The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has a surprise explained in more detail in the next section and four new sales:

• GOG celebrates its 16th anniversary with a sale featuring up to 95% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_16_gog_anniversary
• The Management Games Promo has games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241113_management_promo
• The Sci-Fi Promo has up to 95% discounts and will last 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_sci-fi_promo
• And the Anshar Publishing Publisher Sale brings games up to 70% off and will last 14 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241113_anshar_publisher_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• Ultros, that has a demo, features a 50% discount until November 26: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2386310/Ultros/
• Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr is going to be 80% off until the same 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/527430/Warhammer_40000_Inquisitor__Martyr/

Fanatical has new Flash Deals and a bundle:

• These are the three 24h Flash Deals:
  • INDIKA is 42% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/indika
  • Total War: WARHAMMER III gets a 65% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/total-war-warhammer-iii
  • And the Prey + RAGE 2 Pack has a 92% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/prey-rage-2-pack
• The new Action Mystery Bundle has 3 unknown games to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/action-mystery-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6297 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6297
Highlights Gaming Highlights
Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs for:

• Farming Simulator 25
• Planet Coaster 2
• Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

GOG is gonna keep games like New Vegas running on modern systems by itself, using its own devs to keep oldies going 'for generations to come'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/gog-is-gonna-keep-games-like-new-vegas-running-on-modern-systems-by-itself-using-its-own-devs-to-keep-a-growing-set-of-oldies-going-for-generations-to-come/
Great news, everyone: GOG is going to make it easier than ever for me to not play anything that came out after the second George W. Bush administration. The company is launching a new GOG Preservation program, announced today, that promises to gather up over 100 games and keep them compatible from now until the end of time. Which could be a few years, the way things are going.
"We’re excited to launch the GOG Preservation Program," says GOG. "It’s a new initiative in which we commit our own resources to maintaining games’ compatibility with modern and future systems. Over 100 improved classics… will receive an official stamp starting November 13th, 3 PM CET." You can find the full list of games down below, and GOG says the list will expand as time goes by.
In other words, GOG is taking "a growing collection of hand-picked games" and running them through a barrage of tests to see if they work according to its own quality standards. "Every game in the program will receive ongoing updates and care from GOG, preserving the spirit of gaming for today’s players and generations to come." Plus, the ones brought up to snuff get a shiny silver "Good Old Game" badge.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Nintendo seems to have set up shop in the condemned home of Switch emulator Ryujinx, claiming its domain name for its own
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/nintendo-seems-to-have-set-up-shop-in-the-condemned-home-of-switch-emulator-ryujinx-claiming-its-domain-name-for-its-own/
Nintendo's been on a litigious roll this year—and by roll, I mean in the Katamari Damacy way, where eventually the thing's soaking up entire aeroplanes and grown large enough to blot out the sun as it hurtles towards your apartment in a screaming amalgam of metal and concrete. Where was I? Oh, right.
Going after Palworld, taking around 20 years of Garry's Mod items from the Steam Workshop, elbow-dropping Citra and Yuzu, grabbing a chair from the announcer's table and slamming it over the head of a Palworld-to-Pokémon mod, and seemingly being so scary that Valve preemptively snubbed a N64 Portal remake just in case the Disney of videogames tried anything expensive and legislatively exhausting: Everything I've just listed was in 2024, by the way, the list goes on.
Anyway, Switch emulator Ryujinx was the latest emulator told to muscle out or sleep with the fishes, a legal demand its creators very quickly complied with. As if to add insult to injury, though, it looks like Nintendo's now set up shop in Ryujinx's domain name (thanks, Gamesradar).

STALKER: Call of Pripyat Co-Op Mod Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/stalker-call-of-pripyat-co-op-mod-available-for-download/
STALKER fans, here is something cool for you today. The xrMPE team has released a new mod for STALKER: Call of Pripyat that allows you to play with others in co-op.
In this co-op addon for the X-Ray Multiplayer Extension, all story and additional tasks are available. Moreover, almost all the mechanics of the original game are adapted for multiple players.
The mod currently supports up to four players. This will completely change the way you experience this STALKER game. As such, I highly suggest downloading it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a trailer for it.

Red Dead Redemption just got a must-have 3.4GB lore-friendly HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-just-got-a-must-have-3-4gb-lore-friendly-hd-texture-pack/
One of my biggest gripes with Red Dead Redemption on PC was its low-quality textures. And, as we were expecting, a modder decided to do Rockstar’s job and upscale all of the game’s textures.
In order to upscale the game’s textures, DayL used AI tools. As such, the improved textures retain the art style of the original ones. Moreover, they look sharper and better than before. In other words, this is a must-have for pretty much everyone.
According to the modder, this isn’t just a quick AI upscale project. Instead, he edited some textures by hand to sharpen and improve every detail while keeping the game’s original look. The mod also includes new normal maps for each texture, matching the resolution of the main texture.
Players can expect 4K textures for all roads, trails, and cliffs. The pack also comes with 2K textures for terrain, ground vegetation, and rocks.
In future versions, the modder plans to improve textures for trees, bushes, cacti, and other plants. He also plans to improve textures for train tracks, Blackwater streets, pavement, and other outdoor terrain. So, this HD pack will get even better as time passes.
>> The article has a series of comparison screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Here are the final PC requirements for STALKER 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-are-the-final-pc-requirements-for-stalker-2/
Earlier this month, some media outlets shared some outdated PC requirements for STALKER 2. Those PC specs were from 2021, and they gave PC gamers the wrong idea about how the game would perform. Thankfully, though. GSC GameWorld shared its final PC specs. So, let’s take a look at them.

Project TH seems to be the Splinter Cell game we’ve been waiting for
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/project-th-seems-to-be-the-splinter-cell-game-weve-been-waiting-for/
Back in February 2023, we informed you about Project TH. Developed by EVR Studio, this third-person action game appears to be the Splinter Cell game we all have been waiting for.
Based on the webtoon Moodang, Project TH takes place in the Unified Nation of Korea in the near future. The story follows different events around the main characters. The devs have been working on it for the past six years. Despite that, from what I see, it’s still in a very early development stage.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard PC Patch 2 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/dragon-age-the-veilguard-pc-patch-2-released-detailed/
BioWare has just released the second PC patch for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and shared its complete changelog. Title Update 2 is around 250MB in size, and it will address only two issues that plagued the game.

The news, part two:

Tripwire says it's 'leaving no game behind' as it releases a surprise update for the 7-year-old Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/tripwire-says-its-leaving-no-game-behind-as-it-releases-a-surprise-update-for-the-7-year-old-rising-storm-2-vietnam/
Rising Storm 2: Vietnam launched in 2017, and it was last updated more than three years ago, in June 2021. Or so it was until yesterday, when developer Tripwire Interactive dropped a surprise update aimed at improving server behavior and security, and fixing a number of VOIP-related bugs.

Rockstar drops an unexpected GTA Trilogy update that makes the PC version almost as good as the one you can play on your phone
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/rockstar-drops-an-unexpected-gta-trilogy-update-that-makes-the-pc-version-almost-as-good-as-the-one-you-can-play-on-your-phone/
Rockstar has rolled out a surprise update for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (which I will henceforth be calling the GTA Trilogy) and it's good news for fans, because apparently the PC edition is almost as good as the mobile version now.
(...)
The mobile version, which arrived in late 2023 via Netflix, was outstanding by comparison: Mobile gaming site TouchArcade scored it 4.5/5, calling it "better than the PC and console versions in almost every way." One of the big reasons for that was the addition of a "Classic Lighting mode," which Rockstar said at the time "restores the look and feel of the sky in the original games."
It took the better part of a year but that mode has finally made its way to the PC version of the GTA Trilogy, and console editions too if that's your thing. Today's update also makes "numerous fixes and improvements" to the game, and I wish I could tell you more but that is literally the entirety of the patch notes

'Calm down!' says Facepunch Studios: Garry's Mod successor s&box is getting a fan-requested sandbox mode and an alternative to 'Sausage Men'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/calm-down-says-facepunch-studios-garrys-mod-successor-s-and-box-is-getting-a-fan-requested-sandbox-mode-and-an-alternative-to-sausage-men/
It's sort of weird that the successor to the ultimate sandbox, Garry's Mod, which is called s&box and pronounced sandbox, apparently wasn't going to have an actual sandbox mode. But the game development platform from Facepunch Studios, which was announced way back in 2017, finally has a page on Steam, and in its first news post the devs say, yes, it will indeed have a sandbox mode.

Fortnite OG is back, baby: Chapter 1 season 1 is returning in December and this time it's here to stay
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnite-og-is-back-baby-chapter-1-season-1-is-returning-in-december-and-this-time-its-here-to-stay/
Good news for Fortnite players yearning for a return to the glory days of 2017: Fortnite OG is back, baby, and this time it's not going away.
Real heads will know that the true OG Fortnite is "a game about PvE base-building, and killing zombies, and watching cutscenes, and grinding for color-coded epics and legendaries in high-level zones."
But that's not what Fortnite OG is: Originally a limited-time event that ran last year, it's a return to Fortnite battle royale as it existed at the moment Epic pivoted from the original game to launch the mode that now rules the world.

Call of Duty YouTuber does the math and determines these Black Ops 6 barrels barely do anything
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/black-ops-6-barrels-barely-do-anything/
Well this doesn't bode well for Black Ops 6's iteration of Gunsmith. Helpful CoD YouTuber TheXclusiveAce recently published a breakdown of Blops 6's barrel attachments and determined, amazingly, that most of them are essentially useless.

'Explain yourself': Old School RuneScape births a new meme as bug-exploiting scoundrels lay waste to unsuspecting F2P players with gear that shouldn't exist
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/explain-yourself-old-school-runescape-births-a-new-meme-as-bug-exploiting-scoundrels-lay-waste-to-unsuspecting-f2p-players-with-gear-that-shouldnt-exist/
In Old School RuneScape, every moment spent in the Wilderness is a risk. It's a PvP-enabled region stretching across the northern portions of the game's main continent, and whenever you're there, you're vulnerable. While the Wilderness has housed some of the game's high-end content over the years, its greatest threats are the player-killers: those who've armed and honed their characters for PvP combat. Venturing into the Wilderness means exposing yourself to a potential ambush from someone who might have been stalking those wastes for over a decade. And because death in RuneScape comes with a high cost—when you die, you lose everything in your inventory except your three most valuable items—encountering a PKer in the Wilderness could mean losing gear you worked dozens of hours for.
Luckily, there are safeguards in place to prevent free-to-play players from suffering the full range of lethality enjoyed by PKers with paid memberships. While OSRS players with memberships have access to years of members-exclusive quests, activities, and rewards (many of which easily outclass the much smaller selection of gear that free-to-play players can acquire), they can't turn that higher-quality equipment on their free-to-play peers. Equipment and spells they acquire from member content can't be equipped or used in free-to-play servers, ensuring any PvP that takes place in a free-to-play setting happens on a relatively even playing field.
At least, that's the idea. Unfortunately, some free-to-play OSRS players have recently found themselves on the receiving end of weapons that should be impossible to wield against them.

'Enjoy what you've got now': Blizzard has its sights on Diablo 4's overpowered new class but promises not to pull the nerf trigger until next season
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/enjoy-what-youve-got-now-blizzard-has-its-sights-on-diablo-4s-overpowered-new-class-but-promises-not-to-pull-nerf-trigger-until-next-season/
Diablo 4's new class is safe, for now. On a livestream discussing class balance changes in the next patch, Blizzard said it won't take away the spiritborn's ability to deal quadrillions of damage until the next season.

Destiny 2's next act will bring Street Fighter 6 cosmetics and a 300% buff to roaming supers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/destiny-2s-next-act-will-bring-street-fighter-6-cosmetics-and-a-300-percent-buff-to-roaming-supers/
Earlier today, Bungie tugged back the curtain on Act II of the Revenant episode, which starts on Tuesday 19 November. As had been widely expected, the update will include a reprised version of the Prison Of Elders activity, which has now been made more roguelike—think The Coil and Riven's Lair, if you've played either of those. Interestingly, a new mechanic will enable dialled in fireteams to skip certain sections with the tradeoff being that they'll face more difficult enemies. Conversely, teams which are struggling will face a longer slog but less punishing opponents. I'm sure that won't lead to any toxicity in LFG teams.
(...)
The livestream also detailed other changes coming as part of Act II. On the cosmetic front, a Street Fighter VI tie-in will include emotes, finishers (including Spinning Bird Kick and Hadouken), and a Blanka helmet ornament that any class of guardian can wear, much like the Tiger one we got with the 30th Anniversary event. For the more kawaii-inclined guardian, Bungie has also lined up a 'doki-doki' themed set of armor for each class. Personally, the recent Halloween wizard's outfit is about as wacky as I'm willing to go, but I support your fashion choices. You can see some of the gear below, via a data mine which JpDeathBlade shared on X.

Webfishing dev thought 'like 100 people would play it ever', thanks the 24,000+ people who flooded in to play their 'silly project', and hints at future updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/webfishing-dev-thought-like-100-people-would-play-it-ever-thanks-the-24-000-people-who-flooded-in-to-play-their-silly-project-and-hints-at-future-updates/
Webfishing, a chill little fishing game that I can only describe as 'Club Penguin for tired millennials who just want to vibe', has been a bit of a sleeper hit this year. SteamDB saw it pulling in over 24,000 concurrent players, a steady climb it's achieved through word of mouth since its release in the middle of last month.
(...)
Its creator, who also goes by the name West/Lamedev, wasn't expecting the schools of players to swim to it, though. In a recent post made to X, West writes: "It's been a MONTH (?!?!) since Webfishing launched and I just really wanted to say a heartfelt thanks for all of the support and attention y'all gave this silly project. I can truly say I figured MAYBE like 100 people would play it ever—but here we are!"

Global GPU market to hit $100 billion in 2024: JPR

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/global-gpu-market-to-hit-usd100-billion-in-2024-jpr

NVIDIA Blackwell Up To 2.2x Faster Than Hopper In MLPerf v4.1 AI Training Benchmarks, New World Records Set & Hopper Now Even Better

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-blackwell-2-2x-faster-hopper-mlperf-ai-training-benchmarks-new-world-records/

AMD Might Have Prepped B850E Chipset But Canceled It For The AM5 Motherboard Lineup

https://wccftech.com/amd-b850e-chipset-motherboard-cancelled-rumor/

Intel Core Ultra 200S “T” & “F” CPU Specs Leaked: Seven SKUs In 35W & 65W Configs

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-200s-t-f-cpu-specs-leak-seven-skus-35w-65w-configs/

AMD Ryzen 9800X3D CPU has totally sold out – and a new worry is that fresh stock may not arrive until late December

https://www.techradar.com/computing/cpu/amd-ryzen-9800x3d-cpu-has-totally-sold-out-and-a-new-worry-is-that-fresh-stock-may-not-arrive-until-late-december

AMD said to GamesNexus in their latest news roundup video that they would supply new units every week, and GN talked with retailers stating that they expect new chips once or twice a week, and that the stock they got for day one was in the thousands... whatever it means.

The news about its lack of supply may be a bit exagerated, but we'll see.

Is this the group?

Because Steam lists it as public, which means that you should be able to join by just clicking the Join group.

If that doesn't work, maybe try becoming friend with Raven, the Admin of the group, and ask him for an invitation.

By the way, is this your profile?

If it is, I'll send you a friend request to see if that helps you join the group.

That would be me.  I will work on joining the squad later today.  Thanks for the help.