These are the Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Cronos: The New Dawn hits 500K sales, but it deserves more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cronos-the-new-dawn-hits-500k-sales-but-it-deserves-more/
Bloober Team has announced that Cronos: New Dawn has sold 500K units across all platforms. And, since I’ve finished it, I can wholeheartedly say that it deserves to sell even more. This is one of my GOTY contenders, and it’s a must-play for all horror fans.
Cronos: The New Dawn came out in September 2025. This means that it took two and a half months to hit its 500K goal. The game also has Very Positive reviews on Steam.

Cyberpunk 2077 is now CD Projekt's 'main source of income,' and sales are outpacing The Witcher 3: Its latest milestone is 'a better result than The Witcher 3 was able to achieve in the same post-release time frame'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/cyberpunk-2077-is-now-cd-projekts-main-source-of-income-and-sales-are-outpacing-the-witcher-3-its-latest-milestone-is-a-better-result-than-the-witcher-3-was-able-to-achieve-in-the-same-post-release-time-frame/
Remember when Cyberpunk 2077 launched in late 2020, and it was basically the worst videogame ever? That's obviously a gross overstatement made for comedic effect, but it was really bad—which is why the subsequent turnaround on it is so damn remarkable. We've said at least a couple times in the past that Cyberpunk's redemption arc is complete, but here I am to say it again, because yet another big milestone is now in the rear-view.
Cyberpunk 2077 has now sold more than 35 million copies, and that's a hell of an accomplishment for any videogame, but it's still way off the 60 million mark set by The Witcher 3 back in May. As CD Projekt CFO Piotr Nielubowicz explained, however, Cyberpunk has actually surpassed The Witcher 3 in one important measure: It got there faster.
"Gamers have now purchased over 35 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077," Nielubowicz said in comments released as part of today's financial report. "That's a better result than The Witcher 3 was able to achieve in the same post-release time frame."
Nielubowicz added that Cyberpunk 2077 is now CD Projekt's "main source of income," having recently received a boost from releases on the Nintendo Switch 2, Macs, and PlayStation Plus, which helped juice sales of the very excellent Phantom Liberty expansion (and really, you should play it if you haven't, it's like a whole separate game) on PlayStation consoles.

This week, the Epic Store gives away Universe for Sale: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/universe-for-sale-05c53e.
Next week, the free games will be The Darkside Detective and The Jackbox Party Pack 4.

Steam ha stwo new sales/events:

• ESDigital Games Black Friday Sale will have games up to 80% off until the 10th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32941917/sale/ESDigitalGamesBF2025
• The Dutch Game Awards 2025 event, livestream on December 3, has a page with games featuring up to 80% discounts. The deals will end between the 1st and the 8th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/DutchGameAwards

Humble Bundle has launched the Black Friday Bundle, featuring 15 games during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/15-for-15-black-friday-bundle.

Once again, Fanatical has new Flash Deals and a bundle:

• These are the new 24h Flash Deals:
  • Horizon Forbidden West™ Complete Edition has a 48% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/horizon-forbidden-west-complete-edition
  • Cauldron is 55% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/cauldron
  • DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT features a 66% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/death-stranding-director-s-cut
  • Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition is 67% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-4-gold-edition
• The VUP Mystery Bundle has 3 unknown games to get during 45 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/vip-mystery-bundle-capcom-edition

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Project Misriah, Halo 3 Mod for Counter-Strike 2, Available For Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/project-misriah-halo-3-mod-for-counter-strike-2-available-for-download/
Halo fans, here is something for you today. Modders ‘Froddoyo’ and ‘Lydran’ have released a mod that brings the Halo 3 multiplayer experience to Counter-Strike 2. This is a must-have for all Halo and CS fans. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
Project Misriah is a collection of Halo ported maps and assets that aims to bring a Halo 3 multiplayer-like experience to Counter-Strike 2. The mod has two modes. These are the Spartans and ODST modes.
In Spartans Mode, you can play on maps and use character models from Halo 3. All the weapons are swapped with weapons from different Halo games, and they come with their proper sounds and custom damage stats. There are no movement penalties and no aimpunch. Your health also regenerates, and the time-to-kill is slower, just like in the Halo series. Plus, the classic Halo announcer calls out objectives and kill awards.
In ODST Mode, we have the weapons from the Halo games mixed with the objectives and movement of the original Counter-Strike game. This mode aims to provide the perfect mix between these two games.
In future versions, the modders plan to bring the projectile weapons from Halo. These include the rocket launchers, plasma weapons, and the needler. They also plan to add more maps and Powerups (such as Overshield and Active Camouflage). Plus, there are plans to bring the Shield systems.
Since this is the first public release of the mod, you might encounter some bugs and glitches. These are to be expected from such a huge project. Still, I’m certain that a lot of Halo and CS fans will be more than happy with it.
>> The article has an over 1 minute long video.

The Sims' biggest sex mod creator says that around 300,000 people use it—that's more than some of Steam's top games: 'It doesn't make sense to me'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-biggest-sex-mod-creator-says-that-around-300-000-people-use-it-thats-more-than-some-of-steams-top-games-it-doesnt-make-sense-to-me/
Despite its tame rating, sex has always wormed its way into The Sims series—I fear it's a canon event to Google "how to make Sims naked" as a teenager. But it arguably didn't blow up into more mainstream simming until Turbodriver's WhickedWhims came along in 2016, offering a package of nudity, animated sex, birth control, menstrual cycles, and even STIs where that stuff had traditionally been scattered across various corners of the internet.
It's one of those mods that, despite its steamy themes, has become widely accepted among the community in the way that, for a while, your mum reading Fifty Shades of Grey in a café was all cool and dandy. Even though we all knew what those books were about.
WickedWhims is so popular, in fact, that its creator can't quite believe how many simmers are galavanting around their game with it. Turbodriver sat down with ROMchip last year to talk about his mod and just how many goddamn people are using it.
>> The biggest question I have from the article is: why are they posting it now if the interview happened one year ago?

GAMING NEWS

Dying Light: The Beast Patch 1.4 Finally Adds Ray Tracing Support
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/dying-light-the-beast-patch-1-4-finally-adds-ray-tracing-support/
Techland has just released Title Update 1.4 for Dying Light: The Beast, which finally adds support for the promised Ray Tracing effects. Moreover, this patch adds a New Game+ Mode, as well as Legend Levels for end-game progression.

The second part of today’s gaming news:

Arc Raiders roadmap: All upcoming content and updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-2025-roadmap/
Despite how successful Arc Raiders has been so far, as any seasoned scavenger knows, scrounging for scrap through the same old crates and cabinets can only satisfy for so long. Inevitably, even the most accomplished raider will yearn for more. And more is exactly what Embark Studios has planned with its Arc Raiders roadmap.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord gets free patch alongside War Sails DLC that's so big, the 17,000 word update run more than twice the length of Age of Empires 2's 'legendarily long' patch notes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/mount-and-blade-2-bannerlord-gets-free-patch-alongside-war-sails-dlc-thats-so-big-the-17-000-word-update-run-more-than-twice-the-length-of-age-of-empires-2s-legendarily-long-patch-notes/
Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord's War Sails expansion landed on the base game's unassuming shores earlier today, adding fully simulated naval battles to Taleworld's medieval RPG. Yet even if you're not interested in crewing a longship with a raiding party to terrorise the coastlines, there's plenty of reason to consider diving back into Mount & Blade 2. War Sails' launch coincides with a truly enormous patch for the base game, one that sneaks in a hoard of additional mechanics to play with.

The fantasy RPG that started as a viral AI-made video is 'free of AI-generated content,' pledges its maker
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-fantasy-rpg-that-started-as-a-viral-ai-made-video-is-free-of-ai-generated-content-pledges-its-maker/
Can I make a confession? I love those clips of 'AI-generated games' people post on social media. Not because they're good (they're very bad), or because I love dumping water into the gaping maw of a data centre (I like it a moderate amount). I love them because it's pure 'the emperor has no clothes' stuff: cadres of soi-disant tech visionaries desperately trying to gas themselves and everyone else up into not seeing what is clearly in front of them— something which could never be a game at all.
Usually, anyway. It turns out that at least one of those viral AI-generated game clips is now being made into, uh, an actual game (via PCGamesN). But here's the weird part: its creator says it doesn't have any AI-generated stuff in it.
>> Speaking of AI...

Epic boss Tim Sweeney thinks stores like Steam should stop labelling games as being made with AI: 'It makes no sense,' he says, because 'AI will be involved in nearly all future production'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/epic-boss-tim-sweeney-thinks-stores-like-steam-should-stop-labelling-games-as-being-made-with-ai-it-makes-no-sense-he-says-because-ai-will-be-involved-in-nearly-all-future-production/
Look at any of a number of Steam store pages—Arc Raiders, for instance—and you'll see a fairly prominent "AI generated content disclosure" laying out which parts of the game make use of AI generated content. Go to the Epic Games Store, however, and you'll see nothing of the sort. And that's a difference that's not likely to change, for one simple reason: Epic boss Tim Sweeney thinks AI disclosures are a waste of time.
>> Not surprising coming from the store that has no problem allowing games with NFTs and crypto content in them. Anyway, it’s because of things like this that consumers prefer Steam to EGS.

Galaxy Princess Zorana is like if you made BG3 passive checks into a whole game, a great tale of political intrigue, and will give you like 4,000 ways to die embarrassingly
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/visual-novel/galaxy-princess-zorana-is-like-if-you-made-bg3-passive-checks-into-a-whole-game-a-great-tale-of-political-intrigue-and-will-give-you-like-4-000-ways-to-die-embarrassingly/
The reign of Galaxy Princess Zorana was unhappy and unproductive. Fortunately, it was also short—ended in its infancy when Her Imperial Highness took a javelin straight through the skull in some kind of space-football game organised by the Pope. The people of her interplanetary demesne were presumably quite relieved, once they'd recovered from the initial shock of seeing her brainstem kebabbed on live television.
Galaxy Princess Zorana is a distant sequel to Long Live The Queen, the 2013 choose-your-own visual novel that I very much enjoyed back in the day. Like its forebear, Zorana puts you in the shoes of, uh, Zorana, the heir to an empire whose previous ruler, your dad, has suddenly (perhaps suspiciously) carked it. She's young, naive, unprepared, surrounded by snakes, and all she can do about any of it is go to school.

World of Warcraft: Midnight might be the MMO's biggest expansion yet, and it's coming out in March
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-midnight-might-be-the-mmos-biggest-expansion-yet-and-its-coming-out-in-march/
It's a momentous time for World of Warcraft. The next expansion, Midnight, will shift how the game is played for everyone with sweeping changes to the most popular combat mods and the long-awaited introduction of player housing.
This new era for the MMO will begin when Midnight launches on March 2.

An outage briefly affected Fortnite, Arc Raiders, Battle.net, PSN, and more, but now appears to be resolved
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/online-service-outage-nov-2025-games/
We first noticed that the Arc Raiders servers were down this morning at around 10:30 am Pacific time, but wasn't the end of it. Downdetector has seen a spike in reports from users who are having trouble accessing Fortnite, the Epic Games Store, Rocket League, Dead by Daylight, PSN, Xbox Live, Elden Ring, Battle.net, and many other games and web services.
The reports are now declining, but if you were having trouble logging into any of these services today, you're not alone.
Recent updates
Arc Raiders is working for us now, I was able to connect to the Epic Games Store, and Fortnite players on social media are saying that it's back up, so it looks like this was just a hiccup.

Despite getting delayed, Paralives looks like it's avoiding Inzoi's biggest flaw
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/despite-getting-delayed-paralives-looks-like-its-avoiding-inzois-biggest-flaw/
The big renaissance for life sims that I was expecting this year hasn't happened, thanks in part to a sudden delay for Paralives that was announced a couple weeks back. To ease the sting of delaying just a few weeks ahead of its intended launch, the Paralives team did show off 45 minutes of new, uncut gameplay this week. And you know what? It convinced me that Paralives is going to avoid the biggest flaw in Inzoi's early access: a lifeless Live Mode.

2 months after being acquired by private equity, Splash Damage is making major layoffs so it can 'remain agile,' even though it hasn't released a game since 2020
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/2-months-after-being-acquired-by-private-equity-splash-damage-is-making-major-layoffs-so-it-can-remain-agile-even-though-it-hasnt-released-a-game-since-2020/
Two months ago, storied shooter studio Splash Damage parted ways with Tencent and ended up in the hands of private equity investors. I said at the time that it probably wasn't a good development, and I wish I'd been wrong but I was right: The studio said today that it is "entering a studio-wide consultation process affecting all roles."

'Child labor is unbeatable': Baldur's Gate 3 players discover how to build an army of unkillable kids through the power of polymorph and German media laws
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/child-labor-is-unbeatable-baldurs-gate-3-players-discover-how-to-build-an-army-of-unkillable-kids-through-the-power-of-polymorph-and-german-media-laws/
Baldur's Gate 3 is well over two years old and its developer is no longer making major content additions, but its players are still finding fresh and exciting ways to crack open its ruleset towards their own gamebreaking ends. This week, as spotted by GamesRadar, BG3 players have found a way to recruit a fighting force of the most powerful beings in Larian's version of Faerun.
It's children. They're building armies of children.

Oh, look! Here are more gaming news:

Sean Murray just crushed my hopes of playing Light No Fire anytime soon by describing the dev team as 'tiny' and working 'in the background' at Hello Games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/sean-murray-just-crushed-my-hopes-of-playing-light-no-fire-anytime-soon-by-by-describing-the-dev-team-as-tiny-and-working-in-the-background-at-hello-games/
(...)
But there's another game's labor we want to hear about, right? In the midst of celebrating the year's accomplishments in No Man's Sky, Sean Murray also mentioned the other project in the works over at Hello Games: the planet-sized open world sandbox of Light No Fire.
"In the background, another tiny team at Hello is continuing at pace on our next Labor of Love, Light No Fire, and we know a lot of you are keen to hear more," Murray said on Steam.
Unfortunately, he declined to let us hear more. "For now, it suffices to say that I am really pleased with the progress we are making and I think it’s going to be something really special," Murray said.

Dispatch's original script would've let you pick 3 heroes like 'starter Pokémon', snagging Invisigal, Waterboy, or Mr Whiskey to pull under your wing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/dispatchs-original-script-wouldve-let-you-pick-3-heroes-like-starter-pokemon-snagging-invisigal-waterboy-or-mr-whiskey-to-pull-under-your-wing/
Dispatch's story focuses heavily around your relationship—platonic or otherwise—with Invisigal, the SDN's resident burnout. At least, before Robert Robertson III arrives on-scene; Whether or not you support her has a huge impact on the story, making for a nicely focused arc in AdHoc's debut game. However, things could've been very different.
That's per a Polygon interview with narrative director Pierre Shorette, who told the site: "In the very original script, you basically picked your starter Pokémon. You didn't have a team. You showed up and [your boss] is like 'pick someone you want to mentor.'"

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 didn't sell as well as Paradox expected, and the publisher is taking the blame: 'The responsibility lies fully with us'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-didnt-sell-as-well-as-paradox-expected-and-the-publisher-is-taking-the-blame-the-responsibility-lies-fully-with-us/
The saga of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is coming to a close. After a decade of development, a midpoint studio switch and some last-minute drama surrounding launch DLC, it all culminated in disappointment.
"We've had high expectations for a long time, since we saw that it was a good game with a strong IP in a genre with a broad appeal," said Paradox CEO Fredrik Wester. "A month after release we can sadly see that sales do not match our projections."

Obsidian says The Outer Worlds 2 isn't a deliberate critique of capitalism, which is even more ridiculous than the time Fallout's co-creator said that isn't either
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/obsidian-says-the-outer-worlds-2-isnt-a-deliberate-critique-of-capitalism-which-is-even-more-ridiculous-than-the-time-fallouts-co-creator-said-that-isnt-either/
The Outer Worlds games take place in an absurd dystopia: a slice of the universe dominated by corporations and the perverse, dehumanising logic that comes with making profit your god. Its people are cogs in a great, blood-greased machine overseen by CEOs, executives, and corpulent moneymen.
But it's not about capitalism.
Not intentionally, anyway. So says TOW2 director Brandon Adler in a chat with the My Perfect Console podcast (via GamesRadar). "We're not going out of our way and saying 'Let's do a critique of capitalism as we currently see it,'" said Adler. "In general, what we like to do is—especially in The Outer Worlds—is a critique on the power structures… more of the people in power and how they abuse the people that don't have that power."

'Every moment flawed and messy because we are, also': Indie developer rallies against big studios' increasingly flippant remarks about generative AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/every-moment-flawed-and-messy-because-we-are-also-indie-developer-rallies-against-big-studios-increasingly-flippant-remarks-about-generative-ai/
D-Cell Games—the developer behind the genuinely fantastic rhythm game Unbeatable—has put out a mighty strong statement as it rallies against big studio figureheads becoming increasingly blunt about integrating generative AI into game development: from Krafton's declaration that it was pivoting to become an "AI-first" company, to Tim Sweeney clowning on Steam's AI disclosure requirements, to Nexon's CEO casually claiming that everyone was using it now.
That last one in particular is what got D-Cell Games riled up, responding to the original news in a Bluesky post with the statement: "Absolutely everything in Unbeatable was created by human beings without any generative assistance. Every frame drawn, every word written, every model sculpted, every line of code typed, every song sung with a real voice, every guitar played with a real hand, every moment flawed and messy because we are, also."

Schedule 1 creator had a backup plan if Steam rejected it—pack up the product, don a farmer's hat, and 'pivot it to be a farming game' like Stardew Valley
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/schedule-1-creator-had-a-backup-plan-if-steam-rejected-it-pack-up-the-product-don-a-farmers-hat-and-pivot-it-to-be-a-farming-game-like-stardew-valley/
Schedule 1 was one of 2025's freshly-cooked batches of surprise hits. Y'know, the kind that comes out of basically nowhere and lands square in the top sellers list—and while it was a year marked with these success stories, it was also the year that saw Steam starting to put the kibosh on adult-themed games. Which, one might worry, could eventually include drugs.
As a matter of fact, its creator Tyler tells our friends over at GamesRadar that this was enough of a concern to develop a backup plan in case Steam didn't accept the game to its platform: "Early during development, I had a plan where, if Steam wouldn't take it for whatever reason, I could just pivot it to be a farming game. Just strip all the drug stuff out, make it a farming game—but thankfully, it was all right."

Original Yakuza 0's getting delisted from Steam on December 8, but you can tuck away a GOG copy for 45% off right now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/original-yakuza-0s-getting-delisted-from-steam-on-december-8-but-you-can-tuck-away-a-gog-copy-for-45-percent-off-right-now/
You ask me (which, by clicking on this article, you did), Yakuza 0 is one of the best games I ever played. It's so good—such a pitch-perfect blend of high drama and high camp, and with perhaps the most engrossing minigame known to man packed in—that I kind of struggle to pick up other Yakuza games. I feel like I've already spent 100+ hours with the best one.
If you're one of the unlucky few who's yet to pick the game up, you may want to get on that. Sega's announced that, when Yakuza 0's spruced-up Director's Cut releases on December 8, the original version's getting delisted.

If you enjoy your Switch 2 Pro controllers, congratulations! Now you can play with them on Steam... but only wired
https://www.techpowerup.com/343378/steam-client-beta-updated-with-support-for-nintendo-switch-2-pro-controller

The update also brings support for GameCube controllers. Through an adaptor, of course.

Also, the Japanese foundry that wants to bring competition to the market, Rapidus, plans to build a second plant in 2027 with maybe the option to make 14nm chips on it by 2029
https://www.techpowerup.com/343316/rapidus-targets-2029-production-of-1-4-nm-chips-plant-construction-to-begin-in-2027

That's 1.4nm not 14nm. They are currently doing 2nm in low volume for testing and validating expecting high volume production to start in 2027. Hopefully they succeed because TSMC has no meaningful competition and just keep increasing their prices. 

True. I forgot to add the dot when writing that. My bad.

And yes, the more competition TSMC (and ASML) has, the better.

I hate the PC component market at the moment. Because of the memory situation and because I've been wanting a relatively modern GPU for my living room PC as well, I just ordered the one GPU I was not going to ugprade to - the RTX 5060. I guess it's not a bad deal for 259€, especially since the RX 9060 XT 8GB was significantly more, and the 16 GB model would've been, hmm, I think either 340€ or 360€ at cheapest. Anyway, the 5060 will be going in my main PC, and the 4060 will be moving to my living room. I kind of wish SLI was still a thing though.

Also ordered a PS5 finally for 479€. What a terrible price, but at least it comes with a game I wanted anyway (Ghost of Yotei), and I should be able to sell it later, probably even for a profit (that was the plan!), especially since it's the Ghost of Yotei Edition... although since it's so special, I fear I might not want to sell it after all, but that edition cost no extra at all!

Rapidus commented on the rumour and said that there was no plans about any 1.4nm production so far.

Also, ASML is still the sole manufacturer of EULV Lithography machines in the world, so I doubt they'll get any meaningful competition anytime soon in that domain.

I've wished them well before, but honestly, SMIC is far more likely to catch up to TSMC first than Rapidus.

The Best CPUs - Late 2025 Update

https://www.techspot.com/bestof/cpu-25-26/

Multiple Radeon and GeForce GPUs drop below MSRP: Radeon RX 9070 hits $519, GeForce RTX 5060 at $279

https://videocardz.com/newz/multiple-radeon-and-geforce-gpus-drop-below-msrp-radeon-rx-9070-hits-519-geforce-rtx-5060-at-279

Too bad ram prices are such garbage

MSI details PBO BCLK Booster feature on AMD 800-Series MAX motherboards

https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-details-pbo-bclk-booster-feature-on-amd-800-series-max-motherboards

AMD quietly introduces Radeon PRO W7900D, AI PRO 9600D and AI PRO 9700S graphics cards

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-quietly-introduces-radeon-ai-pro-r7900d-9600d-and-9700s-graphics-cards

AYANEO confirms NEXT 2 powered by Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 will feature 9-inch 165Hz 2400×1504 OLED screen

https://videocardz.com/newz/ayaneo-confirms-next-2-powered-by-ryzen-ai-max-395-will-feature-9-inch-165hz-2400x1504-oled-screen

Sycom Launches GeForce RTX 5090 “Hydro LC Plus” Graphics Card: Features AIO Cooler With Triple Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 Fans & Lynk+

https://wccftech.com/sycom-geforce-rtx-5090-hydro-lc-plus-graphics-card-aio-cooler-triple-noctua-fans/