The second part of the Tuesday news:

After the supposedly final flourish of 1.6, Stardew Valley creator says 'I could keep working on the game forever' and is 'not going to say the book is closed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/after-the-supposedly-final-flourish-of-16-stardew-valley-creator-says-i-could-keep-working-on-the-game-forever-and-im-not-going-to-say-the-book-is-closed/
Earlier this year Stardew Valley received patch 1.6, a final flourish from the game's creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone that added a host of new features to a game that's now over eight years old. PC Gamer got the opportunity to talk to Barone in our latest issue about this apparent full stop, and how the developer feels about a game that has now shifted north of 30 million copies.

Crusader Kings 3's next expansion is the one we've all been waiting for, and it's only a few months away
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/crusader-kings-3s-next-expansion-is-the-one-weve-all-been-waiting-for-and-its-only-a-few-months-away/
When Crusader Kings 3: Roads to Power was announced back in February, the grand strategy romp's community was the most enthusiastic it had ever been. I like most of the game's DLC, but the broad reception to the majority of Paradox's post-launch offerings has been that they don't have a big enough impact. Roads to Power, though, sounds like it's going to make a significant splash. 

Team Fortress 2 players gather over 140,000 petition signatures in the latest campaign against the ongoing aimbot menace
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/team-fortress-2-players-gather-over-140000-petition-signatures-in-the-latest-campaign-against-the-ongoing-aimbot-menace/
17 years after release, Team Fortress 2 still has a devoted fanbase—one that keeps the classic team shooter in the upper echelons of Steam's concurrent player rankings. And today, through an online petition for the #SaveTF2 campaign, over 140,000 members of that fanbase are declaring they've had enough.

Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios Group is closing the Montreal studio it acquired just 8 months ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/just-cause-developer-avalanche-studios-group-is-closing-the-montreal-studio-it-acquired-just-8-months-ago/
The depressing, alarming, infuriating trend of videogame industry layoffs continued unabated today with news that Avalanche Studios Group, best known for the Just Cause series, is closing two of its offices, in Montreal and New York, and putting around 50 people out of work.

Ubisoft adds another studio to what seems like an increasingly desperate effort to finally get Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake finished
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ubisoft-adds-another-studio-to-what-seems-like-an-increasingly-desperate-effort-to-finally-get-prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-remake-finished/
A year after announcing that work on the long-struggling Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake was starting over from square one, Ubisoft has roped another studio into it: Ubisoft Toronto is now on the job.

Summer Game Fest will focus on existing games, so don't hype yourself up for 'games that are years and years out,' says Geoff Keighley
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/summer-game-fest-will-focus-on-existing-games-so-dont-hyper-yourself-up-for-games-that-are-years-and-years-out-says-geoff-keighley/
In the wake of E3's demise, Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest has emerged as its self-appointed heir. SGF livestreams in years past have brought big reveals like 2021's Elden Ring gameplay, and we should expect more of that kind of thing this year, according to Keighley: That is, trailers and announcements related to games we already know about, rather than earth-shattering reveals of unannounced games.

OTK Expo will show over 30 indie games on Tuesday as the June showcases kick off
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/otk-expo-will-show-over-30-indie-games-on-tuesday-as-the-june-showcases-kick-off/
Just to be different, Sony initiated the gaming showcase season in May with its State of Play stream, but the bulk of the shows are this week and next. First out of the gate is the OTK Games Expo on Tuesday, June 4.
The OTK Expo is focused on "games from small teams with big ideas," and its participants include Blue Manchu Games, maker of Void Bastards and the upcoming Wild Bastards, and Apogee Entertainment, the reborn indie publisher whose stamp was on some of the most important games of the '90s. Over 30 games will be represented, according to the organizers.

Developer of the latest anime gacha hit apologises 5 times for launch issues in a single letter and doles out in-game treats like candy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/developer-of-the-latest-anime-gacha-hit-apologises-5-times-for-launch-issues-in-a-single-letter-and-doles-out-in-game-treats-like-candy/
Wuthering Waves is a new Genshin-style gacha game from developer Kuro Games and, after going semi-viral on social media and attracting a whole bunch of players at launch, crashed into a wall of technical issues and bugs. This wasn't your usual collection of minor launch snafus, rather, Wuthering Waves suffered everything from terrible performance to placeholder NPCs and visual glitches. Best oversight of all? Players were able to access content early in ultimate hacker style: setting their system clocks forward a few weeks.
It's been a big old mess which, given this is a live service game, becomes more of a problem the longer it drags on. Kuro Games has previously apologised to players and now is doing so again, with the publication of a new open letter that is the studio equivalent of wearing a hair shirt. To sum it up: they're really, really, really sorry.

Tactical Breach Wizards, a turn-based strategy game about spec-ops casters with a habit of throwing people out of windows, has a free demo after years in the cauldron
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/tactical-breach-wizards-a-turn-based-strategy-game-about-spec-ops-casters-with-a-habit-of-throwing-people-out-of-windows-has-a-free-demo-after-years-in-the-cauldron/
It might just be my history with City of Heroes—an MMO which had witches and wizards aplenty in its modern comic-book styled setting—or my love of Dimension 20's Fantasy High, but I'm a huge fan of modern magic settings. Give me a witch in a leather jacket and I'm basically there.
Tactical Breach Wizards, which we previewed back in May 2021, has been in the oven for a while—and, at long last, has a playable demo on Steam.

Pax Dei, the new MMO from EVE alumni, is attempting a magic system that makes you feel special, where 'you might be the only one' who's discovered a new spell
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/pax-dei-the-new-mmo-from-eve-alumni-is-attempting-a-magic-system-that-makes-you-feel-special-where-you-might-be-the-only-one-whos-discovered-a-new-spell/
In the MMOs where I spend most of my time, big achievements tend to be things like guilds completing a raid before anyone else, or being the first player to hit max level at the start of a new expansion. And as impressive as some of these feats are, they are still part of the largely linear journey that most players will eventually experience. Pax Dei, a "social sandbox" that's launching in early access soon, is doing things differently.

Hidetaka Miyazaki says Shadow of the Erdtree had to be big, because he wanted Elden Ring players 'to experience that sense of discovery and that sense of wonder' all over again
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/hidetaka-miyazaki-erdtree-size-sense-of-discovery/
I'm going to let you in on a little secret: FromSoftware has been playing coy about the size of Shadow of the Erdtree, the Elden Ring expansion now more than two years in the making. In past interviews the developer has suggested it's roughly the size of Limgrave, the starting area in the base game. Maybe even a little bigger. But I spent a full day playing Shadow of the Erdtree at FromSoftware's offices in Tokyo last month, and I can assure you that estimate is sneakily setting the studio up to underpromise and overdeliver.

Intel Xe2 GPUs Official: 50% Performance Uplift, New Ray Tracing Cores, Coming To Lunar Lake First & Battlemage Discrete Cards Later

https://wccftech.com/intel-xe2-gpus-50-percent-uplift-new-ray-tracing-cores-lunar-lake-arc-battlemage-discrete/

Intel Lunar Lake CPU Architecture Deep-Dive: Lion Cove +14% IPC, Skymont IPC More Than Raptor Cove, Next-Gen Power Managment & Scheduling

https://wccftech.com/intel-lunar-lake-cpu-architecture-deep-dive-lion-cove-skymont-double-digit-ipc-new-thread-director/

14% IPC increase on P cores but 68% IPC increase on E cores is very interesting. I'll be curious to see how it performs and how much power it uses

MSI Claw 8 AI+ “A2VM” Handheld Is Now Bigger, More Powerful & Equipped With Intel Lunar Lake

https://wccftech.com/msi-claw-8-ai-a2vm-handheld-bigger-powerful-intel-lunar-lake/

ZOTAC ZONE with Ryzen 7 8840U and native portrait AMOLED screen to launch in September at 800EUR/USD

https://videocardz.com/newz/zotac-zone-with-ryzen-7-8840u-and-native-portrait-amoled-screen-to-launch-in-september-at-800eur-usd

I foresee an eventual lawsuit directed at Valve, if they do not sort out the Bot crisis, because it has escalated that much more in the past 2 years, let alone the past 7.

people, anyone who dares to obstruct/stall/investigate these botters are being doxxed, swatted, AI impersonated, all of which are against the law and all of which are happening within Valve's official servers.

Now I know full well Valve's favourite tactic is to sit down, shut up and pretend the issue next to them doesn't exist, but this is not the kind of problem that cannot be ingored, not when swatting and doxxing, two high criminal acts are being committed within their own client, within their own game and servers.

They know the problem exists, and I don't think there is any lawyer in the known world that could pass off a lie, when people have been telling them this publicly and openly across the net (social media, email, Valve's own client, reports, etc, all forms of communication have been attempted and they have also acknowledged the problem's existence 2 years ago), that the issue exists, but instead of doing anything, they only said "we hear you" (where have I heard that before I wonder?), implemented one slight band-aid against the bots in general, and that was it (though the bots have actually now found work-arounds to their band-aid).

Now Australia/Germany are two known countries for taking Valve through the wringer, but I feel like now it is time the rest of the EU does, because allowing an organised group to profit off them and the public, as well as threatening literal death via swatting and other attempts is highly illegal and must be resolved. They cannot ignore this issue forever, and if someone dies to a swatting attempt, they will have hell to pay.

All I can say is that they better hope their new upcoming game does not suffer the same fate as TF2 has, because if they repeat the same mistakes, then it will show a fault of command structure failure from within Valve itself (I am fully aware Gabe is no longer at the company at this current time, so someone else is at the helm and making bad calls).

Personally I don't think going "#FixF2" on social media is going to do much. I would honestly just file a lawsuit, considering that actual criminal acts have been committed and documented now, proving that the general public is being targeted and profited from, and Valve has done nothing to crush and bring the botters to justice. I would also wish for the FBI to get involved, because so far, no one has managed to pin-point the botters locations, let alone getting them arrested, and the code bases taken offline/confiscated. 

Well bois, the Alienware OLED was short lived as Samsung is willing to give me a deal that I simply can't resist...

(MSRP of the monitor itself is $1799 CAD, I had to add the ssd and the case to get additional $250 off)

The games for Humble Choice June 2024 have been revealed.

• Empyrion - Galactic Survival
• A Guidebook Of Babel
• Knights of Honor II: Sovereign
• LEGO® 2K Drive Awesome Edition
• Miasma Chronicles
• Risk of Rain 2
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical
• Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector

If Intel playus their cards well, they could give AMD a run for its money, both for the CPUs and GPUs.

With both companis aiming for a 14-16% IPC increase in their processors, things should be interesting. We'll have to wait if the extra uplift in performance for the E-cores offset the loss of HT and how much juice they use.

For GPUs... well, from what we've known from rumors and leaks, it looks like both RDNA4 and Battlemage will focus mostly on fixing what went wrong with their previous generations. How that will translate into the real world? We'll see.

Oh, and talking about GPUs, Mr. Huang had to open his mouth:

Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang reflects on how AI already creates pixels and entire frames, before saying that 'games will be generated with AI'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/nvidias-jen-hsun-huang-reflects-on-how-ai-already-creates-pixels-and-entire-frames-before-saying-that-games-will-be-generated-with-ai/
In a Q&A session at this year's Computex event, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang was asked whether AI will be used to generate games' graphics directly, helping the traditional rasterizing method. After pointing out that neural graphics were already in use, through the likes of frame generation, Huang went on to state that AI would go on to infuse games and PCs, creating high-resolution objects, textures, and characters.

The headline is misleading, but he goes to say that AI will impact everything around games.

Well, congratulations, I guess. I hope this one works as well if not better than your Alienware one.

Thanks for the post.  I do think I'm going to wait for a bigger jump.  Especially when a good jump shouldn't be far off.  

Damn.. thats a banger of deal and more-so considering its just released. Supposedly better coating and comes with that new heatpipe cooling solution; which looks decent.

I'm eyeing up the G60SD at its initial price of £663, on preorder. The G80SD not available yet in the UK unfortunately.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has three new DotD and a new sale:

• These are the new Deals of the Day, that will last until Friday:
  • Phantasie Memorial Set will be 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/phantasie_memorial_set
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC has a 35% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_heroes_trails_in_the_sky_sc_the
  • The third one is XIII, 85% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/xiii
• The Make Your Choice Sale has all kind of games where your choices matter with up to 95% discounts until June 13: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_make_your_choice_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• The Endzone franchise is on sale, up to 85% off until the 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/endzone-franchise-sale
• And GRIP: Combat Racing gets a 90% discount until the same June 18: https://store.steampowered.com/app/396900/GRIP_Combat_Racing/

Fanatical has a new Star Deals and a new bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Neon White, 48% off during 48 hours (coincidence?): https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/neon-white
• The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete Bundle is back with a 81% discount during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/stalker-complete-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 555.99 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-555-99
Highlights

Game Ready for Pax Dei and Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 3 technology including Pax Dei and Still Wakes the Deep. Further support for new titles includes the launch of the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree expansion.
New NVIDIA App Beta Update Available Now
The NVIDIA app is the essential companion for gamers and creators with NVIDIA GPUs in their PCs and laptops. Our initial beta release in February was the first step in our journey to modernize and unify the NVIDIA Control Panel, GeForce Experience and RTX Experience, and today we’re launching a new update with new features.
The new beta update adds 120 FPS AV1 video capture, introduces one-click automatic GPU tuning, and enhances the NVIDIA app overlay.
If you haven’t already tried the NVIDIA app beta, download it from our website; if the NVIDIA app is already installed, the new beta update will be automatically downloaded and installed when you next open the client.

Fixed Issues
Fixed Gaming Bugs

• [GeForce Experience] Flickering or black screen if Instant Replay is enabled [4665009]
• [NVIDIA app] FPS overlay showing NA in multiple games [4608943]

Fixed General Bugs

• CUDA 12.5 does not work with CUDA enabled Docker images [4668302]
• [Microsoft New Teams/Outlook] Visual artifacts when MFAA is enabled from the NVIDIA Control Panel [4608670]
• LG OLED48C4 TV is not detected as G-SYNC Compatible [4645783]
• LG 32GS95UE is not detected as G-SYNC Compatible [4564083]

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The unofficial PC port of Jak & Daxter now supports online and local multiplayer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-unofficial-pc-port-of-jak-daxter-now-supports-online-and-local-multiplayer/
In June 2022, we informed you about an unofficial PC port of the Playstation classic platformer, Jak & Daxter. And tomorrow, this unofficial PC port will get online and local multiplayer capabilities via a mod. This will be a must-have mod for everyone.
Going into more details, Teamruns is a mod for Jak and Daxter on PC that lets you play with friends both online and locally. You can explore and complete the game together in a shared world where you can see and interact with your friends.
What’s interesting here is that all in-game cutscenes have been tweaked. Normally, the cut-scenes interrupt the game flow. However, the mod will make them run in real-time to work better with multiplayer.
The team behind Teamruns says the mod mainly focuses on speedrunning. It has a timer, splits, and can automatically submit your times to leaderboards. It also has other game modes for casual play and a tool for recording your gameplay to make custom demo files. So, expect numerous speedruns to pop up in the coming days.
>> The article has a three minutes video.

Mortal Kombat 1 Now Has Free Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar and Suicide Squad Mod Packs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/mortal-kombat-1-now-has-free-disney-dreamworks-pixar-and-suicide-squad-mod-packs/
Remember the Pixar, Disney and Dreamworks mod packs we shared in February 2024 for Mortal Kombat 1? These packs were behind a Patreon wall back then. And today, we are happy to report that all of them are available for free. Not only that but you can also download a Suicide Squad Mod Pack.
Now as you may have guessed, these are just character swap mods and nothing more. In other words, they do not alter the text or the voices of the characters, and they do not change their special moves or fatalities. Moreover, they are not compatible with each other.
Going into more details, the Disney Mod brings to the game characters like Simba, Mickey Mouse, Hercules, Goofy, Donald Duck and more. Similarly, the Dreamworks & Pixar Mod will allow you to play as Shrek, Woody, Donkey and Ping Xiao Po.
Finally, the Suicide Squad Mod will make MK1 feel like a new Injustice game. The mod replaces Homelander with Superman, Ashrah with Wonder Woman, Kameo Janet Cage with Green Lantern and Kameo Darrius with The Flash. Furthermore, this mod includes the corrupted versions of these characters.
>> There are some screenshots of these mods.

BioShock 2 Remastered just got an amazing HD Texture Pack that overhauls over 3500 textures
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/bioshock-2-remastered-just-got-an-amazing-hd-texture-pack-that-overhauls-over-3500-textures/
Modder ‘FCH823’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for BioShock 2 Remastered that overhauls over 3500 textures. This pack is a must for everyone who wants to revisit this classic FPS. So, if you are one of them, you should definitely download it.
Going into more details, this mod pack is getting rid of a lot of pixelated textures that were present in the remaster. Moreover, it enhances fine details thanks to the new AI algorithms and methods that are currently available. Most of the diffuse and specular textures have been upscaled X2 or X4, depending on content and original resolution.
The mod covers all types of textures. This includes environments, objects, characters, adverts, and more. The only thing that remains intact is the UI (which is not stored as textures).
For those wondering, 2K Marin actually used AI tools to improve the textures in BioShock 2 Remastered. However, those tools back then were not as good as the ones we currently have. So, in order to fix them, the modder upscaled the original textures from 2010.
The end result is great, and at the end of the article, you can find some comparison screenshots. In a couple of comparisons, we also get to see the new modded textures against the vanilla ones that were used in the remastered version.
>> This article also has some screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Ghost of Tsushima Title Update 3 Released, Is 6.7GB in Size, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/ghost-of-tsushima-title-update-3-released-is-6-7gb-in-size-full-patch-notes/
Nixxes released the third title update for the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima. This update is 6.7GB in size, and the devs have shared its full patch notes. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Skydance’s BEHEMOTH and Alien Rogue will be released on PC, and here are their first gameplay trailers
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/skydances-behemoth-and-alien-rogue-will-be-released-on-pc-and-here-are-their-first-gameplay-trailers/
At the recent State of Play 2024 event, Sony presented two interesting VR games. And while we knew that Alien Rogue Incursion would be also coming to the PC, we thought that Skydance’s BEHEMOTH was exclusive to PSVR2. However, that won’t be the case. Both Alien Rogue Incursion and Skydance’s BEHEMOTH will be available on PC.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will be coming soon to PC as it’s been ready since November 2023
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-last-of-us-part-2-remastered-will-be-coming-soon-to-pc-as-its-been-ready-since-november-2023/
According to industry insider, Billbil-kun, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered will be soon coming to PC. In fact, the PC version of this game has been in the works since 2021, and it’s been ready since November 2023.

Unreal Engine 5-powered social sandbox MMO game, Pax Dei, hits Early Access on June 18th, gets PC requirements, will support DLSS 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-powered-social-sandbox-mmo-game-pax-dei-hits-early-access-on-june-18th-gets-pc-requirements-will-support-dlss-3/
Mainframe Industries has announced that its Unreal Engine 5-powered social sandbox MMO game, Pax Dei, will hit Steam Early Access on June 18th. To celebrate this announcement, the team shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Wednesday news, part two:

World of Warcraft's latest The War Within trailer has players simping hard for big baddie Xal'atath—and I'm not exactly surprised
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-s-latest-the-war-within-trailer-has-players-simping-hard-for-big-baddie-xal-atath-and-i-m-not-exactly-surprised/
World of Warcraft: The War Within is shaping up to be, well, pretty dang good—as pointed out by recent MMO-enjoyment-whirlpool victim and fellow PC Gamer staff Fraser Brown, the game's experiencing a bit of a golden age.
This is for a few reasons: Dragonflight rolled up its sleeves and tended to some much-needed housekeeping, there are a ton of different ways to play now, and Mists of Pandaria: Remix is both massively complained about and also really busy which, you know, isn't ideal, but a love-hate relationship is better than a hate-hate one.
Speaking of hate-hate relationships, the upcoming expansion's central antagonist, Xal'atath, appears to be everyone's new parasocial goth girl crush.

Guild Wars 2's next expansion will add its first new raid in five years, as well as 'the most player-friendly housing system in an MMORPG'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/guild-wars-2s-next-expansion-will-add-its-first-new-raid-in-five-years-as-well-as-the-most-player-friendly-housing-system-in-an-mmorpg/
We're just two weeks removed from the conclusion of Guild Wars 2's fourth expansion, Secrets of the Obscure. But thanks to the MMO's recent switch to an annual expansion cycle, that means we're only a couple of months away from the launch of the fifth expansion. 

Less than 6 months after laying off 40 employees, Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive drops another 95
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/less-than-6-months-after-laying-off-40-employees-dead-by-daylight-studio-behaviour-interactive-drops-another-95/
Dead by Daylight studio Behaviour Interactive is making "strategic changes for future growth" that will "draw upon the company’s historical strengths to craft an ambitious vision for its future success." And in case there's any doubt, yes, that means layoffs are happening.

Team Fortress 2 plummets to 'Mostly Negative' on Steam as its biggest fans stoke the righteous flames of anti-bot outrage
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/team-fortress-2-plummets-to-mostly-negative-on-steam-as-its-biggest-fans-stoke-the-righteous-flames-of-anti-bot-outrage/
I wrote yesterday about the #SaveTF2 movement's latest campaign, mobilizing once again to pressure Valve into action against Team Fortress 2's rampant bot problem. (...)
TF2's recent review rating has plummeted to Mostly Negative thanks to a review-bombing surge that, judging from the graph, started hitting just as the #FixTF2 campaign spun up on June 3. The influx of negative reviews is so huge—more than 14,000 have hit in the last 24 hours—that it's warped the scale of the chart, rendering any positive sentiment for the game into barely noticeable blue nubs.

After two years of silence, Metal Slug Tactics returns with a new trailer and a promise that it's coming this fall
https://www.pcgamer.com/movies-tv/after-two-years-of-silence-metal-slug-tactics-returns-with-a-new-trailer-and-a-promise-that-its-coming-this-fall/
Remember Metal Slug Tactics? Don't feel bad if the answer is no: It was announced out of nowhere in June 2021, showed off a spot of gameplay a couple months later, and then—aside from a "coming in 2023" announcement in August 2022 that didn't pan out—completely fell off the radar. But now it's back, with a new trailer and word that, for real this time, it will be out in the fall.
>> I’ll believe it when I see it.

Ultrakill dev says it's fine to pirate his game if you don't have money to spare: 'Culture shouldn't exist only for those who can afford it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ultrakill-dev-says-its-fine-to-pirate-his-game-if-you-dont-have-money-to-spare-culture-shouldnt-exist-only-for-those-who-can-afford-it/
I think we can all agree that piracy is basically an inevitability for any piece of software. For years now, we've been living in an era where Denuvo gets cracked so quickly for new games that it's not even worth running a headline about it. But while piracy might be inevitable, the question remains: is it morally acceptable? I mean, sure—according to Ultrakill dev Arsi "Hakita" Patala. Just make sure you tell people if you like it.

Hades 2's latest patch drops the nerf hammer on everyone's favorite overpowered build, but players are surprisingly cool with it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/hades-2s-latest-patch-drops-the-nerf-hammer-on-everyones-favorite-overpowered-build-but-players-are-surprisingly-cool-with-it/
We said in May that Hades 2 "is absolutely worth playing in early access," and now it's even more worth playing in early access thanks to a major new patch that went live today.
The patch replaces "dozens" of placeholder icons in the interface, and makes numerous balance changes "aimed at enhancing core combat and related choices." It's now possible to encounter up to one additional Olympian each night, as it was in the original Hades, and the odds of finding a Boon or other major reward while in Erebus have also been increased.

Elden Ring's lovable living pots are pure body horror in Shadow of the Erdtree
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-rings-lovable-living-pots-are-pure-body-horror-in-shadow-of-the-erdtree/
Pot Boys, Pot Friends, Clay Bros, Cauldron Cuzs, Living Jars… it doesn't matter what you call them: they seem nice. They were among the first memes to spawn from Elden Ring and it's little wonder, because they're a species of sentient and occasionally violent pot. It's like Hayao Miyazaki and Lewis Carroll collaborated, and then, I dunno, Eli Roth barged in. Or, to put laboured references aside, it's like Hayataka Miyazaki having a normal one.

Destiny 2: The Final Shape has had a rough start with some disgruntled reviews, but things are already beginning to even out
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-2-the-final-shape-has-had-a-rough-start-with-some-disgruntled-reviews-but-things-are-already-beginning-to-even-out/
Destiny 2: The Final Shape was feeling the wrath of some pretty disgruntled players on Steam as people flooded the reviews with negative comments after many experienced server issues yesterday during the DLC's launch. 
(...)
Although, we're already starting to see a change. As of writing this, the reviews jumped up to a mixed rating and will likely keep increasing as there are fewer server issues and more players actually get to experience The Final Shape for themselves. 
>> They went into some of those troubles in this other article.