The first, and quite packed, Thursday news post:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Palworld has sold 12 million units on Steam in two weeks
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/palworld-12-million-sold-units-steam/
Pocketpair has just announced that Palworld has sold 12 million units on PC via Steam. In total player count, the game is over 19 million players, with 7 million coming from Xbox. Palworld came out on January 19th, meaning that it took almost two weeks to hit this milestone.

EA earnings call show EA Sports FC was a game of two halves, as it fails to out-sell the last FIFA but still makes more money
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-earnings-call-show-ea-sports-fc-was-a-game-of-two-halves-as-it-fails-to-out-sell-the-last-fifa-but-still-makes-more-money/
Last year saw one of the biggest re-branding exercises in our industry's history as EA, which over decades had built the FIFA series into a juggernaut that saw off all competition, ended its relationship with football's world governing body. FIFA 23 (released in 2022) was the last in that series and 2023 saw the release of EA Sports FC 24, a name that became unavoidable to anyone who watched football in the latter half of the year: pitch hoardings, sponsorships, ads everywhere.
(...)
All the marketing clearly paid off because, while it's a slightly mixed bag, EA Sports FC 24 sold comparably to FIFA 23 and, thanks largely to Ultimate Team, has made more profit. EA held an investor call for Q3 of the financial year 2024 (the three months up to December 31st, 2023) and in both prepared remarks and on the call the company's suits were pleased if not quite cock-a-hoop.
(...)
EA's Chief Financial Officer, Stuart Canfield, put a little more meat on the bones. "Strength in our live services business, particularly in EA SPORTS FC Ultimate Team, was partially offset by some softness in the full game," said Canfield. 'Softness' is a nice executive euphemism for "didn't sell as many copies", and later in the results EA clarifies the full game sold around 5% fewer copies than FIFA 23. For a more localised example, the UK's Entertainment and Retail Association released sales figures for the UK market in early January, showing EA Sports FC had sold 2.25 million copies versus 2.39 million for FIFA 23. But what really matters to EA is that growth in Ultimate Team. "Live services net bookings grew to a record $1.71 billion in Q3, up 3 percent year over year, or up 5 percent in constant currency, exceeding our expectations," purred Canfield, who did at least throw a sop about driving "healthy engagement". As for the full game sales being slightly down, that may have been to be expected in a major transition year for the series, but like any good CFO Canfield's got a bunch of other reasons, one being that a World Cup happened in 2022.

This week, the Epic Store gives away Doors: Paradox: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/doors-paradox-5896c7.
Next week, they'll give away Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! and Lost Castle.

Steam has two new deals:

• Patron will be 80% off until the 7th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538570/Patron/
• Eastward gets a 40% discount until the 14th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/977880/Eastward/

We have a new Humble Bundle: the Controller'd Chaos Bundle, with up to 8 items to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/controllerd-chaos.

Fanatical has a new Sale and bundle:

• The Capcom Carnival Sale features up to 86% discounts. I haven't seen when it will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/capcom
• And the Platinum Collection BYOB for February has launched with 22 games to choose from for your 3, 5 or 7 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod adds functional cars to Red Dead Redemption 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/mod-cars-red-dead-redemption-2/
Red Dead Redemption 2 fans, here is something special for you today. Modders ‘Western’ and “rdr.outlaw” have released a new cool mod that adds functional cars to the game.
The car model of this mod is inspired by the 1929 Ford Model A. It comes in four different colors, and you can spawn it at any time.
The mod has startup revving and breaking sounds, as well as a horn. The car also has working headlights that can illuminate the path ahead of you. This will be useful at night. Additionally, it has breaklights that glow and trigger when you break. And yes, the car also has rotating wheels.
In short, this is one of the coolest mods you can get for Red Dead Redemption 2. So, waste no time and download it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a showcase video for it. So, make sure to watch it. After all, it will give you a pretty good idea of what the mod is all about.

GAMING NEWS

First gameplay trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 showcases its Unreal Engine 5-powered graphics
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2/
Paradox Interactive has released the first gameplay trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 which will be using Unreal Engine 5. This trailer will give you an idea of the new version that The Chinese Room is creating. So, be sure to give this trailer a go.

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/brothers-a-tale-of-two-sons-remake-official-pc-requirements/
505 Games has revealed the official PC system requirements for Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake. In addition, the publisher shared an official comparison video between the vanilla version and this upcoming remake.

Stellar Blade Gets a State of Play 2024 Gameplay Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/stellar-blade-state-of-play-2024-gameplay-trailer/
Shift Up has released a new gameplay trailer for its upcoming action-adventure game, Stellar Blade. This trailer shows off the game’s beautiful graphics, its main cast, and some environments. It will also give you a glimpse at its combat system. So, be sure to give it a go.

SEGA has announced a new Sonic game, Sonic X Shadow Generations
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/sega-announced-sonic-x-shadow-generations/
At the State of Play January 2024, SEGA revealed a new Sonic game, called Sonic X Shadow Generations. And although we don’t have any additional details about it, you can find its debut trailer below. My guess is that SEGA will share more information about it tomorrow. Therefore, I’ll make sure to update this article with it once we get a press release.

Silent Hill 2 Remake gets its first proper gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/silent-hill-2-remake-gets-its-first-proper-gameplay-trailer/
Konami has just released the first proper gameplay trailer for Bloober’s upcoming remake of Silent Hill 2. Silent Hill 2 Remake will be powered by Unreal Engine 5, and this trailer shows off its amazing graphics. It will also give you a glimpse at the game’s combat mechanics.

First gameplay trailer for Ken Levine’s new title, Judas
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-ken-levines-new-title-judas/
Ghost Story Games has released the first gameplay trailer for its upcoming game, Judas. Judas is developed by the creator of Bioshock, Ken Levine, and as you will see, Judas shares some similarities with it.

Here’s a new gameplay trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-a-new-gameplay-trailer-for-dragons-dogma-2/
Capcom has presented a new gameplay trailer for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the State of Play January 2024. This trailer focuses on the game’s action and combat mechanics, so be sure to watch it if you are looking forward to it.

First gameplay trailer for Death Stranding 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-death-stranding-2/
Kojima Productions has just released the first gameplay trailer for Death Stranding 2. This trailer focuses on the game’s story. As such, it contains spoilers for the first Death Stranding game. So, be sure to avoid it if you haven’t played it yet.

Until Dawn is officially coming to PC in 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/until-dawn-is-officially-coming-to-pc-in-2024/
Sony has officially announced that a remastered version of Until Dawn will be released on PC in 2024. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Metro Awakening will be officially released on PC in 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metro-awakening-will-be-officially-released-on-pc-in-2024/
Deep Silver and Vertigo Games have announced a new Metro VR game, Metro Awakening. Metro Awakening is a story-driven first-person adventure built exclusively for VR. And yes, Deep Silver has confirmed that it will be coming to Meta Quest 2+3 and Steam VR in 2024. This won’t be a PS5 VR exclusive.

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden gets an official gameplay breakdown trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/banishers-ghosts-of-new-eden-gets-an-official-gameplay-breakdown-trailer/
Focus Entertainment has shared an official gameplay breakdown trailer for DON’T NOD’s upcoming story driven action RPG, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden.

The second, and also long, Thursday news post:

Witcher remake studio boss says it'll remake what's 'bad, outdated, or unnecessarily convoluted' without naming the sex baseball cards we all know he's talking about
https://www.pcgamer.com/witcher-remake-studio-boss-says-itll-remake-whats-bad-outdated-or-unnecessarily-convoluted-without-naming-the-sex-baseball-cards-we-all-know-hes-talking-about/
The Witcher 1 is rough, gangly, utterly idiosyncratic, and fine as it is, if you ask me. Nevertheless, it's due an open-world remake courtesy of the devs over at Fool's Theory, and it sounds like they aren't squeamish about updating some of the, ah, more awkward parts of CDPR's original 2007 classic.

Well, it sure is ambitious: this game set in ancient China wants to be a city builder, farming and life sim, open world RPG, management tycoon, and 4X strategy all rolled into one
https://www.pcgamer.com/well-it-sure-is-ambitious-this-game-set-in-ancient-china-wants-to-be-a-city-builder-farming-and-life-sim-open-world-rpg-management-tycoon-and-4x-strategy-all-rolled-into-one/
I've always got my eyes peeled for interesting upcoming city builders, and the more ambitious the better. But sometimes a game comes along that feels maybe… a little too ambitious?
I'm talking about The Bustling World, a game set in ancient China that wants to be a whole lot of different kinds of game all at once, including an open world RPG, a city builder, a crafting and exploration game, a business management sim, a war and diplomacy strategy game, a farming and survival sim… and even more. It's a lot for a single game. Heck, it's a lot for three or four games.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League apologises for early access server stumble by giving players a pat on the back and $20 worth of premium currency
https://www.pcgamer.com/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-apologises-for-early-access-server-stumble-by-giving-players-a-pat-on-the-back-and-dollar20s-worth-of-premium-currency/
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has dropped into a brief 72-hour early access period for Deluxe Edition owners—or at least that was the plan. A bug that accidentally credited players with full, top-to-bottom completion as soon as they launched the game forced Rocksteady to pull its servers down for around six hours, alongside another hour-long maintenance period.
(...)
As spotted by VGC, Rocksteady addressed the downtime and offered a make-good via an in-game announcement, which reads: "We recognize that you’ve been patient with us during our initial launch server updates and we’d like to show our appreciation for your patience with a special gift of 2,000 LuthorCoins. Thank you again!"

Harold Halibut, the game about making friends while trapped in a giant spaceship stranded at the bottom of an alien ocean, now has a demo on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/harold-halibut-the-game-about-making-friends-while-trapped-in-a-giant-spaceship-stranded-at-the-bottom-of-an-alien-ocean-now-has-a-demo-on-steam/
Harold Halibut is one of the more intriguing videogame ideas I've seen in a while. It's "a handmade narrative game about friendship and life on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean," which is interesting in its own right. But it also employs a stop-motion visual style reminiscent of games like The Neverhood or Armikrog, or (for those of a certain age) those classic 1960s holiday movies. We got a closer look at Harold Halibut at the PC Gaming Show in 2023, and now you can take a piece of it for a spin courtesy of the demo that's now available on Steam.

Hope you're hungry for Godzilla sushi, because the legendary kaiju is coming to Dave the Diver
https://www.pcgamer.com/hope-youre-hungry-for-godzilla-sushi-because-the-legendary-kaiju-is-coming-to-dave-the-diver/
Over the course of his adventure into deep sea fishing and sushi restaurant management, the lovable Dave the Diver encounters quite a few massive sea creatures. Megasharks, giant squid, mutated hermit crabs, a literal dinosaur, and a shrimp so jumbo it could generate a year's worth of appetizers.
But despite defeating a dozen denizens of the deep, Dave has never clashed with a true, legendary kaiju. Which makes the news that Godzilla is invading Dave the Diver all the more exciting.

Kojima is making a new 'action espionage game' after Death Stranding 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/kojima-is-making-a-new-action-espionage-game-after-death-stranding-2/
Death Stranding 2 had a lengthy showing at Sony's State of Play today, but for those a little weary of Hideo Kojima's surrealist parcel delivery series there was a glimmer of hope. Kojima confirmed that after Death Stranding 2, his studio will commence development on a "next-generation action espionage game", which basically means he'll be making something more akin to the Metal Gear Solid series he created. Its working title is Physint.

Diablo 4's little robot spider is actually an apex predator who can solo bosses, and it's about to get even stronger
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4s-little-robot-spider-is-actually-an-apex-predator-who-can-solo-bosses-and-its-about-to-get-even-stronger/
Diablo 4's hardest bosses have a new threat and, surprisingly, it's not a barbarian with a giant hammer. It's the free robot spider pet that everyone thought was useless before Blizzard dropped an emergency patch to help level it up. Now it's crushing endgame bosses for billions of damage, and tomorrow it's going to do even more.

Wayfinder studio Airship Syndicate says layoffs are necessary to ensure it 'can continue to operate and deliver great experiences'
https://www.pcgamer.com/wayfinder-studio-airship-syndicate-says-layoffs-are-necessary-to-ensure-it-can-continue-to-operate-and-deliver-great-experiences/
Wayfinder developer Airship Syndicate has confirmed the layoffs of 12 employees, originally reported by Nicole Carpenter of Polygon, as part of an effort to keep the studio open and operating. In an unusual twist, Airship Syndicate said company president Ryan Stefanelli and CEO Joe Madureira are also taking pay cuts.

Deep Rock Galactic and Dwarf Fortress call on their fans for a Steam revolution: a new dwarf tag to unite the games under one label
https://www.pcgamer.com/deep-rock-galactic-and-dwarf-fortress-call-on-their-fans-for-a-steam-revolution-a-new-dwarf-tag-to-unite-the-games-under-one-label/
Game genres are a bit of an ossified thing. You've got strategy, FPS, RPG, and something called action-adventure for when you don't actually know where else to categorise a game. It's always been that way and feels like it'll always be that way. But it doesn't have to be.
Spotted by GamesRadar, Kitfox Games and Ghost Ship Studios—the teams behind Dwarf Fortress' premium edition and Deep Rock Galactic respectively—have united to launch a generation-defining campaign to get a new tag added to Steam: Dwarf. It kicked off in January, but things really hotted up yesterday when the games finally got a response from Steam.

Kurt Russell gives thoughtful and nuanced answer about why he wouldn't voice Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3, also seems to think the character is actually Snake Plissken
https://www.pcgamer.com/kurt-russell-gives-thoughtful-and-nuanced-answer-about-why-he-wouldnt-voice-snake-in-metal-gear-solid-3-also-seems-to-think-the-character-is-actually-snake-plissken/
Since the series' earliest days on the humble MSX, one of the big inspirations behind Metal Gear has been John Carpenter's Escape from New York. Protagonist Solid Snake gets his callsign from Kurt Russell's character Snake Plissken (a link that would later be solidified when Snake uses the codename Plisken in MGS2), as well as his general bearing and attitude and equipment, while later games will make the Snake connection even more obvious with the addition of a Plissken-style eyepatch.
(...)
Hayter would go on to voice Naked Snake in MGS3 and take his final bow as Solid Snake in MGS4. But the notion that Russell could've voiced a character based so heavily on one of his own characters has always been a piece of catnip trivia for some fans, and in a new interview with GQ the actor was asked about being approached to star in the series. Warning: the question is direct, but his answer is thoughtful, nuanced, and possibly slightly confused about how close the characters are.

Palworld update fixes save-bricking capture bug, permanently-nerfing respec juice, and Pals randomly levitating or dying to 'unexplained falling damage'
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-update-fixes-save-bricking-capture-bug-permanently-nerfing-respec-juice-and-pals-randomly-levitating-or-dying-to-unexplained-falling-damage/
Palworld deserves kudos for actually following up on its success with bug fixes—Pocketpair now has the unenviable task of matching the sudden, unanticipated expectations that come with an indie breakout success with further support. The team's stated mission goal on its roadmap—primarily a focus on squashing game-breaking bugs—is getting done.
Patch v.0.1.4.0 aims to fix some major issues. For starters, your mates can no longer steal your pals if they're below 30% HP with a pal sphere—which is a relief, especially the targeting on those things is a touch wonky, making accidental pal napping (or in my case, pissing off a big mammoth that kills you) a real possibility.

Palworld glitch lets you carry 9,999 of anything like a legally distinct Sisyphus hauling pal spheres up a mountain
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-glitch-lets-you-carry-9999-of-anything-like-a-legally-distinct-sisyphus-hauling-pal-spheres-up-a-mountain/
(...)
Flavour-of-the-moment Palworld is, despite its Pokémon with guns tagline, more of a survival game at heart, and boy are survival games just the sort to slap you with all sorts of nonsense about encumbrance. Palworld has an interface and systems pretty typical of the genre, with things like item-stacking to manage, inventory chests, personal inventory and, of course, encumbrance penalties. You may well want to build a glorious stone fortress, but you're gonna have to schlep a lot of stone back to base to get started.
Well, Palworld player BeyondSmash has changed the game (first spotted by GamesRadar+). They noticed that, when fooling around with inventories, it is possible to place stacks of items in a suspended state. Items in this menu limbo remain accessible but are weightless, like you're transporting everything in a little pocket dimension (which is how it should be). No encumbrance penalty, no problem carrying everything you need to where you need it in one go.

Over 30% IPC improvements would be super dope, hopefully they can pull that off. 

I know right?, they been running "Blizztards" so long now you would think they would of been able put them on track....

https://steamdb.info/
Interesting to see Counter strike 2 at number 2. Also it's great to still see BG 3 going very strong!

If they release them on Steam, would buy them.

If power consumption doesn't sharply increase with that, then Intel will be in dire straits if AMD pulls that off. Not so much due to desktops, but because Intel would then get destroyed in laptops and servers, where they already get pushed around badly...

Let's go with the Friday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has sold one million copies in its first week
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-has-sold-one-million-copies-in-its-first-week/
SEGA has just announced that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has sold one million copies worldwide on all platforms. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth came out on January 25th, meaning that it took a week in order to hit this milestone.

Persona 3 Reload released, and it’s already the biggest ATLUS launch on Steam
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/persona-3-reload-released-and-its-already-the-biggest-atlus-launch-on-steam/
SEGA has just released Persona 3 Reload on PC and it appears that in just a matter of hours, this game became the biggest ATLUS launch on Steam.
In just a few hours, Persona 3 Reload had a peak of 42K concurrent players. That’s the highest number of players that have simultaneously played an ALTUS game. So, this remake of Persona 3 is off to a great start.
Persona 3 Reload is a cool remake of the old RPG from 2016. The developers have jazzed it up for today with better graphics and gameplay. It, more or less, looks identical to Persona 5 Royal. So, you kind of know what you can expect from it visually.

Free GOG keys for the objectively best Fallout game are on Twitch Prime right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/free-gog-keys-for-the-objectively-best-fallout-game-are-on-twitch-prime-right-now/
Friends, it's once again time to remember that you apparently have a Twitch Prime subscription, and to go rooting through its myriad freebies like a hog hunting for truffles. Today's truffle? Free GOG keys for the best Fallout game. No, not New Vegas. Not 2 either. Certainly not 3, why would you even say that? Look, it's 1, okay? The free GOG keys are for Fallout 1.
>> If my memory serves me right, which rarely does, you may already own this game thanks to the other times it's been free on either GOG or the Epic Store.

Fanatical's new Star Deal is Resident Evil 4 Deluxe Edition, 54% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-4-deluxe-edition.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

RPCS3 lets you play various PS3 games online on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/rpcs3-lets-you-play-various-ps3-games-online-on-pc/
The RPCS3 team, the team behind the best emulator for Playstation 3, has shared a new video, showcasing a number of PS3 games with online functionalities. According to the team, GalCiv has been hard at work improving RPCN, allowing for many more PS3 games to be played online.
Now what’s cool here is that RPCS3 and RPCN also support adding friends to your RPCN account and inviting them to matches. This is similar to how it worked on PSN on a real PS3. Oh, and get this. Some games even have working leaderboards.
Do note that not all the PS3 games currently work with RPCN. You can go ahead and check out the RPCN Compatibility List here. These are all the compatible games that can be played online right now. Additionally, some games require a custom server to be created by the community (not RPCS3 Devs), in order for online play to be possible.
Still, the fact that you can play PS3 games online on the PC via this emulator is an incredible achievement. Some of the PS3 games that currently work with RPCN are SoulCalibur V, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD, Demon’s Souls, and Blur. So, here is hoping that the team will keep working on it.
>> The article has on over 5 minutes video.

Palworld just got a Permadeath Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/palworld-just-got-a-permadeath-mod/
Modder ‘Diegiwg’ has just released a new mod for Palworld that adds Permadeath mechanics to it. This basically means that if your character dies, all items, including equipped ones, will be deleted.
Now I’m not a fan of these mods so I won’t be using it. Still, I suspect that some Palworld players may find it interesting. So, if you are interested in it, you can go ahead and download it from this link. Make also sure to read its installation instructions.
>> The article doesn't have any screenshots or videos about this mod.

GAMING NEWS

Leaked Gameplay Footage for Ubisoft’s Project U
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/leaked-gameplay-footage-for-ubisofts-project-u/
Project U is a new kind of session-based co-op shooter from Ubisoft. And, from the looks of it, someone has leaked some gameplay footage from its ongoing closed beta phase. So, go ahead and take a look at it.

Phantom Blade Zero will get a playable demo in 2024
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/phantom-blade-zero-will-get-a-playable-demo-in-2024/
S-Game has announced that a playable demo for its upcoming action RPG, Phantom Blade Zero, will be released in 2024. To celebrate this announcement, the team has shared a new stylized video that you can find below.

First patch for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth released, addressing mostly bugs & blockers
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/first-patch-like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-released/
Ryu Ga Gotoku has just released the first patch for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. According to the patch notes, this first update will address some bugs that plagued the game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Friday news, the sequel you were expecting:

Avowed's game director says Obsidian's choice to limit players to just two races is partially down to its first-person camera
https://www.pcgamer.com/avoweds-game-director-says-obsidians-choice-to-limit-players-to-just-two-races-is-partially-down-to-its-first-person-camera/
One of the unfortunate bummers about Avowed—which is set in the Pillars of Eternity universe—is that you'll be limited to playing either a human or an elf for story reasons, as your adventurer will be an envoy from the largely elf-slash-human dominated Aedyr Empire. That's kinda disappointing, seeing as Aumaua, Dwarves, and the fuzzy li'l Orlan are all appealing character choices from the setting.
Narrative aside, it seems like the main reason behind the choice was motivated by the technical nightmares of a first person camera. That's according to game director Carrie Patel, who spoke with IGN recently on the subject.
>> Well, they created that problem when they chose to use that camera.

Dredge dev says a mechanic that killed NPCs without warning if you let them go hungry lasted for about 3 days after the game's launch before they patched it out, because 'people f*cking hated it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dredge-dev-says-a-mechanic-that-killed-npcs-without-warning-if-you-let-them-go-hungry-lasted-for-about-3-days-after-the-games-launch-before-they-patched-it-out-because-people-fcking-hated-it/
Dredge was one of 2023's out-of-left field indie greats—we gave it an 89 in our Dredge review, then later bestowed it with Best Setting award for our Game of the Year shoutouts. It wears that mantle well from what I've seen as a genuinely brilliant bit of bathophobia–inducing atmospheric horror, in which you man a dinky little tugboat on an ocean of lovecraftian terrors.
It also attempted to create a dire, consequence-filled world where you can fail quests by accident. While the air of sea-soaked tension definitely landed for its players, one choice in that vein was so unpopular the devs patched it out in around three days, as revealed in an interview with the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences earlier this week.

The Day Before was an even bigger disaster than you thought: devs reportedly made to pay fines for bad work, learned it was an MMO from the trailers, and no one's sure where the bosses are
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-day-before-was-an-even-bigger-disaster-than-you-thought-devs-reportedly-made-to-pay-fines-for-bad-work-learned-it-was-an-mmo-from-the-trailers-and-no-ones-sure-where-the-bosses-are/
A new documentary from German games sites Game Two and GameStar has shed some more light on the disastrous development of The Day Before, and boy howdy, it's worse than you thought. Game Two says it spoke to 16 former Fntastic employees, one of its former "volunteers," and seven staff from The Day Before's publisher Mytona. The picture they paint is, well, staggering.

Devolver Digital's new CEO is its old CEO
https://www.pcgamer.com/devolver-digitals-new-ceo-is-its-old-ceo/
Devolver Digital has a new boss: A trading update (via Game Developer) reveals that Douglas Morin has stepped down as CEO of the company, and will be replaced by Devolver co-founder and executive chairman Harry Miller.

Inkle reveals a surprise collaboration with Google in The Forever Labyrinth, 'an art-filled quest through time and space'
https://www.pcgamer.com/inkle-reveals-a-surprise-collaboration-with-google-in-the-forever-labyrinth-an-art-filled-quest-through-time-and-space/
Inkle, the developer of highly-regarded narrative-focused games including 80 Days, Heaven's Vault, and A Highland Song, has unveiled a new game developed in collaboration with Google Arts and Culture: A free, browser-based "art-filled quest through time and space" called The Forever Labyrinth.

Palworld could have a major problem with an item that's meant to boost your chances of capturing pals, but lowers it instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-could-have-a-major-problem-with-an-item-thats-meant-to-boost-your-chances-of-capturing-pals-but-lowers-it-instead/
There are some practical ways to boost your chances of nabbing a Pal in Palworld—for example, you can get around an initial check by throwing your sphere from behind (called a 'back bonus'). The most reliable way, however, is using a Lifmunk Effigy: Items scattered around the world that boost your capture rate. Or at least that's the idea.

Atlus pinky swears that 'fans can rest assured knowing that Persona 3 Reload offers a complete experience,' so you won't be buying Persona 3 Reload: Royal years from now
https://www.pcgamer.com/atlus-pinky-swears-that-fans-can-rest-assured-knowing-that-persona-3-reload-offers-a-complete-experience-so-you-wont-be-buying-persona-3-reload-royal-years-from-now/
Here's the thing about Persona 3 Reload: it's not all of Persona 3. In particular, the remake is missing the epilogue campaign—called The Answer—that came with Persona 3 FES back on the PS2, and it's missing the female protagonist you could play as in the PSP (and now PC) version of the game, Persona 3 Portable.
All of that sounds like a great excuse for Atlus to put out a Persona 5 Royal/Persona 4 Golden-style reissue of the game somewhere down the line, selling you the game again in the form of a version that comes with those currently missing pieces plugged in.
But apparently the studio is breaking the habit of a lifetime, because Persona Team production manager Kazuhisa Wada recently told Gamerwk (translated by Persona Central) that Atlus is currently "not considering a revision like with Persona 5 to Persona 5 Royal" for Persona 3 Reload. "Fans can rest assured knowing that Persona 3 Reload offers a complete experience," said Wada.
>> The question is, can we trust him?

And now, the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• Nothing much at GOG, with the New Year Sale and its up to 90% discounts still going on until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_new_year_sale

+Steam

• DREDGE will be 30% off until Monday, February 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/
• Ember Knights gets a 25% discount until the 6th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135230/Ember_Knights/
• Last Train Home is going to be 34% off until February, the 8th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1469610/Last_Train_Home/
• Eastshade is also going to be on sale until the 8th, but with a 60% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/715560/Eastshade/
• Hogwarts Legacy gets a 40% deal until the 11th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/990080/Hogwarts_Legacy/
• LoveChoice 拣爱 will be 33% off until the 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/939400/LoveChoice/
• And Citizen Sleeper is the last deal, with a 50% discount until February, the 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1578650/Citizen_Sleeper/

Those were all the news. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

While I'd love for this to be true, the chances are between none to zero.

Last year we got the leak that the IPC increase would be roughly 10-15% and, while that came from Moore's Law is Dead, who has the same credibility of Red Gaming Tech (both terrible), at least he had what appeared to be an official slide to confirm it:

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/alleged-amd-zen-5-specs-leak-twice-the-cores-15-increased-ipc-over-ryzen-7000 (Zen5 is Nirvana/Eldora)

So, in this case, I¡d actually believe MLID's leak over this new one.