After the announcement of DOSbox pure a couple days ago, now comes the next retro announcement: The return of the Amiga A1200:

It seems to be an emulator running on Linux, but visually it looks exactly like the venerable Amiga A1200 from 1992, and comes with 25 Amiga games pre-installed, among them the recent port of The Settlers II 30 years after it's DOS release.

It's not exactly cheap, but the price is relative to the quality of the product. There are keyboards and mice that cost more than that.

As A500 owner, I almost went for it - but '92, when it released, was THE year where I clearly saw where the future lies, in 3D games, with Wolfenstein 3D and Commanche: Maximum Overkill launching that year on PC.

Yeah, the A1200 was too little, too late. Software support for AGA games was a big question mark back then, only a fraction of Amiga games used the new graphic chipset and not every AGA game was available both for A1200 and Amiga CD32.

The A600 a few months earlier also was a confusing model... not better and not cheaper than a good old A500 (or A500+) and a lot worse than the A1200. 

The problem was that Commodore was sitting on their laurels and didn't upgrade the graphics for way too long. AGA was constantly pushed backwards so much so that when it finally came out it was already somewhat outdated.

Had they not forced to release the ECS in between (thus pulling even more ressources from the AGA team), AGA could have released 2 years earlier and would have been great for it's time, but not in 1992 anymore it wouldn't.

For the record, I didn't own an Amiga at it's prime, I inherited one (Amiga 600HD) in 1997 when commodore was already dead , and it burned itself to death when it short-circuited itself in 2004, so my memories of Amiga are probably not as vast as yours but I'm still fond I was able to experience it, even if a bit late.

Yeah, way too little, too late - I mean, it was not bad, but AGA was not AAA that supposed to go into it, and 68020 was not 68030, and by the time A1200 released the future of home computers was fairly obvious.

I mean, I vividly remember by the end of A500, playing Frontier: Elite II and loving it, but it was quite a slide show on many occasion, and thinking A1200 would run this fine, and almost going for it...but as I said, seeing both Wolfenstein 3D and Comanche on my friends PC (and then in '93 Doom and Star Wars: X-Wing) was more than enough to firmly convince me where the future is.

NVIDIA’s GTC Comes to Washington for the First Time, As CEO Jensen Huang Is Expected to Champion America’s AI Leadership

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-gtc-comes-to-washington-for-the-first-time/

AMD Prepares “Rebadged” Zen 2 Ryzen 10 and Zen 3+ Ryzen 100 Series Mobile CPUs

https://wccftech.com/amd-prepares-rebadged-zen-2-ryzen-10-and-zen-3-ryzen-100-series-mobile-cpus/

TSMC Says in the ‘NVIDIA vs ASIC War’, It Will Always Win as Customers From Both Sides Turn to the Chip Giant for Foundry Orders

https://wccftech.com/tsmc-says-in-the-nvidia-vs-asic-war-it-will-always-win/

PC Repair Specialist Calls NVIDIA RTX 5090 Founders Edition One Of The”Worst Designs Ever”

https://wccftech.com/northridgefix-calls-rtx-5090-fe-worst-design/

AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D Reportedly In The Making; Another Budget 6-Core Zen 4 X3D Chip

https://wccftech.com/amd-ryzen-5-7500x3d-reportedly-in-the-making/

AMD Beats NVIDIA in Quantum Computing Milestone For Now, By Running IBM’s Error-Correction Algorithm On Standard Chips

https://wccftech.com/amd-beats-nvidia-in-quantum-computing-milestone-for-now/

Aoostar to launch EG01 OCuLink external GPU dock at $109 globally

https://videocardz.com/newz/aoostar-to-launch-eg01-oculink-external-gpu-dock-at-109-globally

Shunt-modded RTX 4090 laptops delivers near RTX 5090 laptop performance for half the price

https://videocardz.com/newz/shunt-modded-rtx-4090-laptops-delivers-near-rtx-5090-laptop-performance-for-half-the-price

NVIDIA Nova driver prepares for Rubin-era GPUs with new BOOT42 register support

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-nova-driver-prepares-for-rubin-era-gpus-with-new-boot42-register-support

OCCT adds GPU Coil Whine Detection that can play tunes

https://videocardz.com/newz/occt-adds-gpu-coil-whine-detection-that-can-play-tunes

MSI launches GeForce RTX 5050 INSPIRE 2X series, single-fan and ITX form factor

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-launches-geforce-rtx-5050-inspire-2x-series-single-fan-and-itx-form-factor

It’s Monday, with the new Winter time change, and these are the news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Emergency dispatch simulator 911 Operator is free on Steam for a limited time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/emergency-dispatch-simulator-911-operator-is-free-on-steam-for-a-limited-time/
I've only ever had to call emergency services once in my life, when an elderly neighbour had a bad fall down her back stairs, and the ambulance arrived in a timely fashion. This is not how it goes in 911 Operator, a frantic simulation of the difficulty of dispatching paramedics, police, and fire fighters while on a budget and also trying to filter out the pranks and timewasters. It sounds a lot more exciting than sending out the ambos in suburban Australia.
There's a career mode that takes you on a tour of six cities across the United States while they undergo disasters—bomb attacks in Washington DC, an earthquake in San Francisco, and so on—and also a freeplay mode that lets you choose any city in the world to use as your map. Although the details and voices will still be as American as you'd expect.
Jutsu Games is giving 911 Operator away for free to celebrate the studio's 10th anniversary. In that time they've also released 112 Operator, and are currently working on Infection Free Zone, a post-apocalyptic colony sim with zombies that's currently in early access. Like 911 Operator, it lets you import real-world map data to build your base on, which is cute.
You can grab 911 Operator for free right now but get in quick, as the giveaway ends on October 29. Add it to your account on Steam.

Escape From Duckov quacks past 300,000 concurrent players only 10 days after release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/escape-from-duckov-quacks-past-300-000-concurrent-players-only-10-days-after-release/
Escape From Duckov might look like a goofy riff on Escape From Tarkov, and that's because it is one. But it's also a righteous way to breathe in the extraction shooter hype without all the hardcore PvP, and players are flocking to give it a shot. Today on Oct. 26, that number hit a screaming high of over 300,000 simultaneous players, according to SteamDB.
>> Mostly thanks to Chinese players (link).

A game jam game about pudgy chainsmoking dads seems to be Steam's latest co-op hit, hitting 100,000 concurrent players on its first weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/a-game-jam-game-about-pudgy-chainsmoking-dads-seems-to-be-steams-latest-co-op-hit-hitting-100-000-concurrent-players-on-its-first-weekend/
It's a landmark year for the proximity-based voice chat party game. Mage Arena and R.E.P.O. have joined the likes of Lethal Company and Content Warning as wildly successful entrants into the nascent style—and genre superlative Peak made it comfortably into PC Gamer's Top 100 this year. Players are clearly itching for more, as evidenced by new kid on the block RV There Yet?'s rapid rise to 100,000 concurrent players. It's just started to dip as I write this, according to SteamDB.
PC Gamer features producer Mollie Taylor was among that player count earlier this week, and in her impressions said "things are a little janky right now" but "the whole thing is darn fun." It's a physics-based adventure game where a bunch of pudgy dads haul a camper through perilous crags with a remote-operated winch, avoid getting eaten by bears, and exhale enough cigarette smoke to conceal a marching army.

Steam has a new deals and a new sale:

• Fireside Feelings will be 50% off until the 9th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2990600/Fireside_Feelings
• Besides giving a way one game, Publisher Games Operators puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until the 9th of November: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/GamesOperatorsPublisherSale2025

Humble Bundle presents the Kingdom: 10th Anniversary Bundle, with up to 8 items to get (games and DLCs) during 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/kingdom-10th-anniversary-bundle.

And Fanatical has these two deals:

• The new Star Deal is Journey to the Savage Planet, 85% off during 48 hours or until they run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/journey-to-the-savage-planet
• As part of the new Bundle Blast, with new bundles every day, we have the BYO Shooter Bundle (Fall 2025), that has 12 titles to choose for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ game bundles during 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-shooter-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Just Got a New Lighting Overhaul Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-just-got-a-new-lighting-overhaul-mod
The MLO TEAM has released a new must-have lighting overhaul mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. This mod aims to completely overhaul the lighting system of Skyrim. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
Modern Lighting Overhaul 2 is a small, performance-friendly mod that improves lighting across the game. It makes almost every light source look more realistic — from candles and fires to lanterns, braziers, and Dwemer lamps.
The mod makes all light sources share the same tone and brightness for a more realistic and immersive look. Bigger flames now shine brighter and light up a wider area. MLO2 also adds realistic light flickering and lets you customize how the lighting looks in your game. On top of that, it automatically adjusts to other lighting mods, so everything works smoothly without conflicts.
All in all, this is a really cool mod that can make Skyrim look better. So, if you want a more advanced or realistic lighting, you should use it. You can go ahead and download it from this link.
>> The article has some screenshots of the mod.

New Fallout: New Vegas Mod Adds PBR Materials & New Meshes
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/new-fallout-new-vegas-mod-adds-pbr-materials-new-meshes
Modder ‘OrgasmicSneeze’ has released a cool new mod for Fallout: New Vegas that adds PBR materials and new meshes. By using it, the game will look better than before. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
For those who did not know, PBR materials are used to make 3D textures look more realistic by mimicking how light behaves in real life. PBR uses several texture maps to tell the game engine how a surface should look – like how shiny, rough, or reflective it is.
In theory, this mod will work great with the upcoming RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod. PBR materials are needed for Ray Tracing and Path Tracing to look good. Hopefully, the modders will team up to create a proper RTX Remix Mod.
Right now, the mod updates 39 items and objects. It adds PBR materials to things like planters, office doors, caves, rugs, blood stains, fire barrels, and more. From what I can tell, it doesn’t yet update most of the terrain textures. The modder plans to add more PBR materials in future updates, with the goal of releasing a complete All-in-One version in 2027 that covers every surface and object.
>> This article also has some screenshots of the mod.

PureDark has released a new version of his NVIDIA Reflex 2 Tech Demo that fixes the visual border issues
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/puredark-has-released-a-new-version-of-his-nvidia-reflex-2-tech-demo-that-fixes-the-visual-border-issues
A few days ago, we informed you about the first fan-made tech demo for NVIDIA Reflex 2. Created by PureDark, this fan demo gave us our first look at NVIDIA Reflex 2 with its Frame Warp tech. And now, we have a new version of that tech demo that fixes one of its most crucial issues.
For those who did not know, NVIDIA Reflex 2 is a new version of Reflex that was announced in January 2025. The main feature of Reflex 2 is called Frame Warp. Frame Warp makes your game feel much more responsive, helping you aim faster and react quicker. It works by taking the newest camera position from the CPU and adjusting the last frame made by the GPU to match it. This happens right before the frame appears on your screen, so your latest mouse movements are shown instantly.
Now, the biggest issue of the first version of PureDark’s tech demo was the visual artifacts that could appear at the edges of the image. And, to my surprise, the modder has figured out a way to fix them.
But how, you may ask? Well, the modder used a simple hack. Basically, he rendered extra pixels outside of the screen, 25% to each direction. By doing this, we can avoid the visual glitches at the edges.
Rendering extra pixels will obviously bring a slight performance hit. To make sure there isn’t too much overhead from rendering them, PureDark used variable rate shading to render the pixels beyond the screen at a 4×4 shading rate, which is like only 1/16 pixel count.
You can go ahead and download the new version of the demo from this link. Sadly, this second version could not run on my NVIDIA RTX 5090. Like a lot of people, I was getting a “failed to create texture shadingrateimage, error code = 0x80070057” error. PureDark said that you need to enable resizable bar for the demo to work, but I’ve already enabled it. So, I don’t know how to fix this.
>> The article has a shorter than 2 minutes video.

The GOAT of Elden Ring weapon mods made it so we can actually use the sick golden ghost weapons Margit killed us with so many times
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-goat-of-elden-ring-weapon-mods-made-it-so-we-can-actually-use-the-sick-golden-ghost-weapons-margit-killed-us-with-so-many-times/
Elden Ring has maybe the best arsenal FromSoftware's ever produced⁠—I'd even rank it above Bloodborne's amazing trick weapons⁠—and I've found it hard to imagine how the studio will outdo itself in future games. Enter modder cleverraptor6, also known as Clever, whose imaginative, stylish, and combo-heavy weapons are exactly what I'd like to see in these games officially.
Clever's been quietly plugging away, periodically releasing new weapons as standalone projects and as part of a master collection of all their work. The Sacred Arsenal is one of those projects, released in 2024 and recently showcased by Elden Ring challenge runner eauvni.
Sacred Arsenal is an incredibly cool realization of Margit/Morgot's moveset, specifically the glowing gold weapons he'll summon for single attacks. Clever actually did something like this shortly after Elden Ring's launch, but that first project feels like a prototype of Sacred Arsenal's more well-realized delivery. Sacred Arsenal nails the virtuoso, changeup feeling of Margit's attacks, with different weapon functions (light, heavy, jumping, running) being represented by their own summoned arms:
(...)
Like all of Clever's weapon projects, the Sacred Arsenal is complex and varied without feeling overwhelming⁠—I've always hated memorizing combos⁠—and this really nails a sweet spot of complexity for me, being tied to the same attack types as the rest of Elden Ring's weapons. It's also surprising, unique, and very cool while still fitting in with the game's setting and aesthetic. Sacred Arsenal is tasteful, a far cry from a lightsaber mod or all those guys who add tactical ACOG Call of Duty-type guns to New Vegas.
The standalone version of the mod appears to be out of date, and Clever advises getting it through the mega pack of all their weapons instead. Sacred Arsenal requires katalash's Mod Engine 2, but both involve just unzipping the mod files to your PC in a separate location from your Elden Ring installation. Mod Engine helpfully runs Elden Ring off its own .exe and produces separate save files, keeping everything kosher where Easy Anticheat is concerned.
>> The article has an almost 3 minutes video.

Modders have already patched fast travel into Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and they might even be able to make its linear detective segments skippable for replays
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/modders-have-already-patched-fast-travel-into-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-and-they-might-even-be-able-to-make-its-linear-detective-segments-skippable-for-replays/
I rather liked Bloodlines 2—just so long as I pretended it wasn't called Bloodlines 2—but I have to admit that parts of it became repetitive after a while. The blood resonance stuff? A chore. The side quests? Formulaic.
Even its really-quite-condensed open map even turned into a bit of a chore to schlep around when I was just interested in wrapping up the main narrative—particularly when playing as Fabien, who lacks Phyre's ability to glide around the rooftops.
Well, great news if you happen to be me, then: an enterprising modder by the name of Eralyne has created Bloodlines 2's first fast-travel mod, letting you zip all about Seattle at the touch of a few hotkeys. It's called, well, Fast Travel, and it works by assigning various locations around Seattle to particular keys (or combinations thereof) on your keyboard.
(...)
Interestingly, Eralyne suggests in the mod's comments that they might not stop here. They say they "sorta" know how to implement a system that would let players skip Fabien's sections of the game (blasphemy on a first playthrough, but entirely understandable on a replay), but that they're "worried about the repercussions of setting those flags as complete early."
>> The article has no media.

GAMING NEWS

Halo: Campaign Evolved Announced – First Details & Screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/halo-campaign-evolved-announced-first-details-screenshots
Microsoft has just announced the rumored remake of the first Halo game in Unreal Engine 5. Halo: Campaign Evolved will be rebuilt with high-definition visuals, updated cinematics, and refined controls. So, below you can find its first details and screenshots, as well as its debut trailer.
>> And it will finally come to a Sony console, as it was planned all those years ago. Btw, one of the original designers isn’t happy about this new remake (link).

Battlefield 6 Update 1.1.1.0 Releases Tomorrow – Full Patch Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/battlefield-6-update-1-1-1-0-releases-tomorrow-full-patch-notes
DICE has announced that Title Update 1.1.1.0 for Battlefield 6 will be released tomorrow and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this update brings to the table.

Monday gaming news, part two:

New Borderlands 4 patch stumbles by making the nerfed crit knife an actual DPS loss on some builds, plus a Halloween event that's 'like getting a dead rat in a box for Christmas'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/new-borderlands-4-patch-stumbles-by-making-the-nerfed-crit-knife-an-actual-dps-loss-on-some-builds-plus-a-halloween-event-thats-like-getting-a-dead-rat-in-a-box-for-christmas/
Borderlands 4 dropped a pretty hefty patch today, and before I tell you how Gearbox has screwed the pooch, I do want to be fair and at least highlight the positives while I roll my sleeves up:
(...)
These are all genuinely solid quality-of-life improvements, and I'm glad they're in the game; at least two of those made my laundry list of complaints in my Borderlands 4 review, and it's nice to see a game I otherwise really liked striking them out. Alas, we've also got to talk about the bad, because boy howdy is there some bad.
(...)
As the patch notes read, Gearbox has "Reduced critical chance on Jakobs crit knife to 30%. Dev Note: It had to happen, you knew it was going to happen!" What players didn't know was that the knife would become an active DPS loss for some builds. Per Borderlands YouTuber Moxsy on X, who has done some testing, "The new crit knife sets your crit chance to a target at 30%, it DOES NOT ADD 30% Crit Chance."
>> And it turns out that the Horny Shield wasn’t supposed to be so horny (link).

Tech investor declares 'AI games are going to be amazing,' posts an AI-generated 'demo' of a god-awful shooter as proof
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/tech-investor-declares-ai-games-are-going-to-be-amazing-posts-an-ai-generated-demo-of-a-god-awful-shooter-as-proof/
On an almost daily basis, a terminally tech-brained individual insists that AI will determine the future of human creativity if we simply believe hard enough. Today, that soothsayer is Matt Shumer, an investor who offered a demonstration of his vision for AI's videogame development potential—and was quickly blasted for it, because the vision sucks to look at.

Amidst allegations of AI art and complaints about the music, Plants vs. Zombies fans are not happy with the remaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/amidst-allegations-of-ai-art-and-complaints-about-the-music-plants-vs-zombies-fans-are-not-happy-with-the-remaster/
The Plants vs. Zombies remaster arrived earlier this week, and PC Gamer's resident green thumb warrior Chris Livingston was quite taken by it, predicting that he's likely to sink another hundred hours or so into it on his Steam Deck. The reception is much less warm on Steam, though, where fewer than half of the current user reviews are positive.
Complaints about Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted are many and varied. Three leap out as particularly common—the lack of dynamic music (which the original game had), no online multiplayer, and allegations (unsubstantiated, as far as I know) of AI-generated or upscaled art assets—and as usual, words like "lazy" and "cash grab" abound. More generally (and thoughtfully), though, there's just a broad sense of dissatisfaction with the remaster's attention to detail.

Electronic Arts signs a deal with Stability AI: 'We’re evolving how we work so that AI becomes a trusted ally'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/electronic-arts-signs-a-deal-with-stability-ai-were-evolving-how-we-work-so-that-ai-becomes-a-trusted-ally/
Electronic Arts has signed a deal with Stability AI, the company behind the Stable Diffusion generative AI image maker, to—deep breath—"co-develop transformative AI models, tools, and workflows that empower our artists, designers, and developers to reimagine how content is built."

As The Sims content creators depart over EA's $55 billion Saudi-backed buyout, the dev team promises the game 'will always be a space where you can express your authentic self'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-sims/as-the-sims-content-creators-depart-over-eas-usd55-billion-saudi-backed-buyout-the-dev-team-promises-the-game-will-always-be-a-space-where-you-can-express-your-authentic-self/
The Sims development team has posted a message on X reassuring fans that its "mission, values, and commitment remain the same," and that "The Sims will always be a space where you can express your authentic self." The message comes one day after three of The Sims 4's biggest content creators removed themselves from EA's creator network over the company's looming acquisition by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and private equity firms, a move that was subsequently followed by numerous others, including Vixella and Syd Mac.

Don't expect Vermintide 3 any time soon, as Fatshark plans to keep supporting the existing game: 'Vermintide will keep on going'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/dont-expect-vermintide-3-any-time-soon-as-fatshark-plans-to-keep-supporting-the-existing-game-vermintide-will-keep-on-going/
"We had a guy in Korea that broke Vermintide 1 because he had played it so much he hit, in the background, level 999 or something like that," says Victor Magnuson, currently design director of Darktide. "He just got stuck because it couldn't go above that number. We had to patch the game to allow him to play more, because the number just couldn't go up. Then we started counting, like, he must have played almost every waking hour since the game launched to be able to hit that number."
So yeah, Vermintide and its 2018 sequel have some devoted players, happy to rinse the games in perpetuity as they work their way up the difficulty levels and run maps over and over until they perfect them. In good news for those hardcore 'Tide heads, Fatshark plans to continue support for Vermintide 2, which has already grown so much it barely resembles the game we reviewed seven years ago.
>> And the devs weren’t aware of the sub-genre they were getting into while developing the first Vermintide (link).

Darktide's narrative will be expanded as part of future updates: 'We are definitely going to be adding to the story of the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/darktides-narrative-will-be-expanded-as-part-of-future-updates-we-are-definitely-going-to-be-adding-to-the-story-of-the-game/
When Darktide's Arbites Class DLC arrived, it came alongside a free update called The Battle for Tertium, which added a campaign mode at long last. Rather than the story coming to a halt once the prologue ended, players had the option to be guided through missions with bespoke voiceover, cutscenes, even unique enemy spawns to make it feel like you weren't just grinding maps for gear over and over. We won't find out what Darktide's second class DLC will be until it's revealed on November 11, but Fatshark did confirm the game's story will continue to be expanded.

The Outer Worlds 2 has a helmet that makes it look like an arcade game, including an 'insert coins to continue' option
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/outer-worlds-2-new-point-of-view-mk2/
Now, let me tell you, The Outer Worlds 2 has some strange gear. After exploring Arcadia's many moons and space stations, visiting its various merchants and completing quests, I've found some weird ass weapons and armor, including, but not limited to:

1. A gun that fires corrosive tumors you can then eat for health.
2. A hammer with a slot machine built into it that randomly rewards you jackpots.
3. A cowboy hat that boosts damage by 99% if you wait six seconds without shooting anyone in combat.

It's a great thing, quite frankly, that The Outer Worlds 2 is leaning so heavily into the absurdity of its setting, trying to provide the kind of weird and wacky build options you'd see in Borderlands 4. Still, the strangest helmet I've come across in my travels through outer space is by far A New Point of View Mk 2.
>> There is a video showing its effects. You may also want to check this article about a rainbow sword that turns combat into a rhythm game (link).

Somehow, Heroes of Newerth returned: One of the first standalone MOBAs is back, but fans are mixed on its new look and bizarre launcher
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/somehow-heroes-of-newerth-returned-one-of-the-first-standalone-mobas-is-back-but-fans-are-mixed-on-its-new-look-and-bizarre-launcher/
The progenitor MOBAs—RTS mods like Aeon of Strife and Defense of the Ancients—had something sensational on their hands, but it took awhile for the whole thing to catch on. In 2010, before League of Legends and Dota 2 had become the esports institutions they are now, there was Heroes of Newerth. Before it shut down in 2022, it was a relic of a time when MOBAs hadn't really proved their staying power yet; and now, somehow, it's back.

It's Helldivers 2's Liberty Day, so break out your shovels and play Arrowhead's patriotic new Whack-a-Terminid browser game before it's gone
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/its-helldivers-2s-liberty-day-so-break-out-your-shovels-and-play-arrowheads-patriotic-new-whack-a-terminid-browser-game-before-its-gone/
It's Oct. 26—the day Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came out, and also Helldivers 2's in-universe holiday Liberty Day, celebrating all the times we spent together splattering the stars with blood and burying any dissent beneath busted-up robot parts.
It's enough to make a man shed a tear into his liber-tea, and if you can get away from your major orders long enough for a fun little distraction, Arrowhead's celebrating the occasion with a browser game called Whack-a-Terminid.

And here are the rest of the gaming news:

Europa Universalis lead Johan Andersson says Paradox's DLC model has been 'pretty f***ing great': 'You decide what's going in, you decide the scope, you decide exactly when you can release'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/europa-universalis-lead-johan-andersson-says-paradoxs-dlc-model-has-been-pretty-f-ing-great-you-decide-whats-going-in-you-decide-the-scope-you-decide-exactly-when-you-can-release/
If you've played a Paradox game before, you know the deal. The studios' 4X and grand strategy games in particular tend to have very long lives supplemented by constant infusions of paid DLC, ranging from piecemeal addons to full-on expansions. It doesn't always go to plan, and the execution was particularly spotty with Europa Universalis 4, but EU5 lead Johan Andersson reckons the problem isn't Paradox's DLC strategy. In fact, it's been "pretty fucking great."
In an interview with PC Gamer news writer Joshua Wolens, Andersson said the DLC model has been a logistical and financial win. "When we started with that system, we were a studio of 12 people. That's [around the time Crusader Kings 2 released] and we're doing EU4. I have no idea how big PDS Stockholm is—300, 400 500 people—I have no idea about Stockholm these days.
>> Other tidbits from the interview are: A Baldur’s Gate-like they made that was full of bugs (link); Europa Universalis 2's launch (link); and how design documents stifle creativity (link).

Boltgun 2 will let you play a Sister of Battle
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/boltgun-2-will-let-you-play-a-sister-of-battle/
Back in May Auroch Digital found a delightful way to announce the existence of Boltgun 2, teasing it at the end of a free typing game. And while it's nice to know Boltgun 2 is in development, it's nicer to know a bit about what it will actually contain. The latest trailer does just that, by informing us that Boltgun 2 will let us choose a second playable character.

Battlefield 6 dataminers claim mysterious 'granite' files related to this week's patch could be a shadowdrop for its battle royale mode
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-dataminers-claim-mysterious-granite-files-related-to-this-weeks-patch-could-be-a-shadowdrop-for-its-battle-royale-mode/
The Battlefield 6 leaker and dataminer community was all in a tizzy late last week—see, we've known that BF6 is getting a battle royale mode for a while, just not when. Well, turns out 'when' could be as soon as tomorrow, per a group of known Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty leakers.

Former Sony boss says the industry's obsession with the 'mirage' of live service games is futile: 'The highway is littered with people wanting to take on Fortnite'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-sony-boss-says-the-industrys-obsession-with-the-mirage-of-live-service-games-is-futile-the-highway-is-littered-with-people-wanting-to-take-on-fortnite/
One thing I'm at least reasonably confident that we at the good ship PC Gamer share with you lot is the fact we're all a little sick of live service games. As fellow PCG writer Ted Litchfield put it in the article I just linked, "Surely we've seen enough to know that trying to retrofit a singleplayer studio into a 'live service machine go brrr' moneymaker is not a smart bet."
Joining the crowd of nodding heads on this particular matter is Shawn Layden, a former Sony exec who left the company in 2019, who was part of a multi-developer interview with The Ringer's Lewis Gordon.

It's opposite day in CS2: Accounts full of previously run-of-the-mill reds are now worth upwards of $90,000, while one of the most sought-after knives drops $10,000 in value
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/its-opposite-day-in-cs2-accounts-full-of-previously-run-of-the-mill-reds-are-now-worth-upwards-of-usd90-000-while-one-of-the-most-sought-after-knives-drops-usd10-000-in-value/
If you want to get ahead of the curve when trading stocks and shares, some of the best advice out there is to simply keep an eye out for what rich US senators are doing, but for Counter-Strike 2 players, the equivalent unfortunately isn't so s1mple.
In the wake of Valve's most controversial update, which tore down CS2 inventories worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, some fresh accounts have risen to the top of the wealth list, and they're almost entirely full of some of the cheapest reds around—or at least they used to be cheap.