Besides discs going bad as Zkuq pointed out, space can also be another reason. It's far less bulky to have a NAS or an HTPC with several drives than all those discs and cases.

Besides it's also easier to load 2, 3 or as many movies as you want in a laptop to watch them in long travels (assuming you're not driving, of course).

I still have my physical discs, they are just in storage... Due to licensing legalities, I would have to delete my digital copy if I got rid of my physical.

The main benefit on why I am digitizing is A.I upscaling to improve visual quality.
1080P Blu-Ray and especially DVD's look extremely soft on an 85" 4k OLED... I can also apply a HDR pass to really let the colours and contrasts pop.
Gotten some good results on older DVD TV show boxsets that I loved like Buffy, StarGate etc'.

I try to buy UHD releases wherever possible, but not all films are guaranteed a release on that platform, UHD is generally just a straight rip unless it's a poor release like The Matrix/Pirates of the Caribbean where I might do a few extra passes to restore original colour grading and stuff.

I don't fly back until the 5th... But you may actually own more games on just Steam than I do on Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Playstation 2, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, NES, SNES, N64, WiiU, Switch, DS, 3DS, Mega Drive -and- Steam, combined.

Absolutely crazy amount. Will do a count when I get home.

Definitely slowed down my game purchasing to just games I wish to play these days though.

What software do you use? 

Samsung Catches Big Break In Its Quest To Compete With TSMC For Next-Generation Manufacturing Processes, Securing A Hefty $16.5 Billion Deal For Its 2nm GAA Wafers

https://wccftech.com/samsung-wins-2nm-gaa-chip-orders-mounting-to-a-whopping-16-5-billion-deal/

Tesla’s $16.5 Billion Samsung Chip Deal Is The “Bare Minimum,” Says Musk As He Confirms The Affair

https://wccftech.com/teslas-samsung-chip-deal-is-likely-worth-more-than-16-5-billion-says-musk-as-he-confirms-the-affair/

Snagging a huge client for Samsung is big as it will keep their fabs business afloat

Core Ultra 5 225H Trades Blows With Ryzen AI 7 350 But With Better Thermals; Arc 130T Comes On Par With Radeon 860M

https://wccftech.com/core-ultra-5-225h-trades-blows-with-ryzen-ai-7-350-but-with-better-thermals/

MSI’s Motherboard Shipments Witness Huge Growth, Matching Gigabyte With Over 10 Million Units & GPU Shipments Reaching 5 Million Units; AI Server Rollout Set to Drive Major Business Expansion as Well

https://wccftech.com/msi-motherboard-graphics-shipments-see-significant-growth/

AMD Reportedly Hikes the Price of Its Instinct MI350 AI Accelerator by a Whopping 70%, Confident It Can Compete With NVIDIA’s Top-End Blackwell GPUs

https://wccftech.com/amd-hikes-the-price-of-its-instinct-mi350-ai-accelerator-by-70-percent/

Custom 1000W ASUS BIOS Flashed On GIGABYTE RTX 5090; Noticeable Performance Gains But One Fan Stops Spinning

https://wccftech.com/custom-1000w-asus-bios-flashed-on-gigabyte-rtx-5090-noticeable-performance-gains-but-one-fan-stops-spinning/

Inno3D launches GeForce RTX 5090 & 5080 Frostbite Pro, single-slot GPUs with water blocks

https://videocardz.com/newz/inno3d-launches-geforce-rtx-5090-5080-frostbite-pro-single-slot-gpus-with-water-blocks

Doesn't this completely defeat the point of those copies being so called "digital backups"? If you were selling the disks, then it would be different, because you would be selling the ownership of the game, but what is the point of a backup that you have to delete if you get rid of the original?

Even if the physical copy stops working it would be considered an owned/licensed product. You could still use the digital copy even with a defunct disc, in theory.

Here come the Monday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Team Fortress 2 gets a boost on Steam charts with summer update, including a slew of community creations
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/team-fortress-2-gets-a-boost-on-steam-charts-with-summer-update-including-a-slew-of-community-creations/
Even after all this time, Team Fortress 2 can still hold its own on Steam's top sellers chart. It got a boost this week thanks to an update on July 24, which included a trove of community-created content. TF2 bounced up into the top 10 on Steam's top sellers chart for a few days and is currently holding its ground in the top 20.
So, despite worries that Valve has forgotten about TF2, it's clearly still alive and well. The July 24 update included 10 new maps, 23 new items, four new taunts, and 14 new Unusual effects (seven for hats, seven for taunts), all of which were community contributions. There's also the usual general fixes and balancing updates.
It comes after an ominous June blog post where Valve put out a call for community submissions for a "much-needed update" slated for August 27. Valve also alluded to a second major update coming sometime around Halloween. The July update is a smaller prelude to those, so there's still time to get your community submissions in for the August update.

9 million people have played Oblivion Remastered, and you've gotta think that number has Bethesda looking at its other old games and drooling
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/9-million-people-have-played-oblivion-remastered-and-youve-gotta-think-that-number-has-bethesda-looking-at-its-other-old-games-and-drooling/
In what might indicate a deep inner yearning on our part to return to our childhoods, Bethesda and Virtuos' soigné redo of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion has hit the nine million player milestone. That is (PCG's Harvey Randall informs me) almost double the population of Norway. Which is also an indictment of Norway. Why do I live in England when there's so much space in the fjords? Make some room over there.
Bethesda announced it had hit the big nine-oh (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) on social media last Friday, with some rather charming art of the Adoring Fan and his criminal hairstyle, shocked and pleased by the sheer number of people who have popped into Cyrodiil to collect Nirnroot, kill 12 Rumare slaughterfish, and generally do everything except the main quest.

Steam has 5 new deals and two events/sales:

• Aquarium Designer is going to be 70% off until the 31st of July: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1339000/Aquarium_Designer
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge will have a 40% discount until the 4th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361510/Teenage_Mutant_Ninja_Turtles_Shredders_Revenge
• Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition will be 30% off until the 10th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2556990/Beyond_Good__Evil__20th_Anniversary_Edition
• Deadlink, that has a demo, gets a 45% discount until August 10: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1676130/Deadlink
• Clone Drone in the Danger Zone, that also has a demo, will be 70% off until the 10th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/597170/Clone_Drone_in_the_Danger_Zone
• These are the sales/events:
  • Spike Chunsoft celebrates a STEINS;GATE Sale, with all the games having an 80% discount until the 3rd of August: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32618574/sale/SC_SGday25
  • Tokyo Game Dungeon 9 Showcase has lots of upcoming games to discover, plus 3 titles on sale. The showcase will last until the 10th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44802688/sale/TokyoGameDungeon9

Humble Bundle has launched the Pixel % Cartoon Enthusiasts GOG Bundle, with 14 games to get for GOG during 11 dats: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/pixel-and-cartoon-enthusiasts-bundle.

And Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Grow: Song of the Evertree, 83% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/grow-song-of-the-evertree
• The Killer Bundle (Summer 2025) has 4 games with a 96% discount during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/killer-bundle#bundle-ended-Killer%20Bundle%2022

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Super Mario Galaxy Unreal Engine 5 PC Fan Tech Demo Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/super-mario-galaxy-unreal-engine-5-pc-fan-tech-demo-released
Now here is something truly special for our Mario fans. YouTube’s Syrus212 has recreated the Gateway Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy in Unreal Engine 5. Not only that, but you can go ahead and download this fan demo, so that you can try it yourselves.
I strongly suggest downloading this fan demo right now. Stop reading and get it while it’s still up. We all know Nintendo. So, if this story goes viral, it’s 100% guaranteed it will take it down. So, before that happens, you should download and save it.
Going into slightly more details, this fan demo lets you explore the Gateway Galaxy. Players will control Mario, and they will be able to run and jump. The planet also has various places to visit. Not only that, but the artist has used the original voice of Mario from Super Mario Galaxy. Yup, this won’t stay up for long.
You can download this fan-made tech demo from this link. Since it’s unlikely we’ll ever get an official PC version of Super Mario Galaxy, it’s really cool to see a fan remake like this. It would also be fun to compare this version with the original game running on PC at 4K using an emulator.
>> The article has a 3 minutes video.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Path Tracing Mod V0.1 Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-path-tracing-mod-v0-1-released
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘3DNomad LLC’ released the first version of his RTX Remix Mod for this classic The Elder Scrolls game. This mod adds real-time Path Tracing effects to it. So, if you are a fan of it, you should definitely check it out.
Version 0.1 updates the light sources in Imperial Prison Ship, Seyda Neen, Balmora, and partially in Vivec. It also updates 300+ individual 3D models. Plus, it packs some placement adjustments.
In future versions, the modder plans to finish the Light Sources and 3D Models. overhaul the Water material. He also aims to improve the rendering and add baking for model optimization.
As you can see, this is a very early version of this mod for Morrowind. Still, some of our Morrowind fans may want to give it a go. You can go ahead and download it from here. You can find the download link in the Summary. Just make sure to read its installation instructions. At the end of the article, you can also find a video for it. So, make sure to watch it.

First Version of BioShock RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/first-version-of-bioshock-rtx-remix-path-tracing-mod-released
BioShock fans, here is something special for you today. Modders ‘skurtyyskirts’ and ‘watbulb’ have released a demo for the RTX Remix Mod for the first classic BioShock game. This mod will add real-time Path Tracing to this classic FPS. As such, it’s a must for all of its fans who who’d love to see a remake of it.
The first version of the BioShock RTX Remix Mod is called an experimental restoration. It uses RTX Remix to upgrade the game’s graphics with better-looking materials (PBR assets). It also includes a custom-made tool that helps RTX Remix work properly with the game.
BioShock uses Unreal Engine 2.5 and relies heavily on shaders for its graphics. Because of this, getting it to work with RTX Remix isn’t easy. Modders had to create a special compatibility wrapper. This tool sits between BioShock and RTX Remix and helps the two work together by changing or skipping things that RTX Remix can’t normally handle.
As the modders noted, the demo has hundreds of new textures and assets. These have been recreated by hand with physically-based properties, from the grand halls of the Kashmir Restaurant to the smallest pieces of debris on the ocean floor. Right now, you can find these new assets up to the Floodlight Theatre area.
Most of the lighting in the demo has been updated. Some lights now glow using special effects, while others use lights placed in the world. Dynamic lights are brought back as best as possible using the compatibility mod, even if the game engine works differently.
>> The article has some screenshots and a 4 minutes video.

New RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod Released for Max Payne
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-rtx-remix-path-tracing-mod-released-for-max-payne
Back in September 2024, we shared a cool RTX Remix Mod for Max Payne. Sadly, it hasn’t been updated in almost a year. But don’t worry, Max Payne fans. A new RTX Remix Mod is now being worked on, and you can try a demo of it right now.
This new RTX Remix Mod lets you play the entire game with Path Tracing. However, since it’s a demo, it has some limitations.
Right now, you will only find hand-crafted PBR materials in the Roscoe Street Station. In future versions, the modder plans to add more of them for the rest of the game. There is also a newly modeled and textured train.
As I said, the good news is that all of the game’s chapters support Path Tracing. There are some issues at some levels, though. For example, Chapters 4, 5, and 6 have issues, and you’ll need to toggle the default game lights back on to play them.
Now, contrary to the previous RTX Remix Mod, this one retains the art style of the original game. At the end of the article, you can find a comparison between the path-traced and the vanilla versions of Max Payne. As you will see, the path-traced version manages to enhance the look and feel of the game. At the same time, its art style remains similar to it. This should please a lot of people who were annoyed by the unique look of the previous RTX Remix Mod.
>> The comparison mentioned in the article is an almost 2 minutes video.

Super Mario Bros. Remastered is coming to PC on September 13th
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/super-mario-bros-remastered-is-coming-to-pc-on-september-13th
YouTube’s ‘JoeMama’ and a team of modders are currently working on a fan remake of the classic NES Mario game, Super Mario Bros., for PC. Titled Super Mario Bros. Remastered, this will give new life to the classic Mario game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
According to the team, Super Mario Bros. Remastered has been recreated from the ground up. As such, it will have improved physics, audio, and graphics. It will also have support for full wide-screen monitors. As such, you will see more of the level now on your PC monitor screens.
Perhaps one of its coolest things will be the fact that you can use resource packs to change how it looks and sounds. For instance, you can use a pack to make it look like the SNES version of Super Mario World. Or you can use other packs to change the look and feel of it.
Not only that, but it will also come with a Level Editor that will allow you to create your own levels. My guess is that there will be a way to share the levels players create with other people. Still, even if you can’t do that, the Level Editor will allow you to experiment with it.
Super Mario Bros. Remastered will include The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. Special, and an overhauled All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros.
The modders claim that Nintendo will not be able to take it down. They said they took steps to ensure Nintendo won’t be able to shut it down. As such, Super Mario Bros. Remastered will not have any game assets. To work, it will require a ROM of the original NES game. In other words, it will be similar to the N64 recompilation projects. And, since those are still up, we can assume that this fan remake will also be able to avoid Nintendo’s hammer.
Super Mario Bros. Remastered is coming to PC for free on September 13th. Below, you can also find a trailer for it. This trailer highlights most of its features. So, be sure to watch it as it can give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect from it.
>> Be careful when looking up for a ROM of the game.

GAMING NEWS

Closed Beta launched for the Unreal Engine 5-powered 3D anime-style, hero-based tactical shooter, Fate Trigger
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/closed-beta-launched-for-the-unreal-engine-5-powered-3d-anime-style-hero-based-tactical-shooter-fate-trigger
Saroasis Studios has launched the Closed Beta for its 3D anime-style, hero-based tactical shooter that uses Unreal Engine 5, Fate Trigger. Moreover, the devs shared the PC requirements for this new hero shooter. So, let’s take a closer look at them.

First gameplay trailer for Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-alien-rogue-incursion-evolved-edition
Survios has released the first official gameplay trailer for the non-VR version of Alien: Rogue, Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition. This new Alien game is coming to PC on September 30th, so make sure to watch its trailer if you are a fan of the franchise.

Here are 22 minutes of new gameplay from Phantom Blade Zero
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-22-minutes-of-new-gameplay-from-phantom-blade-zero
YouTube’s ‘s1mple s1mple’ has shared a video, showcasing 22 minutes of new gameplay footage from Phantom Blade Zero. This video seems to show off the first area and enemies that players will encounter in it.

Almost an hour of pre-alpha PC gameplay from Battlefield 6
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/almost-an-hour-of-pre-alpha-pc-gameplay-from-battlefield-6
YouTube’s ‘xLokord’ has shared a video, showcasing almost an hour of gameplay footage from the latest pre-alpha multiplayer build of Battlefield 6. So, if you are currently looking forward to this new BF game, you should definitely watch it.

Here are 7 minutes of new gameplay from Lost Soul Aside
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-7-minutes-of-new-gameplay-from-lost-soul-aside
YouTube’s ‘A9VG’ has shared a video, showcasing 7 minutes of brand new gameplay footage from Lost Soul Aside. This is a Chinese hands-on video preview, so most of you won’t understand anything at all. Still, you watch the new gameplay footage that is featured in it.

STALKER 2 Update 1.5.2 Now Available, Full Patch Notes Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stalker-2-update-1-5-2-now-available-full-patch-notes-detailed
A couple of days ago, GSC GameWorld released a new update for STALKER 2. Patch 1.5.2 is a small update that addresses a couple of issues. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection to be released on September 30th, according to Xbox App
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/mortal-kombat-legacy-kollection-to-be-released-on-september-30th-according-to-xbox-app
It appears that the Xbox App has leaked the release date for Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. According to the app, this collection will come out on September 30th.
Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection will feature the first four main MK games, as well as some special handheld versions of them.

The second part of the Monday gaming news:

Quarantine Zone: The Last Check has been wishlisted on Steam 1 million times, and will be published in November by Devolver Digital
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/quarantine-zone-the-last-check-has-been-wishlisted-on-steam-1-million-times-and-will-be-published-in-november-by-devolver-digital/
It's not even out yet, but zombie base management sim Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is already a certified hit. Its demo, released in May, attracted hundreds of thousands of players (myself included), received great reviews and lots of attention on social media—and has now infected over a million Steam wishlists.
>> The biggest complain from players is... the supply cart.

Elden Ring Nightreign is finally adding its missing duos mode on July 30
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-nightreign-is-finally-adding-its-missing-duos-mode-on-july-30/
While Nightreign's 5 million players have clearly proven the Elden Ring experiment a successful one, the co-op spinoff has still had one glaring flaw: No duos. Today, we know when Nightreign's original sin will finally be set right. Two-player mode is coming with patch 1.02, which will arrive in less than a week.

Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader dev Owlcat comes out swinging in support of Stop Killing Games: 'Every player deserves lasting access to what they’ve paid for'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/warhammer-40k-rogue-trader-dev-owlcat-comes-out-swinging-in-support-of-stop-killing-games-every-player-deserves-lasting-access-to-what-theyve-paid-for/
Stop Killing Games' quest to get publishers to, get this, stop killing games trundles on. In fact, things are going quite well: the campaign's EU initiative recently hit the 1.4 million signatures milestone, which should be enough—fingers crossed—to get it over the hurdle and off to the European Commission, which will have six months to reply to it.
All that gathering momentum has attracted attention. On the one hand, you've got people like Ubi boss Yves Guillemot cautiously opining that "nothing lasts forever." Of course, he probably would be iffy on it—the inciting event for Stop Killing Games as a whole was Ubisoft's shutdown of The Crew.
On the other hand, you've got folks like Owlcat, the developer behind Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader and Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, which has taken to Bluesky to give the campaign its full-throated support.

The majority of teams in the top 100 for Destiny 2's latest contest mode raid cheated—and as an MMO player, I am neither shocked nor surprised
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-majority-of-teams-in-the-top-100-for-destiny-2s-latest-contest-mode-raid-cheated-and-as-an-mmo-player-i-am-neither-shocked-nor-surprised/
It is with grim solemnity that I must share some terrible news: Destiny 2 has cheaters in it. Quite a lot of cheaters, actually—in fact, the majority of players in a top 100 ranking for the contest mode of The Desert Perpetual raid are stinkin', filthy, no-good hackers, why I oughtta.
As spotted by @aquativityy on X (thanks, Forbes), RaidHub's top 100 leaderboard has narced tremendously on the top percentile of the Destiny 2 playerbase. You can see a full Google doc being assembled in real-time here, which has spotted some blatant signs of skullduggery.

Gabe Newell says he founded Valve after Doom showed him Microsoft 'was missing the opportunity' offered by the internet: 'I was willing to sort of put my money where my mouth was'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/gabe-newell-says-he-founded-valve-after-doom-showed-him-microsoft-was-missing-the-opportunity-offered-by-the-internet-i-was-willing-to-sort-of-put-my-money-where-my-mouth-was/
We all know the story of how Valve was founded. Gabe Newell, born beneath a rainbow on Mt Paektu, was visited by an archangel in his quarters and charged to build Half-Life. Then he was charged to build a Half-Life patch tool called Steam that remains inexplicably popular to this day. In return, he was blessed with 800 sacred knives and a superyacht, which he uses to travel the globe like Cain, battling his enemies.
Or so I thought, anyway. But in a new interview with YouTuber Zalkar Saliev (TikTok, IG), Newell chatted about the circumstances that led to Valve's birth in much more mundane terms. Turns out, the germ that would become Valve got its start when Newell—then working at Microsoft—was trying to convince people that maybe not every app needed its own bespoke interface and approach to graphics acceleration tech, and how he convinced them using Doom.
>> Another story: he wanted to be a doctor before he went to visit his brother at Msoft.

Dune: Awakening 'temporarily' disables Steam Family Sharing, potentially through the end of 2025: 'We have unfortunately seen this feature abused frequently'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-temporarily-disables-steam-family-sharing-potentially-through-the-end-of-2025-we-have-unfortunately-seen-this-feature-abused-frequently/
Survival MMO Dune: Awakening got off to a strong start in June, but here at the tail end of July it's gotten stuck in a bit of quicksand. Even making changes to the controversial chopper-heavy endgame hasn't stopped recent Steam reviews from sliding to "Mixed," and despite several patches to squash exploits and hackers, cheating and griefing remains a problem.
A bit more bad news arrived today: Steam Family Sharing for Dune: Awakening has been switched off.
"We would like to share a quick update on cheats and exploits and inform you that we’re temporarily disabling Family Sharing," publisher Funcom posted on Steam and Discord, adding that it relates to the effort to prevent cheating: "We have unfortunately seen this feature abused frequently."

Fans claim Blizzard's new Diablo Immortal x Hearthstone art was made with generative AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fans-claim-blizzards-new-diablo-immortal-x-hearthstone-art-was-made-with-generative-ai/
The ear is the most convincing part of Reddit user Ipyreable's post that claims artwork posted by official Diablo Immortal social media accounts was created with generative AI. Human ears simply do not look like that, even in the fantasy universes of Warcraft and Diablo.

'The age of gameplay mechanics has already passed' says Shadow of The Colossus director as he praises Katamari Damacy creator's new game for not being systems-driven
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/the-age-of-gameplay-mechanics-has-already-passed-says-shadow-of-the-colossus-director-as-he-praises-katamari-damacy-creators-new-game-for-not-being-systems-driven/
Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is known for making unusual games, and his latest digital escapade To a T is no different. Players assume the role of a teenager stuck in a T-pose as they try to navigate everyday life via interactive scenes like brushing their teeth and eating breakfast.
(...)
This simple, thematically driven approach also enamoured another venerable Japanese developer, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus director Fumito Ueda. Recently, the two got together with Denfaminicogamer (via Automaton Media) to chat about To a T's design, leading Ueda to declare that "the age of gameplay mechanics has already passed".

After a forgettable launch, Ubisoft's Avatar game is getting a huge new update later this year, introducing new game plus and a third-person mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/after-a-forgettable-launch-ubisofts-avatar-game-is-getting-a-huge-new-update-later-this-year-introducing-new-game-plus-and-a-third-person-mode/
I liked Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora more than I expected I would when it rumbled into Steam's digital jungle back in 2023. (...)
In fact, I was surprised the game's launch was so muted, squeezed into the end of December with seemingly little marketing fanfare from Ubisoft. It seemed like the game was fairly quickly forgotten about too, generating relatively little discussion, and without much evident support from developer Massive beyond releasing a couple of paid DLC patches.
But quiet doesn't necessarily mean inactive, and it seems Massive has been busy behind the scenes. An update released in April overhauled the game's Hunter's guide, and now Massive has revealed an even larger update coming later this year, one that will add two of the community's most hotly requested features to the game.

Crash Bandicoot's original lead programmer reckons the overhauled N. Sane Trilogy 'got almost everything right' except for one tiny detail: 'they completely botched how jumping works'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/crash-bandicoots-original-lead-programmer-reckons-the-overhauled-n-sane-trilogy-got-almost-everything-right-except-for-one-tiny-detail-they-completely-botched-how-jumping-works/
Crash Bandicoot's overhauled N. Sane Trilogy was generally well received when it released back in 2017, and marked the first time that PlayStation's jorts-clad mascot somersaulted onto PC. But there has long been suspicion that something ain't right with Crash's jumping in Vicarious Visions' remake, with numerous Reddit threads complaining that the game's platforming is weirdly trickier than it was back in the PlayStation era.
Various theories have been floated regarding why this might be the case. User Kunikunatu suggested it could be due to changes to Crash' hitbox a few years ago, and back when the N. Sane Trilogy launched, KillingLechu pondered whether its "hold X to jump higher" mechanic might be "a little bit overworked."
Well, it turns out that KillingLechu may have been onto something, if the words of Naughty Dog co-founder and original lead programmer Andrew Gavin are anything to go by. In a post on LinkedIn, Gavin wrote that the Crash Bandicoot remake "got almost everything right. Except the most important 30 milliseconds."

Total War: Warhammer 3's siege rework beta is live now and runs into August, letting you have your say on pocket ladder prohibition, battle AI improvements, and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-3s-siege-rework-beta-is-live-now-and-runs-into-august-letting-you-have-your-say-on-pocket-ladder-prohibition-battle-ai-improvements-and-more/
Total War: Warhammer 3's Siege Rework beta has officially begun digging its sapper's tunnels beneath the walls of the base game. Creative Assembly is currently testing numerous major changes to how sieges function, opening the overhaul up for players to try themselves and provide feedback.

Remember the guy who lost a bitcoin wallet worth millions in a landfill? There's a game about that now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/remember-the-guy-who-lost-a-bitcoin-wallet-worth-millions-in-a-landfill-theres-a-game-about-that-now/
One Man's Trash is a game inspired by that one guy who lost hundreds of millions in bitcoin in a landfill and then later tried to buy the landfill.
In it, you dig into a junk pit with a vacuum "in a desperate (and probably delusional) hunt for your lost 'PitCoin' fortune."

Bethesda promises 'exciting things' ahead for Starfield while releasing the teeny-tiniest patch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/bethesda-promises-exciting-things-ahead-for-starfield-while-releasing-the-teeny-tiniest-patch/
After no news on Starfield at the Xbox Games Showcase last month, Bethesda has finally given fans the briefest of updates on the game's future. In the patch notes for update 1.15.222 posted on Steam on July 22, Bethesda stated, "We’re continuing work on future updates and will share more about the exciting things we have planned for Starfield in the coming months."

Rematch devs call it a 'samurai game' and give a timeline for player reports, new ranked queues
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/rematch-devs-call-it-a-samurai-game-and-give-a-timeline-for-player-reports-new-ranked-queues/
Small-squad soccer game Rematch has blown up—no, really, it's huge—over the last month since it released.
Fascinatingly, developer Sloclap was also responsible for Sifu, the time-bending 2022 kung fu game. In a recent Reddit post updating Rematch's now quite large community on its development, Sloclap addressed its opinion about the relationship between the two as fighting games of a sort.

Techland bumps back Dying Light: The Beast release by a month 'to allow for extra polishing work'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/techland-bumps-back-dying-light-the-beast-release-by-a-month-to-allow-for-extra-polishing-work/
Fans of Dying Light 2 will have to wait a little bit longer for the highly anticipated DLC-turned-sequel Dying Light: The Beast. Developer Techland announced on July 24 that the game's release date has been delayed by four weeks, moving it back to September 19.

And here’s the third part of the gaming news:

These fanmade reload animations for Abiotic Factor are so good the game's own art director praises them: 'You absolutely nailed the vibe I was going for'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/these-fanmade-reload-animations-for-abiotic-factor-are-so-good-the-games-own-art-director-praises-them-you-absolutely-nailed-the-vibe-i-was-going-for/
Half-Life-inspired survival game Abiotic Factor cascaded into a 1.0 launch earlier this week, earning itself an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating on Steam, and a whopping score of 92 in our Abiotic Factor review. Our intrepid brainiac Morgan Park called it "one of the greatest survival crafting games ever made, and by far my favourite," praising its combination of rich survival systems with an enormous tech tree and a Black Mesa-style setting that continuously rewards exploration.
In short, Abiotic Factor is excellent. But it seems there's still room for improvement within the GATE Research Facility. This isn't my opinion either. It's that of the game's own art director, Connor Moran, who took to YouTube to praise a fan for improving upon their own work in a specific area of the game.

Stormgate is leaving early access before it's technically finished: 'We believe that our campaign and 1v1 are ready for a broader audience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/stormgate-is-leaving-early-access-before-its-technically-finished-we-believe-that-our-campaign-and-1v1-are-ready-for-a-broader-audience/
Stormgate developer Frost Giant Studios recently announced that its Warcraft-inspired RTS will receive its first proper single-player campaign in August, and that this juncture would mark the game's official departure from Steam early access. However, this reveal led to some confusion, as Frost Giant numbered its launch version "0.6" instead, causing players to speculate that the game was leaving early access unfinished.
Now, Frost Giant has issued an update apologising for the mix-up, while announcing that, henceforth, Stormgate updates will no longer be numbered.

Crytek says the most important difference between Far Cry and Crysis had nothing to do with technology: 'In Crysis, we mimicked nature as closely as possible'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/crytek-says-the-most-important-difference-between-far-cry-and-crysis-had-nothing-to-do-with-technology-in-crysis-we-mimicked-nature-as-closely-as-possible/
Sorry (not sorry) for rolling out this withered, ancient chestnut, but it truly is mind-blowing how good Crysis still looks today. What's even more amazing is just how advanced it looked compared to Crytek's previous game Far Cry, even though the two only released three years apart.
I always figured the difference was due to technological advancements, and certainly, Crytek devised some wild new technical features to make Crysis look as good as it did. From subsurface scattering to make leaves look translucent, to skin-shaders specifically designed to make characters blush if required, there's some amazingly specific tech running beneath Crytek's nanosuit-powered shooter.
But in the first of a series of videos celebrating Crytek's 25th anniversary, the studio says the most vital difference between Far Cry and Crysis had nothing to do with raw technical oomph.

An 'Overwhelmingly Positive' idle game about plastic ducks floating in a pool has a collectible card-game successor, and there's a demo you can play now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/an-overwhelmingly-positive-idle-game-about-plastic-ducks-floating-in-a-pool-has-a-collectible-card-game-successor-and-theres-a-demo-you-can-play-now/
I am often in a state of delighted befuddlement at the games which prove popular on Steam, but few have simultaneously thrilled and baffled me as much as the success of Placid Plastic Duck Simulator. (...) Any game that well regarded is likely to spawn a successor, and Placid Plastic Duck Simulator is no different. But dual developers turbolento games and Fantastico Studio haven't just knocked out 50 extra duck models and called it Placid Plastic Duck Simulator 2. In fact, while the developer's next game shares the plastic duck theme, it is otherwise completely different and substantially more involved.

Sony acquires a slice of the Bandai Namco pie, snagging a stake in Elden Ring
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/sony-acquires-a-slice-of-the-bandai-namco-pie-snagging-a-stake-in-elden-ring/
Sony has struck a "strategic business alliance agreement" with Bandai Namco, further strengthening its ties to Elden Ring and FromSoftware. The partnership was announced on July 24 after Sony purchased a 2.5% stake in Bandai Namco. Both companies have made it clear that anime and manga are the main focus in this partnership.

Bloody fighting game Invincible VS gets its most brutal character yet in Comic-Con trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/bloody-fighting-game-invincible-vs-gets-its-most-brutal-character-yet-in-comic-con-trailer/
Gory fighting game Invincible VS got a new gameplay trailer at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, giving us our first look at the latest addition to the playable character line-up: Battle Beast. While not a central character in the Invincible franchise, Battle Beast has made several appearances in the show and the comic books, where he is known for his fierce quest to find worthy opponents to challenge him in battle.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses a plugin called KawaiiPhysics, a free engine built to 'cutely animate things' that's used in a ton of popular games from gachas to soulslikes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-uses-a-plugin-called-kawaiiphysics-a-free-engine-built-to-cutely-animate-things-thats-used-in-a-ton-of-popular-games-from-gachas-to-soulslikes/
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is many things—heartwrenching, impressive, a love-letter to the JRPG genre, and, uh, (checking my notes) kawaii, apparently. In case you aren't uncomfortably familiar with anime—or just don't know Japanese—'kawaii' means 'cute'.
That's per the creator of Kawaii Physics, Kazuya Okada (Okazu) who noticed that, during a Sandfall Interactive lecture, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 uses his engine. Primarily designed to make anime girls look cute while they do cute stuff, it's been weaponised by Sandfall to make Gustave's coat tails look super neat (thanks, Automaton). You can see a tech demo example of KawaiiPhysics below.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers gets another patch to improve performance, though the fixes appear to be nothing more than forcing on upscaling, even when it's supposed to be off
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/wuchang-fallen-feathers-gets-another-patch-to-improve-performance-though-the-fixes-appear-to-be-nothing-more-than-forcing-on-upscaling-even-when-its-supposed-to-be-off/
New soulslike Wuchang: Fallen Feather has had the most auspicious of launches. Over on Steam, it currently enjoys a 'mostly negative' rating from over 25,000 reviews, and our Tyler reckons that while it 'brings some fun ideas to boss fights', everything else is a 'pale imitation of much better games'. Opinions are likely to take a further turn for the worse, though, as a new performance patch doesn't seem to do anything more than just force a lower rendering resolution, even if you select 100%.
That particular claim has been made by YouTube GPU guru Daniel Owen (via Reddit), and he has the evidence to back it up. Comparing the launch version to the recent 1.4 patch, Owen tested how the resolution scaling option affected the performance of Wuchang: Fallen Feather running on a GeForce RTX 3060.
>> Why wotk in further optimizations when it’s easier to do this sh*t, right?

Kung fu action game Phantom Blade Zero's has my new favorite take on hard mode balance: Beating it 'in a very beautiful manner' is the true challenge
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/kung-fu-action-game-phantom-blade-zeros-has-my-new-favorite-take-on-hard-mode-balance-beating-it-in-a-very-beautiful-manner-is-the-true-challenge/
The first time I played Phantom Blade Zero earlier this year, I was bad at it—which might've had something to do with jumping straight into a boss fight while I was still learning the controls. But over the last two days at a preview event in Beijing, I've gone from fresh-faced trainee to a wispy-bearded master, beating an hour-long demo's toughest fight on "Hellwalker" difficulty.
Okay, that's probably giving myself a little too much credit—because in a refreshing change from the sea of Soulslikes in recent years, Phantom Blade Zero is actually aiming to be more beautiful than bastard hard. Even on its toughest setting, it's not as punishing as FromSoftware's Sekiro or Shadow of the Erdtree. It's more generous with parry windows and stamina than TeamNinja's Nioh. And it's lighter on technical combos than Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden. All that is intentional, because the pain isn't meant to be the big draw.

'We proved people wrong:' After Silent Hill 2, Bloober Team's survival horror developers are no longer 'feeling like underdogs all the time'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/we-proved-people-wrong-after-silent-hill-2-bloober-teams-survival-horror-developers-are-no-longer-feeling-like-underdogs-all-the-time/
"Give us a chance," horror studio Bloober Team asked Silent Hill fans last summer.
(...)
"We are starting to stop feeling like underdogs all the time after Silent Hill," he said. "The Silent Hill era wasn't so easy in the eyes of the public. There were a lot of voices: 'Oh no, Bloober is doing this. They will destroy that.' It was very tough for the whole company to stick to our guns and put all our heart into that thing, even if most people don't want it. We proved people wrong, so that's nice.'

Overwatch 2's new China-exclusive dating sim event looks so good that players say they've been 'robbed' of the experience
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2s-new-china-exclusive-dating-sim-event-looks-so-good-that-players-say-theyve-been-robbed-of-the-experience/
Overwatch 2 is going in for round two of its Loverwatch dating sim—it first appeared two years ago on February 13. While this new iteration includes more heroes like Junker Queen and Mauga, it is, unfortunately, only available for players in China.

It's time for a new event:

https://store.steampowered.com/category/racing