The Wednesday gaming news:
SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS
More than 60% of Capcom's digital game sales last year were on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/more-than-60-percent-of-capcoms-digital-game-sales-last-year-were-on-pc/
If you've been with us for a while, you may recall that it was kind of a big deal when Capcom announced that Monster Hunter World was coming to PC. (Alas, poor Dauntless.) We had to wait a little longer for it than our console pals, but when it finally showed up it turned out to be a big hit—and suddenly Capcom was all about gaming on PC, saying in 2021 that it wanted PC to be its main platform in the future, with a target of 50% of its sales on PC by 2022, or maybe 2023.
Capcom may have been underestimating the potential for PC sales growth in those estimates, as it turns out. We already know the company posted its eighth consecutive year of record profits in its most recent fiscal report, driven by the ongoing success of Monster Hunter Wilds, but an interesting detail that went buried amidst all the numbers is just how much of a role PC sales played in that success: As noted by Tweaktown, fully 60% of Capcom's digital game sales in the company's fiscal year—and more than 54% of total game sales, including physical—belong to PC.
PC has been moving steadily upward in terms of its importance to Capcom in recent years, but this is a significant surge. In the company's previous fiscal year, for instance, PC game sales account for a little over 52% of its digital game sales, and 47% of its total sales. But the real tale of the tape is in actual unit numbers: Console digital unit sales slipped slightly, from 19.7 million in FY2023 to 18.5 million in FY2024—but PC unit sales jumped from 21.6 million units in FY23 to 28.2 million in FY24.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sells 3.3 million copies in 33 days, in case you needed any more evidence we're living in a simulation
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-sells-3-3-million-copies-in-33-days-in-case-you-needed-any-more-evidence-were-living-in-a-simulation/
It's my feeling that we live in a meaningless and random universe, at the whim of scattershot physical forces so varied we might as well not try to predict anything—but occasionally, some trick of mathematics forces me to consider whether I'm actually in a simulation, painting, or videogame. Such as the absolute mind-melter that is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's recent sales figures.
As explained on the game's official X account: "33 days ago, we released Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Since then, we’ve sold 3.3 million copies. Seriously. As of today. We couldn’t make that up."
Just to reiterate—a game called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, made by a team of almost 33 people, on its 33-day anniversary, sold 33 hundred thousand copies. There's some sort of geometric math sorcery going on here, or something. I can think of no other explanation.
The latest Fantasy Life sold over half a million copies only three days after launch, so maybe they finally made a good one
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-latest-fantasy-life-sold-over-half-a-million-copies-only-three-days-after-launch-so-maybe-they-finally-made-a-good-one/
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time sold over 500,000 copies in its first three days, even boasting thousands of "very positive" reviews on Steam. To celebrate, an illustration was shared to X alongside a post sharing the team's gratitude for those who have started a new life.
Battlefront 2's huge Steam resurgence isn't a mystery when you realize it's just really good
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefront-2s-huge-steam-resurgence-isnt-a-mystery-when-you-realize-its-just-really-good/
Star warriors of all shapes and creeds rejoice: Battlefront 2 (2017) is finally getting the love it deserves. The 8-year-old FPS is enjoying a resurgence the likes of which it's never seen—on Steam, Battlefront 2 broke its concurrent player record multiple times over the weekend, topping out at over 18,600.
That comfortably ranks Battlefront 2 among the most played games on Steam at the moment (it's also back in the top sellers list despite not going on sale). More impressive is that Steam is likely only a fraction of its total PC players, considering over 19 million people claimed a free copy from the Epic Games Store back in 2021.
Chances are, you remember DICE's Battlefront 2 as one of EA's most legendary blunders. It's inarguably one of the games that helped poison public opinion against an onslaught of loot boxes, sparked by its progression system that revolved entirely around random chance.
The feedback was so universally negative that EA ripped its premium currency out of the game pre-launch, and spent the next year reworking progression around XP and making those loot boxes free. The game's enjoyed a modest community ever since, though a recent assault by hackers made it completely unplayable for a while.
So why do people suddenly care about Battlefront 2 again? The boost from Andor's recent finale is undoubtedly a factor as folks look to glom onto anything vaguely Cassian Andor-shaped: Andor himself never made it into Battlefront 2, but the Battle of Scarif as depicted in Rogue One film sure did. Then there's the renewed fervor for a Battlefront 3, somewhat accelerated by Andor actor Muhannad Ben Amor's recent Instagram story sharing his 469-hour playtime in Battlefront 2, a game he "grew up with."
There are two new sales at GOG
Steam has three new deals and a Sale:
And Fanatical has three new 24h Flash Deals:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
New Oblivion Remastered Mod adds over 500+ hand-placed light sources to the Imperial City
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-oblivion-remastered-mod-adds-over-500-hand-placed-light-sources-in-the-imperial-city/
Modder ‘RabbitDoesStuff’ has released a really cool new mod for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. This mod adds over 500 hand-placed light sources and objects to the Imperial City. Thanks to this mod, the city now looks more realistic, especially at nighttime. The extra lights make it easier to see where you’re going, and the city feels more alive and welcoming after dark. According to the modder, this new mod will not only make it easier to see at night, but it will also make the city feel more realistic and alive. Right now, the mod improves several major areas in the game. These include the Arena District, Elven Garden, Imperial Palace, Market District, Talos Plaza, Temple District, Arboretum, and Arcane University. Each of these places now has better lighting that makes them feel more detailed and immersive. The changes help make the game world more fun to explore, especially if you like walking around the city at night. You’ll be able to see more clearly, which makes it easier to find your way and enjoy the views. But that’s not all. The modder is planning to improve even more areas in a future update. Next, he will work on the Prison District and the Arena.
>> The article has some before and after screenshots.
Valve buys fan favourite Counter-Strike map from creator: 'They reached out to buy it on day 1, a great honor and I don't want anyone to think we hesitated for one moment'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/valve-buys-fan-favourite-counter-strike-map-from-creator-they-reached-out-to-buy-it-on-day-1-a-great-honor-and-i-dont-want-anyone-to-think-we-hesitated-for-one-moment/
Cache co-creator Shawn "FMPONE" Snelling has announced that Valve has bought the map outright, following its addition to the CS2 Workshop in early March, and a mention in the background of the game's latest update. Responding to player Aqua saying "this pretty much confirms that Valve bought Cache," FMPONE confirmed the news:
"Thank you for playing Cache," said FMPONE on X. "Thank you to Sal Garozzo for allowing me to work on his original creation for so many years. Thank you to Counter-Strike for being Counter-Strike!"
Sal Garozzo, who goes by the handle Volcano, is the original creator of Cache and, in a nice full-circle moment, is the co-lead on Riot's CS2 competitor Valorant. FMPONE went on to give a little more detail on the purchase.
"Out of respect for the development team I withheld comment," said FMPONE, "but they reached out to buy it on day 1 of [the recent Workshop] release. It was a great honor and I don't want anyone to think we hesitated for one moment.
"Valve previously offered to buy the map one other time, around 2013-2015 (can't remember). They gave the option to keep it in our own hands and ride out the Operations, or let them buy it. At that time we rode out the Operations because we had total confidence in the map's popularity."
In response to a player expressing gratitude that the map would now permanently be a part of Counter-Strike, FMPONE said he "agreed completely" and "the map is in great hands now." One more query relates to a piece of graffiti, which was removed in the CS2 version, celebrating s1mple's absurd no-scope double AWP kill on Cache during ESL One Cologne in 2016: it's not in the current Workshop version, but FMPONE confirmed that "Valve has the rights to this art now as well."
Massive Morrowind mod Tamriel Rebuilt couldn't be less worried about Bethesda going for an Oblivion-style remaster: 'Modernising Morrowind would just ruin the game entirely'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/massive-morrowind-mod-tamriel-rebuilt-couldnt-be-less-worried-about-bethesda-going-for-an-oblivion-style-remaster-modernising-morrowind-would-just-ruin-the-game-entirely/
These are heady days for Tamriel Rebuilt, the 24-year-old Morrowind mod that aims to build out—in a brilliant and fanatically lore-friendly way—all the parts of the titular province that Bethesda didn't get to. The team has just put out Grasping Fortune, its ninth and biggest expansion, which adds in a humungous new landmass to explore that includes Narsis, the capital city of Morrowind's merchant House Hlaalu.
Sitting down for a chat with PCG, the team sounds more fired-up and ready to plough ahead than ever, though we're still operating on 'volunteer modding project' timelines, here. "I'm thinking we'll be done in 2035," says TR senior dev Cicero, "Just by projection.
"I've been around since 2011, 2012. I've seen what TR is like when it's slow, and I've seen what it's like when it's fast, and we've been fast since 2018. It's just been getting faster and faster and faster since then."
Cicero's not alone. If anything, his estimate is conservative. "I really feel that we can complete all of mainland Morrowind, maybe even this decade," says TR creature animator Grumbling Vomit (internet names are a treasure). "We've got a lot of momentum. Just depends on how much time is devoted to improving what has already been made vs implementing new regions."
Which sounds great to me, but you've gotta wonder if the team aren't a little bit nervous that Bethesda might follow up Oblivion Remastered—which has reportedly made several gajillion dollars—with some kind of Morrowind re-do that fractures the fanbase and sucks up a load of their potential audience.
Well, sort of. "I'm always happy to hear when Todd [Howard] says he doesn't want a Morrowind Remaster," says Cicero, "because that would just mess things up… Modernising Morrowind would just ruin the game entirely." That's a statement I agree with so hard I wrote a whole op-ed saying pretty much the same thing.
>> The article has two screenshots, but only one of them is from the mod.
GAMING NEWS
Action/strategy sandbox game with thousands of enemies on screen, Kingmakers, is coming to Steam Early Access on October 8th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/action-strategy-sandbox-game-with-thousands-of-enemies-on-screen-kingmakers-is-coming-to-steam-early-access-on-october-8th/
TinyBuildGames has announced that the action/strategy sandbox game with thousands of enemies on screen, Kingmakers, will hit Steam Early Access on October 8th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer that you can find below.
