Apparently devs have been complaining internally at some places, and from what that Nerd Youtube channel got from some devs, is that they have not enough certs to make the call to fix the perf issues just before launch. When an exec/producer makes the call for a launch date, they 100% commit to it, and that is sadly out of a devs control (unless you're indie, you're your own boss and mostly call the shots).

I think we're at that stage where we're all hating these buggy/bad releases, then finding out later on it was a combo of execs being retarded and committing foolishly to launch dates, as well as shareholders not giving a fuck and wanting shit pushed out the door, so they can make their quick monopoly bucks (more like lottery, since that's what shareholders are doing in general).

It'll eventually reach a point where execs in these big corps are really going to have to either suffer heavier rules imposed on them, or a mass clean slate, because I know it's execs and shareholders are are the most problematic, but the rest of the world is still sat there scratching their heads and wondering why these games launch like this, or feature diming bs tactics. If somethings gotta go, it's the execs/shareholders first and foremost.

The Tuesday news" (Sorry I'm late)

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(Click here for the top 100)

Steam Sports Fest sale features birds, racoons, pro wrestlers, and the lowest price ever on FIFA 23 on PC—but sorry, no race cars
https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-sports-fest-sale-features-birds-racoons-pro-wrestlers-and-the-lowest-price-ever-on-fifa-23-on-pcbut-sorry-no-race-cars/
Valve has kicked off the Steam Sports Fest, an all-new Steam sale dedicated to sports, and if you're thinking to yourself, "I don't like sports games," it's worth checking out anyway: What qualifies as a "sport" in this sale is defined very loosely.

You can grab 500 hours of Mass Effect and Dragon Age for 20 bucks right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-can-grab-500-hours-of-mass-effect-and-dragon-age-for-20-bucks-right-now/
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "I sure wish I had something to do with these free 500 hours I have". Well search no more, friend, because over on Steam you can pick up a bundle containing the entire Dragon Age and Mass Effect collection—some of our best RPGs in 2023—for £17/$20. Yes, that includes Andromeda. Sorry.
The BioWare Mega Collection includes Mass Effect 1, 2, and 3 (in their remastered Legendary Edition incarnations), Mass Effect: Andromeda, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. According to the wisdom of the crowds over at HowLongToBeat.com, that's 500 hours of RPG if you go full completionist. When it's not on sale, the bundle retails for £160/$190, and you have until May 29 to pick it up at its discounted price.
>> This is part of a larger EA Sale that comes with up to 90% discounts.

If that's not enough, Steam also has X deals and new weeklong deals:

• Days Gone will be 67% off until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1259420/Days_Gone/
• Publisher Humble Games puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/HumbleGamesPublisherSale
• Core Keeper, still in Early Access, is going to be 20% off until Monday, the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1621690/Core_Keeper/
• The Publisher Arc System Works Sale launches with up to 90% discounts until March, 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/arcsystemworks_publishersale2023
• And here's an example of the weeklong deals you may find:
  • Lunch Lady is 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1571440/Lunch_Lady/
  • Chronicle of Innsmouth: Mountains of Madness gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/962700/Chronicle_of_Innsmouth_Mountains_of_Madness/
  • Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1374930/Black_Geyser_Couriers_of_Darkness/
  • The classic Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition gets a 65% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/704450/Neverwinter_Nights_Enhanced_Edition/
  • DreadOut, that has a demo, will be 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/269790/DreadOut/
  • And the last one is DRAGON BALL XENOVERSE, with a massive 90% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/323470/DRAGON_BALL_XENOVERSE/

GOG ha a couple things that may interest you:

• The Boomer Shooter Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_boomer_shooter
• And there's a GIVEAWAY: Bloody Hell is free for all: https://www.gog.com/game/bloody_hell

The Humble Store ha a new Flash Deal: Ixion will be 25% off during 26 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/ixion

And Fanatical has two new bundles:

• The Bethesda VR Collection has 4 games with a 84% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/bethesda-vr-collection
• The BYO Play on the Go Bundle has 20 titles to choose from for your 2, 3 or 5 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/play-on-the-go-premium-edition-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Dark Souls 2 gets a Lighting Engine Mod that adds Volumetric Fog and improves Ambient Occlusion and Shading
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/dark-souls-2-gets-a-lighting-engine-mod-that-adds-volumetric-fog-and-improves-ambient-occlusion-and-shading/
Modder ‘Ganaboy’ has released a pretty cool mod for Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin, aiming to improve its lighting system. This is a must-have mod as it can improve the game’s graphics, and we highly recommend downloading it.
Going into more details, this mod adds support for Volumetric Fog. Moreover, it updates the Lighting Model Falloff for all lights to be the more realistic fall off. Additionally, it updates Shading model to use Physically based rendering Metal/Diffuse. As a result of that, metal surfaces can now look better.
It’s also worth noting that the mod updates the Ambient Occlusion Algorithm to use GTAO. Not only that, but Ambient lighting now uses Bent normals to have better color depth.
>> There's a 10 minutes video of the mod.

This ridiculous deep cut mod adds guns from Bethesda's forgotten Terminator FPS to the biggest (and most frustrating) Elder Scrolls game
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-ridiculous-deep-cut-mod-adds-guns-from-bethesdas-forgotten-terminator-fps-to-the-biggest-and-most-frustrating-elder-scrolls-game/
When I'm going for mods in my games, I usually opt for bug fixes, convenience tweaks, and the like, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love a good old fashioned shitpost. Case in point: this mod that adds futuristic firearms to 1996's The Elder Scrolls Chapter 2: Daggerfall, here aptly demonstrated by Elder Scrolls YouTuber, Micky D.
Daggerfall's a game for a grognard's grognard, no two ways about it. It's got the biggest map of any Elder Scrolls by an order of magnitude, but it's largely empty. Daggerfall has the most skills, but if they aren't borked, they're nonfunctional (yeah I'm a Thaumaturgy and Centaurian language main). It's a key part of Bethesda's history, but God damn is it hard to come back to. Thankfully, the Daggerfall Unity source port is here to smooth out running the game on modern hardware, as well as introduce as many (or as few) modern niceties as suit your fancy. The port also inspired an expansive modding scene.
Enter Future Shock Weapons by spamtrooper on NexusMods. Spamtrooper's project not only upholds the sacred tradition of adding incongruous AKs and ACOGs to Bethesda's fantasy and retro-futurist worlds, but also celebrates one of the studio's lesser-known games. In-between Arena and Daggerfall, Bethesda released The Terminator: Future Shock, a Doom clone-era FPS set in the world of James Cameron's post-apocalypse. These days you can't even get Future Shock on GOG, but it does live on as abandonware on sites like Archive.org (and you'll need its assets for spamtrooper's mod to work).

GAMING NEWS

PC demo released for Unreal Engine 5-powered Layers of Fear
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pc-demo-released-for-unreal-engine-5-powered-layers-of-fear/
As promised, Bloober Team has released a PC demo for its Unreal Engine 5-powered horror game, Layers of Fear. This demo will give you a glimpse at this new horror first-person game which takes advantage of Nanite and Lumen. It’s also one of the first UE5 games that you can test on your PC systems.

Dead Space Remake gets a 90-minute free trial on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dead-space-remake-gets-a-90-minute-free-trial-on-pc/
Electronic Arts has released a 90-minute free trial for the PC version of Dead Space Remake on Steam. From today until May 29th, PC gamers can download this free trial and get a taste of this third-person horror game.

Tuesday news, part two:

EU approves Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/eu-approves-microsofts-dollar687-billion-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard/
EU regulators have approved Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, mere weeks after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal. The European Commission noted various concerns about the takeover but accepted commitments from Microsoft that, it said, adequately addressed areas like cloud gaming.

Amazon is making another Lord of the Rings MMO, despite cancelling the last one
https://www.pcgamer.com/amazon-is-making-another-lord-of-the-rings-mmo-despite-cancelling-the-last-one/
Despite falling out with Tencent during its last attempt to develop a Lord of the Rings MMO, Amazon Games has decided to get back on the horse and try again. It's spawned out of a new deal with Embracer Group, which acquired Middle-earth Enterprises last year, and with it the "intellectual property catalogue and worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions" of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.

This sucks: A month after I discover Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, they're killing it
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-sucks-a-month-after-i-discover-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodhunt-theyre-killing-it/
This was probably inevitable given the less-than-spectacular player numbers but even so it's incredibly disappointing: Sharkmob has announced that there will be no further development of its World of Darkness battle royale Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt.

One of the coolest upcoming city builders now has a free demo on Steam, and you should try it
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-the-coolest-upcoming-city-builders-now-has-a-free-demo-on-steam-and-you-should-try-it/
I've almost lost count of all the interesting-looking city builders coming in 2023: (...)
Then there's Laysara: Summit Kingdom, which is maybe the most interesting of the bunch because it just looks so cool. The city builder has an exceedingly neat twist: you're building your city on the steep cliffs of a mountaintop rising out of the clouds. Along with hazards like avalanches that can bury your town, building on the slopes of a mountain presents a lot of logistical challenges as you'll have to carefully manage your production chains and transport networks over the tricky, nearly vertical landscape.

This Stardew and Sailor Moon-inspired farm sim is totally calling to me
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-stardew-and-sailor-moon-inspired-farm-sim-is-totally-calling-to-me/
My wishlist is already overflowing with "Stardew Valley, but" games, but I've made room for yet another one: the Stardew-but-Sailor-Moon game called Fields of Mistria. This excessively adorable farm and life sim is still in development but I'm already smitten with its '90s anime-inspired character designs.

CD Projekt confirms layoffs at the Witcher spinoff studio it acquired just a year ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-confirms-layoffs-at-the-witcher-spinoff-studio-it-acquired-just-a-year-ago/
I was happy to hear last week that Project Sirius, the Witcher spinoff game in development at CD Projekt's Molasses Flood studio, was back on track after running into some kind of trouble earlier this year. But as a result of changes to the project's new direction, 29 people, most of them employees at The Molasses Flood, have been laid off.

Age of Empires 2's new DLC adds all of the first game's civs today
https://www.pcgamer.com/age-of-empires-2s-new-dlc-adds-all-of-the-first-games-civs-today/
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition will take a deep dive into its own history when its Return of Rome DLC releases later today. The expansion is bringing over all 16 civilizations from the original Age of Empires into the second game, and even gives three of them their own unique campaigns. In addition to all that, it's adding the new Lac Viet civ to the AOE 1 roster and introducing the D3 competitive mode, which is apparently super popular in Vietnam.

Riot Games announces new CEO as it emerges the company will pay out over $100 million to 1,548 women to settle gender discrimination case
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-announces-new-ceo-as-it-emerges-the-company-will-pay-out-over-dollar100-million-to-1548-women-to-settle-gender-discrimination-case/
Riot Games is to pay out over $100 million to 1,548 women who are or were employed by the gaming giant, as part of a previously announced settlement in a 2018 class action lawsuit about gender discrimination. The new details come from an April filing by Rust Consulting (thanks Axios) which outlines the nature of a late 2021 settlement, agreed to by Riot, under which Riot will make initial payments of between $2,500 and $5,000 to women who worked there, with an additional sum based on role and tenure that could rise up to $156,056. Seven women in the suit chose to opt-out of the settlement.

Call of Duty's 'worst map in all of videogames' is only there by mistake
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-dutys-worst-map-in-all-of-videogames-is-only-there-by-mistake/
Call of Duty's Shipment map is an absurd, churning meat grinder that's been a staple of the series since the early Modern Warfare days. It's a polarising thing, too: PCG's Morgan Park has called it "The worst map in all of videogames," lamenting that "Spawnkills are constant, survival feels random, and a lack of cover gives dominant killstreaks free rein to murder every living thing on the map". Sounds like a laugh to me.
I've got some heartwrenching news for Morgan: Shipment, the bane of his Modern Warfare 2 sessions, is only there because the devs forgot to take it out before they released the first Modern Warfare in 2007.

The AIO death continues: Lian Li Galahad 360 (1st version) with complete clogging (Purchase Warning)

https://www.igorslab.de/en/das-aio-sterben-geht-munter-weiter-lian-li-galahad-360-1-version-mit-komplettverstopfung-kaufwarnung/

Seems to be an on going trend with a lot of these AIOs where they get clogged up and either have massively degraded performance or die in less than two years.

ASUS motherboard warranty will now cover beta BIOSes and memory overclocking profiles

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-motherboard-warranty-will-now-cover-beta-bioses-and-memory-overclocking-profiles

Good to see we have it in writing even if it took a ton of backlash

700W AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Only Matches A Stock NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU, Hits 3.5 GHz On Chiller Cooling

https://wccftech.com/700w-amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-only-matches-a-stock-nvidia-rtx-4090-gpu-hits-3-5-ghz-on-chiller-cooling/

How the tables have turned in terms of performance per watt. This also shows how unlikely it is that the upcoming 7950XTX will match a 4090. Most likely it will be a 4080 Ti competitor at best.

AMD Has Plans To Expand Ryzen AI Across Its Entire Product Line But Will Depend on Value

https://wccftech.com/amd-plans-to-expand-ryzen-ai-across-its-entire-product-line-but-will-depend-on-value/

Good to see AMD taking a page out of Nvidia's RTX broadcast with those feature list

Custom Radeon RX 7600 graphics cards listed in Canada at 444 CAD

https://videocardz.com/newz/custom-radeon-rx-7600-graphics-cards-listed-in-canada-at-444-cad

Take it with a grain of salt with place holder prices

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Graphics Cards To Get Up To $100 Price Cuts Prior To RTX 4060 Ti Launch

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3060-ti-graphics-cards-up-to-100-price-cuts-prior-rtx-4060-ti-launch/

Samsung Foundry To Reveal New Details On SF4X Process Technology For HPC Data Centers

https://wccftech.com/samsung-foundry-to-reveal-new-details-on-sf4x-process-technology-for-hpc-data-centers/

MediaTek rumored to adopt NVIDIA GPU architecture into next-gen flagship mobile SoC

https://videocardz.com/newz/mediatek-rumored-to-adopt-nvidia-gpu-architecture-into-next-gen-flagship-mobile-soc

Certainly unexpected if true but I suppose those Mali GPUs are still behind Adreno GPUs from Qualcomm.

AIOs are great but, unlike traditional air coolers, when they go bad, they go really bad.

Which is why I'll stay on air cooling as long as I can

You get what you pay for.

My first AIO was the Corsair H50 which I got around 2009 I think. So about 14 years, still got it chugging away in an old PC... And that was coming from custom loops that I used to build.

Had the H80, H100 and currently running the H115i at the moment... And none have skipped a beat or presented any issues.

Obviously that is anecdotal, but if something did hypothetically go wrong, insurance has me covered, I just don't have the time and patience to build custom loops anymore, so these are a pretty convenient solution.

I just can't bring myself to using air coolers... Which are becoming increasingly un-viable due to Turbo boost features on CPU's which are driving TDP's up.

The secret is drawing the kanji for 'cool' with thermal paste before affixing the CPU heatsink. Trust me, bro.

My Corsair H60 54 CFM is still going strong since 2017. I do feel like I should reapply some new thermals, but so far it's done me good for my i7-6700k. 

That being said, I feel like I want to change back to an air cooler for my next build, because it's been so long. 

Sent my 7900XT back. Couldn't stomach spending over £700 on a graphics card. Managed to get an order for this instead..

Bit of a wait but quite a bit cheaper lol. Also comes with Diablo IV which I wanted anyways.