So, Epic has more customers that have spend more money in total, but roughly the same amount by user and less in third party games. And they've also gvine away less free games.

Not sure what to make with that info if they don't say if they've made a profit or not.

Curious, to a degree, that 4 of the Mythic games of 2022 repeat in 2023, and two of them are from Epic.

Depends on how much you spend on it.

The more you spend, the better the hardware, the longer it will last.

But if it's from a hardware longevity perspective rather than performance, usually the first parts to fail is the battery.

I usually spend a good $1,000 AUD every few years on a new laptop, last one I got was a Intel 11400H+Geforce RTX 3060 6GB+32GB of Ram.. And I am contemplating a move to an RTX 4060 8GB laptop+64GB of Ram... That extra 2GB of VRAM Ram would make the difference for me for the next several years.

I think they are going to start betting on the customers they've managed to net over the past 4 years, into actually buying games they have, while they lessen the freebies the way EA did in the past, eventually to a complete halt.

Wouldn't be surprised if they start to emulate Ubisoft/MS/EA and start a sub service to rent with, especially if they manage to snag some studios with the program they had go into effect last oct (the stay exclusive for 6 months, keep the majority of the profits). 

I still don't think it's wise of them to be doing it at this point in time. 

Well you can say what you want about epic but f me they have giving me a nice collection of games over the years.
So even if they went sub tomorrow it wouldnt matter since i have enough games on their store to do me years.

They've said that they were giving away games to grow their customer base, but the free games won't be a thing forever. It's not sustainable for long, at least with big AA or AAA games. And it's fine and perfectly understandable,

I don't think they can go with a subscription service right now because their most popular games are free, making money with in-game microtransactions. They'll need to buy and grow a bigger library to be able to pull that off. But, on the other hand, they will eventually go with streaming content because, like it or not (I don't), that's where the industry will go, just like we went from physical games to digital distribution.

And you can bet that Valve and GOG (if they have the resources) will also go that way in time.

Correct. EA tried this during their early years with Origin, and while I did accept a few games via their program, I knew it wouldn't last forever. Epic's program seems to have lasted longer than EA's, but I feel that is because Epic has more to lose if they didn't try compared to Epic, who have multiple IP's to stand on and already sell towards the big 3 and PC in general (they were still on Steam at the time after all).

The model itself was always destined to be a finite one, since it does still cost money to even make those games free to the consumer.

Yeah, they likely won't be getting away with a sub model anytime soon, at least not until 2026, one year after their supposed prediction of making said profits, but I do know they will eventually follow that model, because the other big publishers are still doing it, and I know Epic isn't entirely deaf to following some trends.

Their main problem is that they have all those people, and they eventually will need that consumer base to start buying games on their client, instead of just a handful. At this moment in time they are talking about profits made on PC, yet I know there is a very high chance that it is people spending money on their MT's, especially with the games they own like Fortnite and those other two games they bought out.

Valve will likely go that route eventually, but I am hoping they do not 1:1 copy the model MS is currently aiming for, because that also happens to be the model Ubisoft has been salivating over and cheering to the heavens. I also know that whatever Valve seems to do, Epic ends up doing the opposite, so those two never really seem to do end up using the exact same models as one another.

As long as I can redeem keys and buy games still - dont care if they offer streaming subscription service.

Exclusive games with a forced requirement to use Steam is what made the platform popular on PC. At-least initially.

When Steam first launched it was very disliked, it took many years of curation and support to make it the platform it is today... That and the implosion of PC physical releases helped accelerate it's uptake.

Depends on what you mean and what you need it for?

For instance, if you plan playing AAA games in high resolution and details expect a laptop to not last very long before it can't do that anymore. With more moderate setting or smaller games a gaming laptop can last much longer.

Also, sometimes hardware dies before it gets outlasted by it's usage. On my old laptop, since I was mostly playing old games or indie titles, it was still sufficiently powerful last summer for most of them despite the old hardware (i7 7700HQ/GTX 1050Ti/ super-slow single-platter HDD) - but then my battery died, and when it did, it bulged and damaged the keyboard, and cracking the mobo in the process, too, so a complete writeoff.

Here come the Monday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Helldivers 2 player counts more than double launch weekend, 300K and climbing, as the co-op shooter goes viral
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-player-counts-more-than-double-launch-weekend-300k-and-climbing-as-the-co-op-shooter-goes-viral/
Helldivers 2 has reached unexpected heights of success in the past week, with a trajectory of players that mimics previous post-launch successes like Valheim. With over 330,000 concurrent players on Steam as of this afternoon, that concurrent players line is only going up from launch weekend's 150K peak, signaling a game that's pulling in real viral numbers.
As of press time the peak concurrent player count was 333,827 at about 8:10 PM UTC, 3:10 PM ET. That number comes from tracker SteamDB—which can only give us half the story, as the PlayStation-published Helldivers 2 is crossplay between PC and PS5. Last week, on February 11, there were at least a million total players, per developer Arrowhead Games' CEO.
>> The all-time peak reached over 409K players... but it won't go much higher than that because they're capping the player count at 450K to avoid further problems.

Steam has two new deals:

• There's a new daily deal: Pharaoh: A New Era will be 35% off during 26 hours: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1351080/Pharaoh_A_New_Era/
• And Arctico gets an 80% discount until the 25th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/325210/Arctico/

Fanatical has a new Star Deal, a ne sale and has launched a new BundleFest:

• The Star Deal is Dying Light 2 Stay Human, 60% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dying-light-2-stay-human
• Publisher Funcom Games puts its titles on sale with up to 65% discounts during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/funcom
• And here are todays BundleFest bundles:
  • The Bethesda VR Collection is 85% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/bethesda-vr-collection
  • The Killer Bundle: Very Positive Edition gets a 95% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/killer-bundle-very-positive-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 24.2.1 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-24-2-1
Highlights
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 24.2.1 for HELLDIVERS™ 2
New Game Support

• Skull and Bones™
• Nightingale

Fixed Issues

• Improvements to intermittent driver timeout or application crash while playing HELLDIVERS™ 2.
• Intermittent application crash when first launching Enshrouded or changing Anti-Aliasing settings on Radeon™ 7000 series graphics products.
• Intermittent driver timeout or application crash may be considered while playing Counterstrike 2 with FSR enabled on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• Improvements to excessive stutter while playing various games, including Battlefield™ 2042, Destiny 2, Overwatch 2, Monster Hunter: World, PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS and STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II.
• Deathloop may experience extended loading times on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6900 XT.
• Dead Space may experience an application crash after enabling RTAO on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 6800.
• Shadows may appear bright, or reflections may be missing while playing Enshrouded on Radeon™ 7000 series graphics products.
• HDR settings may intermittently fail to take effect while playing certain games such as Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
• Graphics API metric may be incorrectly reported as DirectX® 12 for some Vulkan® games.
• After a system reboot, Parsec host application may experience a crash on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• During Microsoft Teams meetings, the camera may intermittently display looped footage on some AMD Products, such as the AMD Ryzen™ 7 7840U Processor.
• Oculus Rift S may display with a green tint on AMD Radeon™ RX 7000 series GPUs.
• AFMF may be inaccurately displayed on select hybrid graphics configurations, particularly in systems where one of the devices lacks support for AFMF. AFMF must be supported on the displaying GPU to be activated.

INTEL Arc Graphics 31.0.101.5330 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-31-0-101-5330
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics and Intel® Core™ Ultra with Intel® Arc™ Graphics for:

• Nightingale
• Pacific Drive

Game performance improvements on Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products versus Intel® 31.0.101.5194 software driver for8:

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (DX11)
  • Up to 24% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra High settings
• Fortnite (DX12)
  • Up to 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings and Nanite enabled
• Remnant 2 (DX12)
  • Up to 8% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings

Fixed Issues

Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products:

• Starfield (DX12) may experience an intermittent application crash while launching the game.
• Palworld (DX11) may experience an intermittent crash during extended gameplay sessions.
• Dead by Daylight (DX11) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Payday 3 (DX11) may experience an intermittent application crash during extended gameplay sessions.

Intel® Core™ Ultra with Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (DX12) may experience an application crash after loading into gameplay on certain maps.
• Call of Duty Warzone 2.0 (DX12) may exhibit corruption in game menu and during gameplay.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

FlatOut 2 looks incredible with RTX Remix Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/flatout-2-looks-incredible-with-rtx-remix-path-tracing/
NVIDIA’s “Jacob Freeman” has shared some comparison screenshots between the vanilla version and an upcoming RTX Remix Mod for FlatOut 2. These screenshots will give you a glimpse at what Path Tracing can achieve in old titles.
As we can see, RTX Remix adds proper shadows, global illumination and ambient occlusion. Basically, this WIP Mod only alters the game’s lighting system. All of its assets remain the same. At least for now.
Like most RTX Remix Mods we’ve shared, this is still in a very early development stage. So, while it greatly enhances the game’s graphics, it does not represent the quality of the final version. This mod could look even better with PBR materials, better textures and higher polygon count vehicles/objects.
Now what’s cool here is that you can already download this early version of this mod. All you have to do is head over to the game’s ModDB page and get it. Again, this is an RTX Remix config file. So, think of it as an RTX Remix Runtime Mod. This mod does not represent what modders can achieve with the more advanced RTX Remix tools that NVIDIA released last month.
>> You can check the screenshots in the tweeter account linked in above or in the article.

You can now play the Pokemon-like Palworld in first-person mode
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/pokemon-palworld-first-person-mod/
Modder ‘Cristiferbeast’ has released a pretty cool new mod for Palworld that allows you to play this Pokemon-like game in first-person mode.
As its name suggests, this mod will allow you to play Palworld with a first-person camera viewpoint. It’s a simple mod that may interest some of you.
Now since Palworld was never meant to be played in first-person, there might be some visual glitches. Still, I’m certain that some Palworld players will want to give it a go. And hey, if you don’t fancy it, you can easily revert to its third-person mode.
>> There's an over 10 minutes long video in the article.

Entropy Zero: 2 RTX is the best example of what modders can achieve with Path Tracing in older games
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/entropy-zero-2-rtx-best-path-tracing/
Modder ‘CheeseIsCool’ has shared a new set of screenshots from the latest build of Entropy Zero: 2 RTX. These screenshots look incredible, and they perfectly showcase what modders can achieve with Path Tracing in older games.
For those unaware, Entropy: Zero 2 is considered one of the best total conversion mods for Half-Life 2. Entropy: Zero 2 features a brand new campaign spanning seven chapters of content. Players can expect a narrative-driven experience with a fully-voiced and choreographed cast. Plus, you can command squads of Combine soldiers.
Even though Entropy: Zero 2 RTX is still in beta, it looks absolutely stunning. This is by far the best example of what an RTX Remix Mod can offer. The screenshots show off the new path-traced lighting system. In these screenshots, you can easily notice the improved reflections, ambient occlusion and global illumination.
Sadly, this latest version is not yet available for download. However, you can go ahead and download its previous version from the link that you can find in this article.

If you've gone Hollow waiting for Elden Ring's actual expansion, tide yourself over with with this expansion-sized mod that transforms the entire game
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-youve-gone-hollow-waiting-for-elden-rings-actual-expansion-tide-yourself-over-with-with-this-expansion-sized-mod-that-transforms-the-entire-game/
To borrow the parlance of Dark Souls, I have absolutely "gone Hollow" awaiting further word on Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. It'll come when it comes, but I can only replay Elden Ring and the rest of the Souls series so many times in anticipation. Enter The Convergence, an Elden Ring overhaul mod that might be just the thing to tide freaks like me over. (...)
>> The article doesn't have any screenshots or videos, tho it has a link to a video of the mod.

SimCity 4 modders are cracking its deepest recesses in ever greater numbers, enabling extensive new changes
https://www.pcgamer.com/simcity-4-modders-are-cracking-its-deepest-recesses-in-ever-greater-numbers-enabling-extensive-new-changes/
SimCity 4 modders are making previously-unheard-of DLL plugins and mods due to recent advances, enabling changes of tweaks to how it runs that prior modders would have considered impossible. Over the past few months these types of deep, game-altering mods, previously restricted to just a couple famous examples, have proliferated into dozens of tweaks to quality of life and brand new game features.
These new mods are so revolutionary because they access SimCity 4's DLL files, the library of binary files containing shared resources used across the entirety of SimCity 4. The biggest immediate impact is a mod enabling more building styles. That's huge: SimCity 4 players have had four tilesets of buildings for 20 years. Now they can have a lot more. There are also a host of mundane fixes marching out. Stuff like improving game stability, enabling new resolutions, adding autosaves, or more directly access information from under the game's hood about demand for building types.
(...)
The major announcement by a moderator on the longstanding Simtropolis forums brought attention to the new wave of mods, in part because the good news came with a caveat: The new wave of DLL mods would not work well if at all on older Windows disc versions, or macOS ports, of SimCity 4—just the current version available digitally.
>> The article doesn't have links to any mod or any media about them.

A New Vegas mod that added Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit was thought lost for 7 years⁠—until someone finally found it on their hard drive
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-new-vegas-mod-that-added-fred-durst-from-limp-bizkit-was-thought-lost-for-7-yearsuntil-someone-finally-found-it-on-their-hard-drive/
A Fred Durst New Vegas companion who speaks only in Limp Bizkit sound clips⁠—alright, so far, so NexusMods. But what about a Limp Bizkit New Vegas mod that was thought lost forever since 2016 or so? Thanks to Twitter user UsagiCola (and brought to a wider audience by Elder Scrolls YouTuber Micky D), the Fred Durst mod is no longer lost media.
Aside from a vestigial Reddit post, the YouTube video "My Fred Durst Mod for Fallout: NV (**LORE FRIENDLY**)" remained the only evidence of New Vegas Fred Durst's passing. Initially released in 2015, it seems that within a year or so the mod was already wiped from the New Vegas Nexus. "Yo wtf did this get taken down" opined commenter lindraw approximately seven years ago. "I think it did, sorry :(" replied mod author lb8068. "I recently reformatted my computer so I doubt I have any of the files left over here."
That would have been the end of New Vegas Fred Durst, after all, what is one lost shitpost mod in an ocean made up entirely of shitpost mods? It is the New Vegas Fred Durst mod's miraculous rediscovery that truly elevates it. The achievement seems fairly anticlimactic, however. "Anyone following me because of the Fred Durst mod I'm sorry but I don't actually have anything to do with that stuff," UsagiCola wrote on Twitter. "I just happened to have it saved and helped archive it."
But with my life seeming to consist of 62% pointless internet esoterica these days, the thought of a bit being committed to this hard, something as pointless as Fallout New Vegas Fred Durst being saved from the abyss and being made available to all? Well, that's just a little bit magical. You can download New Vegas Fred Durst for yourself over on Google Drive.
>> The article has a short video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag vs Skull and Bones Video Comparison Is an Eye-Opener
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/assassins-creed-black-flag-vs-skull-and-bones/
Ubisoft has just released Skull and Bones on PC and consoles. And, from the looks of it, the game wasn’t received well by some gamers. Not only that but it appears that Skull and Bones can be worse than Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, a game that came out a decade ago.
Youtube’s ‘Gameinvader’ has shared an interesting comparison between AC: Blag Flag and Skull and Bones. In this video, Gameinvader compares these two pirate games, and the results may surprise you.

Beyond Good & Evil Remastered has just been rated by the South Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/beyond-good-evil-remastered-has-just-been-rated-by-the-south-korean-game-rating-and-administration-committee/
It appears that Ubisoft is currently working on a remastered version of Beyond Good & Evil. And just yesterday, the South Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee rated this game.

Diablo-like Action RPG, Last Epoch, Gets New Technical Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/diablo-like-action-rpg-last-epoch-gets-new-technical-trailer/
Eleventh Hour Games’ Diablo-like Action RPG, Last Epoch, will leave Early Access on February 21st. And, to celebrate this, the team shared a new official gameplay trailer that you can find below.
>> You'll also find the system requirements in the article.

Two New Trailers for Marvel’s Wolverine Have Been Leaked Online
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/two-new-trailers-marvels-wolverine-leaked/
It appears that two new trailers for Insomniac’s upcoming game, Marvel’s Wolverine, have been leaked online. The first one is a gameplay trailer that can give you an idea of what you can expect from this new title. On the other hand, the second is a cinematic target.