Yeah. I don't take much stock in rumors.

But it's the only reason why Intel would logically get rid of Hyper-threading. Otherwise they are leaving efficiency and performance on the table.

Engineering samples sometimes come with SMT disabled, so these rumors often make the rounds before a new CPU release.

Seconded on the ASUS.

They tend to have the better software update support.

Running a positively ancient Asus DSL-AC68U as my modem and an Asus RT-AX3000 V2 as the router, though it has Wifi 6, none of my devices except my phone supports it, so it's a pretty useless feature currently. - That and Wifi 5 manages everything just fine.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has three new Deals of the Day that will last until Friday:

• The first one is The House of Da Vinci 2, 60% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_house_of_da_vinci_2
• The second one is Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, with a 65% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/weird_worlds_return_to_infinite_space
• And the third, and last, one is ITORAH, 73% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/itorah

Steam has two new deals:

• The first one is Per Aspera, with a 60% discount until Friday, the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/803050/Per_Aspera/
• The other one is Gas Guzzlers Extreme, that will be 90% off until the 1st of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/243800/Gas_Guzzlers_Extreme/

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.7.2
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-23-7-2
Highlights

Added support for AMD Ryzen 7040 “Phoenix” APUs.

Fixed Issues

• Stuttering may be observed while playing Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® II with Radeon™ Anti-Lag enabled.
• Intermittent corruption may be observed around some player models while playing Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+™ on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6900 XT.
• Higher than expected GPU Memory Utilization when using certain Record and Stream settings such as Instant Replay.
• Display signal may be lost after switching windows on certain Adaptive-Sync enable displays on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• Audio may intermittently become out of sync with video when recording from AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition with AVC and HEVC codecs.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-Empty-

GAMING NEWS

Here’s your first look at Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PC with DirectStorage 1.2 & NVIDIA RTXIO
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-your-first-look-at-ratchet-clank-rift-apart-on-pc-with-directstorage-1-2-nvidia-rtxio/
NVIDIA has shared a new video, showcasing Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart running on PC with DirectStorage 1.2 and NVIDIA RTXIO. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart will be the first game that will take advantage of DirectStorage’s GPU decompression, and this video can give you an idea of what you can expect from it.

Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart will not support Ray Tracing on AMD GPUs at launch
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-will-not-support-ray-tracing-on-amd-gpus-at-launch/
Nixxes has just announced that Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart will not support Ray Tracing on AMD GPUs at launch. The game releases in a few hours, so that’s a bummer for owners of AMD’s latest 70 series graphics cards.

Here are twelve minutes of new gameplay footage from Armored Core 6
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-twelve-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage-from-armored-core-6/
Bandai Namco has released a new video for Armored Core 6, featuring twelve minutes of new gameplay footage from it. This video should give you an idea of what you can expect from this upcoming mecha game from the creators of Dark Souls and Elden Ring.

Gamescom 2023’s app may have leaked a new Half-Life announcement
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gamescom-2023s-app-may-have-leaked-a-new-half-life-announcement/
Half-Life fans, here is something for you today. It appears that the official mobile app for Gamescom 2023 may have leaked an upcoming Half-Life announcement.

Wednesday news, part two:

Armored Core 6 will have 1v1 duels and 3v3 multiplayer that's like a 'mecha festival with metal flying everywhere'
https://www.pcgamer.com/armored-core-6-pvp-multiplayer-1v1-3v3-details/
Almost every arcade I've visited in Japan over the last decade had a floor dedicated almost exclusively to the latest iteration of the Gundam Versus series, a fighting game that seems to be carrying the entire Japanese arcade industry on its shoulders. It's essentially a 2v2, 3D arena fighter where you pick your Gundam, fly and dash through the air to dance around your opponents, and tap in button combos to do flashy moves. It's a frantic and overwhelming game to learn, which immediately came to mind when I talked to FromSoftware's developers about their plans for multiplayer in Armored Core 6, and they said the words "metal flying everywhere."

FromSoftware made Elden Ring and Armored Core 6 with a staff of just 300 developers
https://www.pcgamer.com/fromsoftware-made-elden-ring-and-armored-core-6-with-a-staff-of-just-300-developers/
Armored Core 6 is not a small side project for FromSoftware. That may have seemed obvious from the game's bombastic trailers, but without famed studio head Hidetaka Miyazaki serving as director and with that big Elden Ring DLC also in the works, it's less obvious exactly how FromSoftware splits its time and resources. During a recent interview with Armored Core 6's director and producer, I asked how big the studio is now and how the teams are broken down.
>> And this time around, they've managed to bring a 120fps option on PC.

Starfield's surprise anime series features battling mechs and fans are hoping they'll be playable in the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfields-surprise-anime-series-features-battling-mechs-and-fans-are-hoping-theyll-be-playable-in-the-game/
With the sci-fi RPG epic Starfield now just over a month away, Bethesda Softworks has released The Settled Systems - A Starfield Animated Anthology, a trio of brief animes offering a look at life in three of the game's biggest cities—and it's got some fans hoping that maybe Todd Howard has been holding something back.

Dave the Diver was inspired by a real oceanside seafood restaurant… and Metal Gear Solid
https://www.pcgamer.com/dave-the-diver-was-inspired-by-a-real-oceanside-seafood-restaurant-and-metal-gear-solid/
It might seem strange to hear that a fishing and sushi restaurant management game was inspired, in part, by the Metal Gear Solid series. But it makes more sense after you've played Dave the Diver. Sure, you spend a lot of time fishing and serving food, but among other surprises the game also has a few stealth sequences, including one where Dave has to slip past a bunch of armed goons on patrol.

ESRB says proposed age verification scan is misunderstood: It doesn't 'confirm the identity of users' and is unrelated to videogame age ratings
https://www.pcgamer.com/esrb-says-proposed-age-verification-scan-is-misunderstood-it-doesnt-confirm-the-identity-of-users-and-is-unrelated-to-videogame-age-ratings/
The ESRB recently filed a request with the FTC seeking approval for a "verifiable parental consent mechanism" called Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation, which will enable people to use selfies to prove that they are actually adults who can legally provide parental consent to their children. It struck me and many others as not a great idea—literally inviting Big Brother into your home and all that—but in a statement sent to PC Gamer, the ESRB said the system is not actually facial recognition at all, and is "highly privacy protective."
>> It sure is...

Sorry, Doom dreamers: John Carmack wishes John Romero 'the best' but they're not working on a secret new project together
https://www.pcgamer.com/sorry-doom-dreamers-john-carmack-wishes-john-romero-the-best-but-theyre-not-working-on-a-secret-new-project-together/
To many, id Software co-founders John Carmack and John Romero were the Lennon and McCartney of videogames: Their friendship was strained to the breaking point by creative friction, but the work they did together literally changed the world. They've both done good stuff since then, but, well... it's not quite the same, is it? But while some deeply committed fans may have dreamed that the passage of time would enable them to come together again to work on a new masterpiece, Carmack recently said on Twitter that it ain't gonna happen.

Our favorite spy-themed extraction shooter is having a free weekend to launch its second season
https://www.pcgamer.com/our-favorite-spy-themed-extraction-shooter-is-having-a-free-weekend-to-launch-its-second-season/
We like the spy-themed extraction shooter Deceive Inc quite a lot. We called it "a creative blend of sneaking and shooting" in our 82% review, and it earned a spot in our list of eight overlooked games that you might have missed in 2023. That's a solid and well-deserved recommendation, but not really good news because it means a lot of folks are missing out on one of the more interesting gaming experiences of the year.
This coming weekend will be a good opportunity to address that problem, because Deceive Inc will be completely free to play from July 27-30 on both PC and consoles.

Charisma reigns supreme in D&D—the golden child Paladin might just be the most popular class in Baldur's Gate 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/charisma-reigns-supreme-in-danddthe-golden-child-paladin-might-just-be-the-most-popular-class-in-baldurs-gate-3/
A poll on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit—orchestrated by user Fable_Nova—gathered over 5,000 votes in under a week, with Paladin hitting the top of the charts. This was followed immediately by three other Charisma-based classes: Bard, Sorcerer, and Warlock.

Baldur's Gate 3 used intimacy coordinators for sex scenes: 'I never felt 'yuck' in a recording session at all,' says actor
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-used-intimacy-coordinators-for-sex-scenes-i-never-felt-yuck-in-a-recording-session-at-all-says-actor/
When we talk about videogames taking cues from Hollywood, it's normally a reference to bombastic cinematics or a stacked cameo cast, not really behind the scenes staff. That's the case for Baldur's Gate 3 though, which used intimacy coordinators—professional advocates for actors appearing in explicit scenes—to help manage production of its romances between characters.

Cyberpunk and Witcher developer announces it's cutting 'roughly 9%' of its staff over the next 7 months
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-and-witcher-developer-announces-its-cutting-roughly-9-of-its-staff-over-the-next-7-months/
CD Projekt Red has laid off "roughly 9%" of its staff, with around 100 people losing their jobs over the next seven months.
In a statement on CDPR's website, CEO Adam Kiciński says the layoffs are part of "ongoing process of several deep transformations within the studio," which he considers "key to making quality games, on time and without crunch."
>> Given how long it takes them to launch a game, I don't know how they'll do with less people.

Fan outcry pushes Pathfinder dev to delete new data-sucking tool and all its info one day after introducing it: 'The scale of the outburst surpassed worst expectations'
https://www.pcgamer.com/fan-outcry-pushes-pathfinder-dev-to-delete-new-data-sucking-tool-and-all-its-info-one-day-after-introducing-it-the-scale-of-the-outburst-surpassed-worst-expectations/
Owlcat Games has yanked a controversial new player-tracking tool from Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous just a day after introducing it. On Monday, July 24, Owlcat introduced update 2.1.5m, a hefty patch to the game that—amidst all the bugfixes and tweaks you'd expect from this kind of thing—introduced AppsFlyer, described by Owlcat as "an industry standard tracking solution" that "allows developers and publishers to understand which part of players have purchased the game due to the impact of their advertising campaigns".

World of Warcraft Classic feels the scourge of the WoW token as a ring is traded for $13,000 worth of in-game gold
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-classic-feels-the-scourge-of-the-wow-token-as-a-ring-is-traded-for-dollar13000-worth-of-in-game-gold/
As spotted by GamesRadar, the impact of the WoW token—a way for players to purchase game time, which they can also sell on the auction house for gold—is being felt on the Wrath of the Lich King: Classic servers, with one rare item selling for over 3 million gold in a GDKP auction.

2005 called, it's asking if you want another Neopets trading card game
https://www.pcgamer.com/2005-called-its-asking-if-you-want-another-neopets-trading-card-game/
Neopets is kicking off its new era by returning to an old one: The company's newly-independent leadership has announced the creation of a trading card game called Neopets Battledome, harkening back to the original Neopets Trading Card Game from the early 2000s. I never played that one myself, but I bet there are a lot of 20- and 30-somethings out there who experience a kind of full-body time travel whenever someone reminds them of it.

Intel Planning Price Hike Across All “Core” CPUs As a Part of Restructuring Policy

https://wccftech.com/intel-planning-price-hike-across-all-core-cpus-as-a-part-of-restructuring-policy/

We did see this rumour about Alder Lake as well before Raptor Lake release and Alder Lake did go up in price on some skus but this sounds more drastic

Intel 14th Gen Core non-K “Raptor Lake Refresh” to boost up to 5.8 GHz, Core i3 still up to four cores

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-14th-gen-core-non-k-raptor-lake-refresh-to-boost-up-to-5-8-ghz-core-i3-still-up-to-four-cores

Intel Arc GPUs Keep On Getting Better, Latest Linux Driver Further Improves Performance

https://wccftech.com/intel-arc-gpus-keep-on-getting-better-latest-linux-driver-further-improves-performance/

AMD Finally Rolls Out Ryzen 7040 “Phoenix” iGPU Drivers, Optimized Support For Radeon 700M “RDNA 3”

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-7040-phoenix-apu-radeon-700m-rdna-3-igpu-official-driver-release/

Took a while but I am glad it's finally here

Intel Arc A570M Mobility GPU Spotted In Benchmark, Could Feature 20 Xe Cores

https://wccftech.com/intel-arc-a570m-mobility-gpu-spotted-in-benchmark-could-feature-20-xe-cores/

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti GPUs Facing Stock Shortage Mainly Due to Lack of Supply

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-ti-facing-stock-shortage-expected-to-go-out-of-stock-august/

Artificial shortages or moving stock to Ai

Micron unveils 24GB HBM3 Gen2 1.2 TB/s memory, teases next-gen HBM with 2+TB/s bandwidth

https://videocardz.com/press-release/micron-unveils-24gb-hbm3-gen2-1-2-tb-s-memory-teases-next-gen-hbm-with-2tb-s-bandwidth

It'd be interesting to see the price of HBM3 compared to GDDR7, if it's comparable then this could very well be used to make more compact xx80 or xx90 cards.

A big part of the cost is the interposer and memory controller as well.

When I talked about the price of HBM3, I meant including the interposer. Memory controller on their own shouldn't be too dissimilar in price to make up a big difference in the final price tag.

It's very difficult to reduce the cost of the interposer, it's dead silicon for the most part.

The memory controller is expensive because it needs to be extremely wide with significant caching and pipelining, we are talking 1024-2048-4096bit wide memory controllers here.. And they cannot all sit on the edge of the chip in thin strips, they are large functional blocks.

The wider the bus, the more silicon you need to interface with it.

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

It's mathematically impossible to beat Humble's latest bundle of legendary CRPGs before Baldur's Gate 3 comes out
https://www.pcgamer.com/its-mathematically-impossible-to-beat-humbles-latest-bundle-of-legendary-crpgs-before-baldurs-gate-3-comes-out/
Have you got time for Humble's latest collection of CRPG classics? No, you don't. None of us do, in fact. At time of writing, Baldur's Gate 3 is about 173 hours away from leaving early access (assuming it does so at about 4 pm BST). According to How Long To Beat, completing a "Main + Extra" run of all six games (plus one expansion) in the Baldur's Gate and Beyond bundle would take you 421 hours.
Even if you only try to take on the Baldur's Gate games in there, it'll take you 159 hours. Doable so long as you don't sleep between now and August 3 (PC Gamer does not recommend doing this, but I personally am curious to see you try).
But even if so-called science says you won't be able to experience the full breadth of these bangers before Baldur's Gate 3 eats up your August, they're still well worth picking up. The full list of games in the bundle is: Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 Enhanced Edition (plus the Siege of Dragonspear expansion for BG1), Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition, Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition, and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.
>> The bundle will last 13 days.

These are the games the Epic Store give away this week;

• Homeworld Remastered Collection: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/homeworld-remastered-collection
• Severed Steel: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/severed-steel

And next week, they'll give away Bloons TD 6.

Steam has two new deals:

• Heavenly Bodies will be 50% off until August, 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1138850/Heavenly_Bodies/
• Banners of Ruin gets a 70% discount until the 2nd of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1075740/Banners_of_Ruin/

Fanatical has a new Star Deal, a sale and two new bundles:

• The new Star Deal is Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, 56% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/warhammer-40-000-battlesector
• Jackbox Games has put its games on sale again, this time with a 60% discount during the next 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/franchises/jackbox-games
• The first bundle is the The Jackbox Quintpack, with a 40% discount during 7 days, like the rest of the Jackbox Games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/the-jackbox-quintpack
• And the Hellfire Bundle 2 features 5 games with a 95% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/hellfire-bundle-2

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unreal Engine 5.3 Preview is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-3-preview-is-now-available-for-download/
Epic Games has just released a preview version of the latest version of its games engine, Unreal Engine 5.3. Unreal Engine 5.3 Preview is available via the Epic Games launcher, GitHub 44, or for Linux, and packs a number of tweaks, fixes and improvements.
Going into more details, Unreal Engine 5.3 further improves its core features, such as Lumen, Nanite, and Path Tracing. With this release, these rendering features provide more control over performance and yield better-looking results. Developers will also see reductions in build times with Multi-process Cook.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-Empty-

GAMING NEWS

Blizzard may ban you for using simple mods in Diablo 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/blizzard-may-ban-you-for-using-simple-mods-in-diablo-4/
Blizzard has announced that it will ban everyone that uses game-modifying software in Diablo 4. However, Blizzard is not only banning those using hacks and cheats. Instead, the company claims that players who use simple mods will put their accounts at risk for disciplinary action, which can include permanent suspension.

Here is how you can significantly improve performance and fix stutters in Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/here-is-how-you-can-significantly-improve-performance-and-fix-stutters-in-ratchet-clank-rift-apart/
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart is currently available on PC and from the looks of it, the game suffers from some weird stutters and frame pacing issues. These issues can occur when using the game’s Ray Tracing effects. However, we’ve discovered a workaround that can significantly improve your overall experience.

Elden Ring Update 1.10 released and here are its patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/elden-ring-update-1-10-released-and-here-are-its-patch-notes/
FromSoftware has just released Update 1.10 for Elden Ring, and revealed its complete changelog/patch notes. According to the team, Patch 1.10 brings a number of balance tweaks and changes, and fixes some bugs that plagued the game.

Thursday news, a fairly long part two:

Ubisoft has reportedly canned a sequel to flawed gem Immortals Fenyx Rising
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-has-reportedly-canned-a-sequel-to-flawed-gem-immortals-fenyx-rising/
You know what game was actually alright? Immortals Fenyx Rising. Ubisoft's Breath of the Wild-like didn't burn up the charts—we scored it a respectable but not astounding 72% in our Immortals review—but it was a solid game with some funny moments and memorable characters. Characters who will have to remain in our memory forever, I guess, because a new report from VGC says Ubisoft has quietly cancelled a sequel.

Despite the intense action, FromSoftware wants Armored Core 6 to have a 'dark old sci-fi feel' with a 'sense of loneliness and nostalgia'
https://www.pcgamer.com/despite-the-intense-action-fromsoftware-wants-armored-core-6-to-have-a-dark-old-sci-fi-feel-with-a-sense-of-loneliness-and-nostalgia/
(...)
"Hoshino-san will be the lead composer on AC6 as well," said Armored Core 6 director Masaru Yamamura. "In terms of that back-and-forth between sound design and game design, a lot of it comes down to giving these broad themes and motives for the game, such as this dark, old SF feel. We wanted this sense of loneliness and sense of nostalgia in the game, so we give him these nebulous 'keywords' and he'll compose whatever he likes based on that. We get those [songs] back, put them in the missions, and see how it plays out. Maybe we need some peaks here or troughs here and adjust that based on the tempo and timing of these missions and the boss battles and such. As [the songs] come back we give him more keywords to work with, and just let him go to town on it, basically."

Baldur's Gate 3's narrator shares hilarious outtakes reel—'If you fancy Astarion, you might want to consider therapy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3s-narrator-shares-hilarious-outtakes-reelif-you-fancy-astarion-you-might-want-to-consider-therapy/
Amelia Tyler—who you might also recognise as the voice of Malady from Divinity: Original Sin 2—has graced us with another batch of hilarious voice bloopers this week. She has the mammoth task of voicing the narrator of Baldur's Gate 3 which, considering how big the game's gonna be, seems like both a privilege and some form of divine punishment.
>> By the way, there are still over 400 unknown spells in the game

The Little Big Adventure reboot has been cancelled because publishers just aren't interested
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-little-big-adventure-reboot-has-been-cancelled-because-publishers-just-arent-interested/
The reboot of the mid-'90s cult classic Little Big Adventure games that was announced in early 2022 has been cancelled. Ben Limare, CEO of developer 2.21, said work on the game was halted after the studio was unable to come up with a publishing deal for the new game.
>> What a bummer.

Riot's 2v2 fighting game Project L still doesn't have a proper title, but it'll be playable in August at Evo
https://www.pcgamer.com/riots-2v2-fighting-game-project-l-still-doesnt-have-a-proper-title-but-itll-be-playable-in-august-at-evo/
Four years after it was first revealed, Riot's anticipated fighting game Project L looks like it's almost ready to step into the spotlight. The studio dropped a new developer diary and gameplay trailer today showcasing Project L's 2v2 team-based gameplay, and announced that it will be playable at the upcoming Evo 2023 fighting game tournament.

This new 16-player '100% cooperative' survival game is inspired by Valheim, Terraria, and Minecraft
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-new-16-player-100-cooperative-survival-game-is-inspired-by-valheim-terraria-and-minecraft/
If you're looking for a new survival crafting game to jump into with a pile of your friends, we just got a peek at what could become your next destination. Codename: Islands (a working title as you might guess) is a 16-player survival crafting game inspired by Minecraft, Valheim, and Terraria, being described as "100%" cooperative by its developers: several veterans of Riot Games, now part of the team at Treehouse Games.

Life By You, Paradox's open-world Sims-like game, is delayed to 2024
https://www.pcgamer.com/life-by-you-paradoxs-open-world-sims-like-game-is-delayed-to-2024/
Life By You is a new game in development at Paradox Interactive that aims to out-Sims the Sims: (...)
It's an ambitious project, and as associate editor Lauren Morton wrote earlier this month, it will provide some long-overdue competition for The Sims, which has effectively owned the "dollhouse-core simulation genre" for more than 20 years. Unfortunately, she (and the rest of us) are going to have to wait a little longer than expected before we'll get to see whether it can deliver on that front, as the early access release planned for September has been pushed to March 5, 2024.

Blizzard buzzkills fix Diablo 4's best bug
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-buzzkills-fix-diablo-4s-best-bug/
A new Diablo 4 patch has arrived with a number of welcome fixes and bugs, including adjustments to the UI that will hopefully cut down on the number of unintentional premium battle pass activations. But there's one change it makes to the game that, to be blunt, I am very disappointed by.

Unyielding Diablo 4 player proves Sorcerers aren’t as bad as you thought
https://www.pcgamer.com/unyielding-diablo-4-player-proves-sorcerers-arent-as-bad-as-you-thought/
Diablo 4 Sorcerers might be the weakest class overall, but they can still gather enough power to push through some of the action RPG’s hardest dungeons.
Sorcerers have struggled to compete with Diablo 4’s other four classes in endgame activities since launch. They’re exceptional for quickly gaining levels up to 50, but struggle to survive the deadly enemies you encounter in the game’s highest World Tier difficulty settings.
With a little bit of luck and a huge amount of help from season 1’s powerful Malignant Heart gems, Sorcerers still have some bite to them.

Be a witch and design your own tarot in The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, out in August
https://www.pcgamer.com/be-a-witch-and-design-your-own-tarot-in-the-cosmic-wheel-sisterhood-out-in-august/
(...) The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood will be out on August 16.
It's the new game from Deconstructeam, the Spanish indie studio responsible for cyberpunk bartending/hacking/pottery game The Red Strings Club and miserable-situation simulator Gods Will Be Watching. You play Fortuna, a witch who is exiled from her coven for centuries and banned from using tarot, which is why you have to covertly design a new deck of fortune-telling cards with the help of a charming/terrifying supernatural being. We tried the demo during Steam Next Fest, and had a lot of fun with the system that lets you place, resize, and manipulate elements to make your personal cards, and also the narrative side where you deal with other witches and strange magical beings.

Over three years after release, some players are discovering this Death Stranding Easter egg for the first time
https://www.pcgamer.com/over-three-years-after-release-some-players-are-discovering-this-death-stranding-easter-egg-for-the-first-time/
Hideo Kojima's games are loved by their devotees for, among other things, the amount of surprises his development teams manage to squeeze into unexpected places. There's a level of detail to the worlds they create that is unique and, while much of it is ready to be found, certain interactions or possibilities are always buried-away for the most dedicated and experimental of players. Now fans have begun to take widespread notice of a Death Stranding secret that has previously been discovered, but never seems to have made much of an impression before.

This horrifying big boy from Lords of the Fallen's new 20 minute gameplay preview is giving me Attack on Titan flashbacks in the best way
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-horrifying-big-boy-from-lords-of-the-fallens-new-20-minute-gameplay-preview-is-giving-me-attack-on-titan-flashbacks-in-the-best-way/
A 20-minute gameplay preview for the new Lords of the Fallen has dropped, and my cautious optimism has officially entered the realm of excitement for its October 13 release date. I've been keeping tabs on this year's soulslikes—I like getting my digital face flattened into the pavement, doesn't matter where it's from—yet Lords of the Fallen had, until today, been just a small blip on my radar. That's changed, because this all looks exactly like my jam.

World of Warcraft offers time-limited pet pack with 100% of the money going to humanitarian relief in Ukraine
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcraft-offers-time-limited-pet-pack-with-100-of-the-money-going-to-humanitarian-relief-in-ukraine/
World of Warcraft has released a new time-limited pet pack to support humanitarian relief in Ukraine, as the country fights the ongoing and illegal Russian invasion. Fronted by Hollywood actor Mila Kunis, herself a former Warcrafter, 100% of the proceeds from the pack's sales will go to BlueCheck, a Ukrainian collective of crisis response and aid organisations.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl gets surprise sequel that looks more like a do-over
https://www.pcgamer.com/nickelodeon-all-star-brawl-gets-surprise-sequel-that-looks-more-like-a-do-over/
Out of nowhere Ludosity and Fair Play Labs have announced an upcoming sequel for Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, a fairly decent Smash-like that was only released in 2021. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 will release later this year and, going by the trailer, feels like more of a do-over than anything else: the key word is 'more'.