Time for the Friday news!
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
GOG’s Winter Sale is over… let’s bring the new deals!
Steam’s Winter Sale is also over *sad noises*, but it has new deals for us:
- First things first, there are 5 weeklong deals for you to check until Monday.
- The Black Desert MMO that’s free to get until the 6th of January is free to try during the weekend, in case you want to try it before commiting to add it to your library: https://store.steampowered.com/app/582660/Black_Desert/
- The Early Access title Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game is going to be 25% off until January 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/293760/Automation__The_Car_Company_Tycoon_Game/
- Noun Town Language Learning, also in Early Access and that has a demo, also has a 25% discount until the 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2313720/Noun_Town_Language_Learning/
- Another Early Access game, OUTBRK, will be 25% off until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1107320/OUTBRK/
- Sengoku Dynasty is another game with a 25% discount that will also last until Thursday, January 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1702010/Sengoku_Dynasty/
- LEGO® Bricktales, that has a demo, can be yours thanks to a 75% discount that will last until the 9th of January: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1898290/LEGO_Bricktales/
- Elite Dangerous is also 75% off until Thursday, the 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/359320/Elite_Dangerous/
- The last of the new deals is Road Redemption, with an 85% deal until the 11th of January: https://store.steampowered.com/app/300380/Road_Redemption/
Fanatical has one new deal:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6449/6256 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6449-6256
Highlights
Launch driver for Intel® Core™ Processor N-series and Series 2 (Codename Twin Lake, Raptor Lake-H Refresh, Raptor Lake-U Refresh).
Fixed Issues
Intel® Arc™ B-Series Graphics Products:
- Skull and Bones (DX12) may experience an application crash while launching gameplay.
- Certain capture cards may exhibit visual artifacts in some scenarios.
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance.
Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs:
- Call of Duty Modern Warfare III(DX12) may experience flickering during gameplay.
Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit black shadow corruption in certain scenes during gameplay.
Intel® Graphics Software Fixed Issues:
- On some system configurations the frequency of windows reconfiguration in IGS is higher than expected and may take longer after sleep
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
-Empty-
GAMING NEWS
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 hits peak lack of awareness with its Squid Game skins which, unfortunately, look rad as hell
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-hits-peak-lack-of-awareness-with-its-squid-game-skins-which-unfortunately-look-rad-as-hell/
I've only just finished the second season of Squid Game, but it looks like I won't have to wait until season three for my next fix of twisted gameshows and gunmen in pink suits, as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's upcoming collaboration has that covered.
Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks is officially reborn for the New Year, with a slightly new name
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/hi-fi-rush-studio-tango-gameworks-is-officially-reborn-for-the-new-year-with-a-slightly-new-name/
Less than a year after being shuttered by Microsoft, Hi-Fi Rush studio Tango Gameworks is officially back from the dead. The resurrected developer, now owned by Krafton and operating under a very-slightly-changed name, announced "a new start" in its first post on X since revealing its surprise closure in May 2024.
"Tango Gameworks studio has been reborn as Tango Gameworks Inc, proudly joining Krafton Inc," the studio wrote. "We're excited to continue crafting games that bring joy to players around the world. Thank you for your continued support as we embark on this new journey."
The company behind a 'mental health action shooter' envisions a health insurance-funded 'golden age' for gaming, and it just got FDA clearance to treat stress
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/deepwell-dtx-videogame-therapy-fda-clearance/
Imagine this: You tell your doctor that you're struggling with stress, and she sends you home with instructions to play videogames every week. Even better, your health insurance is going to cover a subscription to the game service, and maybe even a VR headset to play them on. That's the vision of Seattle-based company Deepwell DTx, and it's making real progress: The company's biofeedback software development kit for games just received FDA clearance for "over-the-counter treatments for the reduction of stress and as an adjunctive treatment for high blood pressure."
Deepwell co-founder Ryan Douglas doesn't just think the news is good for patients (and certain medical device entrepreneurs), but also for gamers and game developers. Introducing games to the world's trillions of dollars in healthcare spending can "bring us back to the golden age of gaming," he said on a call with me last week.
Gaming is a good thing for the workplace, apparently—so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to 'do some extensive training'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-is-a-good-thing-for-the-workplace-apparently-so-if-youll-excuse-me-im-off-to-do-some-extensive-training/
One of the big myths about working in gaming is that we spend all our days playing games non-stop. Of course, that'll be the case if you're reviewing a new release, but otherwise we spend a lot of our time looking at blinking cursors, spreadsheets, and all that terribly interesting work-related stuff.
Good news though—several studies say that gaming improves skills needed in the workplace, so we can all petition our bosses to allocate some time for a bit of R&R.
Eternal Strands, the physics-heavy RPG being headed by Dragon Age veteran Mike Laidlaw, will roll out a playable demo a week ahead of its full release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/eternal-strands-the-physics-heavy-rpg-being-headed-by-dragon-age-veteran-mike-laidlaw-will-roll-out-a-playable-demo-a-week-ahead-of-its-full-release/
Eternal Strands, the new game from Dragon Age creative director Mike Laidlaw's Yellow Brick Games, is set to launch on January 28—and today Laidlaw announced that a week before that happens, a playable demo will be released to give curious gamers a taste of what it's all about.
Clobberin' time is confirmed: The Fantastic Four is coming to Marvel Rivals and they're bringing a cute little robot along with them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/clobberin-time-is-confirmed-the-fantastic-four-is-coming-to-marvel-rivals-and-theyre-bringing-a-cute-little-robot-along-with-them/
I have good news for people who like bad superhero teams: NetEase has confirmed that the Fantastic Four is headed to the hit hero shooter Marvel Rivals.
Gulp! Dune: Awakening beta testers are dying of thirst nearly as often as they're dying of sandworms, and some are even drinking mouse blood to stay alive
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-beta-testers-are-dying-of-thirst-nearly-as-often-as-theyre-dying-of-sandworms-and-some-are-even-drinking-mouse-blood-to-stay-alive/
It's not a huge surprise to learn that dehydration is a major cause of death among beta testers of survival MMO Dune: Awakening. The fictional planet of Arrakis is so dang dry the inhabitants walk around in special suits that recycle their sweat, pee, and even poo into drinking water. When people die (or get killed) their body's moisture is recycled into water as well.
Dehydration isn't the only threat in Dune: Awakening, however, or the biggest. According to Funcom in a blog post at the end of 2024, the most common cause of death for players of the closed beta are NPCs, which account for "58% of player deaths." Second is sandworms, the giant, eternally hungry spice-producing guardians of Arrakis, at 27%. Dehydration is a close third, however, at 22%. Gulp.
Defending a kinda wimpy Killzone crossover gun, Helldivers 2's Johan Pilestedt says the game's past balance woes were due to weapons being 'seen as game objects' and that 'balance doesn't matter'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/defending-a-kinda-wimpy-killzone-crossover-gun-helldivers-2s-johan-pilestedt-says-the-games-past-balance-woes-were-due-to-weapons-being-seen-as-game-objects-and-that-balance-doesnt-matter/
Helldivers 2, as I mentioned last month, has been a complete rollercoaster during its first year of updates. Balance in particular has been a consistent pain point. As in, those funny little patches that make your guns good or bad and start flame wars: The railgun nerfs that launched a thousand ships. And 2025 is kicking off with another one.
The latest in this long line of balance discussions has been inspired by the recent Killzone crossover weapons, whose controversy saw their latter half offered for free as penance. CCO Johan Pilestedt has now waded into the discourse to to dispense some Super Earthly wisdom: "Balance doesn't matter," he reckons. Erm.
Bioshock's Big Daddy Ken Levine says that while he doesn't want to 'underestimate' AI, he's 'not overly impressed' by it, either
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bioshocks-big-daddy-ken-levine-says-that-while-he-doesnt-want-to-underestimate-ai-hes-not-overly-impressed-by-it-either/
Ken Levine, creator of the Bioshock series—and now the head of Ghost Story Games, who're working on Bioshock-like "narrative legos" game Judas—isn't all that worried about AI's impact on the games industry yet, even if it's got its uses.
That's it for this week. Until we meet again, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.
Also, Monday is festive here, "Los Reyes Magos" (The Three Wise Men), and there'll be no news.
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