On top of the AMD news that Jizz posted earlier, here's another one:

AMD drops a possible hint about how AI could be used in its next-gen upscaler package, FSR 4
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/amd-drops-a-possible-hint-about-how-ai-could-be-used-in-its-next-gen-upscaler-package-fsr-4/
In a post on GPUOpen, a site for game and graphics developers, AMD may well have let slip that it plans to take a leaf from Nvidia's book of rendering tools by including a ray tracing denoiser system in its next generation of FSR. And just as important, it will use an AI neural network to do it all.

Damn, that's crazy. I mean, Capcom haven't released a new game on the Switch since what, Monster Hunter Rise? So it's no surprise that their games aren't selling like hotcakes there anymore. And Xbox is basically Sega at this point, so no surprise on that front either. But it's still crazy that PC's game sales overtook Playstation's!

The latest Capcom games are a bit demanding when it comes to hardware, so it's not that surprising that they aren't launching them on the Switch. That will likely change once the successor hits the streets.

And Capcom doesn't really launch that many games, same as most other studios, so the bigger sales oc PC can be attributed to PC games having better legs than their console counterparts.
I could also say that when studios/publihsers start a sale, they may get mre exposure on the digital stores (not only Steam, but also Humble Store, Fanatical, GMG, etc.), while on console it's all through one single place and, as someone that hasn't touched a console imany, many years, I don't know how much visibility they can get from that single console storefront.

On another note, what surprises me the most is how little mobile and Pachinko/other games represent for Capcom. A 6% is much less than what other publishers get from that kind of games.

Not surprised about that, which is why Capcom's been releasing their games earlier and/or on launch date as the consoles compared to years ago.


Imagine Square Enix doing something like that.

Good for Capcom. I will day 1 MH Wilds and RE9.

I'm not surprised by Capcom's PC success they said after MH World that it was their main platform going forward and built the more recent games from the start with PC at the front of it and MH World was massive for them on PC if I remember right it matched the PS4's numbers on PC in the West and there is a big shift of console owners in Japan jumping to PC that would of previously bought Capcom games on the PS4 now adding to the PC numbers.

It feels to me like Intel made their chips, or at least their P-cores, very wide so they can work through many instructions in parallel. This works well for for workloads that can make good use of this like rendering, but gaming is not one of those use-cases, and it tanks it's performance.

You may be right, as overclocking the E-cores gives better results in gaming than trying to do it with the P ones.

I won't be able to post the news later, so here's an early edition of the Wednesday news;

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has new deals and sales:

• The Early Access title Kādomon: Hyper Auto Battlers gets a 50% discount until the 5th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2125540/Kdomon_Hyper_Auto_Battlers/
• Shenmue III will be 95% off until November, the 5th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/878670/Shenmue_III/
• Spiral Up Games puts its titles on sale, up to 47% off. Some deals will end tomorrow while others will last until November 7: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/SpiralUpAnnualSales2024
• Publisher Crunching Koalas also puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts. Some deals will end November 11 while others will last one more day, until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/crunchingkoalas_sale2024

It’s too early to know what’s new at Fanatical, but they should have at least a new Star Deal. You’ll have to check it out by yourselves.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6130/6048 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6130-6048
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel® Core™ Ultra with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs for:

• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
  • Initial game launch load times are significantly improved on Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs. As such, the Graphics Driver package size has temporarily increased.
• Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered
• REDACTED
• Red Dead Redemption

Game performance improvements on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel® 31.0.101.6129 software driver for:

• Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (DX12)
  • Up to 6% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Very High settings

>> There are no fixed issues in this beta driver, but there are a lot of known issues.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Bloodborne can also launch on the RPCSX PlayStation 4 emulator
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bloodborne-can-also-launch-on-the-rpcsx-playstation-4-emulator/
PC gamers can already run and enjoy Bloodborne on the PlayStation 4 emulator, shadPS4. However, it appears that the game can now also launch on another PS4 emulator, the RPCSX.
RPCSX is a PlayStation 4 emulator from the team behind the best PS3 emulator, RPCS3. Before shadPS4, this one looked really promising. However, shadPS4 has managed to exceed everyone’s expectations and become the best PS4 emulator. At least for now.
Right now, RPCSX can only launch Bloodborne. The game is not playable on it, and its emulation is nowhere close to that of shadPS4. So no, you can’t play it on that PS4 emulator. Still, it’s great to see another PS4 emulator launching it.
Speaking of Bloodborne, below you can find a video that showcases the game running on the latest version of shadPS4. And, as you will see, it runs amazingly well. Not only that, but the game looks almost as good as its PS4 version.
>> The video is almost 12 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Overwatch 2's director announces 'a small balance patch' for the new Junkenstein's Lab mode, which has managed to attract 15% of the daily players 2 weeks after launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2s-director-announces-a-small-balance-patch-for-the-new-junkensteins-lab-mode-which-has-managed-to-attract-15-percent-of-the-daily-players-2-weeks-after-launch/
Junkenstein's Lab was added a couple of weeks ago as part of Overwatch 2's Halloween celebrations. This was a spin on the usual seasonal event, which involves Junkenstein in various PvE modes, but this time, it was PvP, and quite frankly may rival the standard Overwatch 2 modes.
(… three paragraphs later…)
"Quick update on Junkenstein's Lab," Overwatch 2 director Aaron Keller says. "The event has been incredibly popular! Two weeks after launch, 15% of our daily players are still jumping into the mode. To help support it, we're going to put out a small balance patch for it tomorrow. Have fun!"

Gearbox will fly fan with terminal illness to see Borderlands 4 early—says he's been 'floored' by the kindness, donations, and the gamers who helped him get in touch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gearbox-will-fly-fan-with-terminal-illness-to-see-borderlands-4-early-says-hes-been-floored-by-the-kindness-donations-and-the-gamers-who-helped-him-get-in-touch/
Gearbox Software, the studio behind the FPS looter shooter series Borderlands, will be flying a terminally ill fan, Caleb McAlpine, out to see Borderlands 4 ahead of schedule next month, after his wish to do so was spread across social media.

Disney Dreamlight Valley just announced its second DLC featuring 4 new characters, along with a free update coming in December
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/disney-dreamlight-valley-just-announced-its-second-dlc-featuring-4-new-characters-along-with-a-free-update-coming-in-december/
Disney Dreamlight Valley has showcased a huge amount of new content coming in the next few months, alongside the roadmap for 2025, which hints at some new adventures rolling out next year. Most notably, there'll be a new DLC titled The Storybook Vale, and going off what we've seen in its announcement, I can't wait to get stuck in. 

Amid complaints about Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's maps and spawn points, Treyarch slams the emergency fan service button that adds Nuketown
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/amid-complaints-about-call-of-duty-black-ops-6s-maps-and-spawn-points-treyarch-slams-the-emergency-fan-service-button-that-adds-nuketown/
It hasn't even been a week since Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was released to the masses, but even so, the developer, Treyarch, has released a small snippet of what players can expect to see by the end of the week: a return to Nuketown and the addition of Infected mode.
>> “Hey, Black Ops 6 keeps crashing, can you fix it?” “Shut up! Here, play Nuketown” “But... I can’t play it since the game crashes...”

Wednesday news, part two:

Concord isn't coming back, and the developer is done for too: Sony says it considered its options and apparently 'the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/concord-isnt-coming-back-and-the-developer-is-done-for-too-sony-says-it-considered-its-options-and-apparently-the-best-path-forward-is-to-permanently-sunset-the-game-and-close-the-studio/
It looks like Concord won't be making the comeback I predicted, as Sony announced today that the game will not be brought back, and developer Firewalk Studio is being closed.
>> the-pi-guy made a thread about this yesterday.

Rebellion's just surprise rebooted a '90s classic and released it on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/rebellions-just-surprise-rebooted-a-90s-classic-and-released-it-on-steam/
If you're of a certain vintage then Speedball, and more specifically Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, is an all-timer. Created by the one and only Bitmap Brothers for the Amiga, Speedball is a no-holds-barred future sport that's a little like someone stuck hockey, rugby and UFC into a blender: Two teams batter the life out of each other while throwing the ball around an enclosed arena trying to score goals.
Today Rebellion, best-known for the Sniper Elite series, surprise launched a reboot of the series: Speedball is now in early access on Steam (£15/$20), and the launch trailer's below.

13 years after Shadows of the Damned's notoriously difficult development with EA, Suda51 has fully healed from the 'injury' of rewriting the game 6 times: 'I actually have a lot of really fond memories of the experience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/13-years-after-shadows-of-the-damneds-notoriously-difficult-development-with-ea-suda51-has-fully-healed-from-the-injury-of-rewriting-the-game-6-times-i-actually-have-a-lot-of-really-fond-memories-of-the-experience/
In 2011, the idea of a game from No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture being published by EA felt like a total odd couple situation. For years before making Shadows of the Damned, director Suda51 had been talking about a survival horror project called Kurayami inspired by the works of Franz Kafka (it was mentioned in a 2006 issue of Edge magazine; that's how far back we're talking). Eventually God Hand (and Resident Evil, I guess) creator Shinji Mikami joined the Kurayami team, and the two embarked on an expansive pitching tour across the US. The game landed at EA, which—to its credit—then had a far more diverse publishing lineup than it does nowadays, but even then Grasshopper was a surprising collaboration.
(… a history lesson later…)
Now, 13 years later, as we approach the release of Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered (without EA's involvement, I might add), I asked Suda51 if his heart is still broken over how the game turned out.
(...)
That trauma has thankfully faded, and Suda still cares for the game; he even brought back Shadows of the Damned as a part of 2019's Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes before this week's release with the Hella Remastered edition. "I want everyone to understand that thinking back on it now, conversely, I actually have a lot of really fond memories of the experience," Suda said. "Thanks for worrying about me though."

Mass Effect director says the next game won't feature any Veilguard-style aesthetic switchups: 'Mass Effect is photorealistic and will be as long as I'm running it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/mass-effect-director-says-the-next-game-wont-feature-any-veilguard-style-aesthetic-switchups-mass-effect-is-photorealistic-and-will-be-as-long-as-im-running-it/
Just two days out from the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, one of BioWare's lead developers is telling us what we can expect from its next long-awaited series revival. Michael Gamble, project director on the next Mass Effect game, took to X yesterday to offer an idea of what kind of look and tone we'll find when we return to Citadel space.

Blizzard is investigating claims that upcoming Hearthstone hero skins are AI generated
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/blizzard-is-investigating-claims-that-upcoming-hearthstone-hero-skins-are-ai-generated/
Blizzard says it is investigating allegations that pixel art designs for new Hearthstone skins slated to be released as part of the The Great Dark Beyond expansion were created with generative AI.

Black Ops 6 is hiding the next Call of Duty: Warzone map in plain sight
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/black-ops-6-is-hiding-the-next-warzone-map-in-plain-sight/
Nothing gets past Call of Duty fans. It took all of 48 hours for Black Ops 6 players to notice that some of its 6v6 multiplayer maps are actually just points of interest plucked from what is very likely the next Warzone map arriving in Season 1.

Monster Hunter Wilds almost ruined Palicoes by letting them speak English, but thankfully you can revert them to meows
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/monster-hunter-wilds-almost-ruined-palicoes-by-letting-them-speak-english-but-thankfully-you-can-revert-them-to-meows/
The Monster Hunter Wilds beta went live on PlayStation 5 last night (three days ahead of Thursday's PC beta), and it's already putting a big ol' grin on my face. The map is huge and beautiful. Riding a Seikret is a blast. My cat speaks English. Carrying two weapo—wait hey now, my cat speaks perfect English? Whaaaaaaat?

Electronic Arts chief says Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a 'return to what made BioWare great'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/electronic-arts-chief-says-dragon-age-the-veilguard-is-a-return-to-what-made-bioware-great/
Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn't out for a couple days yet, but the reviews are here and so far, so good: We scored it 79% in our review, "a genuinely enjoyable, gorgeous action-RPG that lacks the storytelling nuance of previous Dragon Age games," and it holds an even more impressive 84 aggregate score on Metacritic.
Speaking in today's quarterly investors call, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson attributed that positive critical response to what he sees as a genuine return to form for BioWare following the less-than-stellar response to the studio's online shooter Anthem.
>> By the way, here are the transgender and non-binary options in the game.

FF14 director Yoshi-P says transphobic abuse sent to Wuk Lamat's English VA 'breaks my heart', pleads for players to 'refrain from personal attacks'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/ff14-director-yoshi-p-says-transphobic-abuse-sent-to-wuk-lamats-english-va-breaks-my-heart-pleads-for-players-to-refrain-from-personal-attacks/
Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail's story didn't exactly land with its players. I know because I'm one of them. But while I think a lot of the critiques are pretty understandable, and even asked game director Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) about them at Gamescom this year, the discussion around what went wrong has also been hijacked to peddle hate.

EA's CEO assures players Apex Legends won't be pulling an Overwatch 2 because live service sequels have 'almost never been as successful' as the original
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/eas-ceo-assures-players-apex-legends-wont-be-pulling-an-overwatch-2-because-live-service-sequels-have-almost-never-been-as-successful-as-the-original/
During an earnings call EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, tackled the question of whether Apex Legends players could expect to get a sequel or a 2.0 version of the game. However, the answer seems pretty clear: It's probably a no.