSS 3, you can expect your overall performance to double.
>> The video is less than 3 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Elden Ring Update 1.09.1 released and here are its full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/elden-ring-update-1-09-1-released-and-here-are-its-full-patch-notes/
FromSoftware has released Update 1.09.1 for Elden Ring. According to the release notes, this patch fixes a couple of bugs, and brings a balance tweak to the game.

The Division 2 Update 17.2 improves DX12 performance & stability, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-division-2-update-17-2-improves-dx12-performance-stability-full-patch-notes/
Ubisoft has released Update 17.2 for Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 which, among other things, improves DX12 performance and stability.

The Tuesday news, part two:

Mega Man re-releases add warning about 'insensitive cultural depictions' but leave the games unchanged
https://www.pcgamer.com/mega-man-re-releases-add-warning-about-insensitive-cultural-depictions-but-leave-the-games-unchanged/
Capcom has added a disclaimer to both volumes of The Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, a re-release of ten games in the spin-off strategy series, which warns players of "insensitive cultural depictions" at the start of the game. It does not specify what these are but, as soon as the warning was spotted on gaming forum Resetera, users began posting examples of what the game includes that probably falls under this description. The games' content has not been altered.

The new steampunk adventure game from the makers of Myst recommends 32GB RAM and this is why
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-new-steampunk-adventure-game-from-the-makers-of-myst-recommends-32gb-ram-and-i-have-no-idea-why/
Firmament, the new game from Myst developer Cyan, will be out on May 18, and it will probably not surprise you to hear that, going by the new trailer, it will be a lot like Myst.

Valheim is getting a creative mode and some truly brutal hardcore difficulty options
https://www.pcgamer.com/valheim-is-getting-a-creative-mode-and-some-truly-brutal-hardcore-difficulty-options/
As teased back in January, Iron Gate Studio has been working on adding difficulty settings for Viking survival game Valheim. Today on Twitter Valheim lead designer Jonathan Smårs gave us a quick look at what's planned, ranging from a creative mode that lets you build without resources to a peaceful "casual" mode to a hardcore setting that will brutally punish the bravest (or most foolhardy) players.

Former Halo Infinite creative lead Joseph Staten joins Netflix to head up an all-new 'AAA multiplatform game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-halo-infinite-creative-lead-joseph-staten-joins-netflix-to-head-up-an-all-new-multiplatform-game/
Longtime Bungie writer and former Halo Infinite creative lead Joseph Staten left Microsoft earlier this month, and now we know where he's going: To Netflix.
"In my work life, there's nothing I love more than collaborating with others to build worlds filled with iconic characters, deep mysteries, and endless adventures," Staten tweeted. "So today, I'm thrilled to announce that I've joined Netflix Games as Creative Director for a brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP. Let's go!"

A new multiplayer Harry Potter game promises all the online Quidditch you can't play in Hogwarts Legacy
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-multiplayer-harry-potter-game-promises-all-the-online-quidditch-you-cant-play-in-hogwarts-legacy/
Remember how it seemed so odd that you can't play Quidditich in Hogwarts Legacy, even though it's the most famous and popular sport in the wizarding world and central to the story of Harry Potter? Anyway, never mind that, because in entirely unrelated news Warner Bros has revealed an all-new multiplayer set in the world of Hogwarts called Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.

Diablo 4 has officially gone gold
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-has-officially-gone-gold/
It doesn't mean much in this era of live-service games and day one patches, but 'going gold' is still a fun little milestone, and today Blizzard announced that Diablo 4 has officially crossed that line.

With yet another senior departure, it seems like just about all of Halo's leadership has changed over in the last 2 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/with-yet-another-senior-departure-it-seems-like-just-about-all-of-halos-leadership-has-changed-over-in-the-last-2-years/
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to PC Gamer that Halo's franchise director, Frank O'Connor, has left Microsoft, telling us, "We thank Frank for his numerous contributions to the Halo franchise and wish him well going forward." O'Connor's departure was first reported over the weekend by Windows Central, who noticed that his LinkedIn had been updated to show him leaving Microsoft for a new role at an unspecified company.

Fans of a sweatier Call of Duty are championing Ubisoft's free-to-play XDefiant
https://www.pcgamer.com/fans-of-a-sweatier-call-of-duty-are-championing-ubisofts-free-to-play-xdefiant/
The closed beta for upcoming Ubisoft FPS XDefiant managed to attract more eyeballs on Twitch last week than Warzone 2—not bad for a game that was heckled into a hole a couple years ago when it was first announced as a Tom Clancy game.

The world's most disgusting grenade is now available in Overwatch 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-worlds-most-disgusting-grenade-is-now-available-in-overwatch-2/
Somehow Blizzard got away with adding the most disgusting grenade in videogames to Overwatch 2.
The hero shooter's latest season has a space opera-themed battle pass, including the Intergalactic Smuggler skin for Ashe. Initially, I thought it was a cute skin. Blizzard gave the ornery cowgirl red hair, wrapped her outfit in tentacled alien creatures, and made her robot butler, B.O.B., a big alien himself. It's a little Firefly-esque with her puffy brown vest, but it works.

Counter-Strike skin sells for $400K, probably the most expensive gun in videogame history
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-skin-sells-for-dollar400k-probably-the-most-expensive-gun-in-videogame-history/
The surprise announcement of Counter-Strike 2, currently in a limited beta and due to launch this summer, came with one very important piece of news for existing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players. All of the weapon skins from CS:GO will be carrying over to the new game. CS:GO's skins market has always been a fascinating side element of the game's success, and rare skins going for silly money has been happening for a long time now, but this element of the CS2 announcement saw even fairly unremarkable skins begin to spike in value.