Good thing I am Free to Skip then lul

When Sony refuses to bring BloodBorne and Gravity Rush to PC... "Find I'll do it myself" - RPCS3 Devs

I wonder if they'll introduce any form of "surprise mechanic"? EA should just go ahead and make their next franchise the "Euphemism Simulator".

Well, given all the DLCs they'll push out for it that will have a deep impact in the game experience, even EA may be a bit hesitant about calling it free to play.

But yeah, new silly names that don't mean a thing.

Grats Bofferbrauer. Looks/sounds like a great machine. Mad how good battery life has gotten these days on laptops.

To be fair Sims 4 is technically free to play now. But yeah going the freemium model for the next one is going to be a pass for me.

Wow that is cheap

Yeah, prices for 2TB SSDs has come crashing down the last couple months, you have quite some choices now below $100/100€.

Makes you wonder why laptops still mostly come with just 512GB these days, I'd much rather pay a couple cents more for a bigger storage than having to hope that there's a second SSD slot for expansion...

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

(Click here for the top 100)

BattleBit Remastered has sold 1.8 million units in two weeks
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/battlebit-remastered-has-sold-1-8-million-units-in-two-weeks/
BattleBit Remastered released two weeks ago on PC and took Steam by storm. Developed by three people, SgtOkiDoki, Vilaskis and TheLiquidHorse, this indie shooter has sold 1.8 million units in its first two weeks.
HowToMarketAGame, who talked with SgtOkiDoki, revealed that the game had over 800.000 wishlists before launch which resulted in over 87.323 simultaneous players. And, after two weeks, the game is closing to two million sold units.

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

• These are the DotD, that will last 22 hours:
  • Starship Troopers: Terran Command is 22% off. Careful, for some reason the link doesn't take you to the game, don't know why: https://www.gog.com/en/game/starship_troopers_terran_command
  • UBOAT, still in development, is 60% off. This link works without problems: https://www.gog.com/en/game/uboat
• The Weekly Sale features up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230703_weekly_sale
• And for those that missed the Summer Sale, here's the Summer Sale Encore, with up to 90% discounts on selected titles during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230704_summer_sale_encore

Fanatical has the new BYO Indie-Pendence Bundle 2023, with 22 games to choose for your 1, 5 or 10 titles bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-indie-pendence-bundle-2023.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Dark Souls: Archthrones Demo will release this September
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dark-souls-archthrones-demo-will-release-this-september/
Dark Souls: Archthrones is a prequel mod for Dark Souls 3 and according to its modding team, a demo for it will release this September.
In Dark Souls Archthrones, players will be able to access its five worlds via the Nexus of Embers. Players will encounter numerous bosses, and they will also be able to find some allies. Additionally, the mod will have a reimagined version of Lothric and other Dark Souls locales.
>> There's a short trailer of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

New trailer for the fantasy action RPG, Atlas Fallen, focuses on weapons
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-trailer-for-the-fantasy-action-rpg-atlas-fallen-focuses-on-weapons/
Focus Entertainment has released a new short gameplay trailer for its fantasy action RPG, Atlas Fallen, focusing on its weapons. In the game, players will be able to use Dunecleaver, Sandwhip and Knuckledust in order to eliminate their enemies.

Persona 3 – Original vs Remake Early Graphics Comparison
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/persona-3-original-vs-remake-early-graphics-comparison/
YouTube’s ‘Cycu1’ has shared a comparison video between the original version and the upcoming remake of Persona 3. The gameplay footage that the YouTuber used is based on the latest trailer that Atlus released earlier today.

Tuesday news, part two:

'We are killing Sony': A 272-page PDF of classified Sega of America docs from the mid-90s is now something you can just download
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-are-killing-sony-a-272-page-pdf-of-classified-sega-of-america-docs-from-the-mid-90s-is-now-something-you-can-just-download/
The strangest things will just drop onto the internet's collective lap. As highlighted on Twitter by MegaDriveShock, a whopping 272 page PDF of classified Sega of America documents from the mid-90s has simply materialised on the Sega Retro wiki, a community-ran database full of info that aims to "cover everything possible about Sega from the 1940s to today."
>> That statement didn't age well.

Counter-Strike 2 introduces the feature we've all been waiting for: grenade inspections
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-2-introduces-the-feature-weve-all-been-waiting-for-grenade-inspections/
The limited beta for Valve's upcoming Counter-Strike 2 has been slowly cycling through maps, with Dust 2 and Mirage having come and gone in competitive mode, and the latest is another OG, Nuke. Main takeaway from the new version: where have all the cars gone?
(...)
Most important of all, however, is the addition of a new animation. For the first time in Counter-Strike history, the player can now inspect their grenades. If you don't play Counter-Strike, the guns, knives and gloves all have an in-game inspection button, whereby the avatar will hold the item at various angles so you can see how lovely the paint job is.

Terraria's devs have been trying to stop developing Terraria for years, but they just can't quit
https://www.pcgamer.com/terrarias-devs-have-been-trying-to-stop-developing-terraria-for-years-but-they-just-cant-quit/
Terraria is gearing up for its 1.4.5 patch, the latest major update in 12 years of continued support from developer Re-Logic. If you're thinking to yourself, "Wait, I thought this game got its final update" already, you would be right⁠—Re-Logic has been considering moving on to its next project for around eight years now.

Starfield having only four romanceable NPCs is 'a good thing', says Dragon Age veteran
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-having-only-four-romanceable-npcs-is-a-good-thing-says-dragon-age-veteran/
Starfield will have over 1,000 planets to explore but only four souls to romance. (...)
"I'd say this is a good thing," Gaider tweeted, referring to the four romance options, "and hopefully speaks of a 'quality over quantity' mindset, at least on the narrative side." He was replying to a tweet of our own, which pointed out the whole 1,000 planets with four romances contrast.

Diablo 4 players stumble on rare and impossibly large Butcher, the game's real Lord of Terror
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-players-stumble-on-rare-and-impossibly-large-butcher-the-games-real-lord-of-terror/
As a wise man once said: Bigger. Any school child can tell you that the worth of a thing is directly commensurate with its size, and that expands to Diablo 4 too. How else do you explain the fervent interest generated by Reddit user Ironheart_777's discovery (via Icy Veins) of the world's biggest Butcher, a recklessly large version of one of Diablo's most infamous and deadly enemies?

Final Fantasy 14's new minion is so horrendously underpowered, players are wondering if it's bugged
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14s-new-minion-is-so-horrendously-underpowered-players-are-wondering-if-its-bugged/
Final Fantasy 14's new seasonal Make it Rain Campaign event has dropped. The event lets players earn 50% more Manderville Gold Saucer Points (MGP) from the Gold Saucer for its duration, which can be used to buy a bunch of cool rewards including emotes, hairstyles, and a 4-seater airship. However, its quest reward has people scratching their heads on the game's subreddit.

Even though they're smaller, Overwatch 2's story missions still won't be seasonal
https://www.pcgamer.com/even-though-theyre-smaller-overwatch-2s-story-missions-still-wont-be-seasonal/
The hits just keep coming for Overwatch 2's PvE ambitions. Its initial plans—which included talent trees and long-term progression—were scrapped in May. Then we found out they'd be charging $15 for a less elaborate version of its promised story campaign. Now, as reported by Gamesradar, they'll be released at a snail's pace.

Persona 3 Reload's all-new English voices have me worried about my favourite boy
https://www.pcgamer.com/persona-3-reloads-all-new-english-voices-have-me-worried-about-my-favourite-boy/
The Persona series has a rich tradition of suddenly replacing its English voice actors. Kanji Tatsumi got a new voice in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Tae Takemi got one in Persona 5 Royal, and we were forever deprived of this absolutely divine reading of "Aha! Is this our chance? " when Chie's voice actor changed in Persona 4 Golden. Now, Persona 3 Reload—the upcoming full-blown remake of Persona 3—is replacing its entire dang English voice cast, and we got our first listen to the new line-up in the game's new English Gameplay Reveal trailer. Bad news, everyone: Fuuka no longer sounds old enough to draw a pension.