Let’s go with the Thursday news:
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
Black Ops 6 is massively outselling last year's Call of Duty even though it's on Game Pass, which probably tells you how Modern Warfare 3 went
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/black-ops-6-biggest-release-ever/
This won't surprise you, but the latest Call of Duty is doing numbers. Addressing investors today, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that Black Ops 6 isn't only a hit, but it's the "biggest Call of Duty release ever," setting a day one player record.
Nadella must be settling nicely into his new role as Call of Duty overlord, because declaring that this year's Call of Duty is the new biggest Call of Duty you've ever made is classic Activision. Even when CoD was clearly in a down year, Activison's previous stewards always found a metric that it excels in. To be fair, anyone could've guessed Black Ops 6 was gonna break a CoD record or two: It's the first Call of Duty to launch on Game Pass, so it would've been bigger news if it weren't immediately the most-played on release day.
Nadella also mentioned that sales on PlayStation and Steam are up 60% over last year. A positive sign for the series' health, but without sales numbers to compare, I wonder if this speaks more to how much of a stinker last year's Modern Warfare 3 was.
The Epic Store gives away two games:
Next week, they’ll give away Deceive Inc. and the Apex Legends™: Ash Free Unlock Bundle.
GOG has a couple of interesting things:
Steam has four new deals:
Humble Bundle presents The Dark Pictures And Little Nightmares Horror Collection, with up to 7 games to get during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/dark-pictures-and-little-nightmares-halloween-horror-collection.
And Fanatical has a new Star Deal and two bundles:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
Steam now requires developers to tell people when their games have kernel mode anticheat
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/steam-now-requires-developers-to-tell-people-when-their-games-have-kernel-mode-anticheat/
Kernel mode anticheat software is something of a divisive topic. Many players believe it negatively impacts their games' performance and could potentially compromise their system's security; but many players also want something done about all the unscrupulous players, and broadly speaking, kernel-level anticheat is the most effective way to keep things clean. It is, as they say, a conundrum.
A new addition to Steam won't change any of the above, but it will at least make it easier for people to know what's going on and react accordingly: A field on Steam store pages will now enable developers to clearly indicate what sort of anticheat software their games are using, and in the case of kernel mode anticheat, will require that disclosure.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
World's biggest modding site announces new paid mods policies, with caveats—'as long as it isn't to the detriment of the free modding ecosystem'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/worlds-biggest-modding-site-announces-new-paid-mods-policies-with-caveats-as-long-as-it-isnt-to-the-detriment-of-the-free-modding-ecosystem/
NexusMods has announced a bunch of new policies to address the issue of paid mods, which have pleased some and hacked-off a bunch of people. This has been a long-running topic for the world's biggest mod site, as modding itself becomes more widespread and potentially lucrative for certain creators: These days it's all-too-common to see a neat mod then, with a sinking feeling, realise you have to sign up to a Patreon to get it.
"Over the past year several game developers have introduced varying paid modding schemes, including Bethesda's Verified Creators (Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starfield) and InZoi's Creations Marketplace," writes NexusMods community manager Pickysaurus. "As a result, we've received a lot of requests for clarity on our paid modding stance and our paid modding rules from a number of our users."
Following consultation with modders, NexusMods' new policies allow creators to link to monetised content, with a few caveats. The major new rules are:
Linking to paid mods: If the uploader has free content on Nexus Mods and would like to link to the place to purchase their paid content, we will allow it subject to the Advertising Limitations.
- Lite/Trial/Preview/Demo versions of paid mods: We will not allow free mods to be shared where they represent an inferior version of the mod with features stripped out to promote the purchase of the full version.
- Patches for/Dependencies on Paid Mods: We will not allow any patches or addons for user-generated content that requires payment to unlock (this specifically excludes DLCs offered by the developer—including DLCs that bundle items previously sold individually such as Skyrim's Anniversary Upgrade). Equally, if a mod uploaded to the site requires a paid mod to function, it will not be permitted.
- Collections requiring paid mods: Similar to mods, if any collections are not functional without the user purchasing paid mods, they will not be permitted.
That all seems reasonable enough, but this is the internet, and with mods in particular there is a large part of the audience that just doesn't have any truck with the idea of paying for mods. Clearly some of the NexusMods team feel that way too, because the post goes on to clarify why the above policies have been chosen.
First Red Dead Redemption Mod completely unlocks the framerate
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/first-red-dead-redemption-mod-completely-unlocks-the-framerate/
Red Dead Redemption Remastered has just been released on PC, and its first must-have mod is already available for download. This mod will unlock the framerate, allowing you to play the game at framerates over 144FPS.
Going into more details, this mod sets the 144FPS setting to have an upper limit of 1000FPS. Since most PCs won’t be able to hit 1000FPS, it basically means that the framerate is now completely unlocked.
I’ve tested the mod and I can confirm it works. Plus, there aren’t any speed or physics issues when playing at framerates higher than 144FPS. Everything appears to be working correctly.
>> There is a less than 1 minute video of this mod. And by the way, the game seems to be very CPU-bound. I’s something to keep in mind.
The Red Dead mods are here, including cursed beardless John, resurrected Arthur, and Neon Genesis Evangelion in the old-timey theatres
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-red-dead-mods-are-here-including-cursed-beardless-john-resurrected-arthur-and-neon-genesis-evangelion-in-the-old-timey-theatres/
After a mere 14 years Red Dead Redemption has finally released on PC, and the good news is that Rockstar didn't botch this one. Far from the GTA Trilogy style disaster some feared, this is instantly the best way to play a classic, and a game so good that some even prefer it to the superlative sequel.
Of course, that doesn't mean Red Dead Redemption is flawless. Room for improvement abounds and modders have already started tweaking anything they don't like about the game. "I like the way he looks without a beard" says Serhishols, announcing the John the Beardless mod, and what more justification do you need?
For some that's not enough. The Arthur Morgan Restoration Project is apparently "a joke that's why it doesn't look good", and yet someone is taking it quite seriously: "Replaces John with the far more superior Arthur Morgan." Arthur may well be far more superior, but not looking like this.
It really does get granular. Want a mod that changes the colour of the UI icons to those used in the 2009 beta? Et voila! PlayStation button prompts? No problemo. There are the usual array of mods that let you skip startup logos, but how about one that specifically only removes the Double Eleven logo "for a more original RDR experience"? Boom. Oh we're not even close to done. You want 3X the resolution on the weapon wheel, you got it. "EVER WANT CLOSED UP CAMERA? HERE IT IS!" Loot faster! Upscale that grass!
The one I enjoy most is the laser-targeted All Chickens Killed and Rabbits Saved. I promise this save file makes total sense if you've played the game's opening stretch, or as modder corpiss puts it "Just a save file for OCD people who don't want to keep replaying the long ass intro with all rabbits killed and all chickens saved from coyotes."
Finally, "John Marston watches Neon Genesis Evangelion in a movie theater, circa 1911." A+, no notes.
>> The article only has a couple of screenshots, and the link to the Evangelion mod isn’t there.
Let Down City is a new DLC-sized fan expansion for Fallout 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/let-down-city-is-a-new-dlc-sized-fan-expansion-for-fallout-4/
Modder ‘WitherAwayyy’ has released a new DLC-sized fan expansion for Fallout 4, called Let Down City. This mod brings a huge underground area that has multiple workshops, player homes, voiced merchants, and items. It also has a new companion, NPCs, and a radio station.
Going into more details, Let Down City is a mod that the modder has been working on for quite a few months. The modder wanted to put a bit of a cyberpunk dystopian theme on Fallout 4, and this mod is the result of it.
Let Down City has multiple workshop settlements, and player homes for both kinds of players. Players can expect tons of OP gear, and items to find. There are also some terminal entries, notes, and holotapes scattered around to interact with.
The modder also claimed that he has added ambient tracks from Halo, Silent Hill 2+3, Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, and TES IV. Plus, there are a few secret areas for you to discover.
>> There is a well over 20 minutes long video of this mod running on top of the Fallout London mod.
Baldur's Gate 3 players have downloaded 50 million mods since official support was added, and Larian is 'glad [it] could facilitate' 10,000 players renaming Withers to Bone Daddy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/baldurs-gate-3-players-have-downloaded-50-million-mods-since-official-support-was-added-and-larian-is-glad-it-could-facilitate-10-000-players-renaming-withers-to-bone-daddy/
While Baldur's Gate 3 modders have been tinkering away since early access, it was only with September's Patch 7 that we got official mod support, with Larian sharing its modding toolkit and supporting it with an in-game mod manager. Since then, 50 million mods have been downloaded.
Larian celebrated the milestone on Twitter, noting that 10,000 of those downloads come from dedicated Withers fans who know the man's true name: Bone Daddy. It suits him.
>> While the article is about that milestone, it also has links to some mods it mentions, like the Bone Daddy one.
GAMING NEWS
DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake will, after all, have Denuvo
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dragon-quest-iii-hd-2d-remake-will-after-all-have-denuvo/
Square Enix revealed that DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake will be using Denuvo, two weeks before the game comes out. As we can clearly see, Denuvo is now listed on the game’s Steam store page.
Here are 15 minutes of new gameplay from Select Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-15-minutes-of-new-gameplay-from-select-indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle/
YouTube’s ‘ENFANT TERRIBLE’ has shared a video, showcasing 15 minutes of new gameplay footage from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This video shows gameplay from the Egypt and Rome levels, which were featured in the game’s latest preview build.