I get what you are trying to say and I am well aware of their revenue increases since I post them every quarter but think of it like this. Why announce and release 4 gpus if you aren't gonna make any? Why announce all the laptop versions? They could have gotten away with not releasing Blackwell at all since 9070 XT is slower than 5070 Ti so a 4080/Super would still have been faster. They could have easily refreshed RTX 4000 and had even bigger margins while reserving Blackwell for Ai. Hell they didn't even need to release a 5090/5080 at all either.

I imagine they haven't completely decided whether or not they want to abandon the gaming sector just yet, so they're basically treating this like a placeholder generation and just throwing out the bare minimum of product they can get away with, along with it's minimal improvements on the previous generation.

They were already doing the R&D for Blackwell regardless, so throwing a few scraps to the gaming sector is hardly that much more effort for them.

They at least want people to still believe they're a major player in the market even while they currently don't care much about it.

Guess we will see in the coming months how things end up. If their stock drastically improves and their gaming revenue reflects it, then it was likely a bottleneck of some kind. We already know the gaming revenue should be low this quarter due to lack of stock so if they continue to face stock issues for the next 3-6 months, then likely yea. They aren't caring much about gaming.

Here come the Thursday news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Epic’s 2025 Spring Sale kicks off with some big discounts on recent hits and a pair of cat-themed giveaways
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/epics-2025-spring-sale-kicks-off-with-some-big-discounts-on-recent-hits-and-a-pair-of-cat-themed-giveaways/
Steam’s spring sale might be over, but with so many stores, you’re never short on opportunities to demolish both your bank balance and free time. Stepping up to bat yesterday was the Epic Games Store, beginning their latest two-week-long round of discounts. Sadly they’re no longer doing ridiculously discounted loss-leader ‘coupons’, but there’s still plenty of very good games going cheaper than seems reasonable.
>>The giveaways are the regular free games of every week::

• Cat Quest: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/cat-quest-8373e0
• Neko Ghost, Jump!: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/neko-ghost-jump

Next week, the free game is a mystery.

Steam has two new deals:

• Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector will be 50% off until the 2nd of April: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295500/Warhammer_40000_Battlesector/
• Samorost 3 gets an 85% discount until the same April, 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/421120/Samorost_3/

Humble Bundle has two bundles:

• The Tactial Triumph Bundle has 7 games and will last 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/tactical-triumph
• The Dice & Destiny Bundle has up to 7 items to get (6 games plus one coupon) during 20 days as well: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/dice-and-destiny

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Version 2.13 of The Dark Mod, THIEF game in the Doom 3 Engine, Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/version-2-13-of-the-dark-mod-thief-game-in-the-doom-3-engine-released/
The team behind The Dark Mod, a THIEF game that is powered by the Doom 3 Engine, has released Version 2.13. This new version comes with a lot of tweaks and improvements. So, let’s take a look at them.
For those unaware, The Dark Mod is a free dark and moody stealth game, that is heavily inspired by the Thief series by Looking Glass Studios. It’s a great game, so be sure to at least give it a go.
Version 2.13 adds support for Parallax Occlusion Mapping. As such, The Dark Mod can now offer a quantum leap in perceived geometric detail with all sorts of surfaces realistically showing 3D parallax rather than the flatter looking normal maps we usually offer.
Moreover, this new version of The Dark Mod has better cubemaps. Thus, water reflections can now move in relation to the water texture movement offering a more convincing illusion. Volumetric lights and particles can now render in mirrors. Alpha-tested surfaces get alpha shadows in Shadow Maps mode. And finally, tone-mapping now supports range compression to prevent unwanted overbright areas.
And that’s not all. The game will automatically detect the number of CPU cores and allocate jobs based on the detected specifications. As such, level loading has been given more parallel execution optimizations, including optimizations for loading audio samples in parallel.
The Dark Mod Version 2.13 also brings some major AI enhancements. The game uses a light-gem system for the AI. This system allows AI and the player to “know” when something is visible. The problem with this system was that it was too demanding. But now, the game has a stochastic sampler model that does regular measurements of the actual light volume pixel. This means that it performs way better than before. Plus, all AI and loot entities now have their own light-gem.
>> The article has not one, not two but four, four videos of this new update.

Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/kings-under-the-mountain-33-enshrouded-players-spent-10-000-hours-to-recreate-this-iconic-location-from-the-lord-of-the-rings/
Above you'll see the efforts of Enshrouded players working collaboratively to recreate an iconic location from The Lord of the Rings. Erebor, the dwarven city built under Lonely Mountain, has been brought to life in the early access survival sandbox from Keen Games—and all it took was 33 players working for a staggering 10,000 hours over 74 days.
That's a lot of effort: 220,000,000 blocks mined and over 15 million blocks placed to bring the dwarven city to life.
Erebor, if you haven't tucked into The Lord of the Rings in a while, is where the dragon Smaug brought the smackdown, sacking both the city and the nearby town of Dale before making Lonely Mountain his lair and hoarding all its treasure. In the events of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins and Thorin's party snuck into Erebor through a secret door and discovered Smaug's weakness, which led to the defeat of the dragon and reclamation of the city.
>> The article has an almost 5 minutes video and, while you can’t get the map yet, the video description says that it will be available soon.

GAMING NEWS

F1 25 will have Denuvo, gets official PC system requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/f1-25-will-have-denuvo-gets-official-pc-system-requirements/
Electronic Arts has announced the next part in its F1 series, F1 25. F1 25 will come out on May 30th. Moreover, the publisher revealed that it will be using the Denuvo anti-tamper tech, as well as its official PC system requirements.

Sekiro-like Echoes of Yi: Samsara gets official PC requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/souls-like-echoes-of-yi-samsara-gets-official-pc-requirements/
Runmeng is currently working on a Souls-like dark martial arts action game infused with traditional Chinese culture, Echoes of Yi: Samsara. This new action game will come out on April 18, and below you can find its official PC requirements.

Deliver At All Costs will be free on Epic Games Store at launch
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/deliver-at-all-costs-will-be-free-on-epic-games-store-at-launch/
Now here is something really cool. Konami has announced that its isometric destruction-based action delivery driver, Deliver At All Costs, will be free on Epic Games Store at launch. For one whole week, PC gamers will be able to visit its EGS and acquire their free copy.
>> This will be the first time in I don’t know how many years that I’ll get a game at launch. And free!

Neon-Noir Action Sandbox Police Game, The Precinct, Will Release On May 13th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/neon-noir-action-sandbox-police-game-the-precinct-will-release-on-may-13th/
Kwalee has announced that its neon-noir action sandbox police game, The Precinct, will be released on May 13th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher has also shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Extended gameplay trailer for sci-fi stealth-action adventure, Steel Seed
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/extended-gameplay-trailer-for-sci-fi-stealth-action-adventure-steel-seed/
ESDigital Games has released an extended gameplay trailer for its sci-fi stealth-action adventure, Steel Seed. This 15-minute gameplay trailer will give you an idea of what you can expect from this new title.

Thursday news, part two:

As layoffs and studio closures continue to deathroll the western AAA industry, analyst points out 5 of 8 major Japanese companies hit all-time share prices this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/as-layoffs-and-studio-closures-continue-to-deathroll-the-western-aaa-industry-analyst-points-out-5-of-8-major-japanese-companies-hit-all-time-share-prices-this-year/
It feels like every other day I'm writing some article about AI carving through people's livelihoods and studios closing. I say that not to convey desensitisation, but exhaustion—it's been an absolute nose-dive of a couple of years for AAA games, to the point where industry figures are having to repeatedly speak out against a slow and vicious deathroll that doesn't seem to be stopping as much as it is varying in tempo.
Unless you're a Japanese AAA publisher, in which case you're—um, actually doing quite well. That's as pointed out by Japanese analyst Dr. Serkan Toto on his blog, KantanGames: "The mass layoffs and studio closures in North America and Europe really have not spilled over to Japan, apart from isolated exceptions that are a drop in the ocean compared to the storm the industry is seeing in the West currently."

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide adds a psychic horde murderzone mode and makes Ogryns even smashier
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/warhammer-40-000-darktide-adds-a-psychic-horde-murderzone-mode-and-makes-ogryns-even-smashier/
There’s more to Warhammer 40k: Darktide than smashing cultists and chaos mutants into a fine paste. As of today’s ‘Nightmares and Visions’ update you can also squish imaginary enemies of the Emperor, too. Although this being 40k (and thus casually cruel), even imaginary monsters and maniacs can still hurt you. The centerpiece of this week’s update adds a new arcade game mode to the mix; the Mortis Trials, along with a boatload of tweaks and improvements, including big upgrades across the board for Ogryns.

By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/by-the-time-bethesda-was-on-starfield-youd-basically-get-in-trouble-for-breaking-schedule-says-former-dev-a-lot-of-the-great-stuff-within-skyrim-came-from-having-the-freedom-to-do-what-you-want/
Starfield sort of came and went, huh? With a lukewarm reception on release, a DLC that didn't quite summon that bygone Bethesda magic, and a dedicated fanbase starting to gnaw on their own tails due to a lack of communication, an RPG we were anticipating to be a landmark has gone quiet as the vacuum of space, with nary so much as a bit of raging against the dying of the night.
Many attribute Starfield's muted response to the idea that Bethesda has grown a bit, well, sterile and rigid. It's a sentiment backed up by former Bethesda dev Nate Purkeypile, who quit over a deluge of meetings and a more restrictive corporate structure that had worn him down over time: "While I enjoyed working at Bethesda a lot when we were about 65 to 110 people on Fallout 3 and Skyrim, I enjoyed it a lot less as it grew and grew."

Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/old-armor-continues-to-fall-victim-to-final-fantasy-14s-bizarre-two-channel-dye-system-unless-youre-super-into-changing-the-colour-of-teeny-tiny-eyelets-why-even-bother-at-this-point/
It only took a decade, but Final Fantasy 14 finally added an extra dye channel to a multitude of armour when Dawntrail released last year. It's, unfortunately, been rather hit-or-miss, with that second dye channel ranging from changing actual important things like overcoats or stitching, to ridiculous details like a tiny belt buckle.
Older gear seems to have bore the brunt when it comes to ridiculous secondary dye channel choices, a trend that's continued after Square Enix gave double dyes to a handful more gear with this week's Patch 7.2.

The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/the-outlast-trials-puts-its-already-paranoid-players-under-surveillance-for-a-time-limited-story-event/
There are only so many times a horrible naked screaming man can scare you before it becomes a little rote. Just yesterday, our own Kara Phillips took a deep dive on the difficulties faced by horror games in keeping players engaged and susceptible to a good scare. And with the release of yesterday's big new update for stealthy co-op frightfest The Outlast Trials, the studio's solution isn't doubling down on the jumpscares, but more to get players hooked on the growing tension of the game's ongoing live story.

A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/a-new-game-of-thrones-rpg-is-coming-to-steam-today-with-a-cast-of-familiar-faces-which-is-good-because-its-really-the-only-way-to-tell-its-a-got-game-at-all/
I didn't watch HBO's Game of Thrones series—I get my fill of political intrigue and badly-behaved dimwits from the real world, thanks—and so when the whole thing fizzled out like a wet tissue tossed into a burn pit, it was a bit of a non-event for me: I was mostly just surprised at how quickly the once-reverent fanbase turned on the whole thing.
But maybe hunger for the continuing (or, I suppose, repeated) adventures of Jon Snow, Peter Dinklage, and the huge dude with the face (look, I told you I didn't watch it) persists, because a new game based on the series called Game of Thrones: Kingsroad is set to launch into early access today on Steam.

Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/todays-rpg-fans-are-very-sensitive-to-feeling-like-they-wasted-time-when-they-die-says-metaphor-refantazio-battle-planner-but-atlus-still-made-combat-hard-anyway/
According to HowLongToBeat, Atlus's 2024 RPG Metaphor: ReFantazio is a mere 65-and-a-half hours long—if you stick to the critical path. Go for the mad completionist playthrough and you're looking at 105 hours of turn-based battles, cutscenes and life simmy chats with your party members, which is objectively a lot of game.
But imagine how much higher that average completion time would be if Metaphor: ReFantazio didn't include generous autosaving, an option to repeat battles immediately, and other features expressly designed to avoid wasting players' time. According to lead battle planner Kenichi Goto, one of the core principles of Metaphor's design was appealing to today's RPG players in Japan, who are "very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time" when they die in a game.

It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/it-doesnt-really-make-sense-that-soccer-star-ronaldo-is-now-a-fatal-fury-character-but-if-you-follow-the-money-you-can-see-how-it-happened/
Soccer players aren't generally known for their fighting prowess, but that's not stopping SNK from adding famed footballer Cristiano Ronaldo to the lineup of Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, the latest addition to the long-running Fatal Fury series of fighting games.
>> I can think of so many football players that would have been a better fit. Cantona, Vinnie Jones, Zidane, ...

Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pillars-of-eternity-is-getting-turn-based-combat-to-mark-its-10th-anniversary-and-that-means-pc-gamer-editors-will-soon-be-arguing-about-combat-mechanics-again/
To mark the 10th anniversary of its old-school isometric RPG Pillars of Eternity, the game that (in a very roundabout way) gave us Avowed, Obsidian has rolled out a big new patch and an even bigger piece of news: It took a full decade to happen, but turn-based combat is finally on the way.

'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/youre-a-very-long-arm-you-steal-things-its-a-comedy-game-explains-developer-of-comedy-game-where-you-steal-things-with-a-very-long-arm/
Stop me if you've heard this one: A grizzled detective one week away from retirement sits at his desk in a dimly lit office, clearly frustrated by a criminal mastermind who continues to elude him. Strewn across his desk and pinned to the bulletin board behind him are photos of the perp he's been pursuing but cannot clap the cuffs on.
But wait: the photos are all of a long, weird, bendy arm that's been stealing things. That part you definitely haven't heard before.
That arm is you. In My Arms Are Longer Now, "You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game," explained Matthew Jackson of Toot Games, the small Australian studio behind the surreal heist game.

*Sigh*

Another day, another time a third post of news is needed:

Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/tomb-raider-developer-crystal-dynamics-lays-off-17-employees-to-better-align-our-current-business-needs-and-the-studios-future-success/
Crystal Dynamics, which is currently working on a Perfect Dark reboot and a new Tomb Raider game, has announced the layoff of 17 employees.
"This morning, Crystal Dynamics made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 17 talented team members," the studio said in a message posted to X. "We did not make this decision lightly. Ultimately, this step was necessary to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success. It is not a reflection of the dedication or ability of those affected."

Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/mecha-break-developer-is-considering-unlocking-all-mechs-following-open-beta-feedback/
Mecha Break concluded its most recent open beta period on Steam on Sunday, March 16 after bringing in a peak of over 300,000 players. Players weren't shy to give Chinese developer Amazing Seasun a huge amount of feedback about their experiences, and it seems like the studio is taking note.

Tickets for PAX Australia 2025 are on sale now
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/tickets-for-pax-australia-2025-are-on-sale-now/
Last year PAX Australia played host to Cult of the Lamb-themed weddings, a Medusa-shaped gaming PC that doubled as commentary on AI, and memer-shooter sequel 420 Blaze It 2. Who knows what the 2025 edition will bring us?
Scheduled to take over the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from October 10–12, PAX Australia 2025 will perch at the tail of Melbourne International Games Week as it traditionally does. Tickets are on sale now, and apparently more than half of the three-day badges have already been sold.

Mindbending free multimedia adventure ENA: Dream BBQ is out now, has activated all my neurons and opened my third eye
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/mindbending-free-multimedia-adventure-ena-dream-bbq-is-out-now-has-activated-all-my-neurons-and-opened-my-third-eye/
Some days you just roll out of bed and immediately fall into another world. Exactly four years and one day from its announcement, ENA: Dream BBQ is out on Steam, free. The first chapter of it, at least. It’s the first interactive adventure of the titular chaotic cubist girl (created by Peruvian artist Joel Guerra), star of a series of deeply strange but wonderfully compelling animations, which you can watch here on YouTube. You should watch them, and then play the game, because you’re in for a one-of-a-kind experience.

'We want to increase the cost of silence': Hunt: Showdown 1896's latest update brings a new event, a massive list of bugfixes and a tougher challenge for stealthy players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/we-want-to-increase-the-cost-of-silence-hunt-showdown-1896s-latest-update-brings-a-new-event-a-massive-list-of-bugfixes-and-a-tougher-challenge-for-stealthy-players/
Here's a double-barreled blast of news for Hunt: Showdown fans. Crytek just launched a massive patch for its grungy Victorian extraction shooter, which scatters an array of adjustments across most of the game and provides a long list of bug-fixes to boot. This coincides with the launch of a brand new in-game event that brings event-exclusive character traits and a whole new type of supply point.

World of Warcraft's started swiping good ideas from one of its most popular user-made UI addons, and it's honestly about time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcrafts-started-swiping-good-ideas-from-one-of-its-most-popular-user-made-ui-addons-and-its-honestly-about-time/
A surprising amount of my time playing World of Warcraft isn't plundering its dungeons, trying my loot luck (it's bad) in the raid finder, or collecting transmogs. No, it's spent fiddling about to get the perfect WeakAura ready so I can treat my Outlaw Rogue like a fighting game character doing combos, rather than an MMO character with cooldowns to manage.
(...)
Well, WoW's just straight-up muscling in on WeakAuras' long-standing turf, as discovered on the PTR (thanks to WoWHead for the following screenshots—I tried to hop in myself, mind, but the PTR servers weren't online at the time of writing).

Inzoi launch times and release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/inzoi-launch-time-release-date/
The Inzoi launch time and release date are upon us so it's time to make some major life changes. The change being that we'll finally be keeping up with not just one, but two major life sim games. Truly, I almost thought we'd never see the day. Inzoi is launching in early access on either the evening of March 27 or early on March 28 depending on where in the world you're at.

Last year's best RTS gets its first piece of DLC alongside a meaty free update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/last-years-best-rts-gets-its-first-piece-of-dlc-alongside-a-meaty-free-update/
Sins of a Solar Empire 2, last year's brilliant fusion of RTS and 4X, has just received its first piece of premium DLC: Paths to Power.
The DLC throws 10 new scenario maps into the mix, giving interstellar conquerors bespoke objective-based challenge missions with distinct victory conditions.

'Diabolical': Genshin Impact's English cast gives new VO the cold shoulder after he frames replacing a striking actor as an 'opportunity to carry the flame'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/diabolical-genshin-impacts-english-cast-gives-new-vo-the-cold-shoulder-after-he-frames-replacing-a-striking-actor-as-an-opportunity-to-carry-the-flame/
The Genshin Impact community is a little, uh, on fire at the moment. That's due to SAG-AFTRA, an American union of actors across entertainment media (including, naturally, videogames), and its ongoing strike.
Said strike has been proceeding apace for over eight months now, with voice actors still embroiled in fights over deals for protection against AI exploitation. Being a game with voice actors in it, Genshin Impact has been… well, impacted.
The 'good' news for Genshin Impact players who don't care about such protections (and MiHoYo, mind) is that one of the games' characters, Kinich, will have voice acting again. The bad news for everyone else is that a Japanese-based voice actor has swept in and accepted the role without acknowledging the ongoing strike.

Nvidia isn't leaving the gaming anytime soon. And you can tell for several reasons:

The more obvious one is Jensen, He's the kind of man that not only wants to win at everything he does, but wants to actually dominate. I don't remember during the launch of which cards it happened, but there's a story of Jensen bringing all the higher ups at Nvidia to the same place after the launch of those cards didn't go well to ask them "Who did this to me". Not to the company, but to him. Because he is Nvidia and he doesn't like to lose. And that's precisely what would look like if Nvidia left the gaming sector, it would be read by him as accepting defeat, and he'll never accept that. The catastrophic launch of Blackwell will only spur him to go above and beyond with the 6000 series to make people forget the 5000 series and its launch.

Another reason is that while not as big as the AI/datacenter market, the gaming market is still quite big by itself, and it can bring a lot of money to the company that leads. This is the money Nvidia used to bring themselves to where they are now, and they're not going to leave it now so someone else like AMD or Intel can take it and use it to grow and develop higher-end hardware and software that may threaten Nvidia in the future.

The last point I'll make is more mundane and practical: the 5000 series cooler. You don't spend millions developing a revolutionary cooler design that is all but irrelevant for AI/datacenters only to leave the market a couple years later. It's a long term investment for future products.

Looks like stock is coming in from Nvidia and Amd

https://www.reddit.com/r/Microcenter/s/Vczgq2MfmE

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/jfw804USxM

Soon scalpers will get cucked and gpu prices will hopefully get back to msrp

Great news.

The Friday news!

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/assassins-creed-shadows-puts-up-the-second-highest-day-one-sales-revenue-in-assassins-creed-franchise-history/
Ubisoft is continuing to trumpet the success of Assassin's Creed Shadows, saying today that the game has now surpassed three million players a week after its release.
The new big number comes just four days after Ubisoft said Shadows had broken the two million player mark, and points to continued growth for a game the company really, desperately needed to be a hit. More interesting, though, is the mention of money: While Ubisoft has previously stated that Assassin's Creed Shadows has "surpassed the launches of AC Origins and Odyssey," it hasn't (as far as I know) said anything about actual sales.
Now it has: Shadows has put up the "second-highest day one sales revenues in Assassin's Creed franchise history." That's nothing to sneeze at, especially when considering the conditions surrounding the release of the number-one game, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, which came amidst the "perfect storm" of the Covid-19 pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home playing videogames at a pace that created an unprecedented boom (and, sadly, bust) for the industry. The release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles at around the same time sure didn't hurt.

The Humble Store has a new On Sale This Week round of games, with up to 90% discounts during the next 6 or 7 days, depending on the game: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/on-sale-now/.

Fanatical has a new Star Deal: Timberborn is going to be 33% off during 47 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/timberborn.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6653 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6653

Highlights
Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs for:

• inZOI
• KARMA: The Dark World
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc B-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel 32.0.101.6651 software driver for:

• Rise of the Ronin (DX12)
  • Up to 15% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
  • Up to 18% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Ultra settings

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

A modder keeps turning Monster Hunter traps into Lego bricks so that the monsters will know true pain, and they've just done it again
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-modder-keeps-turning-monster-hunter-traps-into-lego-bricks-so-that-the-monsters-will-know-true-pain-and-theyve-just-done-it-again/
Half of the world may have been in a lowkey traumatic pandemic-induced lockdown on May 8, 2020, but something else happened that day that made the world a little better: Kimchiworm debuted their "I HOPE YOU STEP ON A LEGO" mod for Monster Hunter World.
If the name didn't give things away even a little bit, it's a mod that turns the game's shock trap—a common tool placed down in order to capture monsters as an alternative to killing them—into a deadly toy brick.
Since monsters usually have to walk over shock traps in order for them to activate and work their magic, we're now essentially stabbing their poor paws, talons, and hooves with tiny plastic studs. Studs that send bolts of paralysing electricity through them. Maybe we're the real monsters, man.
They then released the exact same mod for Monster Hunter Rise in June 2022 because, quite frankly, how is any hunter supposed to survive without such a crucial quality-of-life addition? It's been sorely missing from Monster Hunter Wilds in the month since its release, but we need not miss its absence anymore.
Kimchiworm has finally brought the mod to Wilds as of March 23, once more transforming my boring, bland shock trap into a plastic square of death. The modder's nothing if not consistent, and I gotta respect the dedication to this one small but very important running bit.
Now I do have to pick the tiniest bit of beef here, and it's the fact that it seems Kimchiworm has done away with the colour options they presented in Rise—their last iteration of this mod let you pick from a red, green, blue, or shock-trap-gold, but now it seems like we're back to the final colour option only. As a red brick enjoyer, I'll be awaiting the palette patch posthaste.
>> The article has two screenshots.

Elden Ring mega-mod The Convergence redesigns legacy dungeons, improves tutorials and gives its new bosses their own theme music
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-mega-mod-the-convergence-redesigns-legacy-dungeons-improves-tutorials-and-gives-its-new-bosses-their-own-theme-music/
Elden Ring is going to be one of those games that never dies. Sure, it’s nigh a hundred hours for your first playthrough, and the fantastic Shadow Of The Erdtree expansion was bigger than most mainline Dark Souls games. But beyond that, it has a bustling mod scene, and few projects exemplify that better than The Convergence. Probably the game’s biggest mod to date and it just rolled out its largest update since the expansion.
If you're new to this mod: Expect everything to be different. This is a top-to-bottom remix of the entire game. Just look at all the changes here, like the dozens of distinct classes, multiple selectable mounts, the boss re-fight system and mountains of new weapons, including stance-shifting Trick Weapons borrowed from Bloodborne.
Convergence feels almost like a solo counterpart to the upcoming co-op spinoff Nightreign. It’s similarly focused on picking a character class and sticking to that archetype, but does it in a more meandering, solipsistic sandbox kinda way.
Each of the 27 classes has their own starting point in the world (yes, some even start in Caelid) and their own intended progression route dotted with new loot, gear sets, spells and arts that play into their specific mechanics. Familiar locations have been radically reworked too, as you can see in the (slightly outdated) trailer below.
Returning players who’ve been waiting on this update for months have a lot to look forward to in version 2.2, with specific patch-notes here. Three of the game’s later ‘legacy’ dungeons (the really big ones) have been completely redesigned, so expect new paths, encounters, bosses and loot to be found across Mohgwyn Palace, Miquella’s Haligtree and Crumbling Farum Azula. There’s four all-new bosses, eight more reworked, and a new tutorial that introduces the many new mechanics and concepts of this mod.
Weirdly, the part that impresses me the most is that the mod’s major boss fights all have their own music now, along with a main menu theme. Expect to hear the new tunes when you throw down with these heavily redesigned villains. You can get a peek at most of them in their pre-update, pre-soundtracked forms (I especially like the Scion of the Sealed God) in this showcase video here.
Eagle-eyed Souls-likers might pick up from that video that a lot of Convergence’s bosses are clever kitbash projects. While many have all-new art assets and gameplay mechanics, their animations and behaviors are often patched together from bits borrowed from across FromSoft’s other games, from Dark Souls to Sekiro and even Bloodborne. If you know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to see what they’re pieced together from, but for those who started with Elden Ring, they’ll be largely new experiences.
>> The trailer mentioned in the article is a tad over 3 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

MARVEL Cosmic Invasion is coming to PC later this year
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/marvel-cosmic-invasion-is-coming-to-pc-later-this-year/
DotEmu announced today MARVEL Cosmic Invasion, a new frenetic action 2D beat ‘em up that will be coming to PC in 2025. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher has also shared the game’s debut gameplay trailer, which you can find below.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Sim Update 2 Beta Released, Featuring Over 1000 Tweaks, Fixes & Changes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/microsoft-flight-simulator-2024-sim-update-2-beta-released-featuring-over-1000-tweaks-fixes-changes/
Microsoft has just released Sim Update 2 Beta for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. This patch comes with over 1000 fixes, tweaks, and changes. So, let’s take a closer look at some of them.

Gameplay Teaser Trailer for Cronos: The New Dawn
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/gameplay-teaser-trailer-for-cronos-the-new-dawn/
Bloober Team has released a gameplay teaser trailer for its upcoming third-person survival horror game, Cronos: The New Dawn. This trailer gives us a glimpse at some of the game’s enemies, as well as its combat mechanics. So, make sure to check it out.

STALKER 2 Title Update 1.3.1 Released, Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stalker-2-title-update-1-3-1-released-full-patch-notes/
GSC GameWorld has released Title Update 1.3.1 for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.