OBS Studio 32.0 released with new plugin manager and RTX updates

https://videocardz.com/newz/obs-studio-32-0-released-with-new-plugin-manager-and-rtx-updates

NVIDIA pours $100 billion Into OpenAI mega deal, announces 10GW AI factories

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-pours-100-billion-into-openai-mega-deal-announces-10gw-ai-factories

Steam Deck is now available for just $319

https://videocardz.com/newz/steam-deck-is-now-available-for-just-319

ASUS formally launches Radeon AI Pro R9700 TURBO GPU with 32GB memory

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-formally-launches-radeon-ai-pro-r9700-turbo-gpu-with-32gb-memory

OpenAI Announces Integration of NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin AI Platform, NVIDIA Announces Investing a Whopping $100 Billion

https://wccftech.com/openai-becomes-one-of-the-first-to-announce-integration-of-nvidia-vera-rubin/

This price is wild when you think about the Legion Go 2 retailing for $1349!!!

The Tuesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

GOG presents the 505 Games Publisher Sale, with games up to 90% off during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250922_505_games_publisher_sale

Steam has one new deal that’s not part of a sale and lots of sales/events;

• Across the Obelisk will have a 50% discount until the 6th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1385380/Across_the_Obelisk
• There are 14 new Sales/Events. It’s too much. I’m sorry but you’ll have to dcheck them out by yourselves: https://store.steampowered.com/specials#tab=TopSellers
• And there are new weeklong deals

Humble Store has three new sales:

• Far Cry franchise Sale features up to 80% discounts during 5 days. All the keys are for UbiConnect, except the first one that’s for GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/far-cry-franchise-sale
• The First Berserker: Khazan is going to be 30% off during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/the-first-berserker-khazan
• And 505 Games also puts its games on sale here, with up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/505-games-publisher-sale

Fanatical has two new deals:

• Star Deal is DAVE THE DIVER, 56% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dave-the-diver
• And the 505 Games Publisher Sale is also here, with up to 92% discounts. The length of the deals vary, with some ending in 6 days and others lasting 9: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/505-games

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Aliens Colonial Marines Just Got a 10GB HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/aliens-colonial-marines-just-got-a-10gb-hd-texture-pack
Modder ‘Xenjoi85’ has released a 10GB HD Texture Pack for Gearbox’s Aliens game, Aliens: Colonial Marines. This pack upscales all of the game’s textures, which means that it’s a must-have for everyone who wants to replay it.
Going into more details, the modder has used AI tools to upscale the original textures by two times. As such, the new textures retain the art style of the original ones. At the same time, the new textures look more detailed than before.
To showcase this HD Texture Pack, Xenjoi85 shared the following comparison screenshots. These will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect from it. So, be sure to view them before downloading.

Dying Light: The Beast mod nerfs the biggest annoyance in the game: how often zombies grab you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/dying-light-the-beast-mod-nerfs-the-biggest-annoyance-in-the-game-how-often-zombies-grab-you/
Has this ever happened to you? You're a parkour expert who's been tortured by a madman for 13 years during the zombie apocalypse, but now you're free. You sprint past one of the hundreds of half-naked walking corpses in the street, but even though you're several feet away from one of them and moving much faster than it is, it instantly latches onto you.
Now instead of sprinting you're stopped in your tracks and you've got a gross monster trying to bite you in the face so you have to spend precious seconds punching it until it lets go. There's got to be a better way!
The rank-and-file infected Dying Light: The Beast are never much of a threat: they're slow, they're loud, and they don't do much damage, but man they do know how to grab you. It sounds weird to complain about a zombie grabbing you in a zombie game, I know. But the frequency in which a zombie grabs you is way, way too high in Dying Light: The Beast.
First of all, I'm Kyle Crane. I'm a big beefy boy made of muscles sprinting through a city on legs strong enough to propel me up the sides of buildings and launch people through the air when I kick them. No way some emaciated, shambling ghoul is gonna get a handhold on me while I'm freerunning, at least not as often as it happens in The Beast.
I think the real problem is the invisible radius zombies have around themselves: it really feels like they latch onto you from too far away. Even when I'm being careful running through town, there's always a few that manage to grab me from further away than they should, like they've got stretchy arms and magnet hands.
Once you're insta-grabbed, that's it, you're stopped short and it's QTE time, hammering a button (or holding it, depending on your settings) until you've punched or shoved the handsy zombie off yourself. Stopping short isn't what you want to spend your time doing in a parkour game. I'm not saying it should never happen, just that it happens way too much.
Coming to the rescue is the Don't Grab Me mod by VAXIStaa over on Nexus Mods, which will quickly put a stop to those grabby monstrosities—though not completely, which is fair. The mod comes in two convenient flavors. One version lowers the instances of getting grabbed by about 50%, so you'll still get grabbed but you'll only be annoyed half as much as you are now.
The other version is for those completely fed up with all the grabbin' (like me) and it lowers the instances of a z-grab happening down to a mere 5%. I know that feels pretty extreme, but once you've been grabbed a couple of times by the slowest zombie in the world, you'll totally get where this mod is coming from, trust me.
>> The article only has one screenshot from the game, but not the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 releases on November 14th, gets a multiplayer gameplay reveal trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/call-of-duty-black-ops-7-releases-on-november-14th-gets-a-multiplayer-gameplay-reveal-trailer
Activision announced the release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and shared its first multiplayer gameplay trailer. This trailer shows over 2 minutes of gameplay footage from the MP modes. At launch, the game will have 18 maps and 30 weapons.

WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers Patch 1.6 Released With VRAM and Performance Improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/wuchang-fallen-feathers-patch-1-6-released-with-vram-and-performance-improvements
Leenzee has released Title Update 1.6 for WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers. According to the team, this patch brings both VRAM and performance improvements. As such, the game will now run smoother on your PC.

New in-engine teaser trailer for Hideo Kojima’s OD
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-in-engine-teaser-trailer-for-hideo-kojimas-od
Now here is something that came out of nowhere. Kojima Productions has just released a new in-engine teaser trailer for its upcoming game, OD.

STALKER 2 Title Update 1.6 Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stalker-2-title-update-1-6-released-full-patch-notes
GSC GameWorld has just released Title Update 1.6 for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and shared its full patch notes. This patch adds Night Vision Goggles, Offset Aiming, and Laser Pointers to the game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

The second part of the gaming news:

Yoko Taro wanted Nier: Automata to be 'a story I'd have trouble grasping myself,' so job done, then goes on amazing extended digression about cubes and 'aspiring to perfect' them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/yoko-taro-wanted-nier-automata-to-be-a-story-id-have-trouble-grasping-myself-so-job-done-then-goes-on-amazing-extended-digression-about-cubes-and-aspiring-to-perfect-them/
Nier: Automata is one of those games you have to experience for yourself. If you haven't then beware spoilers, (...). So when director Yoko Taro says he wanted to create something that even he couldn't quite grasp, I kinda see where he's coming from.
Speaking to Archipel in a new video about his writing process, in which Taro wears his trademark "Emil" mask (a character from Nier), the creator says he had no idea where to start with Automata, other than knowing he wanted a new "starting point each time" and "something different to write" for projects.

Arc Raiders is opening its doors to everyone in a final 'Server Slam' playtest coming in October
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-is-opening-its-doors-to-everyone-in-a-final-server-slam-playtest-coming-in-october/
Arc Raiders, the game PC Gamer shooter expert Morgan Park called "the most exciting extraction shooter of 2025," is set to launch on October 30. That's not much more than a month away, but you'll have a chance to give it a go one more time before it happens in the upcoming server slam, an open-to-all playtest set to run October 17-19.

Eric Barone says he doesn't want 'too much hype' for Stardew Valley's 1.7 update, which is a bit like showing the internet a big red button marked DO NOT PRESS
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/eric-barone-says-he-doesnt-want-too-much-hype-for-stardew-valleys-1-7-update-which-is-a-bit-like-showing-the-internet-a-big-red-button-marked-do-not-press/
Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone can't help himself. (...)
***several paragraphs later***
In a new response to a fan request for a "sneak peek" Barone says "More will come. I just don't want too much hype at this point. It's going to be a while before the update is ready." The only other thing Barone added to this was an assurance they'd try to avoid the six-month gap between the PC and console release of 1.6: "I will do my best to minimize the delay between the two so as not to have the same problem as last update."

Ready or Not studio fires community manager for saying 'nothing of value was lost' following Charlie Kirk's shooting
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ready-or-not-studio-fires-community-manager-for-saying-nothing-of-value-was-lost-following-charlie-kirks-shooting/
Void Interactive, developer of the controversial SWAT simulator Ready or Not, has confirmed that it has terminated its community manager following an uproar over a comment they made in the game's Discord about Charlie Kirk's murder.

Physint, Kojima's forthcoming 'tactical espionage action game', gets a poster and an early cast list
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/physint-kojimas-forthcoming-tactical-espionage-action-game-gets-a-poster-and-an-early-cast-list/
During today's Kojima Productions 10th-anniversary livestream, Hideo Kojima unveiled a poster for forthcoming PlayStation-exclusive Physint. Unlike Death Stranding or OD, it's set to embrace the "tactical espionage action" of Kojima's classic Metal Gear Solid series.

Borderlands 4 is focusing on buffs, not nerfs—opting to 'start with underperforming gear/skills first' rather than its infinite-bleed god-knife
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/borderlands-4-is-focusing-on-buffs-not-nerfs-opting-to-start-with-underperforming-gear-skills-first-rather-than-its-infinite-bleed-god-knife/
Borderlands 4 is an FPS, sure, but first and foremost it's an ARPG—with all the intersecting build shenanigans you'd come to expect. Players have already started uncovering a few of these—for instance, if you get the right knife, you can basically instagib anything.
(...)
With such an overpowered build on the table, you might think Gearbox would be winding up to take a swing for the kneecaps with the nerf bat, but you'd be wrong. Per creative director Graeme Timmins on X, the studio will be going buffs first, nerfs later.

Another malware masquerading as a Steam game took tens of thousands from streamer's cancer recovery donations
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/streaming/another-malware-masquerading-as-a-steam-game-took-tens-of-thousands-from-streamers-cancer-recovery-donations/
This year has come with a few too many reminders that even verified storefronts like Steam can't fully protect you from malware. Where previous attempts like PirateFi got as far as stealing Steam accounts, a new malware has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of those worst affected by this latest scheme was someone raising money to fight cancer.
As reported by Tom's Hardware, a streamer named RastalandTV went live earlier this week, looking to raise $5,000 to fight stage 4 cancer. After being prompted to download a Steam game named BlockBlasters from his chat, he lost $32,000. It turns out, on August 30, that the Steam game had been injected with malware, and upwards of $100,000 was reported stolen by streamers, creators, and crypto owners.

Silksong's new patch delivers bug fixes and a soft nerf to everyone's beloved Cogfly—plus a vow to fix the awful Simplified Chinese translation with 'A new script, by a well-regarded team' in 3-4 weeks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/silksongs-new-patch-delivers-bug-fixes-and-a-soft-nerf-to-everyones-beloved-cogfly-plus-a-vow-to-fix-the-awful-simplified-chinese-translation-with-a-new-script-by-a-well-regarded-team-in-3-4-weeks/
Silksong's got a new patch. It's not much to 'shaw!' about, mind. It's mostly a list of bug fixes, such as the "Savage Beastfly in Far Fields sometimes remaining below the lava" (thank god, that boss didn't need to be any harder) or "Shaman Binding into a bottom transition causing a softlock." That happened to my buddy Jeff, once.

Here's what to expect from the World of Warcraft: Midnight alpha, kicking off on October 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/heres-what-to-expect-from-the-world-of-warcraft-midnight-alpha-kicking-off-on-october-2/
If you're ready to move on from The War Within, there's good news on the horizon: World of Warcraft's eleventh expansion, Midnight, will be temporarily available in an invite-only alpha, kicking off on October 2, and Blizzard's given us a taste of what to expect from the five phases.

Yeah, WMMA in RDNA3 was exactly what I was thinking of.

Saw that video earlier - don't remember that same scene with all the sparkling when he tested INT8 version on 7800XT had any...so it seems there is some difference how it behaves on RDNA3 vs RDNA2, although it's the same code.

I think we'll have to wait for a few days for more info, I'm guessing that FSR4 INT8 version is hot topic and that DF will be doing deep dive into it, with all the detailed comparisons.

And yeah, AMD should definitively release it officially - it seems they are skipping on RDNA4 for APU segment with everything they have on roadmap and sticking with RDNA3.5 in 2026 and going straight to RDNA5 and Zen6 in 2027.

Fucking UE5

Hopefully, future patch will solve some of the shader compilation stutter issues.

Considering only that model is cheaper, I think Valve is emptying their stores of the LCD model now.

Hopefully Valve will come with a successor in the next couple years, as it's hardware starts getting seriously dated.

They need to have APU with same memory bus as Strix Halo. One of the biggest boat anchors around improved APU performance is memory bandwith. Strix Halo has a 256-bit memory bus instead of typical 128-bit bus. Doubling the memory bandwidth would do wonders for performance. 

These are the Wednesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam celebrates all things boomer shooter with 'Boomstock 2025,' blasting up to 80% off the very best in retro-inspired FPS
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/steam-celebrates-all-things-boomer-shooter-with-boomstock-2025-blasting-up-to-80-percent-off-the-very-best-in-retro-inspired-fps/
Boomstock is here, baby, and if you are now wondering, "What is Boomstock?" I am happy to explain: It's "a celebration of booming and shooting," with new game announcements, updates, demos, and a very nice Steam sale on retro-inspired shooters.
Earlier this year we rang up a list of 10 essential boomer shooters that every FPS fan should play, and if you're a little behind on that particular homework you'll be thrilled to know that all but one of them—Quake, which feels a little ironic, somehow—is currently on sale.

Besides the Boomstock sale, Steam has these other deals and sales/events:

• Preserve will be 30% off until the 29th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2109270/Preserve
• Creatures of Ava gets a 45% discount until September 29: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2304440/Creatures_of_Ava
• TEKKEN 7 is going to be 75% off until the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/389730/TEKKEN_7
• And these are the other sales/events:
  • Konami TGS Sale has games with up to 85% discounts until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39026134/sale/konamitgssale2025
  • Capcom TGS Sale has games up to 87% off until Monday, the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33273264/sale/tgs
  • HypeTrain Autumn Sale features up to 90% discounts until September 29: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26684285/sale/HypeTrain-Autumn2025
  • And the Top Hat Studios Fall Showcase has lots of upcoming titles and 1 game on sale, 20% off until the 7th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/12668505/sale/TopHatStudiosFallShowcase

Fanatical has the new BYO Capcom Ultimate Bundle has 10 games for your 2+ game bundles during 32 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-capcom-ultimate-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.8132 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-8132

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:

• Silent Hill f

FIXED ISSUES
Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• NBA 2K26 (DX12) may experience an application crash during gameplay.
• Adobe Premiere Pro may experience an application crash while using audio enhancement features.
• PugetBench for Photoshop may experience an application crash while running the benchmark.
• PugetBench for Lightroom may experience an application crash while running the benchmark.
• Blender may experience an application hang while loading certain scenes for rendering.

Intel Graphics Software Fixed Issues:

• Enhanced Power Savings option may not be available on the Display page for certain systems with Built-in Intel Graphics.

Steam's new store look is out and is earning a mixed response: 'Thanks Valve I am a grandma using Steam on a giant old touchscreen Samsung tablet'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steams-new-store-look-is-out-and-is-earning-a-mixed-response-thanks-valve-i-am-a-grandma-using-steam-on-a-giant-old-touchscreen-samsung-tablet/
I'm beginning to think I have far-too-strong feelings about changes to Steam minutiae. Why? Because when I heard that Valve had finally unleashed its updated storefront from beta, I fired up the site so quickly you'd have thought it was giving out candy. No one should care this much about website UI updates. I do. This is my cross to bear.
Anyway, Steam's storefront update is out of beta and the frontpage is a whole lot slicker now. Also, wider. Valve has merged the two constituent parts of its old UI—that big list of categories down the left-hand side and the blue bar up top—into a single easy-to-navigate bar.
(...)
I like the look of it, though I suspect the most stalwart PC gamers among you might recoil a little at how clearly mobile-friendly the new layout is. Indeed, some of the community response on Reddit has been a little mixed. "Thanks Valve I am a grandma using Steam on a giant old touchscreen Samsung tablet," writes dogdillon, who may in fact be a grandma on a giant tablet but is more likely a sarky Steam user. "Yet another site update that gets worse on pc in favor of mobile. Bigger icons, less information, more clicks to navigate menus…" concurs hooliganmike.
Still, at least some people do like it. "Good lord, it's actually so, so much better," writes Xedronic, "and the categories tab is ACTUALLY COMPREHENSIBLE to look at!"
>> Another change is that Steam now lets you check if you have Secure Boot enabled.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fan Recreates Metal Gear Solid 3 in Red Dead Redemption 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/fan-recreates-metal-gear-solid-3-in-red-dead-redemption-2
Now here is something really cool. Modder ‘GranolaBarHD STB’ has released a new mod that lets you experience Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in Red Dead Redemption 2. This is perhaps one of the coolest mods for RDR2. As such, I highly recommend trying it.
Going into more details, this mod adds over an hour of gameplay. It has stealth gameplay mechanics similar to Metal Gear Solid 3. It recreates some cut-scenes and boss fights from the game, and it a playable story-line with objectives. And yes, its environments are similar to those of MGS3.
What’s cool about this recreation is that it perfectly blends together RDR2 and MGS3. For instance, instead of very small areas, you now get a big sandbox environment. And yes, you can also hunt some animals.
You can download the mod from this link. At the end of the article, you’ll also find a video showing a full playthrough of the mod. So, be sure to watch it if you don’t feel like downloading it yourself.

GAMING NEWS

GTA 5 NoPixel V announced in collaboration with Rockstar Games
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/gta-5-nopixel-v-announced-in-collaboration-with-rockstar-games
The team behind NoPixel, in collaboration with Rockstar Games, has announced a new version of it. NoPixel V will be coming soon to Rockstar Launcher and other PC platforms, and here is its announcement trailer.
NoPixel is one of the most popular roleplay (RP) servers for Grand Theft Auto 5. Unlike normal GTA Online, NoPixel is all about roleplay. Players create their own characters and live out their stories in the city of Los Santos.

ANANTA is an anime GTA 6-like game you should keep an eye on
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/ananta-is-an-anime-gta-6-like-game-you-should-keep-an-eye-on
Naked Rain Studio has released an official gameplay trailer for its new game, Ananta. Ananta appears to be an anime GTA-like game that will be coming to PC. And, since GTA 6 won’t be released on PC in 2026, this could very well steal its lunch.
>> It’s a 7 minute video and it looks quite good. But being free to play raises some alarms, at least for me.

Pocketpair has just announced Palworld: Palfarm
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/pocketpair-has-just-announced-palworld-palfarm
Pocketpair has just announced Palworld: Palfarm, a spin-off farming game in which you’ll get to use Pals. Players will move to an island where Pals live and have them help with farm work, cook alongside them, shop at stores they run, or gather materials to expand their farm.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties have been officially announced
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/yakuza-kiwami-3-dark-ties-has-been-officially-announced
SEGA has just announced Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. Yakuza Kiwami 3 is an official remake of Yakuza 3, which came out in February 2009 for PS3. On the other hand, Dark Ties is a brand new ale of Yoshitaka Mine from Yakuza 3 in a separate game.
>> Shikamo has made a thread about this.

Wednesday gaming news, part two:

Borderlands 4 player finds bugged interaction that can cause 'Total Existence Failure' damage to endgame bosses without a proper build—and no legendary items or crit knives to be seen
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/borderlands-4-player-finds-bugged-interaction-that-can-cause-total-existence-failure-damage-to-endgame-bosses-without-a-proper-build-and-no-legendary-items-or-crit-knives-to-be-seen/
Borderlands 4's fresh out the gun factory—which means busted interactions abound. Like, for example, the dreaded Crit Knife, which has been the terror of endgame bosses the world over. And while Gearbox isn't planning on nerfing these right now, it uh, might want to take just a tinsey winsey look at this one.
As discovered by YouTuber NickTew (thanks, IGN), it turns out you can obliterate most bosses in BL4 with a measly 25 out of the 49 skill points specced into gun damage. And even then, that's not strictly necessary.
>> So, not only does it run like sh*t, but the game is also full of holes.

Disney Dreamlight Valley's newest free update is coming next week, and will take us back to one of my favourite realms
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/disney-dreamlight-valleys-newest-free-update-is-coming-next-week-and-will-take-us-back-to-one-of-my-favourite-realms/
Disney Dreamlight Valley has announced that its next free update, Return to Beast's Castle, will be dropping on October 1. As the title suggests, it will whisk us back to the Beauty and the Beast realm, and plans to add a few fan favourite characters for us to invite to the valley.

2XKO is coming out of closed beta much sooner than expected, opening the floodgate for PC players next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/2xko-is-coming-out-of-closed-beta-much-sooner-than-expected-opening-the-floodgate-for-pc-players-next-month/
It's been almost six years and one name change, but 2XKO (formerly Project L) finally opened its doors as part of a closed beta earlier this month. If you've been one of the unlucky folk begging all your mates for an invite code to no avail, don't fret: the tag fighter is throwing open the gate to all players much sooner than I expected.

Fortnite's latest proximity chat-based mode saw thousands banned last weekend over slurs and toxic behaviour
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnites-latest-proximity-chat-based-mode-saw-thousands-banned-last-weekend-over-slurs-and-toxic-behaviour/
Maybe I'm just a big old baby, but nothing sounds more nightmarish to me than dropping into a Fortnite lobby full of teenagers and being forced to engage with them via proximity chat. Epic seemed to think it was a good idea, though, launching its Delulu mode over the weekend.
And hell, Epic was right: over 126,000 concurrent players flocked to it during its weekend stint, according to IGN, making it one of the most popular game modes on offer during that time. I suppose a lot of that's down to the hunger for something new—Blitz Royale found similar success when it first landed a couple weeks ago—though, for some, the reasons for playing are perhaps more sinister.

X-COM's creator wants to make a sequel to his spiritual successor, despite it being a 'very difficult project'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/x-coms-creator-wants-to-make-a-sequel-to-his-spiritual-successor-despite-it-being-a-very-difficult-project/
Phoenix Point is one of the X-COM tree's most interesting branches. Where Firaxis created a modern, flashy, accessible variation of the original X-COM, the series creator, Julian Gollop, took a different approach. Phoenix Point maintained the original's complexity, elevated the strategic side of things dramatically and gave us tactical battles built on a detailed physics simulation.
Unfortunately, it was rife with bugs at launch, and probably didn't get the fair shake it deserved thanks to its status as an Epic exclusive. It would take another year for it to come to Steam. Gollop remembers it as a "very difficult project".
(...)
But that doesn't mean Gollop is entirely done with Phoenix Point, and a sequel could be on the table. "Yes, I do," he says, when asked if he wants to return to Phoenix Point. "I cannot confirm either way whether that's going to be possible yet, but I certainly do"

Painkiller is coming in October with a new co-op roguelike mode that does not look very Painkiller-ish to me
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/painkiller-is-coming-in-october-with-a-new-co-op-roguelike-mode-that-does-not-look-very-painkiller-ish-to-me/
A new Painkiller was announced back in March, teasing just enough to make me think that after years of bad sequels, well, maybe this time they'd get it right. Today, Anshar Studios and 3D Realms dropped a new trailer revealing the "Rogue Angel" game mode, and it teases just enough to make me think, well, maybe not, too.

Baldur's Gate 3 now runs natively on Steam Deck thanks to a single Larian engineer who started the project after hours because he 'really wanted a smoother version of the game on Steam Deck'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/baldurs-gate-3-now-runs-natively-on-steam-deck-thanks-to-a-single-larian-engineer-who-started-the-project-after-hours-because-he-really-wanted-a-smoother-version-of-the-game-on-steam-deck/
A new Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix is live today, and it's good news for Steam Deck fans: The update features a new native Steam Deck build, which Larian says will deliver "more stable framerate, lower loading times, and smoother gameplay" on Valve's portable platform.

A week after saying it was going quiet for the rest of the year, Palworld announces a crossover with the brilliant and bloodstained shooter Ultrakill
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/a-week-after-saying-it-was-going-quiet-for-the-rest-of-the-year-palworld-announces-a-crossover-with-the-brilliant-and-bloodstained-shooter-ultrakill/
Only last week, Palworld developer Pocketpair announced that the hit survival game, which remains in early access, would be going quiet as it prepared for a full launch in 2026. Well well well… it looks like someone had a surprise up their sleeve, because today brought the announcement of an unexpected crossover, albeit with scant detail.
Palworld is collaborating with Ultrakill, a brilliant indie shooter by Arsi 'Hakita' Patala that's still in early access itself, and continuing to blow minds (the game sits at "overwhelmingly positive" on Steam with roughly 120K user reviews). Ultrakill is fast-paced, bloody, and constructed around five weapons and the intricate way their various fire modes can be comboed together. It also boasts the brilliant tagline: "Mankind is dead. Blood is fuel. Hell is full."

EU tax officials confront the most pressing legal question of our time: If you sell RuneScape gold to someone and they use it to buy a magic sword, do you still have to pay taxes?
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/eu-tax-officials-confront-the-most-pressing-legal-question-of-our-time-if-you-sell-runescape-gold-to-someone-and-they-use-it-to-buy-a-magic-sword-do-you-still-have-to-pay-taxes/
On September 11, advocate general at the Court of Justice of the European Union Juliane Kokott issued an opinion requesting a preliminary ruling from the Tax Disputes Commission under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on a case concerning that most fundamental financial quandary with which all states, federations, and empires in their might and majesty must—in time—contend: Should you have to pay taxes if you sell RuneScape gold to somebody for real money?

I wish I'd known this one stupidly simple trick when I started Baby Steps—it makes some of the harder early climbs much easier
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/i-wish-id-known-this-one-stupidly-simple-trick-when-i-started-baby-steps-it-makes-some-of-the-harder-early-climbs-much-easier/
I've only played about five hours of Baby Steps, but if there's one thing I've learned during that time, it's that you always need to have complete visibility over where Nate is putting his feet. Since this is a "walking simulator" and this logic applies to real life too, it may seem overly obvious. And it might be. Maybe I'm an idiot, but I know I'm not alone in that.
Baby Steps is played from a third-person perspective and it lets you change whether the camera is oriented to the left or right of Nate. But during the trickier traversal scenarios, such as when you're navigating a very narrow bridge or even something as thin as a tightrope, I found that it was basically essential to train that camera on Nate's feet via a top -down perspective. Just seeing Nate's legs is not enough!