Another week, another round of news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam has two deals:

• ASTLIBRA Revision, that has a demo, will be 25% off until the 2nd of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1718570/ASTLIBRA_Revision/
• And I don’t know when it started, but Rockstar has put its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until February the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/rockstarpublishersale2025

And Fanatical also has a couple new deals:

• The Star Deal is Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, with a 39% deal during another 24 hours (it started yesterday): https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/ace-attorney-investigations-collection
• The BYO Fanatical Favorites Bundle has 19 games to choose for your 2+, 3+ or 5+ bundles during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/fanatical-favorites-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Rebirth 6.9 Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-rebirth-6-9-available-for-download/
Modder ‘trancemaster_1988’ has released Version 6.9 for the amazing The Elder Scrolls: III Morrowind Rebirth project. The modder has also listed all the tweaks, fixes, and changes featured in it. So, let’s take a look at them.
For those who don’t know, Morrowind Rebirth is a complete overhaul of Bethesda’s classic RPG. This mod adds countless new details, weapons, armors and much more for you to see and do. Basically, this is a must-have mod for those who want to replay this classic TES game.
Morrowind Rebirth 6.9 is the first release of this project for 2025. And, as the modder noted, this update is fairly big, including a large amount of work put into fixing and improving pathgrids. These affect how an NPC travel from one point to another. Adding more nodes and fixing nodes that are misplaced adds to more realistic NPC behaviour.
Moreover, the modder added new more fitting tables and stools to Ashlander camps, big and small. In total, you will find 118 new crates, 127 new urns, 122 new stools and 60 new tables.
>> The article has the long release notes, but no media.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nextgen Edition Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/grand-theft-auto-vice-city-nextgen-edition-available-for-download/
Remember GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition? Well, good news everyone as this incredible project has finally been released. Yep, you can go ahead, download, and play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Nextgen Edition right now. And the best part? It no longer requires the original game.
For those unaware, GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition brings all the missions, the whole map, and content from the original game to the RAGE Engine. This is an incredible project that all Vice City fans will appreciate.
GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition has an improved version of the city – and weapons – from the Definitive Edition. All the cars from the Xbox version of the original game will be present here. Additionally, all the models of all characters and peds will be from the Xbox version. From what we know, there are no plans to increase their polygon count. However, all 3D characters will have better textures.
All the original radio stations will also be present in this unofficial remaster. And although the project will have the cut-scenes and the style of the original game, it will also pack better particle effects and some lighting improvements.
As said, GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition started as a mod. However, it’s now available as a standalone free project. All you have to do is download and play it. The project does no longer require the original Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
>> There’s an almost 2 minutes trailer. And if I were you, I’d get this as soon as possible before Take Two and Rockstar try to take it down (it’s a torrent download).

Hogwarts Legacy will get official PC modding support
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-gets-official-pc-modding-support/
Now here is something neat. Warner Bros announced that Hogwarts Legacy will get official PC modding support on January 30th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher has shared a new PC trailer which you can find below.
With this free update, Hogwarts Legacy will get its own Creator Kit and in-game Mod Manager. This will make it easier than ever to share and download mods for Hogwarts Legacy.

GAMING NEWS

The Last of Us Part I Patch 1.1.4 Adds Support for AMD FSR 3.1
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-last-of-us-part-i-patch-1-1-4-adds-support-for-amd-fsr-3-1/
Iron Galaxy and Naughty Dog have released a new update for The Last of Us Part I that adds support for AMD FSR 3.1. As such, the game now supports the latest versions of AMD’s FSR Super Resolution and Frame Generation techs.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Patch 5 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/dragon-age-the-veilguard-patch-5-released-fully-detailed/
BioWare has released Title Update 5 for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.
>> This could be the last update for the game.

Rise of the Ronin hits PC on March 11th, gets PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/rise-of-the-ronin-hits-pc-on-march-11th-gets-pc-requirements/
KOEI Tecmo has just announced that Rise of the Ronin will be released on PC on March 11th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher has shared a new PC trailer which you can find below. Moreover, KOEI Tecmo shared the game’s official PC system requirements.

Monday news, the second part:

Fortnite has 58 creators that got paid over $1 million in 2024, and 7 of those made over $10 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/fortnite-has-58-creators-that-got-paid-over-usd1-million-in-2024-and-7-of-those-made-over-usd10-million/
Epic has released a 2024 "Year in Review" of the Fortnite creator ecosystem and, surprise surprise, there are a lot of big numbers to be had. As well as an overview of the year just gone, the publisher also took the opportunity to share some of the future plans for Fortnite which, going by these figures, is simply bigger than ever.

Former BioWare vet says the studio is focused on a single game 'for the first time maybe ever' with Mass Effect 5—and whether that's good or bad is anyone's guess
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/former-bioware-vet-says-the-studio-is-focused-on-a-single-game-for-the-first-time-maybe-ever-with-mass-effect-5-and-whether-thats-good-or-bad-is-anyones-guess/
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is one heck of a mixed bag—receiving a spread of good and bad praise from critics, some resentment from its fans, and apparently falling far from the mark financially. It's also done now, with no plans for major DLC in the pipeline—sort of a first for the series, overall.
That, according to BioWare veteran Mark Darrah, presents a first for the studio as a whole. Darrah, a consultant on Dragon Age: The Veilguard who served as an executive producer at the studio for 24 whole years before that, posted a video to his YouTube channel (via GamesRadar) that paints a fascinating picture of the company's history and the unusual position it's now in.

The team behind one of 2024's hidden gems is following it up with a stop-motion 'relaxed digging and discovery' game about a happy robot's underground adventures beneath a lake of slime
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/the-team-behind-one-of-2024s-hidden-gems-is-following-it-up-with-a-stop-motion-relaxed-digging-and-discovery-game-about-a-happy-robots-underground-adventures-beneath-a-lake-of-slime/
One of last year's biggest pleasant surprises was Judero, a surreal little adventure by a two-man team whose art consisted entirely of action figures and other handmade, physical objects digitized as sprites and textures or animated in stop-motion cutscenes. Developer Talha & Jack Co. is already working on what's next: Mashina.

'When the world ends, people just dance': As another MMO comes to an end, players come together for a final farewell rave
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/when-the-world-ends-people-just-dance-as-another-mmo-comes-to-an-end-players-come-together-for-a-final-farewell-rave/
Bandai Namco announced the end of the anime MMO Blue Protocol in August 2024, setting the date for its demise as January 18, 2025. Fans made their displeasure known, but when the sad day finally arrived they met it with grace and style, dancing and partying into their final oblivion.

By opting out of an open world for Avowed, Obsidian says it can give players more interesting choices to make: 'Pacing is really tough in open world games'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/by-opting-out-of-an-open-world-for-avowed-obsidian-says-it-can-give-players-more-interesting-choices-to-make-pacing-is-really-tough-in-open-world-games/
Earlier today, Xbox Wire published a lengthy interview with Obsidian, in which the studio laid out its philosophy for storytelling, narrative design, and handling player choice in Avowed. Given that it's a Microsoft-published story about a Microsoft-published game, it's a bit fawning, but it's worth a read to see Obsidian explaining how it works to make player decisions both satisfying and believable. And, as it turns out, doing that is a lot easier when you're not working with an open world.
>> And they also showed the character creation tool on Twitter (f*ck X).

Assassin's Creed Shadows started with a single Ghost of Tsushima-like protagonist, but 'it's not representing what the samurai and shinobi are if it's the same character'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/assassins-creed-shadows-started-with-a-single-ghost-of-tsushima-like-protagonist-but-its-not-representing-what-the-samurai-and-shinobi-are-if-its-the-same-character/
I bet some of you had the same reaction I did when Ubisoft first told us that Assassin's Creed Shadows would have two protagonists: Why do you need sneaky shinobi Naoe and stalwart samurai Yasuke when you could just make one character who's super stealthy and a master swordsman? It worked well enough for Ezio back in the day and sounds like a lot less effort. Not to mention there's a very successful Japan-set open world game specifically about a samurai-shinobi called Ghost of Tsushima.
Turns out Shadows was once on a Tsushima-like trajectory, but Ubisoft made the decision early on to split its fantasies in two.

Ascend through 'ten thousand meters of concrete and decay' in this horrifying 'first-person roguelite speed-climbing game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/ascend-through-ten-thousand-meters-of-concrete-and-decay-in-this-horrifying-first-person-roguelite-speed-climbing-game/
If you've ever thought to yourself, I wonder what Jusant would be like if David Szymanski made it, you'll be thrilled to hear about White Knuckle, "a first-person roguelite speed-climbing game" being developed by three-person indie studio Dark Machine Games. Even better, you can partake in its unique horrors right now thanks to a free demo on Steam.

WoW's Plunderstorm battle royale mode is much more popular the second time around: 'I can just play and screw around'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-plunderstorm-popularity/
World of Warcraft's controversial battle royale mode relaunched a week ago, once again pitting PvE mount and transmog collectors against hardcore PvP enjoyers. And this time around… almost no one is complaining.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 2 will let players battle on boats and bullet-trains, with the Terminator entering the fray 'shortly after launch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-season-2-will-let-players-battle-on-boats-and-bullet-trains-with-the-terminator-entering-the-fray-shortly-after-launch/
I thought I was above getting excited over brand crossovers in multiplayer shooters, so it is to my great shame I admit my heart rate spiked when Activision revealed the Terminator is coming to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Look, everybody has a weakness, and there hasn't been a good Terminator film in over thirty years, so at least I can pretend I'm in one by gunning down teenagers as James Cameron's cyborg assassin.
I've skipped ahead a bit here. The Terminator was teased on Call of Duty's blog as part of Black Ops 6's Season 2 update, but Arnie's crimson-eyed killing machine won't arrive through the time portal until shortly after Season 2 drops. But there's plenty coming to Black Ops 6 in Season 2 itself, including a cache of new maps, two multiplayer game modes, and a horde of updates to zombies.

Celeste developer starts 2025 with a 'huge, heartbreaking, and yet relieving failure' as creative difficulties and internal conflict lead to the cancellation of Earthblade
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/celeste-developer-starts-2025-with-a-huge-heartbreaking-and-yet-relieving-failure-as-creative-difficulties-and-internal-conflict-lead-to-the-cancellation-of-earthblade/
Celeste developer Extremely Ok Games has announced the "difficult decision" to cancel its follow-up project Earthblade, citing long term creative difficulties compounded by a conflict within the studio regarding the rights to Celeste.

And of course, here’s the third part of the Monday news:

The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced a Her Story-like game where you hack into Lady MacBeth's computer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-royal-shakespeare-company-has-announced-a-her-story-like-game-where-you-hack-into-lady-macbeths-computer/
Here's some videogame news you don't see every day. The Royal Shakespeare Company, known mainly for its contemporary adaptations of the Bard's plays, has announced a video game adaptation of MacBeth. Titled Lili, the game is a modern "screen-life thriller" in which players experience Shakespeare's bloodiest story through Lady MacBeth's personal devices.

Vermintide 2's still getting free maps added to it, with the latest being an elven temple and a warpstone nuke factory
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/vermintide-2s-still-getting-free-maps-added-to-it-with-the-latest-being-an-elven-temple-and-a-warpstone-nuke-factory/
While the big Vermintide 2 news last year was the addition of PVP in Versus mode, the PVE side of things is still being catered for. Its latest addition is Verminous Dreams, a campaign of linked maps that pits the Ubersreik Five against their old enemies the skaven once again.

ConcernedApe isn't ruling out future updates to Stardew Valley: 'Maybe even 50 years from now, I might add something'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/concernedape-isnt-ruling-out-future-updates-to-stardew-valley-maybe-even-50-years-from-now-i-might-add-something/
In a January 24 interview with NPR's All Things Considered, Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone discussed his debut game's legacy nine years on, including his famous propensity for interrupting development on the upcoming Haunted Chocolatier to put out patches and new content for his 2016 farming RPG.

A Warhammer 'live service RPG' made in Unreal Engine 5 was apparently canceled after three years of development
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/a-warhammer-live-service-rpg-made-in-unreal-engine-5-was-apparently-canceled-after-three-years-of-development/
Daniel Erickson, CCO of Thought Pennies studio, recently announced that staff had been laid off and an upcoming game canceled. "Over the last three years at Thought Pennies we built something amazing", he wrote on LinkedIn. "We never missed a milestone, our feedback was great, our partnerships strong. We went from two people and a PowerPoint to a team of almost sixty heavily-vetted, incredibly independent, passionate professionals. Our publisher changed strategic direction, however, and our previous project is now without funding."
That project was apparently a Warhammer game. It's tough to say whether it would have been set in Warhammer Fantasy or Age of Sigmar based on mentions in the LinkedIn profiles of its developers, but what they do call it is a "cancelled fantasy live service RPG in Unreal 5", a "3rd person ARPG", and a "Co-Op PvE Action RPG with a cast of unique heroes and playstyles".

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director says 'I respect the modding community' and uses mods himself, though he still thinks we shouldn't use ones that 'detract from the intended game experience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/final-fantasy-7-rebirths-director-says-i-respect-the-modding-community-and-uses-mods-himself-though-he-still-thinks-we-shouldnt-use-ones-that-detract-from-the-intended-game-experience/
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director Naoki Hamaguchi caused a stir last December when he asked modders "not to create or install anything offensive or inappropriate" for the second part of the RPG's remake, which just launched on PC. While he didn't specify what was "offensive or inappropriate", such a broad statement would certainly cover nude mods, which are as inevitable in PC gaming as fiddling with your graphics settings.
Naturally, the PC gaming community responded "Sure, bro" before continuing to put, as one redditor so eloquently put it "a massive hog on Cait". Hamaguchi recently returned to the subject when asked by Automaton Media about his personal perspective on mods. This time, he offered a more detailed response, albeit one that doesn't necessarily reflect a vastly different stance than before.

Hyper Light Breaker gets a community-driven update that makes 'some pretty big changes' to the game's enemies and medkit system, following its debut to mixed reviews on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hyper-light-breaker-gets-a-community-driven-update-that-makes-some-pretty-big-changes-to-the-games-enemies-and-medkit-system-following-its-debut-to-mixed-reviews-on-steam/
Hyper Light Breaker, Heart Machine's 3D follow-up to moody action-adventure Hyper Light Drifter, smashed into Steam early access earlier this month. But the initial response to it has been less than stellar, with players complaining about specific issues like frame rate drops, lack of keybinding, and problems with the parry system, while generally being divided over its unforgiving combat and lack of in-game direction.
All of this has led to Hyper Light Breaker garnering a mixed reception on Steam. But developer Heart Machine has taken these criticisms in stride, responding last week that it accepted the "risk of negative early reviews" and agreed many of the community's complaints are "extremely reasonable". It also promised to address the problems as quickly as it could.
After issuing a quick hotfix last week, Heart Machine has now released a second, more substantial update that targets several of the community's biggest bugbears, some of which have been worked through with the assistance of said community. "We made Hyper Light Breaker with Early Access in mind to have it grow and evolve with our community," wrote lead producer Michael Clark in the update's accompanying Steam post. "Today's patch represents that as we made some pretty big changes".

Firaxis celebrates Civilization 7's launch with the Civ World Summit, a live streamed five-way strategy showdown with 'an exciting announcement' planned
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/firaxis-celebrates-civilization-7s-launch-with-the-civ-world-summit-a-live-streamed-five-way-strategy-showdown-with-an-exciting-announcement-planned/
We're weeks away from the launch of Civilization 7, officially PC Gamer's Most Wanted game of 2025. We all intend to celebrate the game's release in our own way. Personally, I'm thinking about conquering a small nation. Luxembourg perhaps, or possibly Andorra.
Firaxis' own plans for marking the occasion are less megalomaniacal, though conquest will likely still feature heavily. On February 8, the studio will host the Civ World Summit—a live Civilization 7 tournament that will be streamed online.

Spacefleet fight sim Nebulous gets carriers in biggest update yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/spacefleet-fight-sim-nebulous-gets-carriers-in-big-new-update/
If you love the streaking torpedos, violent maneuver burns, and streaking tracers of semi-realistic space combat like you've seen in shows like The Expanse, then the best game for you just got better. Nebulous: Fleet Command is a simulation-heavy strategy game about spacefleets bashing each other to bits in engagements that have realistic radar, electronic warfare, and in-depth spacecraft movement controls. Its latest and largest update yet released this month, adding carrier craft stuffed with smaller fighters, lighters, scouts, and bombers.

Swamped with 1,500+ LinkedIn invitations in 24 hours, the manager at Palworld's new publishing arm 'underestimated how much interest there would be'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/swamped-with-1-500-linkedin-invitations-in-24-hours-the-manager-at-palworlds-new-publishing-arm-underestimated-how-much-interest-there-would-be/
Palworld's developer Pocketpair, not being slowed down by Nintendo's lawsuit, has gone and opened a publishing arm. Pocketpair Publishing, which already has a horror game made by Surgent Studios in the works, is up, running, and taking inquiries.
The studio's publishing manager and communications director, who goes by Bucky, recently posted to X that things were going well. Maybe a little too well—in around 15 hours, the poor blighter was swarmed with over 1,500 LinkedIn notifications and 68 email inquiries. "My inboxes were 0 before then… I think I might have underestimated how much interest there would be." I only dread to think what his inbox looks like now that small-time hopefuls have had a whole weekend to rustle up their elevator pitches.

Marvel Snap apologises for US TikTok outage by throwing a bunch of free stuff at its players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/marvel-snap-apologises-for-us-tiktok-outage-by-throwing-a-bunch-of-free-stuff-at-its-players/
Marvel Snap—a cardgame I distinctly remember losing a month to in 2022 before I got a little tired of the typical TCG progression cycle—has made a downright generous apology to players who missed out during a recent outage, due to TikTok being temporarily banned in the US.

There was double pack available with Intergrade and Rebirth together for like $54 for the standard versions and $72 for the deluxe versions.

That too, that is way too much of a good deal.

Wish more publishers did stuff like that (or in this case wish SE did it more often).

I hate when Steam hides a sale. Last year I found a lot of them while doing the weeklong deals, and I still don't understand why they do it.

After all, they gain nothing from doing it, wuite the opposite.

Reading that rumored price and remembering AMD saying that they didn't want to be a company for people that buys Porsches causes a weird clash in my mind.

I wouldn't give that rumor much thought. Yes, it's from a credible source, but it's too early in development to say. 

And let's hope that FSR3.1 to FSR4 swap is true. That would make adoptions easier as faster... but it also makes you wonder about the excuse of delaying the cards to have more support for it. The two rumors/leaks don't match well.

Oh, some of you may be interested in this:

The Video Game History Foundation launches its digital library later this month, providing access to over 1,500 videogame magazines and 'never-before-seen game development materials'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-video-game-history-foundation-launches-its-digital-library-later-this-month-providing-access-to-over-1-500-videogame-magazines-and-never-before-seen-game-development-materials/

The videogame industry doesn't have the best track record at preserving its past, though this is slowly changing with the help of independent organisations. One such organisation is the Video Game History Foundation, which today announced it will be launching its digital library platform later this month.

Posting on BlueSky, the VGHF revealed that the digital library will officially launch on January 30th, stating, "Good things come to those who wait!". No follow up information regarding the launch was provided, with the post simply stating, "We'll tell you all about it then".

However, in a statement (via VGC) the foundation explained that the library includes "never-before-seen game development materials", as well as "artwork, press kits, and promo materials from iconic video games". The library will also allow readers to access 1,500 out-of-print videogame magazines stretching back to the early 1980s. This includes issues of the recently departed Game Informer, previously the US' longest-running videogame magazine before it was closed abruptly by owner Gamestop last year.

The hilarious thing, neither their news page or the front page have any mention of the Lunar sale.

That and the new steam queue popup window (where it only shows video and a few details on a game) are terrible (I use the store page queue instead).

According to SteamDB, this Lunar Sale started yesterday, the 26th, but rumaging on Steam you can find that it started on the 20th, but most publishers only launched theirs between Friday and today.

And that's not all, there's also a Taipei Game Show Sale (link) going on that I don't remember, the Swedish Smorgasbord Co-Op Sale (link) and a few others.

It's a good reminder that Steam still has room for improvement, and that I need to pay more attention to the deals for the news.