Good for your, WoodenPints.

And let this be a reminder to never, ever, throw away a cable or antenna.That's why the cable(s) box was created for.

Killer Instinct is now free-to-play on Steam. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes pressing buttons and seeing cool shit happen on screen. Good time to get in too if you don't want to get blasted online for days until you realize what's going on.

Here come the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Millions of people have bought Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, and even other devs are impressed
https://www.pcgamer.com/millions-of-people-have-bought-cyberpunk-2077s-phantom-liberty-expansion-and-even-other-devs-are-impressed/
Phantom Liberty, the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC that adds Idris Elba and some kind of rocket ship (I think? I haven't actually gotten to it yet), has done quite well for itself. That's according to a recent CD Projekt Red earnings call as well as the company's Twitter account, which was out yesterday boasting about 4.3 million copies of the DLC sold since launch.
For reference, CDPR was bragging about Cyberpunk selling 25 million copies early last month, in the heat of its post-2.0, post-DLC, "we've fixed the game now" victory lap. 4.3 million expansion sales on top of that is nothing to sniff at, and equals an estimated 20% "attachment ratio," or the number of people who bought Cyberpunk's base game that also bought the DLC. I feel like there's probably a better term for that phenomenon, but maybe that's why I don't have an MBA.
If you're wondering whether an attachment ratio of 20% is good or not, apparently it is. Obsidian design director Josh Sawyer—of Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and Pentiment fame—weighed in through the quote tweets to say that his own studio usually hopes for "a ~25% attachment rate for DLCs released within a few months of the base game," meaning "a 20% attachment rate on an expansion 2.5 years after launch is pretty impressive."

GOG has launched two new Deals of the Day and two new Sales:

• The first DotD is Hero of the Kingdom III, 90% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hero_of_the_kingdom_iii
• The second DotD is the NSFW game Treasure of Nadia, 50% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/treasure_of_nadia
• The new Weekly Sale arrives with up to 92% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/weekly_deals_4_november
• The Hack & Slash Sale features up to 90% discounts and will last 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20231130_hack_and_slash

Steam has several new deals:

• En Garde! will be 40% off until the 4th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1654660/En_Garde/
• The still in Early Access title The Planet Crafter, that has a demo, has a 25% discount until the 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284190/The_Planet_Crafter/
• The Construction Simulator Franchise is on sale, up to 70% off until next Tuesday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/constructionsimulator
• FAR: Lone Sails gets an 85% discount until Tuesday, the 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/609320/FAR_Lone_Sails/
• Frostpunk is going to be 80% off until the 12th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/323190/Frostpunk/
• And Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen will feature an 84% discount until the same 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/367500/Dragons_Dogma_Dark_Arisen/

Fanatical has four new 24 hour Flash Deals, and these will be the last ones:

• The first one is DREDGE, 40% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dredge
• Exoprimal gets a 46% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/exoprimal
• Lost Castle features a 75% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/lost-castle
• And the last one, Police Stories, will be 85% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/police-stories

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity is terminating its agreement with Peter Jackson's former VFX studio, laying off 265 employees in the process
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-is-terminating-its-agreement-with-peter-jacksons-former-vfx-studio-laying-off-265-employees-in-the-process/
It's been a 'fun' and 'interesting' year for Unity. A retroactive runtime fee that drew the anger of basically every developer leading to a change in leadership, an AI program it's only recently done due diligence on, and some big, sweeping layoffs.
Back in May, Unity laid off 600 employees and closed half its offices. Earlier this month, it said further layoffs were 'likely'. According to a Reuters report, those layoffs have begun. Unity has scrapped a large part of its agreement with Weta Digital, which it acquired for $1.6 billion back in 2021. 265 employees—just ten shy of the 275 engineers Unity acquired back then—will lose their jobs.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

You can now play Cyberpunk 2077 as Ciri from The Witcher 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/you-can-now-play-cyberpunk-2077-as-ciri-from-the-witcher-3/
Earlier this month, we shared an AI voice mod for Cyberpunk 2077 that made V sound like Geralt from The Witcher 3. And today, we present you with two mods that will allow you to play CP2077 as Ciri from The Witcher 3.
The first one is an AI Voice Mod that changes Female V’s voice to Ciri. Then, by using it alongside the mod that changes the appearance of the Female V to Ciri, you can get the ultimate The Witcher 3 experience.
Let’s not forget that in The Witcher 3, Ciri told Geralt that she visited a world similar to that of Cyberpunk 2077. Back then, CD Projekt RED used that line as an easter egg for its upcoming title. Thanks to the modders, though, that dialogue line has become a reality.
>> The article has an over 7 minutes long video of the AI voiced mod.

Diablo 2 Remake Demo in Unreal Engine 5 Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/diablo-2-remake-demo-in-unreal-engine-5-available-for-download/
Diablo 2 fans, here is something really special for you today. 3D Environment Artist, Michal Wawruch, released a demo of his Diablo 2 Remake in Unreal Engine 5. Yeap, this is a playable demo of Diablo 2 in Unreal Engine 5 that lets you explore one of its environments. So, be sure to download it while you still can.
For this tech demo of Diablo 2, the artist recreated the Durance of Hate environment in Unreal Engine 5. And yes, the demo takes advantage of both Nanite and Lumen. So, if you are interested in it, you can go ahead and download it from this link. Wawruch claimed that an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1060 is the minimum required GPU for it.
Below you can find a showcase video for this Diablo 2 Fan Remake. Among other things, the video has a bunch of comparison scenes between the original version and the UE5 Remake. As you will see, the UE5 remake stays true to the original game. And don’t get me wrong. Diablo 2 Resurrected was an amazing remake. Graphics-wise, though, this fan remake takes it to a whole new level.

Starfield gets a 4K Texture Pack that improves all spaceships
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/starfield-gets-a-4k-texture-pack-that-improves-all-spaceships/
Modder ‘XilaMonstrr’ has released a new 4K Texture Pack for Starfield that improves the quality of all spaceships. Since this pack will improve the game’s visuals, we highly recommend using it. From what we could see, the modder used AI tools to upscale the vanilla textures. As such, this pack retains the game’s art style.
According to the modder, the original textures were mostly 1K and some 512 and 2K resolution. Thanks to AI tools, though, XilaMonstrr was able to upscale each and every texture to 4K. As noted, the biggest improvement is to decals (logos, signs, etc.). However, there’s some additional sharpness on contours of the ships as well.
This 4K Texture Pack is 4GB in size, and you can download it from this link. You can also find a 2K version of it, as well as a “4K Normal Maps/2K B&W Maps” version. These alternative versions are for those who don’t own the latest and greatest PC hardware.
>> The article has several comparison screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will support Ray Tracing, PC requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragons-dogma-2-will-support-ray-tracing-pc-requirements-revealed/
Capcom just dropped the PC system requirements for Dragon’s Dogma 2 on its Steam store page. Also, the team revealed that the game will support Ray Tracing effects. However, Capcom hasn’t spilled the beans on what exactly these Ray Tracing effects are.
>> That's the good news...

Dragon’s Dogma 2 will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragons-dogma-2-will-be-using-the-denuvo-anti-tamper-tech/
A few hours ago, Capcom revealed the PC requirements for Dragon’s Dogma 2. And, from the looks of it, this game will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. Moreover, the team shared a new gameplay video that you can find below. So, be sure to watch it after the jump.
>> ... and this, besides the gameplay video, is the bad news.

Homeworld 3 will support Ray Tracing, gets PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/homeworld-3-will-support-ray-tracing-gets-pc-requirements/
Blackbird Interactive has just released the official PC system requirements for its new sci-fi RTS, Homeworld 3. Moreover, the game will have Ray Tracing effects. Plus, it’ll support NVIDIA’s DLSS 3 and AMD’s FSR 2.

The news, part two:

CD Projekt Red now has more than 300 developers working on The Witcher 4
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-red-now-has-more-than-300-developers-working-on-the-witcher-4/
Last we heard something really concrete on the next Witcher game, it was in pre-production—that was what CD Projekt Red said about The Witcher 4, codename Polaris, back in early 2022. That's definitely not the case anymore judging by CD Projekt's latest earnings report, which shows that around half the studio's developers are now working on the Witcher sequel.

Rockstar veterans Michael Unsworth and Lazlow Jones have joined Dan Houser's new studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/rockstar-veterans-michael-unsworth-and-lazlow-jones-have-joined-dan-housers-new-studio/
Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser left the studio in 2020 and founded a new operation in 2021 called Absurd Ventures. It turns out that he's brought some heavyweight former Rockstars with him to the new gig: As noted by French site Begeek (via Stephen Totilo), Rockstar's former vice-president of writing Michael Unsworth joined in October as Absurd Ventures' head of story and creative management, and former writer and producer Lazlow Jones is onboard as executive producer.

In 2 days, the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted will reveal the 25 most anticipated upcoming PC games
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-2-days-the-pc-gaming-show-most-wanted-will-reveal-the-25-most-anticipated-upcoming-pc-games/
In just two days, PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted will reveal the 25 most exciting upcoming games on PC. We'll have new trailers, interviews, and other announcements throughout the show when it goes live on Thursday, November 30 at 10 am PST (1 pm EST, 6 pm GMT, 7 pm CET).

Cult of the Lamb devs said they'd make the 'sex update' meme come true if they got 300,000 followers and, well, you can guess what happened next
https://www.pcgamer.com/cult-of-the-lamb-devs-said-theyd-make-the-sex-update-meme-come-true-if-they-got-300000-followers-and-well-you-can-guess-what-happened-next/
Cult of the Lamb developer Massive Monster said last week that the upcoming Sins of the Flesh update, slated to go live in early 2024, will not be "the sex update." But now it looks like maybe it will be.
(...)
Massive Monster then decided to play ball: It committed to adding sex to the game if it reached at least 300,000 followers on Twitter by the end of the year. It was an awfully high bar to reach, the sort of goal you'd set if you really didn't want to do whatever was being wagered: As of November 1 (via the https://twitter.com/cultofthelamb">Wayback Machine), Massive Monster had just 283,000 followers.
But this is the internet, and we all know what happened next: The goal was crushed, and apparently, the sex is coming.

Ubisoft accidentally releases Beyond Good and Evil remaster, remembers it doesn't do that sort of thing, attempts to scrub all trace from the internet
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-accidentally-releases-beyond-good-and-evil-remaster-remembers-it-doesnt-do-that-sort-of-thing-attempts-to-scrub-all-trace-from-the-internet/
For years, Ubisoft has had one, single job: Not releasing Beyond Good and Evil games. To its credit, it's done the work with aplomb for a good long while now. Sure, sometimes we'll get some fanciful BG&E 2 trailer, a LinkedIn bio will change, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt will appear, but the studio's fundamental principle of not releasing a game in this series has never wavered.
Until yesterday. A few months after the ESRB leaked that Ubisoft was working on some kind of new version of the first Beyond Good and Evil for all modern platforms, achievement-tracking sites caught wind of Xbox cheevos for a Beyond Good and Evil 20th Anniversary Edition. That was soon followed up by the sudden appearance of an Xbox store listing (now taken down) for the game, which was itself followed up by reports of Ubisoft+ subscribers being able to download and play it.
All of which, it seems, occurred entirely without Ubisoft willing it, since the relevant store page has been taken down and 30 minutes of gameplay capture uploaded to YouTube has been erased by a Ubisoft copyright claim.

Silent Hill: Ascension's terrible Jam Man (who likes to make jams) was not written by AI, says Genvid CEO: 'every word in Ascension was written by real people'
https://www.pcgamer.com/silent-hill-ascensions-terrible-jam-man-who-likes-to-make-jams-was-not-written-by-ai-says-genvid-ceo-every-word-in-ascension-was-written-by-real-people/
Have you heard of the Jam Man of Silent Hill: Ascension? You're about to. In the third episode of what started out as a potentially interesting experiment and has quickly snowballed into a complete disaster, Karl Johansen (a Norwegian farmer) runs into the Jam Man.
>> I'll leave it to you to discover the rest.

Alienware M18 issues can be resolved by using older RX 7900M GPU drivers, despite software recommending updates

https://videocardz.com/newz/alienware-m18-issues-can-be-resolved-by-using-older-rx-7900m-gpu-drivers-despite-software-recommending-updates

NVIDIA 2025 GPU architecture might be named after astronomer Vera Rubin, R100 & GR100 HPC GPUs in the works

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-2025-gpu-architecture-might-be-named-after-astronomer-vera-rubin-r100-gr100-hpc-gpus-in-the-works

NVIDIA to Initiate HBM3e Adoption In Q1 2024 With Hopper H200, HBM4 Expected to Debut by 2026

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-to-initiate-hbm3e-adoption-in-q1-2024-with-hopper-h200-hbm4-expected-to-debut-by-2026/

Intel Arrow Lake-H CPU For Laptops Shows Up A Year Ahead of Launch, 6 P-Cores & 8 E-Cores With Xe-LPG Plus GPU

https://wccftech.com/intel-arrow-lake-h-cpu-for-laptops-shows-up-a-year-ahead-of-launch-6-p-cores-8-e-cores-with-xe-lpg-plus-gpu/

NVIDIA Sold “Half a Million” AI GPUs In Q3 2023, Courtesy of Demand From Major Tech Firms

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-sold-half-a-million-ai-gpus-q3-2023-courtesy-of-demand-from-major-tech-firms/

AMD AMDVLK & RADV Drivers Continue To See Improved Radeon GPU Support, Ray Tracing & Mesh Shader Queries Improved

https://wccftech.com/amd-amdvlk-radv-radeon-vulkan-gpu-drivers-improved-ray-tracing-mesh-shader-support/

That's an insistent user...

Silly question: how come we get articles about AMD Linux driver updates but there are (almost) never similar articles about Nvidia?

Probably because AMD has open drivers for Linux (which are part of the Linux Kernel) while NVidia doesn't

Pretty much sums it up AMD has been good to the open source scene and the drivers are in great condition with many people contributing to them but Nvidia did set the module into the kernel last year and work is only really starting on that side of things it's something your not likely going to use for a few years yet as it's miles behind the propriety drivers.

It also comes down to the nature of rolling releases every feature or merge request that offers a decent boost gets picked up by news outlets where as propriety drivers just get released once in a blue moon.

ASUS ROG Ally Z1 non-Extreme is now available for just $399

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-rog-ally-z1-non-extreme-is-now-available-for-just-399#disqus_thread

GPU-Z 2.56.0 released with DLSS 3.0 Frame Generation and DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction file detection

https://videocardz.com/newz/gpu-z-2-56-0-released-with-dlss-3-0-frame-generation-and-dlss-3-5-ray-reconstruction-detection

Dell 2024 XPS and Alienware laptops with Intel Core Ultra 100/14th Gen CPUs and RTX 40 graphics leaked

https://videocardz.com/newz/dell-2024-xps-and-alienware-laptops-with-intel-core-ultra-100-14th-gen-cpus-and-rtx-40-graphics-leaked

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX & 7900 XT GPUs Face Shortages In China As Demand Surges After RTX 4090 Ban

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xtx-7900-xt-gpu-shortages-china-demand-surges-after-rtx-4090-ban/