The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store gives away a couple of things:

• Freshly Frosted: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/freshly-frosted-c636d0
• A bundle of 1,000 Gold & 200 Gems for the free to play Rumble Club: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/rumble-club-rumble-club-free-game-of-the-week-bonus-fe7b22

Next week, the free game will be Sunless Skies: Sovereign Edition.

Steam has three new deals:

• Ship Graveyard Simulator, that has a demo, is going to be 85% off until June 26: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1286880/Ship_Graveyard_Simulator/
• Growing Up gets a 40% deal until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1191120/Growing_Up/
• Publisher Freemind Games puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts. The length of the deals vary, with some lñasting until June 26 and others until the 3rd of July: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/FreemindPublisherSale

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout: New Vegas modders come fully unglued in a race to see who can do the stupidest possible thing to a missionary's hat, and it's lasted nearly a month so far
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/fallout-new-vegas-modders-come-fully-unglued-in-a-race-to-see-who-can-do-the-stupidest-possible-thing-to-a-missionarys-hat-and-its-lasted-nearly-a-month-so-far/
Well, the Fallout: New Vegas modding community is officially beyond help. It's with a mixture of amusement and alarm that I bring you news the modders have lost it, becoming so intoxicated of modding a single Mormon's hat that I fear they may have no route back to polite society at all. The hat is their world now: All they know and all they can ever know.
I am referring, of course, to the just-concluded war for Daniel's hat. Daniel is a Mormon missionary from New Vegas' Honest Hearts DLC, the pacifist counterpart to Joshua Graham's righteous fury, and generally not a character given much attention by the fanbase. He is, after all, a bit dull compared to the iconic figure of Graham.
That is until a modder named Redquinox created Daniel's Hat Refitted, an attempt to adjust dear Dan's sombrero "so it actually fits a human head." Our hero was a bit miffed by the hat as it was: "I was sick and tired of staring at that stupid, comically oversized clown hat floating over Daniel's head, knowing it had the potential to be the best-looking hat in the game were it not for the aneurysm the designer must have had while making the model."
Redquinox's strong emotions triggered a hat inferno. The next day, a creator named clanky4 uploaded Daniel's Hat Unfitted, a "Mesh adjustment for Daniel's hat, so it actually fits an entire human." Redquinox themself followed that up with Daniel's Hat Unfitting, which made the hat tiny, and then we got Daniel's Hat Remasked, which adjusted the hat so it covers Daniel's face. 
Literally all of this happened in the course of around 24 hours or so.
Then it all just got very silly. June 1 saw Daniel's Hat ReHatted, which put Daniel's hat inside several other hats. We also got Daniel's Hat STYLISH, which just tilted it to around a 30-degree angle on his head. Over the next three weeks or so (that is to say, until literally yesterday) we got mods to turn it into a beer hat, a mod that turns it into the infamous Fallout 3 train hat, a mod which turns Daniel into his own hat, a mod that… well, I don't know what it does, but the description just reads "Daniel has weaponized his hats. God save us all."
>> The article has some screenshots.

Fallout: Nuevo Mexico dev team breaks months of silence, confirms the big New Vegas mod we liked so much last year is 'on hold' as lead developer steps back from the project
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fallout-nuevo-mexico-dev-team-breaks-months-of-silence-confirms-the-big-new-vegas-mod-we-liked-so-much-last-year-is-on-hold-as-lead-developer-steps-back-from-the-project/
Fallout: Nuevo Mexico made a big impression on senior editor Rich Stanton when he ran across it in 2023: "The mod of my irradiated dreams," he enthused at the time. Sadly, after at least three years of work it looks like the project has run aground, as a message on the official Nuevo Mexico Discord server says development is on hold and the project lead has decided to step back from the whole thing.
Set a mere five years after the events of the first Fallout, Nuevo Mexico promises a greater emphasis on player choice and traditional RPG elements than the more recent games in the series—sweet words for fans of the great Interplay originals. It's also fully voice acted, and even has its own original soundtrack. In terms of ambition and depth, it looks comparable to the more well known Fallout: London mod.
Or at least, it did. Earlier this year, the whole thing basically fell off the radar. The Fallout: Nuevo Mexico YouTube channel was scrubbed of content and most of the channels on the Discord server were erased. It apparently caught at least some of the developers by surprise: In response to an April inquiry, one redditor who claimed to be part of the voice acting team said they had "no clue" what was going on, adding, "Everything just sorta disappeared overnight."
After two months of silence, the team has now acknowledged that work on the Nuevo Mexico mod has come to a halt.
"The project has been on hold for some time, and [project lead] Zapshock has decided to step back from active participation in the community," JK Serling, credited as head of public relations, said in a message posted to the Fallout: Nuevo Mexico Discord (via VG247). "For now, Zapshock won't be available on Discord or any social media platforms."
Serling said they've taken over responsibilities for the mod, although whether that's strictly in a comms capacity or with the intent of carrying on development isn't clear. "Should Zapshock decide to return to modding, they will only stay in touch with close friends and developers ONLY," they wrote, adding that updates and replies to inquiries will be made if and when Zapshock comes back.

GAMING NEWS

Multiplayer tactical space-based shooter, Boundary, has been officially discontinued/canceled
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/multiplayer-tactical-space-based-shooter-boundary-has-been-officially-discontinued-canceled/
Boundary was a game I was really looking forward to as it reminded me of Shattered Horizon. However, it appears that this multiplayer space-based shooter is officially dead. This is coming straight from Skystone Games who claimed that the devs have ceased all services for the game.
>> Bad news for those that got it in Early Access, but that’s a risk with the games that use it,

Elden Ring Title Update 1.12 Released, Patch Notes Revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/elden-ring-title-update-1-12-released-patch-notes-revealed/
FromSoftware has just released Title Update 1.12 for Elden Ring, and shared its full patch notes. This patch adds support for the SHADOW OF THE ERDTREE DLC, and it packs a number of tweaks, fixes and changes. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Elden Ring Patch 1.12 brings performance improvements on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/elden-ring-patch-1-12-brings-performance-improvements-on-pc/
FromSoftware has just released Patch 1.12 for Elden Ring, and from the looks of it this update brings major performance improvements on PC.
From the looks of it, these performance improvements are solely for the game’s Ray Tracing effects. So, if you don’t use RT in this title, you might not see any performance benefits from it.

Thursday news, part two:

Habbo Hotel: Origins is a delightfully strange and chaotic time capsule from the internet of the early 2000s—and a fresh start for a game marred by controversy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/habbo-hotel-origins-is-a-delightfully-strange-and-chaotic-time-capsule-from-the-internet-of-the-early-2000s-and-a-fresh-start-for-a-game-marred-by-controversy/
Habbo Hotel occupies a strange place in the mind—the same dusty corner of my brain where Runescape and Miniclip reside. I played it at a time where I was still quite small and, like many memories from my childhood, it's fuzzy beyond belief.
For those unfamiliar Habbo Hotel is, by technical definition, an MMO without the RPG—a MMOG, if you will. It was first released in Finland at the dawn of the millennium, before making its way to English-speaking territories circa 2004-2005.
(...)
And now it's back, baby. As outlined in a press announcement, "after discovering an old decrepit server with some long-lost files … long-time Habbo developer and player Macklebee has lovingly restored an old version of Habbo Hotel first released in 2005". It's still a project with official backing, just to make things clear—it runs out of the official Habbo launcher, where you can access the games' modern counterpart.

'It's done on our end': Helldivers 2's infamous review bomb cape is ready, but Arrowhead is looking for 'the right time to release it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/its-done-on-our-end-helldivers-2s-infamous-review-bomb-cape-is-ready-but-arrowhead-is-looking-for-the-right-time-to-release-it/
(...)
Pilestedt has since taken to Twitter again to confirm that the cape is "done on our end, but we want to find the right time to release it." I'm not sure what Arrowhead is waiting for, maybe it'll release the cape as a reward for a future major order, or maybe it's waiting for any further problems that land the company in hot water. One player suggested in the replies that "releasing it at the same time as relisting the game in other regions would be a good move." While Sony hasn't budged an inch on its stance on PSN accounts for other games like God of War Ragnarök's PC release, we did finally see the company blink and retract its stance for Helldivers 2 players, making this idea possible.  

Former dev from sunken Sims competitor Life by You alleges the team had 'the rug pulled' from under them—despite outperforming the company's internal metrics
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/former-dev-from-sunken-sims-competitor-life-by-you-alleges-the-team-had-the-rug-pulled-from-under-them-despite-outperforming-the-company-s-internal-metrics/
Life by You seemed poised to corner an untapped market—that corner being a version of the Sims not bogged down by over $1,200's worth of DLC. As PCG's Joshua Wolens noted during a preview, it was angled to be "Sims with the brakes cut".
(...)
However, a former developer from Paradox Tectonic alleges a very different story. In a lengthy LinkedIn post, Willem Delventhal, a former designer at the studio, says that the game was doing "extremely well" before Paradox delayed it. His team had an "internal metric" that they were outperforming—and were given a "thumbs up a few weeks before launch", which made the alleged rugpull all the more confusing: "Two weeks before launch, we were told we wouldn't be launching."

Huh: SimCity 2000's library has an essay about cities written by Neil Gaiman
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/huh-simcity-2000s-library-has-an-essay-about-cities-written-by-neil-gaiman/
While the original will forever hold a place in my heart, SimCity 2000 is one of those sequels that was simply meant to be. It was one of those sequels that doubled-down on everything brilliant about the first game, with a stunning visual makeover that saw the top-down 2D look become a gorgeous isometric urban panorama. It's more complex, much more can go wrong, and I'm not sure Maxis or EA ever made a subsequent SimCity that improved on it.
I played this game a lot when I was a kid and thought I had a fairly good memory of it, but a piece of trivia has caught me completely off-guard. The SimCity games have always been packed with Easter eggs, but It turns out that one of SimCity 2000's little surprises is an essay on the nature of cities by one Neil Gaiman.

Square Enix has a plan for dealing with Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail's inevitable server crush, which includes saying 'we apologize for the inconvenience' 5 separate times
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/square-enix-has-a-plan-for-dealing-with-final-fantasy-14-dawntrails-inevitable-server-crush-which-includes-saying-we-apologize-for-the-inconvenience-5-separate-times/
We've all been there before: A big new online game launches, the servers get crushed, we can't get in, we get mad, we go out and burn down our local Pizza Hut. Or something like that, anyway—the point is that it happens every time, and it's a headache. Fortunately, Square Enix has a plan in place to help alleviate that pain for the upcoming Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail.

Here's everything from the June 2024 Nintendo Direct that's coming to PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/heres-everything-from-the-june-2024-nintendo-direct-thats-coming-to-pc/
Nintendo Direct showcases offer more for PC gamers than merely the grim spectacle of having to watch as the lingering hopes of Hollow Knight fans are dashed for another year. While first party Nintendo stuff stays locked in Mario's walled garden, we reliably get reveals for third-party games that also hit PC—particularly, we see a lot of long-awaited remasters and remakes of JRPGs, and this year's summer showcase from Nintendo continued that trend. Here's what we can look forward to from this June's Nintendo Direct.
>> I mean, you may be able to play every announced game on PC if you want...

A new hero has emerged as Elden Ring players help each other prepare for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC—the fearsome Let Me Comet Him
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/a-new-hero-has-emerged-as-elden-ring-players-help-each-other-prepare-for-the-shadow-of-the-erdtree-dlcthe-fearsome-let-me-comet-him/
We've only got to wait a few hours until the floodgates finally open and players are let into Elden Ring's new DLC Shadow of the Erdtree. But it's not as simple as stepping into the new map; players first need to defeat the terrifying Mohg, Lord of Blood, which is easier said than done, considering you need to be at least level 100-110. As time begins to run out for those wishing to start the DLC as soon as it releases, the community is banding together and helping each other defeat The Omen. 
So far, most of the summons that have been helping players out have been sorcerers, mostly those who can cast Comet Azur. This is a spell that anyone who's fought Rennala Queen of the Full Moon will remember, as it's basically just Goku's Kamehameha with a tinge of witchcraft that can one-shot bosses. One such sorcerer is going by the name Let Me Comet Her, a photo of whom was posted to Twitter along with "So my watch begins." You can also see that the player is wearing Azur's Glintstone Crown, which boosts Comet Azur's damage by 15%.  

Beyond Good and Evil quietly delisted as Ubisoft gears up to release the not-so-secret 20th Anniversary Edition in time for its 21st anniversary
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/beyond-good-and-evil-quietly-delisted-as-ubisoft-gears-up-to-release-the-not-so-secret-20th-anniversary-edition-in-time-for-its-21st-anniversary/
My god, I think it might be happening. Against all odds, against all precedent, against all sense, I think Ubisoft might be gearing up to release a Beyond Good and Evil game.
Not Beyond Good and Evil 2, mind you. Heavens no. We'll only see that some time after the end of the Stelliferous Era. But it does look like Yves and co are preparing the way for a release of Beyond Good and Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition, a souped-up remaster of the original 2003 classic that looks set to coincide with its, uh, 21st anniversary.

Miyazaki says don't worry, the shiny new weapons in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree shouldn't outpace your old favourites
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/miyazaki-says-don-t-worry-the-shiny-new-weapons-in-elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-shouldn-t-outpace-your-old-favourites/
Shadow of the Erdtree has, as any good FromSoftware expansion should, a bunch of new weapons to do some murdering with—claws, censers, greatswords and, a personal favourite here at PC Gamer, fisticuffs that let you do cool kicks and flips. It's also recommended for higher level-characters, though, and we are but creatures of habit.
Which raises the question—will all your old weapons be outdated models compared to the new, shinier kids on the block? No, says FromSoftware president Hidetaka Miyazaki in a recent interview with CNET.

AMD confirms new security breach: future product information, source code and spec sheets compromised

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-new-security-breach-future-product-information-source-code-and-spec-sheets-compromised

Intel releases eTVB microcode fix and new Default Settings for 13/14th Gen Core i5/i7 CPUs, instability investigation still ongoing

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-releases-etvb-microcode-fix-and-new-default-settings-for-13-14th-gen-core-i5-i7-cpus-instability-investigation-still-ongoing

Intel Core Ultra 200V “Lunar Lake” enters production at TSMC

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-ultra-200v-lunar-lake-enters-production-at-tsmc

Qualcomm Adreno GPU driver files confirm unannounced Snapdragon X SKUs

https://videocardz.com/newz/qualcomm-adreno-gpu-driver-files-confirm-unannounced-snapdragon-x-skus

Samsung Dominates The QD-OLED Panel Market: Adds 25 More Products To The Fleet From 10 Different Brands

https://wccftech.com/samsung-dominates-qd-oled-panel-market-adds-25-more-monitors-to-10-different-brands/

Of course my Xbox controller's shoulder button would break the day before SOTE. Tried to fix it but no dice.

Replacement arrives Saturday, so not even worth adapting to another controller, but that means at least one day's delay on playing it...

It’s time for the Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is out now and tearing up the Steam charts
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-out-now-and-tearing-up-the-steam-charts/
The moment it became available on Steam, the positive user reviews for Elden Ring's new Shadow of the Erdtree expansion started pouring in. The DLC has almost a thousand ratings as I write. None of these players have seen much of the Land of Shadow yet—the expansion is much larger than we were initially led to believe and has barely been out for an hour.
(...)
More than 550,000 Steam players are currently online in Elden Ring, a pretty amazing draw for a DLC launch on a Thursday. Elden Ring's all-time concurrents peak, recorded just after it launched two years ago, was 953,426—we might see it beat that number this weekend.

The Humble Store has launched the School’s Out Sale, with up to 90% discounts during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/schools-out/.

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts, 90% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/sniper-ghost-warrior-contracts
• The BYO Platinum Collection for June has launched, featuring 20 games to choose from: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/diamond-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang hints at the possibilities of DLSS 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-hints-at-the-possibilities-of-dlss-4/
A lot of people have been wondering about the future of DLSS. What new features will NVIDIA introduce? And we may now have an idea of what we can expect from it. During a Q&A session, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang shared his thoughts about the future of DLSS. Huang hinted that future versions of DLSS, presumably DLSS 4, will be able to generate textures and objects.
As NVIDIA’s CEO specifically said:
“We already use AI for neural graphics, and we can generate pixels based off of few input pixels (Editor’s Note: that’s DLSS 2). We also generate frame between frames – not interpolation, but generation (Editor’s Note: that’s DLSS 3). In the future, we’ll even generate textures and objects, and the objects can be of lower quality and we can make them look better.”
>> And it will be obviously locked to the 5000 series or whatever the new cards are when it launches.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Resident Evil 5 now has HD Texture Packs for all enemies, main characters and weapons
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/resident-evil-5-now-has-hd-texture-packs-for-all-enemies-main-characters-and-weapons/
A lot of gamers have been asking for a remaster or a remake of Resident Evil 5. And until that happens, PC gamers can enjoy RE5 with mods, something that will give them a glimpse at what a remaster may look like.
YouTube’s ‘AwesomeMods’ has released new HD Texture Packs for this RE game. These packs cover all enemies, weapons and the main characters. As such, you can find HD textures for Chris, Jill, Wesker, Sheva and more.
Sadly, this pack does not overhaul any of the environmental textures. Not only that but the Ultimate HD Edition Mod is no longer available for download. That’s a bummer as that pack brought major improvements to the game’s environments. And that’s why we always recommend downloading the packs the moment we share them.
(...)
To improve the textures, the modder used AI tools to upscale the original textures. As such, the new modded textures retain the art style of the vanilla ones. This is crucial as RE5 has a distinct look.
>> There’s an almost 11 minutes video.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree's release has busted the Seamless Co-op mod, but its creator has a fix incoming 'as soon as possible'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtrees-release-has-busted-the-seamless-co-op-mod-but-its-creator-has-a-fix-incoming-as-soon-as-possible/
Ever since Elden Ring released on PC modders have been tinkering with FromSoftware's brilliant RPG, and by far the most popular out there is the Seamless Co-op mod, which has been downloaded 3.8 million times. FromSoftware's games have gravitated towards making co-op easier, but Elden Ring still imposes considerable restrictions on the length of time you can spend together. Seamless Co-op simply says "sod that", and lets you play through the entire game with a buddy.
The release of Elden Ring's major new expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, can be expected to cause some problems for mods, and Seamless Co-op is among them. Indeed, as soon as Erdtree was released, players noted that Seamless Co-op had stopped working. But the mod's creator, Luke Yui, is on the case and reckons he's already successfully rewritten it but has to do some testing before releasing it.
"The DLC has been out for half an hour," writes Yui in the mod's Discord. "The Seamless Coop rewrite has been patched to support it—however, it still needs to be tested. Also, some features and bugfixes from older versions are still missing from the rewrite, and they're big enough to hold off the release until they're implemented [...] I'm putting all the efforts I can manage to release the mod as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience."

GAMING NEWS

New trailers for Fear Effect, Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection, Fighting Force Collection, GEX Trilogy and more
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-trailers-for-fear-effect-bubsy-in-the-purrfect-collection-fighting-force-collection-gex-trilogy-and-more/
Limited Run Games has released new trailers for Fear Effect, Bubsy in: The Purrfect Collection, Fighting Force Collection, GEX Trilogy and the Tomba! games. As such, I’ve decided to share all of them in one big article.

Jurassic Park and Crysis inspired FPS, Ferocious, gets new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/jurassic-park-and-crysis-inspired-fps-ferocious-gets-new-gameplay-trailer/
IGN has shared a new gameplay trailer for the upcoming action-packed first-person shooter, Ferocious. Ferocious is developed by a small team and promises to please a lot of old-school FPS fans.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 gets a 6-minute gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/warhammer-40k-space-marine-2-gets-a-6-minute-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Focus Entertainment has released a new 6-minute gameplay trailer for Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. According to the publisher, the game’s Creative Director, Oliver Hollis-Leick, narrates the video. In it, he explains more about the main story, multiplayer modes, and how players can level up in the game.

Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition is coming to PC on June 25th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/beyond-good-evil-20th-anniversary-edition-is-coming-to-pc-on-june-25th/
Ubisoft has announced that Beyond Good & Evil – 20th Anniversary Edition will be officially coming to PC on June 25th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a gameplay trailer that you can find below.
>> Oh, and Ubisoft has taken the opportunity to say once again (29 times already), that BG&E 2 is still alive.

STAR WARS Battlefront Classic Collection Update III Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/star-wars-battlefront-classic-collection-update-iii-released-full-patch-notes/
Aspyr has released the third major update for the STAR WARS Battlefront Classic Collection. According to the release notes, Title Update 3 brings further improvements to server stability. It also fixes various issues with the game crashing unexpectedly. As such, these two classic Battlefront games should run better now.

Two minutes of raw gameplay footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered narrative FPS adventure game, INDUSTRIA 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/two-minutes-of-raw-gameplay-footage-from-the-unreal-engine-5-powered-narrative-fps-adventure-game-industria-2/
IGN has shared a new video, showcasing two minutes of raw gameplay footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered narrative FPS adventure game, INDUSTRIA 2.

Friday news, the second part:

Dev promises that Steam sensation Banana has 'no scamming', after fellow dev's shady faux-Bitcoin past sees his fruits confiscated
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dev-promises-that-steam-sensation-banana-has-no-scamming-after-fellow-dev-s-shady-faux-bitcoin-past-sees-his-fruits-confiscated/
Banana is one of the funniest things I've had the pleasure of reporting on—it's a game that seems to have started as a joke, but has rapidly skyrocketed to a high throne on the Steam pantheon, becoming the second most-played game on the platform, beaten only by Counter Strike 2.
(...)
The swollen Banana community, however, has been experiencing some turbulence as of late (thanks, Eurogamer). Heading on over to the Discord, which has over 108,000 members at the time of writing, you'll see a news post proclaiming that "There is no scamming/scam going on" in the appropriate channel.

WoW's devs will continue to use private auras, which limit UI addon functionality, in The War Within: though they'd like to be selective to avoid cures 'worse than the disease'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-s-devs-will-continue-to-use-private-auras-which-limit-ui-addon-functionality-in-the-war-within-though-they-d-like-to-be-selective-to-avoid-cures-worse-than-the-disease/
World of Warcraft has a bit of a problem. Unlike an MMO like Final Fantasy 14, which makes user addons technically against its terms of service, WoW has always been very lenient with its UI—to the point where the game was able to leave its ancient HUD untouched until Dragonflight.
(...)
Enter "private auras", which are a kind of flag that Blizzard can put on a specific mechanic or spell to place it beyond the reach of most UI addons, giving very limited information for them to work with. These were trialled in Dragonflight to varying degrees of success—and have been cropping up again in The War Within's alpha and beta tests.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is hard as nails, says Miyazaki: 'We've really pushed the envelope in terms of what we think can be withstood by the player'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdtree-is-hard-as-nails-says-miyazaki-weve-really-pushed-the-envelope-in-terms-of-what-we-think-can-be-withstood-by-the-player/
The day of the DLC is finally upon us, but before players jump into Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, some are debating whether they have what it takes to face off against all its new foes.

Elden Ring's pre-Erdtree patch makes a big, surprise quality-of-life change: You can finally summon Torrent for the final fight against the big boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/elden-rings-pre-erdtree-patch-makes-a-big-surprise-quality-of-life-change-you-can-finally-summon-torrent-for-the-final-fight-against-the-big-boss/
Elden Ring's big pre-Shadow of the Erdtree update is now live, and one of the biggest changes is one that wasn't previously teased: Yes, it's true, you can now summon Torrent for the final fight against the Elden Beast.
>> Sadly, the update is causing problems for Steam Deck users.

The original Counter-Strike mod is 25 years old, Valve calls it 'the greatest videogame ever made'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-original-counter-strike-mod-is-25-years-old-valve-calls-it-the-greatest-videogame-ever-made/
The official Counter-Strike account has posted to celebrate 25 years since the release of the mod that changed the competitive FPS forever. 
"Happy 25th birthday to the greatest videogame ever made, Counter-Strike," says the contemporary Counter-Strike 2 team. "A Half-Life mod which has spawned communities, created memories, and established the greatest esport of them all. We're grateful to have the most passionate players in gaming.  
"Here's to 25 more!"

In Dune: Awakening you 'physically fly' your ornithopter between servers on an overland map filled with 'hundreds of other players'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/in-dune-awakening-you-physically-fly-your-ornithopter-between-servers-on-an-overland-map-filled-with-hundreds-of-other-players/
Attention all you Arrakis fanatics (hey, it almost rhymes): we got another big look at Funcom's upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening today. First up, our own Joshua Wolens told us he's itching to play it after seeing a demo, despite being neither an MMO guy or a survival game fan. 
Then in a 30 minute Dune: Awakening Direct presentation that covered character creation and the MMO's alternate timeline, creative director Joel Bylos took time to explain the nuts and bolts of how the world, maps, and servers will work to provide a "relatively seamless" experience to players as they explore Arrakis.

Sony accidentally leaked an unannounced Helldivers 2 stratagem by getting its rocket launchers confused
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/sony-accidentally-leaked-an-unannounced-helldivers-2-stratagem-by-getting-its-rocket-launchers-confused/
Another day, another unsanctioned early look at an unreleased Helldivers 2 stratagem. However, while there's a not-unrealistic chance that some earlier Helldivers 2 leaks came from inside the Arrowhead house, this first glimpse of an unannounced rocket launcher came from, well, inside the bigger house that's publishing the game. Sony did it, is what I'm saying, and seemingly without meaning to.

Embracer embraces a 'human-centric' AI policy, says vague stuff about how it will 'massively enhance game development'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/embracer-embraces-a-human-centric-ai-policy-says-vague-stuff-about-how-it-will-massively-enhance-game-development/
Struggling videogame conglomerate Embracer Group appears to be embracing the rise of artificial intelligence: In its latest annual report, the company laid out a strategy for incorporating AI in its future work, saying that the tech "has the capability to massively enhance game development by increasing resource efficiency" and "adding intelligent behaviors, personalization, and optimization to gameplay experiences."

The Hollow Knight: Silksong delirium reaches its pitchfork stage as former playtester saying the game isn't 'in dev hell' gets eviscerated for it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-hollow-knight-silksong-delirium-reaches-the-pitchfork-stage-among-team-cherry-s-continued-silence-as-former-playtester-saying-the-game-isn-t-in-dev-hell-gets-eviscerated-for-it/
The Silksong community is, as you'd imagine, a little fraught right now—without a peep of news from the Summer Game Fest or Nintendo Direct, nor a public statement from increasingly enigmatic developer Team Cherry, it has an appetite for information I can only describe as starved, a result of 700 plus days of silence.
Things have continued to spiral after some offhand comments from a former playtester who goes by the name of Your Mate Graig on the Hollow Knight Discord (thanks, GamesRadar). While he claims to have been the lead tester for Silksong (a statement that has gone unchallenged by Team Cherry for months), he left the studio to work on his own game, Roc's Odyssey, some time ago.
Graig stated Tuesday, June 18 that he "literally know[s] they are not in dev hell"—a pretty innocuous confirmation that would be uneventful in most circumstances but, like a flock of understandably pissed seagulls descending on a scrap of meat, Silksong's subreddit proceeded to eviscerate him over it.
>> The ysay that love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and a passionate community can be both a blessing and a headache.

6 months after revealing plans to become 'aggressive in applying AI', Square Enix's president announces he's being careful in applying AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/6-months-after-revealing-plans-to-become-aggressive-in-applying-ai-square-enix-s-president-announces-he-s-being-careful-in-applying-ai/
Square Enix appears to have learnt its lesson when it comes to sparkly new technology—just with a considerable input delay. Earlier this year, Square Enix's president Takashi Kiryu spoke glowingly of generative AI, which carried strong echoes of the company's equally ill-timed love affair with NFTs.
(...)
As reported by michsuzu on Twitter (and later spotted, then translated by Automaton), in a June 21 call to investors, Kiryu seems to believe that, just maybe, being hyper-aggressive about applying a controversial new technology isn't the best of ideas.

CD Projekt sends in Geralt to help its devs kill Mohg as it congratulates Shadow of the Erdtree on eclipsing Witcher 3's record review scores
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cd-projekt-sends-in-geralt-to-help-its-devs-kill-mohg-as-it-congratulates-shadow-of-the-erdtree-on-eclipsing-witcher-3s-record-review-scores/
The record is broken, the titan is fallen, yesterday's revolutionary upstart has become today's defeated incumbent: The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion—CDPR's excellent swansong for one of the best RPGs of all time—has officially been supplanted by Shadow of the Erdtree. 
In the eight years since it released, Blood and Wine has claimed the record for "best-reviewed expansion for a roleplaying game," but that's just history now. In a tweet earlier today, CDPR congratulated FromSoft on nabbing the title out from under it: "Elden Ring gets to wear that crown now," read a tweet from The Witcher's official account, "Congratulations to the entire team at FromSoftware on their stellar work!"

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

+GOG

• It has taken a couple of days, but we finally have a GIVEAWAY: Shadows: Awakening will be free during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shadows_awakening
• The first of the three Deals of the Day, that will last 70 hours, is Dark Envoy, 35% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dark_envoy
• Transport Fever 2 - Deluxe Edition gets a 44% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/transport_fever_2_deluxe_edition
• And Shadow Tactics: Anniversary Bundle ha a 92% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shadow_tactics_anniversary_bundle

+Steam

• Fossilfuel 2, that has a demo, will be 20% off until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2299660/Fossilfuel_2/
• The Early Access title Death Must Die gets a 20% discount until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2334730/Death_Must_Die/
• TEVI, that also has a demo, gets a 25% deal until Thursday 27: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2230650/TEVI/
• Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic is going to be 35% off until June 27 (are you noticing the pattern here?): https://store.steampowered.com/app/784150/Workers__Resources_Soviet_Republic/
• Stellaris will be free to try during the weekend and 70% off until the 27th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/app/281990/Stellaris/
• The Games Baked in Germany Sale features up to 80% discounts until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/games-made-in-germany-2024
• The Dragon Age franchise is on sale, with the three games 90% off until, surprise, surprise, Thursday 27: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/DragonAgeFranchiseSale
• Publisher Klei Entertainment puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until the 27th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/kleifest2024
• And Team17 has also puts its games on sale, also with up to 90% discounts and also until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Team17publishersale24

And that's it. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the news on Monday so, until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

KINGPIN partners up with PNY for next-gen GeForce graphics cards

https://videocardz.com/newz/kingpin-partners-up-with-pny-for-next-gen-geforce-graphics-cards

Gigabyte intros Radeon PRO W7900 Dual Slot and W7800 AI TOP graphics cards: up to 48 GB VRAM

https://videocardz.com/newz/gigabyte-intros-radeon-pro-w7900-dual-slot-and-w7800-ai-top-graphics-cards-up-to-48-gb-vram

Minisforum launches $99 external GPU dock with OCuLink, supports RTX 4090

https://videocardz.com/newz/minisforum-launches-99-external-gpu-dock-with-oculink-supports-rtx-4090

Samsung To Ramp Up In-House GPU Investments, Targeting To Achieve Semiconductor Dominance

https://wccftech.com/samsung-to-ramp-up-in-house-gpu-investments/

I could have sworn Kingpin also bowed out of manufacturing their own cards after the fiasco with Nvidia. 

$99 for an external GPU dock is quite cheap, at least compared to what we've had in the past. Mind you, the other options were more like small cases for the GPU and power supply, but they also costed twice or more than this.