Went to join the group but....apparently I'm already a member...damn , didnt even know lmao

Here are the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Persona 3 Reload has sold one million units in its first week
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/persona-3-reload-has-sold-one-million-units-in-its-first-week/
Atlus has just announced that Persona 3 Reload has sold over one million units worldwide on all platforms in its first week. As such, it currently is the fastest game in Atlus history (and from what appears to be a huge commercial success).
Although Atlus has not provided any platform-specific sales, we do know that the game sold well on PC. As we’ve reported, it immediately became the biggest ATLUS launch on Steam.

The Epic Store gives away two games:

• Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/doki-doki-literature-club-plus
• Lost Castle: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/lost-castle-abb2e2

Next week, they'll give away Dakar Desert Rally.

Steam has two new deals:

• Shredders will be 40% off until February, the 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1874170/Shredders/
• ONE PIECE ODYSSEY gets a 50% discount until the same 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/814000/ONE_PIECE_ODYSSEY/

We have a new Humble Bundle: the Megaman Franchise Pack, with up to 8 games to get during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mega-man-franchise-pack.

Fanatical's Lunar New Year Sale has launched and will last until the 18th of February, but that's not all:

• First of all, there's the mentioned Lunar New Year Sale
• The new Star Deal is Hi-Fi Rush, 45% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/hi-fi-rush
• And there are these four new bundles:
  • NeuroVoider - Deluxe Edition, with 1 game + 1 DLC, will be 73% off during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/neurovoider-deluxe-edition
  • Rimworld with all expansions, with the game and 3 DLCs gets a 20% discount during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/rimworld-with-all-expansions
  • The Jackbox Quintpack will be 50% off during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/the-jackbox-quintpack
  • And the Batman: Arkham Collection, with 3 games, gets a 87% discount during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Hotfix driver addresses micro-stutter issues
https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-hotfix-driver-addresses-micro-stutter-issues
The problem of micro-stuttering is one of the most common problems with computer graphics. It can run the experience for any gamer during the most competitive battles, or occur even when browsing the web. The issue of micro-stutter is a very complex topic that may not always have its roots in GPU architecture, sometimes it is related to the CPU/memory and sometimes all it takes is a new software update.

Turns out, NVIDIA has addressed at least one of the potential sources for micro-stutter with their latest GeForce hotfix driver. According to the changelog, it specifically focuses on users using vertical synchronization (V-Sync). There is also a stutter fix for users who are not playing games, but simply browsing the web. The explanation for these issues is not provided by NVIDIA, but they all might stem from the same issue.

This hotfix addresses the following issues:

• Some users may experience intermittent micro-stuttering in games when vertical sync is enabled [4445940]
• Potential stutter may be observed when scrolling in web browsers on certain system configurations [4362307]
• [Red Dead Redemption 2][Vulkan] Stutter observed on some Advanced Optimus notebooks [4425987]
• [Immortals of Aveum] Addresses stability issues over extended gameplay [4415277]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The world's biggest mod site pops the cork on 10 billion downloads and $7 million-worth of payouts: 'If every download were a footstep, you could walk to the Moon 11 times'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-worlds-biggest-mod-site-pops-the-cork-on-10-billion-downloads-and-dollar7-million-worth-of-payouts-if-every-download-were-a-footstep-you-could-walk-to-the-moon-11-times/
Nexus Mods, the world's largest mod site and almost certainly a bookmark in your browser if you've ever wanted to fiddle with Skyrim, obliterate yourself in Fallout, or annihilate thugs with cans of soft drink, is celebrating a milestone. Specifically, it's celebrating the fact that the site will today hit 10 billion total file downloads. That's a one and ten zeroes.
It's a staggering amount, but even more surprising—at least to me—is the relatively small pool of mods and modders it's drawn from. "These 10,000,000,000 downloads are spread across 539,682 mod files," reads the announcement from Nexus Mods, "created by a vibrant community of 128,361 mod authors, serving over 47 million total members, modding 2,683 different games."

Tekken 8 Mod allows you to go beyond Ultra Graphics, enabling GTAO, Full Screen SSR & Shadow Denoiser
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/tekken-8-mod-beyond-ultra-graphics/
Modder ‘xowny’ has released a new configuration file for Tekken 8 that allows you to go beyond the game’s Ultra Graphics settings. This mod will enable GTAO Ambient Occlusion, Shadow Denoiser and Full Screen SSR Reflections.
For those unaware, GTAO is a more advanced technique of Ambient Occlusion. GTAO takes advantage of temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) information. It uses information from previous frames to improve the accuracy of occlusion calculations. As such, it can provide a better image quality than the game’s default AO.
On the other hand, Shadow Denoiser can result in smoother and cleaner shadows, enhancing the overall visual fidelity of the game. It can help reduce flickering, blocky artifacts, and other noise-related issues that may occur in the shadowed areas of the scene.
As for Full Screen SSR, you already know what this setting does. Basically, it improves the quality of SSR reflections so that they can appear more accurate. Still, the game would benefit from RT Reflections as there are some stages in which the SSR artifacts look horrendous.
>> The article has an almost 15 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

Starfield AMD FSR 3.0 Beta Patch Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/starfield-amd-fsr-3-0-beta-patch-released/
Bethesda has just released a new beta patch for Starfield that adds support for AMD FSR 3.0. Thanks to it, NVIDIA, Intel and AMD GPU owners will be able to enable and experience Frame Generation in Starfield.

Homeworld 3 delayed until May 13th, will be now using Denuvo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/homeworld-3-delayed-until-may-13th-will-be-now-using-denuvo/
Gearbox Publishing has just announced that its upcoming sci-fi RTS, Homeworld 3, has been delayed until May 13th. In addition, the publisher has updated the game’s Steam store page, revealing that it will be now using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech.
>> Hey, at least you can try the demo thanks to the Steam Next.

Skull and Bones is going to be a BIG MESS, and you should stay away from it
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/skull-and-bones-big-mess/
Ubisoft has launched the Open Beta phase for Skull and Bones, however, things are not looking great for this upcoming title. The game currently suffers from major server/connectivity issues. Not only that but there are issues preventing you from even accessing its main menu. This game is coming in hot, and you should stay away from it.
>> I mean, that's kind of what Betas are for, right?

Alan Wake 2 Patch 1.16 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/alan-wake-2-patch-1-16-released-fully-detailed/
Remedy has just released Title Update 1.16 for Alan Wake 2, and shared its full patch notes. This is a small update that includes a handful of important fixes. So, let’s take a look at them.

The second part of the Thursday news:

Counter-Strike 2 adds fan-favourite mode, its first weapon skins, custom sticker placement, and something a little shocking
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-2-adds-fan-favourite-mode-its-first-weapon-skins-custom-sticker-placement-and-something-a-little-shocking/
Counter-Strike 2 released last year and, judging by the fact 1.1 million players are fragging each other as I write this, has more-or-less seamlessly replaced Counter-Strike:Global Offensive. That was always the goal, yet Valve made the decision to focus on getting the core competitive experience right and so CS2 launched without some of the features and modes of its predecessor that the developer plans to add over time.
It's made a start with by far the most-requested addition to CS2: Arms Race, also known as the gun game. A favourite for warm-ups before getting into ranked, the mode sees all players cycle through the game's weapons, upgrading their gun after each kill, and race to be the first to get through them all. Arms Race arrives with two new maps suited to the mode, Baggage and Shoots.

Paralives will enter early access in 2025 and will never have paid DLCs, only free expansions
https://www.pcgamer.com/paralives-will-enter-early-access-in-2025-and-will-never-have-paid-dlcs-only-free-expansions/
After several years of semi-public development, life simulation game Paralives is ready to nail down a release year. But it's not this year. Though some of the other upcoming competition for The Sims is expected to arrive in 2024, Paralives has revealed in a new trailer that it's targeting 2025 for its early access release.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has a free trial starting tomorrow, which is probably the best way to play Activision's underwhelming sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-has-a-free-trial-starting-tomorrow-which-is-probably-the-best-way-to-play-activisions-underwhelming-sequel/
Season 2 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 starts today, though you'd be forgiven for dismissing it outright considering how poorly received Activision's latest FPS behemoth was. But there's also a free trial of the game kicking off tomorrow, and considering what the trial offers, it might just be worth paying attention to.
>> That tomorrow is today.

Deus Ex actor Elias Toufexis bids a heartfelt farewell to Adam Jensen and thanks fans for their support: 'I asked for this'
https://www.pcgamer.com/deus-ex-actor-elias-toufexis-bids-a-heartfelt-farewell-to-adam-jensen-and-thanks-fans-for-their-support-i-asked-for-this/
Elias Toufexis, the actor behind the gravelly, world-weary voice of Deus Ex lead Adam Jensen, has bid what seems to be a final farewell to the series in a heartfelt message posted to Reddit.

FTC hits Microsoft with federal complaint over game division layoffs
https://www.pcgamer.com/ftc-hits-microsoft-with-federal-complaint-over-game-division-layoffs/
The US Federal Trade Commission has filed a complaint with a federal appeals court over Microsoft's plan to lay off 1,900 employees from its gaming division, saying the move "contradicts" Microsoft's commitment to maintaining the studio's operational independence while the FTC pursues its case against the merger.

Disney invests $1.5 billion in Epic, announces new 'entertainment universe' in Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/disney-invests-dollar15-billion-in-epic-announces-new-entertainment-universe-in-fortnite/
Disney has announced a $1.5 billion investment into Epic Games as part of a new partnership to create an "open games and entertainment universe" in Fortnite.
"Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney's beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe," Walt Disney Company CEO Robert A Iger said. "This marks Disney's biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can't wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways."

The guy who made Daggerfall Unity is working on his own original Daggerfall-style RPG with a custom engine
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-guy-who-made-daggerfall-unity-is-working-on-his-own-original-daggerfall-style-rpg-with-a-custom-engine/
It took nearly a decade of work, but Daggerfall Unity—the best version of Bethesda's biggest RPG—finally crossed the finish line into a full 1.0 release in January. With that Herculean task complete, creator Gavin Clayton is moving on to a new project: Making a Daggerfall-style game of his own.

Palworld's latest patch stops its capture chance boosting items making capture chances worse, and prevents your breeding Pals from being sent to a farm upstate forever
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworlds-latest-patch-stops-its-capture-chance-boosting-items-making-capture-chances-worse-and-prevents-your-breeding-pals-from-being-sent-to-a-farm-upstate-forever/
If you can cast your mind back to last week, you'll recall a Palworld bug that saw Lifmunk Effigies, which are supposed to increase your chances of successfully catching Pals, seemingly decreasing those odds instead. (...)
But good news: our long Palworldian nightmare is over. As part of Palworld's 0.1.4.1 patch, released yesterday, Pocketpair says it has "Fixed an issue where, although the displayed capture probability increased when the capture power was strengthened with Lifmunk Effigies, the capture probability did not actually increase at all due to an internal processing bug."

Jagged Alliance 3 promises to let you 'rebuild most aspects of the game' using all-new rulesets and mod tools
https://www.pcgamer.com/jagged-alliance-3-promises-to-let-you-rebuild-most-aspects-of-the-game-using-all-new-rulesets-and-mod-tools/
Jagged Alliance 3, the well-received sequel to the classic mercenary tactics games, infiltrated enemy lines to extract a big new update this week. Going by the unusual alias "Larry", patch 1.5 added several new ways to explore and expand your adventures in the politically unstable nation of Grand Chien.

Ok, "some" hardware news for you:

There's a price war going on (sadly, only in the US)!

AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT now available at $699: https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-7900-xt-now-available-at-699

GeForce RTX 4070 Ti available at $699, now matches RX 7900 XT price: https://videocardz.com/newz/geforce-rtx-4070-ti-available-at-699-now-matches-rx-7900-xt-price

AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT is currently available for only $353: https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-7700-xt-is-currently-available-for-only-353

Powercolor has sold all its 7700XT, which makes sense given how great of a deal it was, but the other two deals are still going for those that can, and want, to tak advantage of them.

Resizeable BAR mod for older gaming PCs, said to deliver up to 12% more performance, could breath a little more life into systems as old as Sandy Bridge
https://www.pcgamer.com/resizeable-bar-mod-for-older-gaming-pcs-said-to-deliver-up-to-12-more-performance-could-breath-a-little-more-life-into-systems-as-old-as-sandy-bridge/

AMD Gains Market Share Momentum In x86 Client CPU Segment In Q4 2023 With Latest Ryzen CPUs
https://wccftech.com/amd-market-share-momentum-x86-client-cpu-segment-q4-2023-latest-ryzen-cpus/

Desktop: 19.8% # Mobile: 20.3% # Server: 23.1%

MSI Addresses AMD STAPM Issues on Ryzen 8000G APUs In Its Latest AM5 BIOS Update
https://wccftech.com/msi-addresses-amd-stapm-issues-ryzen-8000g-apus-latest-am5-bios-update/

The problem was spotted by GamersNexus (video in the article). Also, they don't support ECC memory. And that's not all about AMD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCuVEuFIkew

But AMD isn't the only one with problems

German Court Prohibits Intel Processor Sales Amid Patent Dispute
https://www.techpowerup.com/318867/german-court-prohibits-intel-processor-sales-amid-patent-dispute

It's a regional court and "only" affects Intel's 10th, 11th and 12th Gen, not the newer ones.

TSMC Overtakes Intel and Samsung to Become World's Largest Semiconductor Maker by Revenue
https://www.techpowerup.com/318819/tsmc-overtakes-intel-and-samsung-to-become-worlds-largest-semiconductor-maker-by-revenue

Judging by the provided graph, it has more to do with the other two having bigger drops in sales than TSMC rather than the later beating them.

And the last one:

The quality of USB drives is getting worse thanks to re-used and often defective NAND chips including some from known brands
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-quality-of-usb-drives-is-getting-worse-thanks-to-re-used-and-often-defective-nand-chips-including-some-from-known-brands/

It's time for the Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Helldivers 2 is the third biggest Playstation launch on Steam but suffers from major issues on PC [UPDATE: Now THE biggest PS launch on PC]
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/helldivers-2-is-the-third-biggest-playstation-launch-on-steam-but-suffers-from-issues-on-pc/
Sony has just released Helldivers 2 on PC and PS5 and from the looks of it, this is the third biggest Playstation launch on Steam. In just a day, this online squad-based third-person shooter managed to hit a peak of 64K concurrent players on PC.
The biggest Playstation launch on PC is still God of War with a peak of 73K concurrent players. The second biggest Sony launch is Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered which had a peak of 64K concurrent players. Helldivers 2 now sits in third place, followed by Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us Part 1.
Now while the game has initially sold well on PC, it currently has Mixed Reviews on Steam. From what we’ve seen, there are major instability issues with it. A lot of PC players report constant crashes. Others claim that there are awful mouse smoothing issues, and that there is no support for DLSS or FSR.
UPDATE: The game has now surpassed God of War’s peak concurrent number. As such, Helldivers 2 is now the biggest Playstation launch on Steam.

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• The Start Your Story Sale launches with up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/start-your-story-sale/
• The From Software Spotlight Sale gives us the chance to get their games up to 50% off during 12 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/fromsoftware-spotlight-sale/

These is what you'll find at Fanatical:

• The new Star Deal is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, 43% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/ratchet-and-clank-rift-apart
• And they're some gifts to earn from spending money in the Lunar Sale. Learn more https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/how-to-get-lunar-new-year-free-gift-what-you-can-find"> https://www.fanatical.com/en/blog/how-to-get-lunar-new-year-free-gift-what-you-can-find

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 31.0.101.5194/5252 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-31-0-101-5194-5252

Highlights

Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:

• Helldivers 2
• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
• Skull & Bones

Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Core™ Ultra with Intel® Arc™ Graphics for:

• Helldivers 2
• Skull & Bones

Game performance improvements on Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products versus Intel® 31.0.101.5186 software driver for:

• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden (DX12
  • Up to 4% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Very High settings
• Palworld (DX11)
  • Up to 5% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Epic settings
• Snowrunner (DX11)
  • Up to 71% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings

Fixed Issues

Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products:

• Arcade Paradise (DX11) may exhibit color corruption during gameplay.
• Ghostrunner 2 (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance.
• Starfield (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Mortal Kombat 1 just got amazing Disney & Pixar Mods
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/mortal-kombat-1-disney-pixar-mods/
Now here is something truly spectacular. ToastedShoes has released some new mods for Mortal Kombat 1 that bring to it characters from Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks.
This is a dream come true for a lot of Disney fans. Thanks to these mods, you’ll be able to play as Mickey Mouse, Donald, Goofy, Elsa, and Rapunzel. And those are not the only characters you can play as. As said, there are also mods for Pixar and Dreamworks characters. So, get ready to play as Shrek, Woody, Bob Parr, Alex the Lion and more. Oh, and yes. You can also perform fatalities on them. How cool is that?
Now the bad news here is that these all are paid mods. At least for now. ToastedShoes has stated that all of their paid mods will, eventually, come out on NexusMods as free mods. The Nexus versions of the mod packs will be the “raw” mods that you will have to install yourself. So, at least that’s something. However, if you want to play right now with the aforementioned characters, you’ll have to subscribe to the modder’s Patreon.
To give you an idea of what you can expect from them, I’ve included below four videos. These videos showcase the Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks characters I mentioned above. So, make sure to watch them.
>> Who's the best Disney princess? Only one (bloody) way to find out.

Here’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 with RTX Remix Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/tony-hawk-pro-skater-4-rtx-remix-path-tracing/
NVIDIA’s Jacob Freeman has shared some screenshots, showcasing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 with RTX Remix Path Tracing. From what I see, this RTX Remix Mod appears to be in a very early development stage. That or these screenshots are the default results of the RTX Remix Runtime.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 came out on PC in August 2002, meaning that it’s over 20 years old. As such, you should temper your expectations. Right now, the RTX Remix Mod can only improve the game’s lighting. The 3D models and textures are untouched. Thus, the game feels a bit weird. On the one hand, we have an advanced lighting system. On the other hand, we have some really low-res textures and low-polygon 3D models.
For those wondering, it appears that this mod isn’t available for download. I’ve searched ModDB and there is no such RTX Remix Mod for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. All we have right now are these WIP screenshots and nothing more.

GAMING NEWS

Blizzard reveals a new era of Overwatch 2: Bigger health bars, self-healing, and a reworked Competitive mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-reveals-a-new-era-of-overwatch-2-bigger-health-bars-self-healing-and-a-reworked-competitive-mode/
The list of changes coming to Overwatch 2 next week are bigger than anything Blizzard has done since the introduction of 5v5. In some ways, it's a new era for the hero shooter that has struggled to find its footing in the year since its release.
>> This is the good(?) news coming from Blizzard...

Former Overwatch 2 artist alleges shocking mistreatment by Blizzard management: 'I spent most of a year stressed out of my mind'
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-overwatch-2-artist-alleges-shocking-mistreatment-by-blizzard-management-i-spent-most-of-a-year-stressed-out-of-my-mind/
Blizzard's reputation has taken a pummelling over the last few years. In 2021, horrifying descriptions of the company's toxic workplace culture spilled onto the Internet, after a lawsuit was filed by California's Department of Fair Employment regarding "unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation". (...)
Three years on from the initial fallout, you might be wondering how all that is going. Well, if recent statements made by former Overwatch 2 artist Chris Sayers are anything to go by, the answer is 'extremely badly.'
>> ... and this is the bad one. It's quite infuriating.

Friday news, part two:

Subnautica 2 studio reassures fans that it's not a live-service game: 'No season passes. No battle passes. No subscription'
https://www.pcgamer.com/subnautica-2-studio-reassures-fans-that-its-not-a-live-service-game-no-season-passes-no-battle-passes-no-subscription/
In response to concerns that arose after publisher Krafton said the upcoming Subnautica 2 will feature co-op mulitplayer built on the "games-as-a-service model," developer Unknown Worlds has clarified that it won't be very different from the early access releases of the previous games in the series, and that there will be no battle passes or subscriptions involved.

Helldivers 2 studio in 'crisis mode' as servers buckle under the weight of a popular launch, first hotfix out now
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-studio-in-crisis-mode-as-servers-buckle-under-the-weight-of-a-popular-launch-first-hotfix-out-now/
The original Helldivers was a fun little twin-stick shooter that flew under the radar, but its 3D sequel is proving to be a much bigger deal. On launch day, Helldivers 2 is the top selling game on Steam with a respectable peak of 64,000 concurrent players. Judging by my first hour, it's very fun, but also kinda broken.

Helldivers 2 kept its most exciting feature secret until launch: human dungeon masters 'responding in real time' and messing with players
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-kept-its-most-exciting-feature-secret-until-launch-human-dungeon-masters-responding-in-real-time-and-messing-with-players/
Helldivers 2 launched on Steam today and unfortunately seems to have got off to a bit of a shaky start network-wise (...)
Launch woes aside, Helldivers 2 hasn't been especially on my radar—but a new PlayStation Access interview with the game's deputy director Sagar Beroshi made me realise this is a game with big ideas, and none more exciting than its take on in-game dungeon masters.

Discworld rerelease is 'on the cards' according to the original game's director, but is 'a complicated process' because King Charles may own 50% of the IP rights
https://www.pcgamer.com/discworld-rerelease-is-on-the-cards-according-to-the-original-games-director-but-is-a-complicated-process-because-king-charles-may-own-50-of-the-ip-rights/
At a time when classic PC games are more accessible than ever, the Discworld trilogy of adventure games has remained frustratingly elusive. Based on Terry Pratchett's long-running comic fantasy series, the three adventure games—Discworld, Discworld 2, and Discworld Noir, were developed by Perfect Entertainment and released between 1995 and 1999. Perfect shut down shortly after Noir launched, and ever since the trilogy has been abandonware.
But hope lies on the horizon. In a recent interview with Time Extension, Perfect's cofounder Gregg Barnett revealed that a rerelease is being pursued. "I don't want to give you a scoop, but a Discworld rerelease may happen," Barnett said when asked if any companies had approached him about the subject. "It's on the cards. It may happen. And then it could advance to new versions of them."

Take-Two Interactive says in-game currencies are 'fictions' that players can't actually own
https://www.pcgamer.com/take-two-interactive-says-in-game-currencies-are-fictions-that-players-cant-actually-own/
You might pay real money for in-game currency, but Take-Two Interactive says that doesn't make it real: In a filing seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging "civil theft" and unfair business practices in its NBA 2K games, Take-Two said virtual currencies (VCs) are not property but are "fictions" created by game makers, and subject to the same terms and conditions as the games themselves.

Ubisoft CEO defends Skull and Bones' $60 price tag, says it's 'a quadruple-A game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-ceo-defends-skull-and-bones-dollar60-price-tag-says-its-a-quadruple-a-game/
Skull and Bones costs $60, or your local equivalent, and that's a hefty price tag for something that bears the trappings of a live-service game, including an in-game store, battle pass, seasonal events, and premium currency. But Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot defended the cost in an investors call today, saying the high price is warranted because it's a "quadruple-A game."
>> Don't laugh.

Diablo 4's forgettable XP boost event has me crossing my fingers that its upcoming leaderboards won't be as dull
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4s-forgettable-xp-boost-event-has-me-crossing-my-fingers-that-its-upcoming-leaderboards-wont-be-as-dull/
Diablo 4's Lunar New Year event doesn't feel like an event at all. The promised cosmetic rewards take about an hour to earn and trying to find the XP-boosting Lunar Shrines is harder than trying to find an Uber Unique. It's as if the event was designed for the Diablo 4 that existed before season 2's overhaul, and Blizzard's hotfixes can't seem to make it much better.

Creative Assembly begs Total War: Warhammer fans to come back with upgraded DLC that adds a giant terracotta warrior
https://www.pcgamer.com/creative-assembly-begs-total-war-warhammer-fans-to-come-back-with-upgraded-dlc-that-adds-a-giant-terracotta-warrior/
Following last year's expensive Shadows of Change DLC, the Total War: Warhammer 3 community's Public Order score dropped until it was only a few turns away from outright rebellion. Redditors and YouTubers folded in a bunch of perennial complaints about bugs and update cadence and communication and how they want one specific kind of beastmen to have beaks, kicking up a stink until Creative Assembly promised to give players better value for money. Now, the studio has started to detail how that will happen with a blog post outlining some of the changes to Shadows of Change in update 4.2.

Tekken 8's leaderboard is being dominated by cheaters and boosters but bans are being handed out soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/tekken-8s-leaderboard-is-being-dominated-by-cheaters-and-boosters-but-bans-are-being-handed-out-soon/
Bandai Namco and Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada are readying the banhammers, with warnings of rank resets and account suspensions, after players quickly discovered that the leaderboard's 'top' online ranked users were cheating or win trading to inflate their standing.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake director would give an emphatic 'No!' if someone asked him for an FF8 remake, and FF8's original director isn't keen either
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-7-remake-director-would-give-an-emphatic-no-if-someone-asked-him-for-an-ff8-remake-and-ff8s-original-director-isnt-keen-either/
Call me an empath, but something tells me that remaking Final Fantasy 7 as a trilogy of slick, high-budget modern games is taking its toll on poor Naoki Hamaguchi, the remake's director. In a recent chat with IGN, Hamaguchi and Final Fantasy 8 director Yoshinori Kitase were presented with the idea of a similar remake for FF8. Hamaguchi took to the idea like a cat to a swimming pool.

Data strings in the latest Counter-Strike 2 update hint at two new Valve games, and one of them might just be Half-Life related
https://www.pcgamer.com/data-strings-in-the-latest-counter-strike-2-update-hint-at-two-new-valve-games-and-one-of-them-might-just-be-half-life-related/
A Half-Life fan's favourite pastime (aside from actually playing Half-Life games) is latching onto the tiniest hope that a new Half-Life might be just around the corner. I say this as one such eternally optimistic Half-Life fan. Which is why I started vibrating with excitement at a single data string hidden in the latest Counter-Strike 2 update.

Dead Cells is calling it quits 7 years after its meteoric early access release
https://www.pcgamer.com/dead-cells-is-calling-it-quits-7-years-after-its-meteoric-early-access-release/
Seven years after its early access release and five years after Evil Empire took the reins from the original devs at Motion Twin, Dead Cells is hanging up its spurs. In a statement earlier today, Evil Empire announced it "will no longer be working on Dead Cells" following a half-decade of work on the game. A corollary statement from Motion Twin declares Dead Cells' upcoming update 35 "the end of our creative journey on the game".

And here are the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• GOG has four Deals of the Day for us. All of them will last 70 hours and the first one is STAR WARS™: X-Wing Special Edition, featuring a 65% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_wars_xwing_special_edition
• STAR WARS™ - The Force Unleashed™ Ultimate Sith Edition is also 65% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_wars_the_force_unleashed_ultimate_sith_edition
• Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA gets a 70% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/ys_viii_lacrimosa_of_dana
• And the fourth one is The Cave, 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_cave

+Steam

• Dovetail Games puts its titles on sale with up to 90% discounts until the 12th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/dovetailgames/sale/FestivalofRail2024
• Lethal Company, still in Early Access, will be 30% off until the 15th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1966720/Lethal_Company/
• Slime Rancher 2 is also in Early Access, and also has a 30% discount until the 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1657630/Slime_Rancher_2/
• Black Mesa is going to be 80% off until February, the 15th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
• EA has its own Lunar Sale with up to 85% discounts until the 20th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/EA/sale/ea-lunar-new-year-2024
• Rockstar puts its games up to 70% off until the 22nd of February: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/RockstarPublisherSale2024
• And Bandai Namco has also launched its own Lunar New Year Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts until the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/BANDAINAMCO/sale/bandainamcosale

Nothing else to add. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Zen 5 isn't even close to be out yet, and there are already speculations about Zen 6. Specifically in this case not Zen 6 directly, but how the current Infinity Fabric would need to get replaced with something more advanced. AMD has already announced that they would change things up then, and here's a nice technical video explaining what needs to change and the possible technologies behind those changes:

AMD ZEN 6 — Next-gen Chiplets & Packaging (youtube.com)

Less power draw and faster interconnect with much lower latency would definitely be nice; the latter would certainly on it's own already have a small effect on IPC while the lowered power draw gives more headspace for higher clock speeds.

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Helldivers 2 blasts to the top of Steam's global top sellers chart, becoming Sony's biggest PC release as it launches alongside PS5
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-blasts-to-the-top-of-steams-global-top-sellers-chart-becoming-sonys-biggest-pc-release-as-it-launches-alongside-ps5/
In another victory for democracy, Helldivers 2 has dropped from orbit right onto the summit of Steam's Global Top Sellers list, becoming the biggest Steam launch in Sony's history despite some initial server issues.
According to Steam DB, Helldivers 2 achieved the highest peak concurrent player-count for any Sony published game on Valve's digital distribution service when it launched yesterday, with 81,840 players banding together to thwart Super Earth's alien nemeses. That's over 8,000 players more than God of War achieved on its PC launch two years ago.
It's currently the best-selling game by revenue on Steam, having knocked the Pokémon-pummeling phenomenon Palword off its perch and beating out longtime occupants of the list like PUBG, and Valve's own money-spinning stalwarts Dota 2 and Counter-Strike 2.
>> That's old news, because now it has doubled the numbers at 155,926 players.

Steam has two new deals:

• The first one is Animal Revolt Battle Simulator, with a 60% discount until the 18th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1215390/Animal_Revolt_Battle_Simulator/
• The second one is TerraTech, 80% off until the same 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/285920/TerraTech/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Mind-Bending Masterpieces Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mindbending-masterpieces.

And Fanatical has the following deals:

• The new Star Deal is Command: Modern Operations, 69% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/command-modern-operations
• The Star Wars Collection, with 14 games, will be 80% off during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
• The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle features an 82% discount during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/stalker-complete-bundle
• And the BYO Leap Year Bundle features 20 titles to choose from for your 1, 5 or 10 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-leap-year-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

A native AI assisted Super Resolution feature is coming to Windows 11
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-native-ai-assisted-super-resolution-feature-is-coming-to-windows-11/
Even if we don't get a Windows 12 release this year, the Windows 11 24H2 update is shaping up to be a big one. With AI all the rage, and both AMD and Intel integrating AI specific hardware into their latest CPUs, AI assisted applications are definitely going to appear thick and fast. Microsoft is developing an interesting one, by introducing an AI assisted super resolution feature that's likely to appear in the 24H2 update.
PhantomOfEarth (via Neowin), a user on the website formerly known as Twitter, posted a couple of screenshots from the Windows 26052 preview build. They reveal Microsoft is working on a new feature it calls Automatic Super Resolution. Enabling it allows you to 'Use AI to make supported games play more smoothly with enhanced details'.
>> So now there's four of them: Nvidia, AMD, Intel and now Microsoft doing their own thing as well.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Unofficial PC Port Is Playable From Start to Finish, Let’s You Access New Game+
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/marvels-spider-man-2-unofficial-pc-port-playable-new-game-plus/
The unofficial PC port for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is currently in a great state. While it still has some visual bugs and graphical glitches, the game is fully playable, from start to finish. Not only that but it allows PC gamers to enjoy its New Game+ Mode. What’s really ironic here is that the PS5 does not feature yet a New Game+ Mode. Sony and Insomniac Games plan to add it in March 2023. So, in a way, PC gamers can enjoy features that are not present in the official PS5 version. What sorcery is this? At the end of the article, you can find a video from the latest V10 PC build. As you will see, the game is not yet fully enjoyable. However, this video showcases its New Game+ Mode. So yes, this is the real deal.
>> Meanwhile, the team behind this project has launched the min, recommended and max specs requirements to play the game.

Brutal Doom V22 Public Test Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/brutal-doom-v22-public-test-available-for-download/
Modder ‘SGtMarkIV’ has released a public beta version of version 22 for Brutal Doom. To celebrate this announcement, the modder also shared a new video that highlights the new features of this build.
Brutal Doom V22 features several new improvements, sprites, animations, and a Horde Mode. According to the modder, almost every gun received a new paint job, and now they are pixel-perfect.
As said, this latest version adds a new Horde Mode. The Horde Mode pits you into an arena against several waves of enemies and a boss battle at the end. Supplies are limited, and new parts of the arena open as you finish off waves.

Rockstar’s Midnight Club 2 just got an RTX Remix Path Tracing Beta Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/midnight-club-2-rtx-remix-beta-mod/
It’s no secret that a lot of PC gamers love Rockstar’s Midnight Club 2. So, if you are one of them, you might get excited about this mod. Hemry81 has just released a beta version of his RTX Remix Mod for it, which adds full ray tracing/path tracing effects to it.
Now as the title suggests, this mod is still in a beta phase. Despite that, the mod comes with some improved textures for the road. So, it’s at least more than a mere mod based on the NVIDIA RTX Remix Runtime.
In short, I suggest keeping your expectations in check. This has a lot of potential, but it still needs a lot of work. So, make sure to watch the video at the end of the article to get an idea of what you can expect from it.

Half-Life 2 Total Conversion Mod, Entropy: Zero 2, Gets Brand New RTX Remix Path Tracing Screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/entropy-zero-2-new-rtx-remix-screenshots/
Last month, we informed you about an RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod for the Half-Life 2 Total Conversion Mod, Entropy: Zero 2. And today, we present you some new screenshots from its latest build.
These screenshots showcase some of the new assets that the modder has created. And while the mod still needs a lot of work, these latest WIP screenshots look really good.
Now the good news here is that you can download the latest beta of this RTX Remix Mod and try it yourselves. C2_1 and C5_1 are broken with the game crashing at launch. On the other hand, C3_1 should be completely playable now. C0 and C1 can also be considered “playable” now, though they do have some bugs.

GAMING NEWS

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Patch 1.15 fixes the DLSS 3 Frame Generation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-patch-1-15/
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has released a new patch for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Title Update 1.15 brings a number of bug fixes and resolves some crashes. Moreover, it fixes the stuttering issues that could occur when enabling DLSS 3 Frame Generation.

Beneath is another indie FPS inspired by FEAR, will have destructible environments
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/beneath-fps-fear-destructible-environments/
Camel 101 is currently working on a new first-person action-horror game that seems to be heavily inspired by the first FEAR. This indie game is called Beneath, and it promises to have destructible environments like those we enjoyed in older classic FPS titles, like Far Cry and (duh) FEAR.

The second part of the news:

Larian knows its audience, promises 'improved smooches' in Baldur's Gate 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/larian-knows-its-audience-promises-improved-smooches-in-baldurs-gate-3/
Baldur's Gate 3 is a very horny RPG, as well as being broadly brilliant, and Larian knows exactly what its players want: smooching. Patch 6, dropping next week, will give the horny romantics something to get excited about in the form of "improved smooches", along with some other additions.
>> That next week will be this week.

Ubisoft is 'disappointed' by sales of the Assassin's Creed VR game, will not increase investment in future VR development until the market 'grows enough'
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-is-disappointed-by-sales-of-the-assassins-creed-vr-game-will-not-increase-investment-in-future-vr-development-until-the-market-grows-enough/
Following disappointing sales of Assassin's Creed Nexus, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says the publisher isn't going to increase its investment into VR game development until demand for it "grows enough."

The 10 most popular Steam Next Fest demos include 2 RTS games and a 4X grand strategy
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-10-most-popular-steam-next-fest-demos-include-2-rts-games-and-a-4x-historical-strategy-game/
We used to complain that we were in a game demo drought, and now we complain that we're drowning in them. It's a good problem to have, but there genuinely isn't enough time to play all of the demos available during any given Steam Next Fest—the current one ends on Monday—so some prioritization is in order.
If you just want to know which demos are the most popular, Steam recently sorted the top 10 by most played.
>> You won't have much time to play them.

Blizzard finally has a solution for the unlucky Diablo 4 players with Uber Uniques they don't want
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-finally-has-a-solution-for-the-unlucky-diablo-4-players-with-uber-uniques-they-dont-want/
Hours of grinding for Diablo 4's rarest and most powerful items, Uber Uniques, won't guarantee you'll get the one you actually want. I'm in this situation right now. I've killed the boss who drops them almost 100 times and he refuses to give me the one I need. But next week, my bad luck with Uber Uniques will at least amount to something: Blizzard is going to let you break them down to create one of your choice.
>> Again, it's going to be this week.

Hideo Kojima says Physint's happening because you lot just wouldn't stop asking for 'a new Metal Gear' and, after a brush with death, he's decided that's not a bad idea
https://www.pcgamer.com/hideo-kojima-says-physints-happening-because-you-lot-just-wouldnt-stop-asking-for-a-new-metal-gear-and-after-a-brush-with-death-hes-decided-thats-not-a-bad-idea/
Hideo Kojima has relaunched the Hideo Kojima YouTube show 'HideoTube', a Hideo Kojima production starring Hideo Kojima. Okay I'll stop with the obvious jokes, but this is a new episode ("The HideoTube 2024 special", no less) in a series that stopped shortly after the creator's acrimonious departure from Konami, and the first new entry in seven years. It's an hourlong and wide-ranging chat between Kojima, host Risa Unai, and various talking heads involved with Kojima Productions' work.

Sit back down, Tarnished: FromSoftware's parent company has poured cold water on an imminent Elden Ring DLC release
https://www.pcgamer.com/sit-back-down-tarnished-fromsoftwares-parent-company-has-poured-cold-water-on-an-imminent-elden-ring-dlc-release/
Despite a slew of curious Steam updates that have Elden Ring fans vibrating with anticipation for an imminent DLC release, FromSoftware's parent company, Kadokawa, has stepped in to crush those dreams.

The makers of Palworld are desperate to hire more developers: 'We are overwhelmingly short of people'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-makers-of-palworld-are-desperate-to-hire-more-developers-we-are-overwhelmingly-short-of-people/
Palworld developer Pocketpair is pouring nearly a half-million dollars every month into keeping the game's servers up, which it can afford to do because Palworld is a massive hit. But it still needs help in the form of people, and rather like Gary Oldman in Leon, it's looking for all the help it can get.

Ark: Survival Ascended devs made a 'Super Steamboat Willie' platformer in the survival game to demonstrate new mod tools
https://www.pcgamer.com/ark-simple-game-framework-announcement/
If I'd been asked this morning to guess what's been going on in Ark: Survival Ascended, the survival game with dinosaurs, and my options were "they added some new dinosaurs" or "they made a Mickey Mouse sidescroller in it," I definitely would've been wrong.
This week, Studio Wildcard updated the Ark Development Kit mod tools with a "powerful, flexible framework that enables creators to build entirely new games from scratch inside of Ark," and has demonstrated that framework with the video above, which includes a straight-up Steamboat Willie platformer.

Lethal Company dev thinking updates should be "bigger and less frequent" and "like I broke into an alien zoo"
https://www.pcgamer.com/lethal-company-dev-thinking-updates-should-be-bigger-and-less-frequent-and-like-i-broke-into-an-alien-zoo/
With viral hit Lethal Company now on sale—30% off on Steam until February 15—developer Zeekerss is taking the occasion to reconsider the pace and scope of Lethal Company updates. "I have version 50 slowly cooking," said Zeekerss on Twitter/X, "I could release it now, but I want it to be really substantial."

Narrative, open-world survival in The Planet Crafter will have a co-op mode and a 1.0 release this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/narrative-open-world-survival-in-the-planet-crafter-will-have-a-co-op-mode-and-a-10-release-this-year/
It's shaping up to be a big year for survival crafting game The Planet Crafter, as developer Miju Games has not only announced that the 1.0 release of the Early Access game will come this year, but that the hoped-for cooperative multiplayer mode is also in development and will release this year.

The news, the third and last part:

This game wants to blend survival and tycoon games in a race to build a moon colony
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-game-wants-to-blend-survival-and-tycoon-games-in-a-race-to-build-a-moon-colony/
An upcoming blend of genres wants to put you in the boots of an astronaut commander running a mission to the moon in the near future. Moonshot wants you to manage the program that gets you there, then build the colony infrastructure that will enable your team to be the ones dominant on the moon.

A giant snake monster ruined my apple-fueled medieval utopia in the Steam Next Fest demo for this settlement sim
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-giant-snake-monster-ruined-my-apple-fueled-medieval-utopia-in-the-steam-next-fest-demo-for-this-settlement-sim/
I was doing pretty well in the Next Fest demo for Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown. I'd achieved a happy equilibrium, with all my villagers gathering and producing the necessary supplies for my hand-built hamlet's steady growth. Lumberers were lumbering, quarriers were hauling rocks, and my orchard farmers were churning out apples: the basic fuel of every thriving feudal society, as any medievalist will tell you. The idyllic atmosphere was so peaceful I could almost forget about the accursed fog plaguing the land. Until that accursed fog manifested a rampaging snake kaiju, at least.

Slime Rancher 2 adds a pile of new gadgets to play with in a chunky new update
https://www.pcgamer.com/slime-rancher-2-adds-a-pile-of-new-gadgets-to-play-with-in-a-chunky-new-update/
A new update for Slime Rancher 2's early access build has wildly overhauled the ways in which you can customize the world of rainbow island and your slime ranch. The brand new Gadgets My Way update, released on February 8, expands the system of slime interaction with gadgets, comprehensively overhauls the system for building things, and adds some 36 new gadgets to explore and find around the island.

Fans of Stacklands and Cultist Simulator should check out this cute little game about witch covens
https://www.pcgamer.com/fans-of-stacklands-and-cultist-simulator-should-check-out-this-cute-little-game-about-witch-covens/
A new real-time card game is getting popular within its quite indie niche: WitchHand, a cutesy-styled game about "leading your coven into new, unfriendly lands" launched just this past week, on February 7, 2024. Using cards, you build up buildings, gather apprentices and familiars, and assign them resources to do their jobs so that you can flourish in a kind of 4X strategy meets real-time card and resource management.

Helldivers 2 is too successful for its own good, problem with rewards not unlocking 'was mitigated but not resolved'
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-is-too-successful-for-its-own-good-problem-with-rewards-not-unlocking-was-mitigated-but-not-resolved/
"It doesn't get much worse for a multiplayer launch", Fraser Brown wrote on the release of Helldivers 2, mentioning issues like "broken matchmaking, frequent crashes, and a kernel-level anti-cheat system that everyone hates." The developers at Arrowhead have been working to rectify the issues, and according to an update from CEO Johan Pilestedt, three hotfixes deployed during a recent period of server maintenance have dealt with at least some of the problems.
But not all. (...)

Helldivers 2 creative director argues games should 'earn the right to monetize', says its only pay-to-win item is a revolver that'll get you gold in a 'cool gun competition'
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-creative-director-argues-games-should-earn-the-right-to-monetize-says-its-only-pay-to-win-item-is-a-revolver-thatll-get-you-gold-in-a-cool-gun-competition/
Helldivers 2 has been suffering from success—a whirlwind launch that's now PlayStation's biggest PC success led to a swarm of server issues bugs, and not the kind you can shoot dead with a beam rifle.
Regardless, ambushed developer Arrowhead seems to be taking things in stride and, as PC Gamer's own Fraser Brown notes: it's already in better shape. From what I've seen and heard, Arrowhead owes its win to Helldivers 2 being a great bit of co-op shooter fun. Also (according to the game's director and Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt) it aims to avoid the live-service pitfalls we've all come to loathe.