Thanks, Rhonin.

To be honest, I think this may be the best option for Xbox given what's going on.

After how much they've messed up with the XOne and now the X/S, they have no chance to beat Sony in sales, and since devs will optimize (ha-ha) their games more for the console that will sell more units, having a piece of hardware that is only marginally better will not work to get the better experience.

Going with a more "boutique" machine, more expensive, but also noticeable more powerful than Sony's PS6 (and hopefully also capable of running PC games), may be their best strategy to stay in the console business while still wasting everyone's time with all the other stuff that has led them to be in this mess of a situation and few care about.

Who knows, they may even be able to sell the machine for a profit.

Aaand they're gone. That was surprisingly fast.

Unofficial NVIDIA Reflex 2 Tech Demo Reportedly Works On All RTX GPUs, Including RTX 20 Series

https://wccftech.com/unofficial-nvidia-reflex-2-tech-demo-reportedly-works-on-all-rtx-gpus-including/

“Samsung’s Fab Is More Advanced Than TSMC’s,” Claims Elon Musk, as Tesla Turns to the Korean Giant for Its Next-Gen AI5 & AI6 Chips

https://wccftech.com/samsung-fab-is-more-advanced-than-tsmc-claims-elon-musk/

NVIDIA’s AI Chips Blast Off to Space, Aiming to Harness Unlimited Solar Power and Use the Deep-Space Vacuum as a ‘Celestial’ Heatsink

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-ai-chips-blast-off-to-space-aiming-to-harness-unlimited-solar-power/

Intel’s Tom Petersen explains Xe and Arc GPU naming spaghetti, declines to discuss B770 and Celestial updates

https://videocardz.com/newz/intels-tom-petersen-explains-xe-and-arc-gpu-naming-spaghetti-declines-to-discuss-b770-and-celestial-updates

China releases 'UBIOS' standard to replace UEFI — Huawei-backed BIOS firmware replacement charges China's domestic computing goals

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/china-releases-ubios-standard-to-replace-uefi-huawei-backed-bios-firmware-replacement-charges-chinas-domestic-computing-goals

The Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam Next Fest gave one indie game a 51,500% increase in players—'1 week ago we had 3 players… thank you all so much'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/steam-next-fest-gave-one-indie-game-a-51-500-percent-increase-in-players-1-week-ago-we-had-3-players-thank-you-all-so-much/
I sometimes wonder if Steam Next Fest has run its course, if—like so much of Steam—it's become so overwhelmed by stuff that it's impossible to pick through it all and find the real gems. Is it really possible for little-known games to make a big splash anymore? I had my doubts.
And turns out I was wrong to have them, because one game that had a grand total of three players a week before the last Next Fest absolutely rocketed up the charts during the event itself. Conradical, the dev behind Desktop Defender—an idle auto-battler that perches on your desktop while you work—announced on X this week that its game had become one of Next Fest's most-played (via GamesRadar). "One week ago, we had three players".
How well did it do? Well, per the wizards of SteamDB, Desktop Defender's demo hit an all-time peak of 1,548 concurrent players during the most recent Next Fest. That's a 51,500% increase on its previous playerbase of 'three guys'. The full game, meanwhile, now has 1,244 followers—up from 22 on October 13.
That makes it, per an email sent to Conradical by Valve, one of the 50 most-played demos of the entire Next Fest event. Indeed, it's right there on Valve's post-event roundup, sandwiched between Sealchain: Call of Blood, and Motorslice. It's currently Steam's 1,148th most-wishlisted game.
It's a hell of an uplift, that's for sure. Does it show the ongoing value of Next Fest? I suppose so, but I also think it demonstrates the chaotic nature of the platform. Games sink or swim and find major success or total failure without much obvious logic (save that, you know, it helps to have made a good game and usually doesn't to have made a bad one, though even that's no guarantee of anything).

This week, the Epic Store, that is celebrating its Halloween Sale, gives away Fear the Spotlight: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/fear-the-spotlight-97656f
Next week, the free games will be Bendy and the Ink Machine and Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit.

Steam has four new deals and a sale:

• HYPERVIOLENT is going to be 20% off until the 29th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1409200/HYPERVIOLENT
• VOIN, still in Early Access, gets a 30% discount until the same 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2464530/VOIN
• Becastled will be 30% off until October, the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1330460/Becastled
• Order 13 is going to have a 50% discount until the 5th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2259310/ORDER_13
• The new sale is the Untold Tales 5th Anniversary Sale, with games up to 85% off until the 4th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41232016/sale/untoldtalesale25

There’s a new Humble Bundle: the Bandai Namco Dark Pictures & Little Nightmares Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/bandai-namco-dark-pictures-little-nightmares-bundle

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Content Warning, 43% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/content-warning
• BYO Frightmare Bundle (2025) has 17 titles to choose from for your 2+, 4+ or 6+ game bundles during the next 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-frightmare-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

With over 13,000 new games on Steam this year so far, over a third of them haven't even made enough to break even on Valve's submission fee
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/with-over-13-000-new-games-on-steam-this-year-so-far-over-a-third-of-them-havent-even-made-enough-to-break-even-on-valves-submission-fee/
Over a third of games released on Steam this year might not have even made enough money to break even on Valve's submission fee, according to Steam analytics site Gamalytic.
As reported by GamesRadar, Gamalytic estimates that almost 13,000 new entries have hit Steam since the beginning of this year, highlighted by Soulash developer Artur Smiarowski over on X. While it's not quite as many as 2024's total releases yet—last year saw a whopping 18,000 games come out—it's almost on par with 2023's 13,179 releases with a few months still to go.
An unfortunate side effect of a crap ton of new videogames is that a large chunk will, inevitably, fall to the wayside. So many, in fact, that Smiarowski's post goes on to declare that roughly 40% of 2025 Steam games didn't even make enough money ($1,000) to recoup the $100 submission fee developers or publishers have to pay to get the game on Steam in the first place.
Smiarowski also highlights that around 8% of this year's Steam games—roughly 1,140 of 'em—managed to gross over $100,000, a percentage he highlights as being pretty par for the course over the years. Considering 2025 is shaping up to be the second-biggest year of this decade in terms of raw release numbers, Smiarowski surmises that means "more developers found success each year thus far."
As GamesRadar points out, Gamalytic's methodology isn't 100% accurate by the site's own admission, thanks to Steam keeping a relatively tight lid on a lot of its data. The less popular a game is, the less accurate estimations Gamalytic has for it. It's still an interesting overall glimpse at the state of things though, and the somewhat depressing (if not all that surprising) revelation that it's freaking hard to get your videogame noticed in an ever-enlarging crowd.
>> Many shattered hopes and dreams.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

PlayStation 4 Emulator shadPS4 0.11.1 Is Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/playstation-4-emulator-shadps4-0-11-1-is-available-for-download
The team behind the best PlayStation 4 emulator, shadPS4, has released a new version of it. Version 0.11.1 comes with lots of improvements, so let’s take a look at it.
shadPS4 V0.11.1 can now run Bloodborne without crashing. This means that you can finally play the entire game, from start to finish, without any crashes. This is huge news for all Bloodborne fans.
(...)
But what about other PS4 games? Well, Ratchet & Clank can now launch and go in-game. Previously, this PS4-only game could not run at all. Performance does not seem to be great right now. Still, this is huge progress.
Then we have Konami’s PT. PT runs almost as well as the PS4 version with 60FPS. There are some slight visual issues here and there. However, PC gamers can finally experience the original PT demo. Well, that is if you can find the demo, as Konami has taken it down.
God of War 3 Remastered now runs better than before. Still, this game is nowhere close to being described as playable. There are a lot of stutters and visual issues.
It’s really amazing to see The Last Guardian running on the newest version of shadPS4. The team has fixed a lot of bugs and visual problems that used to affect the game. It’s still not perfect, but it already runs really well. I don’t think we’ll get to fully play it in 2025 (since it’s already October), but the progress so far is truly impressive.
Driveclub is another PS4-exclusive game that seems to run great on shadPS4. On the other hand, The Order 1886 is nowhere close to being playable. The PS4 emulator can launch it and go in-game. However, it suffers from a lot of visual issues.
All in all, I’m pleasantly surprised by what the shadPS4 team has managed to achieve. So, this is the best time to download it and experiment with it. It will allow you to see how most of them currently run on PC. You won’t be able to fully enjoy all of these PS4 games. Still, this is a great entry point for everyone who wants to try it.
You can go ahead and download shadPS4 from this link. Do note that the latest public version is V0.11.0. Version 0.11.1 is a pre-release version. To download it, you’ll have to set Update Channel to Nightly. Then, you’ll be able to download V0.11.1.
>> The article has a 40 minutes video showing the improvements of this new version.

The new Painkiller is out now and it's not great, but that's okay because the old Painkiller still is and there's a fantastic new mod that makes it look like a brand-new game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-new-painkiller-is-out-now-and-its-not-great-but-thats-okay-because-the-old-painkiller-still-is-and-theres-a-fantastic-new-mod-that-makes-it-look-like-a-brand-new-game/
The new Painkiller is out now on Steam, and it brings me no pleasure to say that it's really not very good—although it does at least maintain the 20-year streak of Painkiller follow-ups being pale, flaccid imitations of the original.
Painkiller—intended as a reboot, I guess, hence coming to the table with the same unmodified name as the original—isn't a bad game, strictly speaking. I've only played the now-vanished demo that was available during the Steam Next Fest and so my thoughts are based strictly on that, but based on my time with it the new game seems like a reasonably competent, utterly unremarkable Doom-style co-op shooter.
(... scrolling down way too much...)
Painkiller Black on a modern (well, Windows 11-capable) PC runs well and looks fantastic. (...)
The only issue I had was an inability to run the game in 4K. At 1080p, Painkiller—the old one—flowed like water on glass, but setting the resolution to 4K brought the whole thing to a near-standstill: The menu was literally running at a seconds-per-frame pace, and getting it back to a functional lower resolution was a real test of patience. It turns out that this is a known problem with the old game, and my pursuit of a fix led me to discover something very interesting: The Painkiller RTX Remix mod.
Painkiller RTX Remix is transformative. Painkiller looks great for a 20-year-old game, as I said, but the RTX Remix mod makes it look new. Lighting, reflections, shadows, enhanced enemies—it's an across-the-board update that literally made me say "holy shit" out loud. And I'm not alone in making that assessment: In August, Nvidia awarded Painkiller RTX Remix the "best overall" prize in its RTX Remix mod contest, a triumph that brings not just bragging rights but also a $20,000 prize for the dev team.
Now, a note of caution: Painkiller RTX Remix is a work in progress, and it was very janky during my time with it. It crashed when trying to load pre-mod saves, and sometimes when loading between levels, too. But when it worked (and to be clear, I put no effort into trying to troubleshoot, I just wanted to squeeze in a few levels for testing), holy shit. It was jaw-dropping, and the game's performance seemed untouched—I have no idea about frame rates but it was smooth as glass and that's good enough for me. If you had told me this was a Nightdive job, I'd have believed it.
>> The article has the trailer of the new game and a 2 minutes video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

No Man’s Sky Breach Update Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/no-mans-sky-breach-update-released-full-patch-notes
Hello Games has released the Breach Update for No Man’s Sky. To celebrate this release, the team shared a new trailer for it. Moreover, it shared its full patch notes. So, let’s take a look at it.
In Breach, players will explore a dark, empty universe filled with the wrecks of destroyed corvette ships. These ships are perfect for scavenging. You can collect parts and add them to your own ship-building toolkit. By exploring these wrecks, you’ll find many different corvette pieces, including rare vertical parts that let you create brand-new ship designs and unleash your creativity.

Thursday gaming news, part two:

Surprise! The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted returns with fantastic announcements and reveals December 4
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/surprise-the-pc-gaming-show-most-wanted-returns-with-fantastic-announcements-and-reveals-december-4/
My gosh, has it been a year already? Time just flies when you've been playing fantastic games like Citizen Sleeper 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Blue Prince. These are all games our esteemed Council of industry veterans put on the Most Wanted list last year, but they're old news now, and it's time to look ahead.
Luckily for you, the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted 2025 is coming right up, broadcasting Thursday, December 4 at 12pm PST, 3pm EST, and 8pm GMT, showing off all the most hotly anticipated titles that will be coming out in the final weeks of December, next year, and beyond.

Ubisoft has come up with a new way to avoid saying the word 'layoffs,' with a 'voluntary career transition program' offer that some employees won't be able to refuse
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ubisoft-has-come-up-with-a-new-way-to-avoid-saying-the-word-layoffs-with-a-voluntary-career-transition-program-offer-that-some-employees-wont-be-able-to-refuse/
Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment, the developer of The Division games, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, says it has "realigned" its teams and resources "to strengthen our roadmap, ensuring our continued focus on The Division franchise and the technologies, including Snowdrop and Ubisoft Connect, that power our games." And if you think that sounds like layoffs are coming, well, so do I, but it hasn't actually happened yet.
As exercises in corporate bafflegab go, this one is a doozy. Here's the whole thing from LinkedIn, so you can appreciate it fully:
As part of our ongoing evolution and long-term planning, we have recently realigned our teams and resources to strengthen our roadmap, ensuring our continued focus on The Division franchise and the technologies, including Snowdrop and Ubisoft Connect, that power our games.
To support this transition responsibly, we introduced a voluntary career transition program, giving eligible team members the opportunity to take their next career step on their own terms, supported by a comprehensive package that includes financial and career assistance.
>> If this wasn’t about people losing their jobs, it could actually be funny to see how they twist the message to make it look something else.

'I will not revive anyone wearing this skin': Battlefield 6 players blast an upcoming blue camo skin they believe already breaks DICE's 'grounded' cosmetics promise
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/i-will-not-revive-anyone-wearing-this-skin-battlefield-6-players-blast-an-upcoming-blue-camo-skin-they-believe-already-breaks-dices-grounded-cosmetics-promise/
Battlefield 6 scored a lot of points with series fans when DICE announced that its cosmetics would be "grounded," defying the norms of an FPS scene inundated with ugly crossover bundles. By the low standards of the time, it's fair to say the studio has kept its word so far, but some fans think Battlefield 6 is already tumbling down a slippery slope.
On a Battlefield subreddit thread that's already amassed 11,000 upvotes and thousands of comments, folks are blasting a particular kin spotted in an early build of Season 1, which begins October 18. "Wicked Grin" is a variant of a default NATO assault outfit with a bright blue camo pattern. Its in-game description suggests it'll be given away as a free store gift.

Rainbow Six Siege X creative director talks PvE and cheating: 'we need to be faster' to combat cheat makers, but they'll never be eliminated entirely
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/rainbow-six-siege-x-creative-director-talks-pve-and-cheating-we-need-to-be-faster-to-combat-cheat-makers-but-theyll-never-be-eliminated-entirely/
When Rainbow Six Siege morphed into the free-to-play Rainbow Six Siege X back in June, it wasn't the brave new beginning some had hoped for. Players didn't like how currency gain slowed to a crawl (that has since been fixed) and server woes were widely reported. But one of the enduring complaints about Siege X is that the shift to free-to-play has triggered a huge uptick in cheating.
I caught up with Siege creative director Alexander Karpazis at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Games Show last week. I asked if the team at Ubisoft Montreal expected cheating to surge to the extent that it did in June.

Suspicious Scarface: The World is Yours re-release taken off Steam and Epic, along with a community announcement that has also vanished without a trace
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/a-publisher-nobodys-heard-of-has-unintentionally-re-released-2006s-scarface-the-world-is-yours-early-and-im-not-so-sure-bout-this-one-boss/
A mere day has passed since this article's initial publishing, and already the Scarface: The World is Yours listings have vanished without a trace. Both the Steam and Epic Games Store pages have been taken down, and a community announcement, preserved here by Wario64, has similarly been swept out of existence.

As FBC: Firebreak fails to recover from its disastrous launch and profit warnings are issued to shareholders, the CEO of Remedy Entertainment is stepping down
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/as-fbc-firebreak-fails-to-recover-from-its-disastrous-launch-and-profit-warnings-are-issued-to-shareholders-the-ceo-of-remedy-entertainment-is-stepping-down/
It's been a strange few years for Remedy Entertainment.
(...)
Now, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala has announced he's stepping down after 9 years in the role, as reported by GamesIndustry.
The company hasn't revealed, of course, the reason for Virtala leaving, but it's hard not to draw a connection to those recent troubles. What was supposed to be a bold new step for Remedy instead became perhaps its biggest ever embarrassment—it's likely that someone had to take the responsibility for that.
>> Let’s hope he is the only one at Remedy to lose its job over the FBC: Firebreak failure.

I don't know how Jizz missed it, but there's a contest/competition to win an AsRock RC 9070XT:

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-is-giving-away-five-radeon-rx-9070-xt-monster-hunter-themed-gpus

Also, The ROG Xbox Ally... runs better on Linux (at 17W)

https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/handheld-gaming/rog-xbox-ally-runs-better-on-linux-than-the-windows-it-ships-with-new-test-shows-up-to-32-percent-higher-fps-with-more-stable-framerates-and-quicker-sleep-resume-times

Intel Core Ultra 5 338H Spotted Boasting Arc B370 Graphics; On Par With Radeon 880M

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-5-338h-spotted-boasting-arc-b370-graphics-on-par-with-radeon-880m/

Intel’s Chip Supply Will “Be Depleted” by Q1 2026, Reveals CFO David Zinsner, as PC & Server CPU Demand Skyrockets Beyond All Expectations

https://wccftech.com/intel-chip-supply-will-be-depleted-by-q1-2026/

Intel Nova Lake CPUs Bring New Architecture & Software Upgrades, First Panther Lake SKUs This Year, 18A To Cover At least Next-Three Client & Server Products

https://wccftech.com/intel-nova-lake-cpus-new-architecture-software-upgrades-first-panther-lake-skus-this-year-18a-next-three-client-server-products/

AMD Officially Prices Radeon AI PRO R9700 At $1299; Launch Date Announced

https://wccftech.com/amd-officially-launches-radeon-ai-pro-r9700-at-1299/

Intel adds Xe3P GPUs for Nova Lake S/H/U/HX to Vulkan Linux drivers, not all will support raytracing

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-adds-xe3p-gpus-for-nova-lake-s-h-u-hx-to-vulkan-linux-drivers-not-all-will-support-raytracing

Microsoft brings back a virtual assistant, this time called Mico

https://videocardz.com/newz/microsoft-brings-back-a-virtual-assistant-this-time-called-mico

Tenstorreent's TT-Ascalon RiscV CPU

https://www.reddit.com/r/RISCV/comments/1oeey5v/tenstorrent_atlantis_silicon_dev_platform/

Time for the Friday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Borderlands 4 smashes sales in the US, says analyst—it was the top dog in September, the fastest-selling entry in the series, and is already the 3rd most-bought game this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/borderlands-4-smashes-sales-in-the-us-says-analyst-it-was-the-top-dog-in-september-the-fastest-selling-entry-in-the-series-and-is-already-the-3rd-most-bought-game-this-year/
Borderlands 4 hasn't done terribly for itself—some terrible UI design choices and stuttery framerates weren't enough to stop it from landing a solid critical reception (including from yours truly in my Borderlands 4 review). That's been reflected in the sales it's gathered in the US.
Per analyst firm Circana (via Gamesindustry.biz), Borderlands 4 has Gearbox counting stacks for the foreseeable future: It was the number one US best-seller for the month of September (August 31 to October 3, to be specific). Not just that, but it's sold 30% more than Borderlands 3's debut, and stands as the fastest-selling game in the franchise's history.

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• Jackbox Games celebrates the launch of its latest game with a sale featuring up to 70% discounts during 9 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/jackbox-11-launch-celebration
• Humble Halloween Mega Sale will have games up to 96% off during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/humble-halloween-mega-sale-2025

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.8247 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-8247

HIGHLIGHTS
New Game On support:

• ARC Raiders
• Europa Universalis V
• Football Manager 26
• Jurassic World Evolution 3
• The Outer Worlds 2
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2

FIXED ISSUES
Intel Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

• Satisfactory (Vulkan) may crash when launching the game. It is recommended to use the default DX12 API to avoid this issue.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may crash when switching the graphics API to DX11.

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• Satisfactory (Vulkan) may crash when launching the game. Use the default DX12 API to prevent crashes.
• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may crash when switching to DX11.

Intel Core Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may crash when switching the graphics API to DX11.

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

• World of Warcraft: Dragonflight may crash when switching the graphics API to DX11.

Intel Graphics Software updates:

• Intel® Graphics Software may experience an application crash when switching monitor source to a wireless monitor on Display page on certain Built-in Intel® Graphics.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Take a Look at the Sky Rail Level from the Sonic Adventure 2 Unreal Engine 5 Fan Remake
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-the-sky-rail-level-from-the-sonic-adventure-2-unreal-engine-5-fan-remake
In April 2025, we shared Demo V2 for the amazing Sonic Adventure 2 Unreal Engine 5 Fan Remake, Sonic Adventure 2 Redux. Since then, its team has been working on the next demo. And today, we got a new video that showcases the Sky Rail level that will be featured in it.
For those unaware, Sonic Adventure 2 Redux is a ground-up reimagining of the 2001 classic Sonic game in UE5. The remake takes advantage of the Azure Framework to overhaul the game’s physics. Moreover, players can expect tweaks and QoL improvements to the camera, controls, and UI.
Players can take advantage of the terrain by building momentum to reach incredible speeds, bounce off platforms to reach higher ground with the bounce bracelet, and send themselves flying using the iconic spindash.
This is one of the best fan remakes of an old game in UE5. To be honest, this feels exactly what you’d expect from a modern-day remake of Sonic Adventure 2. So, if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend doing so.
>> The article has an over 2 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

Project TAL is a new single-player, open-world action RPG
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-tal-is-a-new-single-player-open-world-action-rpg
WEMADE MAX and MADNGINE have announced a new single-player, open-world action RPG, Project TAL. To celebrate this announcement, the teams shared a gameplay trailer that you can find below.

Borderlands 4 October 23rd Update Released – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/borderlands-4-october-23rd-update-released-full-patch-notes
Gearbox has released the October 23rd Title Update for Borderlands 4 and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.

DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake Gets Story Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/dragon-quest-i-ii-hd-2d-remake-gets-story-trailer
Square Enix has released an official story trailer for DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake. DRAGON QUEST I & II HD-2D Remake is coming to PC on October 30th and, as you may have guessed, it will use Denuvo.

Edge of Memories Gets Official Story Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/edge-of-memories-gets-official-story-trailer
NACON and Midgar Studio have released an official story trailer for their new game, which is set in the universe of Edge of Eternity, Edge of Memories. If you are a JRPG fan, you should definitely check it out.

Deep Silver has removed Denuvo from Dead Island 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/deep-silver-has-removed-denuvo-from-dead-island-2
Now here is a pleasant surprise. Deep Silver has just removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Dead Island 2. Dead Island 2 came out in April 2023. This means that it took Deep Silver over two years to remove Denuvo from it.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss will be released on April 16th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cthulhu-the-cosmic-abyss-will-be-released-on-april-16th
NACON has announced that its new narrative investigation Cthulhu game, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, will be released on April 16th, 2026. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Cyberpunk Squad-Based Shooter DEFECT Gets First Gameplay Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/cyberpunk-squad-based-shooter-defect-gets-first-gameplay-trailer
emptyvessel has released the first gameplay trailer for its upcoming cyberpunk squad-based shooter, DEFECT. The game will be using Unreal Engine 5, so this trailer will give you a glimpse at what its devs aim to create.

First-person horror game, A.I.L.A, will be released on November 25th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-person-horror-game-a-i-l-a-will-be-released-on-november-25th
Fireshine Games and Pulsatrix Studios have announced that their first-person horror game, A.I.L.A, will be released on November 25th. To celebrate this announcement, the teams have also shared a new trailer that you can find below.

Friday gaming news, part number two:

Some of The Sims 4's biggest content creators have just stepped down from EA's creator network in the wake of the $55B Saudi-backed buyout: 'This situation is a nightmare for our community'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-sims/some-of-the-sims-4s-biggest-content-creators-have-just-stepped-down-from-eas-creator-network-in-the-wake-of-the-usd55b-saudi-backed-buyout-this-situation-is-a-nightmare-for-our-community/
Some of the biggest content creators for The Sims 4 have announced their departure from the EA Creator Network in the wake of the company's $55 billion Saudi-backed buyout.
James Turner, Jesse 'Plumbella' McNamara, and Kayla 'lilsimsie' Sims took to their respective YouTube accounts to reveal that they had requested to leave the programme—which offers its members access to games, events, and opportunities to work alongside development teams for each content creator's relevant game—specifically highlighting the buyout as the reason.

Krafton is now an 'AI-first company,' will spend $70 million on a GPU cluster to 'serve as the foundation for accelerating the implementation of agentic AI'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/krafton-is-now-an-ai-first-company-will-spend-usd70-million-on-a-gpu-cluster-to-serve-as-the-foundation-for-accelerating-the-implementation-of-agentic-ai/
Earlier this week, Pocketpair Publishing boss John Buckley said his company isn't interesting in handling games built with generative AI: "If you're big on AI stuff or your game is Web3 or uses NFTs, there are lots of publishers out there [who will], but we're not the right partner for that." One of those partners, it seems, is PUBG maker Krafton, which announced today that it is transforming into an "'AI-first' company."

AI is 'a combination of metadata with a parlor trick,' Take-Two boss says: 'A great thing' for business, but it's not creative and never will be
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/ai-is-a-combination-of-metadata-with-a-parlor-trick-take-two-boss-says-a-great-thing-for-business-but-its-not-creative-and-never-will-be/
Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick has never been shy about sharing his thoughts on artificial intelligence, and he's been pretty consistent about it over the years, too. While some game industry CEOs see the rise of AI as an imminent revolution in revenue-generation (and yeah, sure, creativity and whatnot), Zelnick has always been a bit cooler on it: "Genius is the domain of human beings," he said in May 2023, "and I believe will stay that way."
And so he was today, speaking at the Paley International Council Summit in Menlo Park, California, where he said that the use of AI will "probably be able to create a bunch of efficiency" for game studios, but won't produce any hit games because it can't actually be creative.

Fallout 4 is getting the Skyrim treatment with a 10th anniversary edition that includes all the expansions and a mountain of Creation content
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/fallout-4-is-getting-the-skyrim-treatment-with-a-10th-anniversary-edition-that-includes-all-the-expansions-and-a-mountain-of-creation-content/
Fallout 5 was nowhere to be seen during today's Fallout Day broadcast, but Bethesda did unveil some sort-of-newish Fallout in the form of the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition and the Fallout: New Vegas 15th Anniversary Bundle, a big-box package that comes complete with a big ol' Securitron statue.
I'm going to go with the New Vegas package first, because I'm a sucker for big boxes and game statues: It does indeed come in a big box, and also carries a big price tag of $155, plus whatever shipping costs are involved.
(…)
My personal appreciation for swag aside, the Fallout 4 Anniversary Edition is probably the bigger deal. It too includes the base game and six official add-ons—Automatron, Far Harbor, Nuka-World, and three Workshop expansions—and also features more than 150 Creation Club items, and a new in-game Creations menu that Bethesda says will make it "easier than ever to discover, download and enjoy content from professional developers and passionate enthusiasts alike."
>> The announcement prompted a reaction from Danny Trejo on Instagram asking for a New Vegas remaster that has been quite popular (link).

After making 1 million sales, Escape From Duckov makes eating poop less nutritious
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/after-making-1-million-sales-escape-from-duckov-makes-eating-s-worse/
Duck-themed singleplayer extraction shooter Escape From Duckov is currently one of the biggest games on Steam—particularly in China, where the majority of its over 1 million sales and Overwhelmingly Positive reviews originate. While it's drawing a comparatively smaller crowd of English-speaking players, the anglophone reception has been just as positive. Duckov's got a surprising amount of depth under that parody appearance.
Duckov developer Team Soda, a studio owned by China's Bilibili media platform, isn't resting easy on its laurels: Less than 24 hours after announcing its 1 million sales milestone, Team Soda has pushed a new update with a smattering of new features, balance adjustments, and bugfixes.

After 12 years of avoiding it, Path of Exile is taking another swing at an old mechanic for its new expansion: 'This one just kinda felt right'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-9-years-of-avoiding-it-path-of-exile-is-taking-another-swing-at-an-old-mechanic-for-its-new-expansion-this-one-just-kinda-felt-right/
In the 12 years Path of Exile has been on this Earth, it's never gone back to an old system and remade it. Game director Mark Roberts tells PC Gamer that there's a few reasons for that, but mostly it's a fear that not making something fresh—as Grinding Gear Games has always done—might disappoint its loyal players.
But this time it "just kind of felt right," Roberts says. In the Keepers of the Flame expansion, which arrives on October 31, PoE will return to Breach, a nine-year-old mechanic that is basically about killing monsters in a circle until time runs out.
>> Rogers is also fairly certain that the game to leave Early Access next year (link).

The bouncing DVD logo screensaver is a Balatro now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/the-bouncing-dvd-logo-screensaver-is-a-balatro-now/
Provided enough time, all things will inevitably become a roguelike. It is the way of things, a truth of the universal mathematics revealed in countless Steam listings. Everything inevitably becomes Balatro. Slot machines are a Balatro. Mahjong is a Balatro. Chess is a Balatro.
And now, thanks to a prototype game from solo developer BadIdeasDigital, the bouncing DVD logo screensaver of our youth is a Balatro, too.

Hades 2's first post-launch update attempts to fix the 'true ending' that nobody really liked
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hades-2s-first-post-launch-update-attempts-to-fix-the-true-ending-that-nobody-really-liked/
An unfortunate consequence of releasing your story-heavy game in early access is the amount of pressure on its final release to satisfy everyone who's been following along. That's the trouble Hades 2 ran into when it hit 1.0 earlier this month.
As people brought over their progress and finished the game for its "true ending", the criticisms started stacking up. The Hades Reddit was flooded with threads discussing problems with how the story wraps up, so much so that the moderators asked users to only use neutral statements about it in their thread titles to avoid any hint of spoilers for those who hadn't seen it yet.
(…)
The negative reactions must've been strong enough to prompt developer Supergiant Games to start working on a way to contextualize—not change—the ending. In its first patch since its release, Hades 2 will get "true ending enhancements" that add new events that lead up to it and a few following it.

Fatshark celebrates 10 years of 'Tide, reveals Darktide is getting another new class and Vermintide 2 a new map
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/fatshark-celebrates-10-years-of-tide-reveals-darktide-is-getting-another-new-class-and-vermintide-2-a-new-map/
It's been a full decade since Fatshark released Vermintide, beginning a journey through the Warhammer worlds that would continue in Vermintide 2 and Darktide. As the stats-laden video above reveals, in that time 8.2 million characters have been killed by the humble skavenslave. It's always the one you least expect.
Both Darktide and Vermintide 2 are still being supported, with Darktide's Stolen Rations event running right now. The big news for Darktide is that it's getting another new class hot on the heels of the Arbitrator, but we won't know what it is until the reveal on November 11. (...)
Vermintide 2, meanwhile, is getting another free map on November 20 called Return to the Reik. Inspired by the original game's Death on the Reik DLC, it'll involve messing about on boats, hopping from deck to deck as we travel down the river Reik. (...)

Latest CS2 patch has skin collectors in meltdown over a supposed $2bn in losses, with others saying 'this is the best update ever', but maybe Valve is just doing some course-correction and doesn't care
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/valves-latest-counter-strike-2-update-flashbangs-entire-skins-market-headshots-speculators-and-clutch-defuses-inflationary-market-prices/
CS2's latest update has certainly put the cat among the pigeons, and feathers are flying. The innocuous-sounding patch "extended functionality of the 'Trade Up Contract' to allow exchanging five items of Covert quality as follows: five StatTrak Covert items can be exchanged for one StatTrak Knife from a collection of one of the items provided, five regular Covert items can be exchanged for one regular Knife item or one regular Gloves item from a collection of one of the items provided."

The secret hero of Battlefield 6's next update is a jeep that doesn't suck
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-secret-hero-of-battlefield-6s-next-update-is-a-jeep-that-doesnt-suck/
One of the great injustices of Battlefield 6 is that the basic transport jeep is a useless piece of garbage. With four seats, one turret gunner, and absolutely zero protection from bullets or mines, taking a ride in Battlefield 6's sole transport car is like announcing to the entire server that five free kills are vroomin' their way soon.
(...)
The LGT is a failure. The Traverser Mark 2, a new armored transport truck arriving in Battlefield 6 Season 1, is its redemption. I took the Traverser for a handful of test drives during a preview session on the upcoming maps Eastwood and Blackwell Fields, and much like the maps themselves, I came away unable to imagine Battlefield 6 without it.
>> And players keep complaining about the CoD-like mobility (link).

Xbox boss Phil Spencer says 'nurturing and protecting creative teams that want to go take risks' is the priority, admits 'we don't always succeed at that'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/xbox-boss-phil-spencer-says-nurturing-and-protecting-creative-teams-that-want-to-go-take-risks-is-the-priority-admits-we-dont-always-succeed-at-that/
Speaking alongside Double Fine founder Tim Schafer at the Paley International Council Summit on Thursday, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer emphasized the value of creative risk-taking to a small crowd of film, TV, and online media bigwigs.
"The creativity of the teams is, in my mind, the most important thing and the thing that we need to protect and foster," Spencer said during the moderated discussion.
>> Hard to do that when you’re pursuing an unicorn in the form of a 30% profit margin (link).

And last, but not least, the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• Only one here, the Warhammer Day 2025, with games up to 90% off during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/warhammer_day_2025

+Steam

• Titanfall 2 gets a 90% discount until the 27th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1237970/Titanfall_2
• Shady Knight will be 35% off until the 30th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1155650/Shady_Knight
• Gunfire Reborn is going to be free to try during the weekend and will have a 45% discount until the 6th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1217060/Gunfire_Reborn
• Legend Bowl will be 60% off until November 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1106340/Legend_Bowl
• And now the sales/events...
  • la Motion Week #2 is an event by publisher/developer Motion Twin and will have some (small) discounts until at least November the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/MotionTwin/sale/lamotionweek2
  • I’d love to share the rest but there are 16 new sales and events, which are way to many. The only reason I shared the one above is because, for some reason, it doesn’t appear on the events page, at least not yet. To find out about the others, you can check them out here: https://store.steampowered.com/specials#tab=TopSellers

That’s all folks! Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.