The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away The Falconeer: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-falconeer.
Next week, the free game will be Floppy Knights.

Fanatical has launched its BYO Platinum Collection for July, with 18 games to choose from for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Breaking Limit is a new Ray Tracing Benchmark you can download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/breaking-limit-is-a-new-ray-tracing-benchmark-you-can-download/
GPUScore has released a new benchmark tool, called Breaking Limit, with which you can test your GPU. And, since we don’t have enough of these benchmarks, it’s a welcome addition. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
According to the team, Breaking Limit uses Ray Tracing for Reflections, Shadows and Global Illumination. The benchmark also supports AMD FSR 2.0 and NVIDIA DLSS 2.0. Sadly, though, there is no support for either FSR 3.0 or DLSS 3. This is kind of a bummer as Frame Generation could allow the devs to push the RT effects even further.
Breaking Limit comes with two different workloads. The first one is a cross-platform benchmark ideal for evaluating mobile devices, laptops and desktops equipped with low-end GPUs. The second workload is for owners of high-end GPUs.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

PlayStation 4 emulator, shadPS4 V0.1.0, can run some 3D games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/playstation-4-emulator-shadps4-v0-1-0-can-run-some-3d-games/
Now here is something that may please some PlayStation 4 fans. A new PlayStation 4 emulator, called shadPS4, is now capable of running some 3D commercial PS4 games on PC.
In the following video, we get to see one of the One Piece games that came out on PS4 running on shadPS4. Now, as you will see, there are A LOT of graphical glitches and issues. Still, the fact that the emulator can run 3D commercial games is a huge step.
Not only that, but the emulator can also load Persona 5 and Resident Evil: Origins Collection. However, I don’t know whether Bloodborne can load at all with it.

New Elden Ring Mod Allows You to Summon Companion Spirits
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-elden-ring-mod-allows-you-to-summon-companion-spirits/
Now here is a really cool mod for Elden Ring. Created by ‘Snowfall’, this mod allows you to summon companion spirits that can keep you company and help you in battles.
This is a really cool mod as it can allow you to have a wolf as a companion. Not only that, but it will make the game a bit easier as your companions will fight with you in battle. And, in case you’re wondering, you will be able to summon them again if they fall in battle.
For those unaware, Elden Ring does have spirits that you can summon. However, these spirits will fade away after a fight, or being they will locked out if they die. So, this mod basically removes those restrictions. As such, you can now summon a companion spirit which will stick with you throughout the game. All spirit ashes are affected, including ones in the DLC.
>> The article doesn’t have screenshots nor videos.

After hundreds of hours of work, a modder is restoring content that was cut from Skyrim, including locations, NPCs, items and dialogue
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/after-hundreds-of-hours-of-work-a-modder-is-restoring-content-that-was-cut-from-skyrim-including-locations-npcs-items-and-dialogue/
After hundreds of hours of work, modder ‘Unorthodogg’ is restoring content that was cut from Skyrim Special Edition. This is a thirteen-part mod series, in which the modder attempts to add everything he could find that was removed or cut, and put it back in the game. So, let’s take a look at it.
(...)
Now I won’t be listing below the content that was restored in the aforementioned eight regions. Otherwise, you’d be scrolling down for hours. Since I’ve listed the links, though, you can find more details on their pages.
For the best experience, the modder suggests using them on a New Game. The mods should work on pre-existing saves and they should be okay to install mid-game. However, there are certain parts in Whiterun like Anoriath going outside and the stables scene that can depend on player progress.
Do note that at the moment, Unorthodogg has not restored any quests. From what I know, he also does not plan to any of them in future versions. Nevertheless, this new free content is something that some Skyrim fans may appreciate.
>> This article doesn’t have any media either.

A modder is trying to make Dragon’s Dogma 2 feel and play like Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/a-modder-is-trying-to-make-dragons-dogma-2-feel-and-play-like-dragons-dogma-dark-arisen/
Modder ‘EXXXcellent’ has released a new cool mod for Dragon’s Dogma 2 that attempts to make it feel and play similar to Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen. This is a mod that a lot of die-hard DD fans will appreciate. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
The ReDogmafication Mod gives the Fighter and Thief classes their normal attack combos. There is support for the “delay combos” that players could execute in the older Dragon’s Dogma games. Not only that but the modder aims to add even more combos in future versions.
With the mod, when you sprint, your character will automatically sheath his weapon. You can also attack and use skills straight away from sheathed. Plus, you can roll when landing from a sprinting jump. And if that wasn’t enough, you can now get up instantly from a hard knockdown. This was a major issue for some players in DD2 as the hard knockdown could lead to some cheap deaths.
All in all, this is a mod that a lot of Dragon’s Dogma 2 fans will like. Especially if they were let down by its new gameplay mechanics. So, if you were a fan of Dark Arisen, you should definitely get it.
>> The article has 4 videos.

Someone has slowly been modding Naruto games to give a character his father's eyes—who knows why, but we're at 5 and counting
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/someone-has-slowly-been-modding-naruto-games-to-give-a-character-his-fathers-eyeswho-knows-why-but-were-at-5-and-counting/
A modder who goes by Nerante on Nexus Mods has been working through various Naruto games, adding in one small yet very cool feature—a different Magenkyou Sharingan for Itachi Uchiha.
For those of you who don't know, a Magenkyou Sharingan is a special ability unique to the Uchiha clan in Naruto. With only a few shinobi unlocking the ability, its effects can vary from person to person. Itachi Uchiha is one of the few people shown with this ability. With this, he can use Tsukuyomi in his left eye, which distorts a victim's perception of time, and his right eye can use Amaterasu, which is basically a fire that cannot be extinguished. These are some of the strongest abilities in the series, so strong that the character had to be killed off by a mysterious disease in the manga.
"This mod changes the eyes of Itachi with his father's [Fugaku Uchiha] Magenkyou Sharingan," according to the description of every mod so far. So far, five games have this mod: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 and 4, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 3, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, and Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections. 
So, apart from looking cool, it's a bit confusing why this mod exists because Itachi definitely doesn't need to be buffed. I may not be able to figure it out, but that doesn't mean this mod shouldn't exist—sometimes 'why not' is reason enough.
>> There’s only one screenshot, but you won’t see much.

GAMING NEWS

Elden Ring Title Update 1.12.3 Brings Balance Tweaks & Bug Fixes, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/elden-ring-title-update-1-12-3-brings-balance-tweaks-bug-fixes-full-patch-notes/
FromSoftware has released Title Update 1.12.3 for Elden Ring, and shared its full patch notes. According to the team, this latest patch brings a number of balance tweaks and bug fixes. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
>> The patch nerfes the perfume exploit.

Thursday news, part two:

Bethesda mistakenly rips art from Fallout: Nuka Break creator but manages to remedy the situation: 'So does this mean I'm officially a shill?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/bethesda-mistakenly-rips-art-from-fallout-nuka-break-creator-but-manages-to-remedy-the-situation-so-does-this-mean-im-officially-a-shill/
Bethesda got into a bit of a mix-up recently when an artist spotted his work in Fallout 76's Atomic Shop, attached to the Fourth of July-themed Flag Waving Bundle. That's not a problem by itself until you realise that he didn't sanction it. 

Dead Space x Battlefield 2042 crossover event looks fun, even if it isn't quite what Dead Space fans have been hoping for
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/dead-space-x-battlefield-2042-crossover-event-looks-fun-even-if-it-isnt-quite-what-dead-space-fans-have-been-hoping-for/
Here's something to make you say "huh": Battlefield 2042 is getting a compelling-looking Dead Space crossover event that will run for just one week. 
The mode is called Outbreak, and will be available in the shooter from July 9-16.

Temtem veterans are working on a Breath of the Wild-inspired narrative survival game for 1-4 players, set to arrive later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/temtem-veterans-are-working-on-a-breath-of-the-wild-inspired-narrative-survival-game-for-1-4-players-set-to-arrive-later-this-year/
If you've been looking for something a little Zelda-like in your life, Oppidum might be worth a look: It's a "narrative adventure with survival elements" for 1-4 players inspired by Breath of the Wild being developed by EP Games, a team that includes former members of Temtem developer Crema, and it's set to release later this year.

In this satirical city builder, your goal is to convert walkable cities into parking lots and use propaganda to convince everyone it's what they want
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/in-this-satirical-city-builder-your-goal-is-to-convert-walkable-cities-into-parking-lots-and-use-propaganda-to-convince-everyone-its-what-they-want/
Traffic is a huge component of just about every city builder. Heck, even in medieval city builders you need a good road system so your citizens can quickly and efficiently get around, even if they're leading oxen instead of driving cars. But in Car Park Capital, you've got more to think about than just the living, breathing human beings who live in your city—you've also got to keep the eternally ravenous automotive industry happy. That means building parking lots. Lots and lots of lots.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard's difficulty options will let you turn off death entirely
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragon-age-the-veilguards-difficulty-options-will-let-you-turn-off-death-entirely/
Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the upcoming new addition to BioWare's long-running fantasy RPG series that used to have a much cooler title, will include an array of combat difficulty options—including one that disables death, and its attendant downsides, entirely.

The final Steam playtest for fantasy extraction game Dungeonborne attracts thousands of eager adventurers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/dungeonborne-steam-playtest/
Dungeon-crawling extraction game Dark and Darker has company: An open beta for the very similar Dungeonborne is underway now on Steam. An exact duration for the playtest hasn't been set, but the plan is for it to last a week or two, after which Dungeonborne will launch in early access. 
(...)
Dungeonborne's playtest hasn't overtaken Dark and Darker on the Steam concurrents chart, but it has peaked at a respectable 14,448 simultaneous players, so it's definitely competition.

The father of Final Fantasy loves FF14 so much, fellow devs at his studio have had to log on sometimes to say 'hey, the meeting's started'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/the-father-of-final-fantasy-loves-ff14-so-much-fellow-devs-at-his-studio-have-had-to-log-on-sometimes-to-remind-him-he-has-meetings-to-attend/
Have you heard of the critically-acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 14? Founding father of the Final Fantasy franchise Hironobu Sakaguchi sure has.

Worst in what way? You mean the worse performer (usually also the oldest one we've had) or the one that gave us more problems?

Intel discontinues Core i9-12900KS and 10th Gen Core CPUs, marking the slow end of 14nm era

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-discontinues-core-i9-12900ks-and-10th-gen-core-cpus-marking-the-slow-end-of-14nm-era

Intel 800-Series Chipsets Detailed: Z890 With IA, BCLK & Memory OC, W880, Q870, B860 & H810 Without CPU Overclocking

https://wccftech.com/intel-800-series-chipsets-z890-ia-bclk-memory-oc-w880-q870-b860-h810-no-cpu-overclocking/

Intel LGA-1851 Socket Adopts New “RL-ILM” Loading Mechanism, Better Thermals & Cooler Compatibility Detailed

https://wccftech.com/intel-lga-1851-socket-new-rl-ilm-loading-mechanism-better-thermals-cooler-compatibility/

My first graphic card was a Diamond SpeedStar Pro ISA with 1 MB VRAM (worst performer).

My graphic card with the most problems was a Nvidia 6800 GT (Leadtek A400-TDH256 WINFAST)... it died after 5 months.

It only lasted 5 months? Uff, that sucks.

The first GPU I had was an ATI 9250 with 128MB. Some time later I decided to upgraded it but, because I knew even less about hardware than today, I went with the 256MB version of the card instead of going with the more powerful 9550. I was caught in the "more memory = better" marketing. That could also be labeled as my worst GPU as the extra VRAM did nothing. Wasted money.

Thankfully the only card that has failed on me so far (fingers crossed) was the HD 5850, when the blower fan broke. But that card was already 5 years old or so, so I can't complain about it.

Ugh, I remember 6800 series, at the time I already switched to ATI, but friend of mine bought 6800 - which lasted him some 13-14 months before dying on him.

On topic, I do think that worst 3D card I had by far is S3 Virge - while it was an early attempt, to be kind, at 3D graphics card, it was ridiculously slow and all around just terrible.

Aside from built in standard ones.

Radeon 7850 from 2012 which is my first Gaming GPU in a pre-built 2010 desktop - the computer build lasted until 2020.

My current gaming PC has my second gaming GPU I ever owned - RX 580 , since 2019 (only thing I upgraded is my RAM from 8GB to 16 GB).

No, it was great. I got the full money back and could buy the next GPU gen for less.

As suggested, give the Steam forums a comb over, but also check PC gaming wiki for any troubleshooting advice:

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Hogwarts_Legacy

I wouldn't crank shaders to unlimited, but also make sure you've got an fps cap set as well, just to keep performance stable.