***Sigh*** I shouldn’t have listened to my lazy side ***Sigh***

Here are the Thursday and Friday news combined:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

You can get 650 hours of classic RPG in Humble's latest bundle, featuring original Baldur's Gate, Pathfinder, and Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/you-can-get-650-hours-of-classic-rpg-in-humbles-latest-bundle-featuring-original-baldurs-gate-pathfinder-and-warhammer-40k-rogue-trader/
Good news! I've found something for you to do this September. Like, all of it. The entire month. What's that? You already had plans? That's a shame. You'll just have to drop them. After all, you've got 650+ hours of RPG to play.
You will if you pick up the ongoing Beamdog and Owlcat: RPG Masters Bundle over at Humble, anyway.
>> You have 19 days to grab it.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdree's success deftly parries 'extraordinary losses' caused by a recent cyberattack on FromSoftware's parent company
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-shadow-of-the-erdrees-success-deftly-parries-extraordinary-losses-caused-by-a-recent-cyberattack-on-fromsoftwares-parent-company/
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree hit like a Moonlight Greatsword for FromSoftware's parent company Kadokawa Corporation, leading the company's gaming sector to substantial growth despite "extraordinary losses" incurred by a cyberattack in June.
As reported by Automaton, Kadokawa recently published its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year. According to said report, Kadokawa experienced losses of approximately 2,000 million yen (roughly $13.5 million) because of the cyberattack, which severely disrupted the company's services and resulted in massive data leaks. The report doesn't fully detail these losses, but it states they "included compensation expenses for creators of the Niconico services" (a Japanese video sharing service) and "expenses related to investigation and restoration".
The result was a 10.1% decline in Kadokawa's net profit. Yet despite this, the corporation saw a significant increase in net sales and an 84.6% growth in ordinary profit compared to last year. This was spearheaded by growth in Kadokawa's video game sector, which saw an 80.2%, year-on-year increase, totalling 7,744 million yen (approx. $52 million) in sales.

The Epic Store gives away:

• Death's Gambit: Afterlife: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/deaths-gambit-afterlife-b5f411
• World of Warships — Starter Pack: Albany: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/world-of-warships--starter-pack-albany

Next week, they’ll give away the games Gigantic: Rampage Edition and The Callisto Protocol.

The Humble Store features the Summer Spectacular 2024 Sale, with up to 90% discounts during 17 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/humble-summer-spectacular-2024/.

Fanatical has new Flash Deals and a bundle:

• These are the new 24h Flash Deals:
  • Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition will be 35% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-4-gold-edition
  • ULTRAKILL gets a 35% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/ultrakill
  • Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster Digital Deluxe Edition will be 78% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shin-megami-tensei-iii-nocturne-hd-remaster-deluxe-edition
• The BYO Trinity Bundle – Summer 2024 has 24 games to choose for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-trinity-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

shadPS4 V0.2.0 is out but doesn’t have the latest Bloodborne fixes
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/shadps4-v0-2-0-is-out-but-doesnt-have-the-latest-bloodborne-fixes/
The team behind the amazing PlayStation 4 emulator, shadPS4, has just released its latest version to the public. However, for those who want to test Bloodborne, know that this build does not have the latest tweaks and fixes for it.
Earlier this month, we shared the first screenshot of Bloodborne running on PC via shadPS4. Since then, the team has been working hard on improving things.
>> There’s a roughly 4 minutes video showing the changes this version introduces.

Call of Duty 2 looks unbelievable with RTX Remix Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/call-of-duty-2-looks-unbelievable-with-rtx-remix-path-tracing/
Modder ‘tadpole3159’ is currently working on an RTX Remix Mod for the multiplayer mode of Call of Duty 2. And although there is no ETA on when it will come out, you can find below some screenshots from it. And oh boy. Get ready for a treat as the game looks unbelievable.
So far, the modder has updated the classic Carentan Map. The scenery has been upgraded, adding more detail where there used to be flat surfaces. Tadpole3159 also plans to fill each empty room in the buildings with furniture and objects that fit the time period. Yep, the modder will go to great lengths to improve everything. This may end up as one of the best RTX Remix mods. Or at least it looks better than most of what we’ve shared so far.
What’s really cool is that the modder will add a day-night cycle with dynamic lighting. This means battles can happen at night, lit up by gunfire and street lamps. Inside buildings, the sun and moon will provide light, along with lamps giving off the right kind of glow. Everything will look more detailed and realistic, with surfaces that react to light in a lifelike way. Even water will mirror what’s around it.
Weapon scopes are now more realistic, using advanced technology to show how light bends and reflects. When bullets hit something, they will now leave real-looking marks. The bullet casings will be also highly detailed and shiny. Not only that but they will reflect the world around them. They will stay on the ground after being fired, and the battlefield will be covered with them by the end of each match.
>> The article has some comparison screenshots, and wow, what a change.

Activision has shut down the H2M Mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/activision-has-shut-down-the-h2m-mod-for-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-remastered/
A team of modders was working on a pretty cool mod for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, called H2M. H2M was aiming to recreate the original MW2 multiplayer experience in COD: MW Remastered. This mod was meant to come out today. However, mere hours before it hit the Internet, Activision has shut it down.
This is one of the main reasons we always suggest keeping a low profile until your fan project is out. Most gamers believed this mod would fall into the “Fair Use” category. However, it appears that Activision was not OK with it.
>> They waited long enough to profit from the extra sales before swinging the C&D hammer.

Oblivion Remake in Skyrim Gets New 20-Minute Gameplay Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/oblivion-remake-in-skyrim-gets-new-20-minute-gameplay-video/
The team behind the highly anticipated remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in Skyrim has released a new 20-minute gameplay video for it. This video shows some big chunks of the maps and nearby quests in these areas. So, make sure to watch it. It looks really, really cool.
Skyblivion aims to bring The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to a new generation of gamers and welcome back longtime fans of the series. This cool mod will work with both Skyrim Legacy Edition and Skyrim Special Edition. It’s one of the most exciting mods out there, showing what modders can do when they put their minds to it. And, even in its WIP state, it looks awesome.

Final Fantasy 9 has been remastered on PC thanks to Moguri V9.0
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/final-fantasy-9-has-been-remastered-on-pc-thanks-to-moguri-v9-0/
Modder ‘snouz’ has released a new version of the amazing Final Fantasy IX fan remaster project, Moguri. This latest version comes with a lot of new upscaled backgrounds. As such, it’s a must for everyone who wants to replay this classic FF game.
We first reported on this mod in 2020. So, after four years, the modder has released a new version. This is quite impressive.
Going into more details, Moguri V9.0 upscales the re-rendered backgrounds, which are now aided by Stable Diffusion and mixed with the original result. It will also redraw many layer edges, and it will bring improvements to most lights. The mod will also upscale the animated textures on Monsters/NPC, and it will re-render, re-stitch and re-mood the battle backgrounds.
And that’s not all. Over the past couple of versions, the mod has also received major additional improvements. For instance, it now supports framerates higher than 60fps. It also supports wide-screen monitors. Anti-Aliasing, Texture Filtering, and it even comes with a new audio engine.
If you feel nostalgic, you can also use a PSX UI and custom fonts. And then, we have some new cheats that you can use. Also, there is a Turbo Dialog/Combat setting.
>> There’s an almost 2 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

First gameplay trailer for open-world extraction shooter, Exoborne
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-open-world-extraction-shooter-exoborne/
Level Infinite and Sharkmob have released the first gameplay trailer for their upcoming tactical open-world extraction shooter, Exoborne. Alongside the trailer, the team confirmed Exoborne’s presence at this year’s gamescom at the Level Infinite booth as well as an upcoming closed Beta test.

New STALKER 2 in-engine trailer shows off its world and locations
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-stalker-2-in-engine-trailer-shows-off-its-world-and-locations/
IGN has shared a new trailer for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl which gives us a glimpse at the game’s world and locations. This trailer features in-engine footage, so it can give you a glimpse at what the PC version will look like.

Alien: Rogue Incursion gets an action-packed gameplay trailer that focuses on the Xenomorphs
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/alien-rogue-incursion-gets-an-action-packed-gameplay-trailer-that-focuses-on-xenomorphs/
Survios has released a short but sweet action-packed gameplay trailer for its upcoming VR Alien game, Alien: Rogue Incursion. This gameplay trailer focuses on the Xenomorphs that the players will have to fight. This, in my opinion, is the first proper gameplay trailer for the game. So, be sure to check it out.

Fantasy Action RPG, The Relic: The First Guardian, Gets New Official Gameplay Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/fantasy-action-rpg-the-relic-the-first-guardian-gets-new-official-gameplay-trailer/
IGN has shared a new official gameplay trailer for the upcoming fantasy Souls-like action RPG, The Relic: The First Guardian. Moreover, the devs launched the game’s Steam store page, revealing a 2025 release date. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 delayed until February 2025
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-delayed-until-february-2025/
Warhorse Studios has announced that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has been delayed until next year. Originally, the game was targeting a 2024 release date. However, as the devs stated a few minutes ago, KC:D 2 will now come out on February 11th, 2025.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will not require the 2K Launcher
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/sid-meiers-civilization-vii-will-not-require-the-2k-launcher/
Firaxis’ community manager has revealed that Sid Meier’s Civilization VII will not require the 2K launcher. Not only that but the team has removed the 2K launcher from the Steam version of Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

Black Myth: Wukong gets a short but sweet Ray Tracing trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/black-myth-wukong-gets-a-short-but-sweet-ray-tracing-trailer/
NVIDIA has just released a new short but sweet trailer for Black Myth: Wukong, which focuses on Ray Tracing and DLSS 3. This trailer features some comparison scenes, in which the green team showcased the benefits of RT. So, if you are interested in this title, be sure to at least watch it.

Replaced has been delayed until 2025, but here are 13 minutes of new gameplay from it
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/replaced-has-been-delayed-until-2025-but-here-are-13-minutes-of-new-gameplay-from-it/
Sad Cat Studios has announced that its 2.5D sci-fi retro-futuristic action platformer, REPLACED, has been delayed until 2025. Thankfully, though, we now have a new 13-minute gameplay video from it.

For The Stars is a new space-themed sandbox survival game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/for-the-stars-is-a-new-space-themed-sandbox-survival-game/
Snail Games has officially announced their new AAA space-themed “open universe” survival title, For The Stars, coming to current-gen consoles and PC. Playing as an intrepid explorer and scientist, For The Stars invites you to travel from world to world, uncovering the secrets of alien civilizations, seeking out rare and exotic creatures and harnessing resources to tame the deadly biomes you encounter on a vast array of diverse planets waiting to be explored.

inZOI will get official modding support, character demo coming on August 21st
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/inzoi-will-get-official-modding-support-character-demo-coming-on-august-21st/
Overwolf has announced a partnership with KRAFTON which is home to globally renowned developers such as PUBG STUDIOS, Striking Distance Studios, Unknown Worlds, and VECTOR NORTH. This partnership will bring an official mod program and mod repository to the upcoming life-simulation game inZOI, at launch.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Official PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/dragon-age-the-veilguard-official-pc-requirements/
Electronic Arts and BioWare have revealed the official PC system requirements for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This new Dragon Age game will be powered by the Frostbite Engine. So, let’s see what PC system you’ll need to run it.
>> We also know the release date, that leaked a day before.

Here’s the Gamescom 2024 Trailer for Neo Berlin 2087
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/heres-the-gamescom-2024-trailer-for-neo-berlin-2087/
It’s been a year since we last saw Neo Berlin 2087. And, earlier today, Elysium Game Studio released the Gamescom 2024 trailer for its third-person/first-person action RPG.

Slitterhead just got a lovely story trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/slitterhead-just-got-a-lovely-story-trailer/
Bokeh Game Studio has released a lovely story trailer for its upcoming third-person title, Slitterhead. The game will be coming out on PC on November 8th, and you can find its PC system requirements here.

The news, part two of three:

Live your fantasy of being a game dev in this sim where you build an MMO, manage your team and investors, and even play your own game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/live-your-fantasy-of-being-a-game-dev-in-this-sim-where-you-build-an-mmo-manage-your-team-and-investors-and-even-play-your-own-game/
Ever fantasize about making your own game? Probably. Ever fantasize about making your own game while running a development studio, managing your employees, balancing your budget, crunching to meet deadlines, getting angry texts from your studio's investors, and dealing with data breaches? Maybe not.
Let's Build a Dungeon is a new management sim just announced by Springloaded, maker of 2021's Let's Build a Zoo. In fact, in a lot of ways, Let's Build a Dungeon is based on the making of Let's Build a Zoo and Springloaded's earlier games. Check out the trailer below to see how you can design, build, and play your own MMORPG in Let's Build a Dungeon… and how that's really just the tip of the game dev iceberg.

Leximan is a charming indie romp where you grab words out of the air to solve problems—like helping Dave, who has been on fire for 27 minutes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/leximan-is-a-charming-indie-romp-where-you-grab-words-out-of-the-air-to-solve-problems-like-helping-dave-who-has-been-on-fire-for-27-minutes/
It's often said that the pen is mightier than the sword—now, that's an assertion usually made by people who haven't been stabbed before, but in the world of Leximan, a charming little indie pseudo-RPG about smashing words together scribblenauts-style, it's a cosmic truth.

Overwatch 2's highly anticipated space girl hero drops next week with season 12
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2s-highly-anticipated-space-girl-hero-drops-next-week-with-season-12/
It's been a long time since I've seen the Overwatch community as hyped about a new hero as much as Juno. Her trailer has over 2 million views on YouTube—more than the Overwatch 2 launch trailer—and my X feed is filled with posts from accounts dedicated to counting down the days until she's out. Everyone wants the space girl to come home, and she will next week when season 12 begins on Aug 20.

Mordhau pugilists raise thousands of dollars for a fellow player's medical bills in a fistfighting contest against cancer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/mordhau-pugilists-raise-thousands-of-dollars-for-a-fellow-players-medical-bills-in-a-fistfighting-contest-against-cancer/
Over the weekend, medieval combatants in Mordhau set aside their swords for a nobler, more honest battle: the endless war against cancer and the inadequacies of the American healthcare system. For its 9th annual tournament, the Mordhau Fistfighting Championship turned its yearly fisticuffs into a fundraiser to help a fellow player face the massive costs of cancer care.

Pray the kids don't kick over your priceless T-Rex exhibit in Two Point Museum, an upcoming new addition to the Two Point universe
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/pray-the-kids-don-t-kick-over-your-priceless-t-rex-exhibit-in-two-point-musuem-an-upcoming-new-addition-to-the-two-point-universe/
It's always fun to brainstorm what the next game in the Two Point Series might be. Movie Studio? City Zoo? Port Authority Terminal? Yeah, it's none of those. Following on from the success of Hospital and Campus, Sega and Two Point Studios have unveiled Two Point Museum, which will enable players to curate and showcase historical exhibits to the delight of semi-feral school kids.

Josh Sawyer says Fallout: New Vegas has deathclaws in Goodsprings as a warning to Fallout 3 players expecting another easy ride: 'You can't just slide all over the map and not feel the heat'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/josh-sawyer-says-fallout-new-vegas-has-deathclaws-in-cazador-as-a-warning-to-fallout-3-players-expecting-another-easy-ride-you-cant-just-slide-all-over-the-map-and-not-feel-the-heat/
Balancing games is a tricky business—just ask Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead about that. Generally speaking, games need to put up enough of a challenge to keep players engaged without unduly punishing them when they get out of line, a mystical zone of difficulty sometimes casually referred to as "fun." In a new video on the topic, Josh Sawyer discusses his approach to Fallout: New Vegas, saying he wanted to ensure the game was a bit more of a challenge for players than Fallout 3 or Skyrim—but that he couldn't just crank up the numbers to make it happen.

Persona 3 Reload producer dashes any remaining hopes for the return of Portable's female protagonist: 'It is likely never going to happen'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/persona-3-reload-producer-dashes-any-remaining-hopes-for-the-return-of-portables-female-protagonist-it-is-likely-never-going-to-happen/
While we had a lot of love to share in our Persona 3 Reload review, we couldn't help but note one glaring omission in the remade slice of life dungeon crawler: Kotone Shiomi, the female protagonist added in Persona 3's PSP port, Persona 3 Portable. Despite her absence, Players have held out hopes that Portable's female protag option might return as other content from earlier versions of P3 arrives as DLC for Reload. Sadly, Persona series producer Kazuhisa Wada once again says it's not to be.

Blizzard disables trading in Diablo 4 for the third time in a year, as another dupe bug wreaks havoc on its economy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/blizzard-disables-trading-in-diablo-4-for-the-third-time-in-a-year-as-another-dupe-bug-wreaks-havoc-on-its-economy/
Diablo 4 has, once more, had to disable trading due to a duping bug—the third time in one year, albeit just barely, as announced on the Diablo 4 forums by community manager PezRadar.

The lead writer of Baldur's Gate 3's Dark Urge was extremely squeamish at first, which shows you can do just about anything if you set your mind to it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/the-lead-writer-of-baldur-s-gate-3-s-dark-urge-was-extremely-squeamish-at-first-which-shows-you-can-do-just-about-anything-if-you-set-your-mind-to-it/
Baldur's Gate 3's Dark Urge is a major highlight of the story—putting the player character in the role of a barely-composed murderer with the choice to either lean into, or away from, the urge to slaughter.
Chief among the Dark Urge's accomplishments is how it's consistently gross with its narration, often managing to be both off-putting and just visceral enough to let your imagination do the rest of the mauling. Imagine my surprise when, reading through Eurogamer's interview with the Dark Urge storyline's lead writer, I discovered the Dark Urge's writer wasn't a fan of gore at all.

The most wishlisted cozy game on Steam is launching in September
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/the-most-wishlisted-cozy-game-on-steam-is-launching-in-september/
Ever since seeing its adorable castle doodling clips on social media I've been desperate for Tiny Glade. The little laid back building game has caught a lot of cozy gaming fans that way, shooting up way higher on the list of most wishlisted Steam games (spot 19 as of writing) than I'm used to seeing cozy games attain. It won't have to stay on our wishlists much longer now because Pounce Light has just announced it will launch on September 23.

And the third part of the news:

Oops! Bungie accidentally changed the names of a 'high number' of Destiny 2 players, says a fix 'will take some time' to figure out
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/oops-bungie-accidentally-changed-the-names-of-a-high-number-of-destiny-2-players-says-a-fix-will-take-some-time-to-figure-out/
Bungie has good news and bad news for Destiny 2 players: The good news is that the studio has figured out what caused a "high number" of player names to be randomly changed by its automated moderation tool, but the bad news is that it's going to take a while to fix.

The next Stellaris expansion will let your space empires harness 'the majesty and menace' of new cosmic storms, which I'm sure can only go well
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/the-next-stellaris-expansion-will-let-your-space-empires-harness-the-majesty-and-menace-of-new-cosmic-storms-which-im-sure-can-only-go-well/
If a lifetime consuming too much science fiction has taught me anything, it's that the endpoint of any proper galactic civilization consists mostly of meddling with forces that it absolutely shouldn't be meddling with. To that end, the next Stellaris mechanical expansion, Cosmic Storms, is adding eight new types of galaxy-scale storms for your interstellar empire to try to bend to its will. I can't foresee any issues.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is bringing back the heinously ugly original sin of preorder/digital deluxe cosmetics, but I'm weirdly nostalgic for it now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/dragon-age-the-veilguard-is-bringing-back-the-heinously-ugly-original-sin-of-preorderdigital-deluxe-cosmetics-but-im-weirdly-nostalgic-for-it-now/
I seriously dug Dragon Age: The Veilguard's latest trailer, but right at the end I found myself face-to-face with a ghost: "Pre-order now! Receive the Blood Dragon cosmetic armor." Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
>> Not only that, but there’s a $150 edition that doesn’t come with the game… but comes with a 22 inches blade (how can that be legal?)

All Genshin Impact codes from the 5.0 livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/genshin-impact-codes-5-0-livestream/
The Genshin Impact 5.0 livestream codes have arrived, and with them the new jungle and volcano-filled region of Natlan. This is the fourth major region to be added to the game after Inazuma, Sumeru, and Fontaine, and as with any big map expansion there'll be new quests and puzzles, plus enemies to fight and characters to meet. 

Lonely Mountains: Downhill is getting a skiing-themed sequel, making it the second winter sports game announced this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/lonely-mountains-downhill-is-getting-a-skiing-themed-sequel-making-it-the-second-winter-sports-game-announced-this-month/
Chill yet challenging mountain biking game Lonely Mountains: Downhill is getting a skiing themed sequel, and it's set to release later this year.
Titled Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, it'll see players navigating a range of chilly mountain descents, performing tricks and seeking out shortcuts as they compete for the best times on each course.
>> I could swear I posted an article about this not too long ago, but I can’t find it at DSOG or PCGamer.

Many of Epic's exclusivity deals were 'not good investments,' says Tim Sweeney, but the free games program 'has been just magical'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/many-of-epics-exclusivity-deals-were-not-good-investments-says-tim-sweeney-but-the-free-games-program-has-been-just-magical/
Epic has been giving away games on the Epic Games Store since it launched at the end of 2018, enticing Steam users to install its launcher with freebies as big as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Civilization 6. More than 580 million free games were claimed just last year.
(...)
However, responding to a question about Epic's free game strategy on a call with press earlier this week, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said that it's been a "very economical" user acquisition program, with the bonus that the budget goes to game developers—a group that it's in a game store's interest to see thrive—rather than toward Facebook or Google ads.

Deliriously funny rhythm tooter Trombone Champ is getting a VR version
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/deliriously-funny-rhythm-tooter-trombone-champ-is-getting-a-vr-version/
Trombone Champ, 2022's funniest PC gaming phenomenon, is getting a snazzy VR version that aims to fully immerse you in fudging your way through Ode to Joy with the world's most inherently comical musical instrument.

About half—50 in total—of Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks' staff will be taken on by new publisher Krafton
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/about-half-50-in-total-of-hi-fi-rush-developer-tango-gameworks-staff-will-be-taken-on-by-new-publisher-krafton/
It was revealed that Tango Gameworks would be enjoying a happier ending last month, when the news broke that Krafton—publisher of PUBG—would be taking the studio in, saving as many developers as possible from its shock closure.
While Krafton wanted to "inherit the entire development team" (as per a statement from Krafton PR, shared by Stephen Totilo in both his GameFile newsletter and on Twitter) the publisher hasn't managed to get the full breadth of talent it made the "acqui-hire" for.

After Morrigan's surprise cameo in Dragon Age: The Veilguard's release date trailer, VA Claudia Black says she 'wasn't lying … I honestly thought they were done with my fave mage'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/after-morrigan-s-surprise-cameo-in-dragon-age-the-veilguard-s-release-date-trailer-va-claudia-black-says-she-wasn-t-lying-i-honestly-thought-they-were-done-with-my-fave-mage/
Dragon Age: The Veilguard's release date trailer has revealed that Morrigan, series constant and scornful sorceress, will be making a return—which is a bit of a surprise, considering her voice actor Claudia Black said "Spoiler—I'm not in this one" back in 2022.
Well, spoiler—turns out she is. However, as posted to her Twitter, Black swears up and down that she didn't know: "Tee hee. It sucks keeping secrets. Though I wasn't lying. I honestly thought they were done with my fave mage."

Let’s now check the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• These are the new LTOs that will last until Monday:
  • Stillborn Slayer is gong to be 50% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/stillborn_slayer
  • Mob Rule Classic features a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/mob_rule
  • The Walking Dead: A New Frontier is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/walking_dead_a_new_frontier_the
  • We are the Dwarves can be yours thanks to a 92% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/we_are_the_dwarves
  • The last one is The Divine Invasion, 95% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_divine_invasion
• The Team17 Digital Publisher Sale has up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240815_team17_publisher_sale
• The Action Games Promo has games up to 90% off during 9 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240815_action_promo
• And the Indie Games Promo also gets up to 90% discounts during 9 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240815_indie_sale

+Steam

• The Need For Speed franchise is on sale with up to 90% discounts until Monday (and Unbound will be free to try during the weekend): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/NFS_Franchise_Sale
• The Wholesome Games Event/Promo has games up to 90% off until the 21st, at least in theory (you know how it goes): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/wholesomegames
• Hunt: Showdown 1896 will be free to try during the weekend and 20% off until August 22: https://store.steampowered.com/app/594650/Hunt_Showdown_1896/
• The Frogun franchise is has up to 55% discounts until the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/tophatstudios/sale/frogundailydeal
• The Far Cry franchise is on sale with up to 85% discounts until August, 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/farcryfranchisesale
• Necesse, still in Early Access, will be 35% off until the 24th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1169040/Necesse/
• For The King II is gong to be 40% off until August, the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1676840/For_The_King_II/
• Iron Harvest gets an 85% discount until the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/826630/Iron_Harvest/

That’s all. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

I didn't realize Epic's free games were so economical for them. No wonder they've kept it going this long. Sounds like a win/win/win for everyone involved (everyone but Valve, lol). Keep em coming, then.

I lol'ed:

You had one job: Outlook, Word and OneNote may 'unexpectedly close when typing' says Microsoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/you-had-one-job-outlook-word-and-onenote-may-unexpectedly-close-when-typing-says-microsoft/
Software bugs are a fact of life. In today's feature-packed applications, it's no surprise that, given the increasing complexity of many modern programs, something at some point is going to fall over. However, if an app's primary purpose in life is to handle text, you would hope the simple act of typing wouldn't cause it to close.

According to Microsoft, this exact issue is affecting certain installs of Outlook, Word and OneNote, and its Outlook and Office teams are currently investigating (via Neowin). In a support post, MS defines the problem as:

"After updating to [Office] Version 2407 Build 17830.20138 or higher you find that Outlook, Word, or OneNote may unexpectedly close when typing or doing other authoring tasks such as spell check."

I've been wondering why my PC suddenly gets loud at times, and upon investigating, I found that it was the GPU that was seeing high utilization. In very lightweight desktop use, that seemed unexpected, so I looked around a bit more and ran into something called hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling. Turns out it's been causing people similar experiences. It sounds like a reasonable feature and annoying to try to determine whether that is indeed my issue or not (since the utilization spikes are fairly rare), so I left it on and can't say whether it's really the cause, but a curious find nonetheless. If any of you has had similar issues, this might just be the cause.

By the way, pressing and holding Ctrl in Task Manager freezes it, so everything doesn't go back to looking normal before you can see what's happening. I'm assuming some of you have also been cursing the uselessness of Task Manager when investigating utilization.

It seems like there's two things at play here: lighting improvements and geometry improvements. That's actually the two things I often pay attention to: I wish for options to use better lighting in old games, since I find it to be perhaps the most significant thing that could improve many games, and on the other hand, many (really) old games look terrible at high resolutions because of lacking details/geometry. The issue gets even worse when you have high-resolution textures, because it just highlights how empty the environments are. Very good and impressive, well targeted changes in the game!

The Skyrim engine is really showing its age here, but phenomenal work from the team regardless! And getting back to my previous remark about lighting, they've also embraced a style that doesn't need better lighting, so a good design choice as well.

The Steam store page also mentions no 2K account is needed for offline play. Instead, only online features require it. I'm still not thrilled about the situation, but it seems somewhat reasonable now (assuming the game isn't heavy on online features even in single-player, which I guess is a real worry these days). I unignored the game and restored it to me wishlist, which I'm happy about. Of course that doesn't change the fact that I should probably still play the older Civ games more before getting a new one...

Since it's taking time, I'm assuming they don't have any records of the old names in any easy-to-use format, and they might have to resort to something laborious like scouring their log files. As a software developer, that's a bit of a nightmare scenario to me. Ah, and in general they probably don't have tools for mass-reverting such a change, so fun times for Bungie, it seems. This is also why I'm quite wary about any mass modifications, e.g. to files - they can be a pain to revert it something goes wrong.

I didn't know Gamescon was soon. We will probably have the FF16 Complete Edition release date there.

^Hopefully. But don't forget that the Tokyo Game Show is roughly a month away and Square Enix could also announce it there.

In any case, let's hope they announce it soon and with a release that that's not too far away. And if it's not exclusive to the Epic Store like other games, the better for all.

Zkuq: Indeed, that CoD mod has more in it than just RT. It looks like a full conversion mod with not just the lightning, but also geometry and textures. And boy it looks amazing.

The 2K launcher has always been odd to me. Like they don't have their own store like Ubi or EA, so what's the point of it? It always seemed a move to get more info of their customers, and nothing more.
I won't miss it.

Definitely, and the same goes for Paradox as well. I mean Paradox has its own store but no app. I guess one of the main appeals must be the ability to advertise whatever product of theirs they want to advertise in the launcher. Another might be gathering information, just like you said. I absolutely loathe launchers though, because they never provide me any value whatsoever. No, I don't want a quick launcher to be able to directly continue where I left off, and no, I don't want a mandatory launcher to manage mods when I don't use mods. A launcher for mods might be acceptable though, but ideally it shouldn't be mandatory either.

I see. I think it will be for Gamescon tho. But yes I have read Tokyo Game Show is at the end of September.