The second part of the Monday gaming news:

Netflix sells the studio behind Cozy Grove back to its original owners, freeing the studio to bring its mobile life sim to other platforms
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/netflix-sells-the-studio-behind-cozy-grove-back-to-its-original-owners-freeing-the-studio-to-bring-its-mobile-life-sim-to-other-platforms/
Spry Fox, the Seattle-based studio behind cozy games like Cozy Grove, got purchased by Netflix back in 2022 when the streaming giant was really trying to get into this whole videogame thing. While the acquisition did bear fruit—an upcoming mobile co-op life sim called Spirit Crossing—Spry Fox is parting ways with its owner after just three years, as reported by Game File.
Netflix is still on publishing duties for Spirit Crossing's mobile release, but it sounds like the now independent Spry Fox is keen to put the game on other platforms too. The Game File article shares a statement from studio co-founder David Edery: "Spirit Crossing was built to connect the world, bring people together and inspire kindness, so being able to bring the game to as many players, across different platforms, is truly the best thing for the game."
>> The fact that they’ll now own WB Games makes me worry about the future of those studios.

The guy responsible for the whole battle engine in Total War since Rome 1 had 'never worked writing game code' when he got the assignment
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/the-guy-responsible-for-the-whole-battle-engine-in-total-war-since-rome-1-had-never-worked-writing-game-code-when-he-got-the-assignment/
Ever felt lost at sea in the first days of a new job? I'll admit it—my first weeks at PC Gamer, I had no idea what I was doing (some might say that's still the case). I was just trying to keep my head above water and not publish anything libellous, or at least nothing both libellous and unfunny.
But my experience doesn't have a patch on Scott Pitkethly, battle architect at Creative Assembly. In a chat with PC Gamer, Pitkethly said his start at the studio—all the way back in 1999—was very much sink-or-swim. First, the studio put him to work on sports games, which he couldn't care less about. Then when he finally got to make a Total War? Well, he had literally never worked writing game code before.

WoW's new player housing feature's been out in early access for less than a week, and players have already made battleships, dollhouses, and large hadron colliders
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wows-new-player-housing-features-been-out-in-early-access-for-less-than-a-week-and-players-have-already-made-battleships-dollhouses-and-large-hadron-colliders/
World of Warcraft's player housing feature has been out for less than a week—well, in early access, as long as you've bought the upcoming Midnight expansion—and I'm delighted to report that players are already going hogwild.

Mysterious missile defense game PVKK named one of our most anticipated games in this year's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/pvkk-is-our-20th-most-wanted-game-and-this-new-trailer-shows-how-unquestioningly-following-orders-can-lead-to-shooting-down-santa-claus/
Buttons, levers, dials, switches. I want to press them all. The daunting control desk of Planetenverteidigungskanonenkommandant, or PVKK for short, is shown off impressively in the new teaser revealed to celebrate the game hitting the number 20 spot in this year's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted.

Remember Postal? In the last 48 hours publisher Running With Scissors has announced a new game, insulted fans, apologized, canceled the game, the studio making it denied wrongdoing, shut down anyway, and we can thank the magic of AI for all of it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/remember-postal-in-the-last-48-hours-publisher-running-with-scissors-has-announced-a-new-game-insulted-fans-apologized-canceled-the-game-the-studio-making-it-denied-wrongdoing-shut-down-anyway-and-we-can-thank-the-magic-of-ai-for-all-of-it/
The Postal series is essentially the videogame equivalent of Uwe Boll's filmography*. They're notoriously awful—the last one we reviewed was Postal 3 in 2012, which earned a dismal 21%—and they keep happening for some reason. A new addition to the lineup was announced on December 3, in fact, called Postal: Bullet Heaven. And then approximately 24 hours later, everything went very sideways.
>> The article expands on the DSOG article from last Friday.

'We ended up flipping a coin': Slay the Spire devs left it up to pure chance whether they'd make a sequel or something else
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/we-ended-up-flipping-a-coin-slay-the-spire-devs-left-it-up-to-pure-chance-whether-theyd-make-a-sequel-or-something-else/
Deckbuilding roguelike Slay the Spire hasn't left the PC Gamer Top 100 since it came out despite inspiring hundreds of imitators, a testament to how precisely it bullseyed assembling a hand of cards so powerful you become a god. Now it seems the game most likely to usurp it is Slay the Spire 2, which is coming in March 2026—though there was apparently a 50% chance that the indie team at Mega Crit Games would never make a sequel.

There are too many hints at a Diablo 4 shadow drop at The Game Awards to convince me paladins won't be playable next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/there-are-too-many-hints-at-a-diablo-4-shadow-drop-at-the-game-awards-to-convince-me-paladins-wont-be-playable-next-week/
Tin foil hats on, everyone. Several clues point to a new class dropping in Diablo 4 right after next week's Game Awards, where Blizzard is expected to announce the next expansion.
I wouldn't be convinced of this if it weren't for a preview image on the Diablo 4 website that contains something that wouldn't exist otherwise: a new flail weapon type.

Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, known for his iconic depiction of Mortal Kombat villain Shang Tsung, has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/actor-cary-hiroyuki-tagawa-known-for-his-iconic-depiction-of-mortal-kombat-villain-shang-tsung-has-died/
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, a prolific character actor known to gamers for his portrayals of Mortal Kombat's evil sorcerer Shang Tsung, has died. A Variety report says Tagawa's death was the result of complications from a stroke he suffered on December 4.
(...)
He also had a 25+ year career in videogames, although he's less well-known for that, possibly because he appeared in a grand total of four games over that span. His first, according to Mobygames, was in the 1997 FMV joint Soldier Boyz—the resolution is terrible but you can get a look at it on YouTube—after which came appearances in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, World of Warcraft: Legion, and Mortal Kombat 11, in which he reprised his famous film role.

Todd Howard says AI can't replace human 'creative intention,' but it's part of Bethesda's 'toolset for how we build our worlds or check things'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/todd-howard-says-ai-cant-replace-human-creative-intention-but-its-part-of-bethesdas-toolset-for-how-we-build-our-worlds-or-check-things/
During a recent event for the second season of the Fallout TV show that premiers later this month, Bethesda's Todd Howard joined the press junket fray to talk about the lasting influence of New Vegas, skipping the "war never changes" refrain, and—in an interview with Eurogamer—the use of AI in game development.

Cities: Skylines 2 finally gets its asset editor in a parting gift from the series' original developers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/cities-skylines-2-finally-gets-its-asset-editor-in-a-parting-gift-from-the-series-original-developers/
It's been a rough ride for Cities: Skylines 2 over the last two years, with the sequel's premature launch in 2023 leading to severe technical issues and lengthy delays to planned future updates. But the troubled city-builder has received some significant TLC lately. November's bike patch brought bicycles, scooters and associated infrastructure to player-created metropolises, and now, developer Colossal Order has finally added its hotly anticipated asset editor too.

Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert isn't interested in returning to making 2D adventure games: 'When we're all dead, it probably won't be the kind of thing that survives'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/monkey-island-creator-ron-gilbert-isnt-interested-in-returning-to-making-2d-adventure-games-when-were-all-dead-it-probably-wont-be-the-kind-of-thing-that-survives/
Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert isn't interested in making another 2D adventure game, despite having brought the series back in precisely that form only a few years ago.
Speaking to Ars Technica, Gilbert compared "use verb or noun"- style adventure games to black and white silent movies, expressing that making games like that now would feel similarly dated.

Rust's hotly anticipated naval update is delayed into 2026: 'We took on too much'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/rusts-hotly-anticipated-naval-update-is-delayed-into-2026-we-took-on-too-much/
Facepunch's survival sim Rust has had a busy 2025, adding its medieval-themed primitive mode at the start of the year, introducing a massive jungle biome in March, and experimenting with radical changes to its progression systems and meta through the summer and autumn. But the biggest planned patch of 2025 was the naval update, which aims to expand Rust's survivalist battles to the oceans, letting players build their own ships and exchange cannon blasts in seaborne conflicts.
But players hoping to get their pirate on in Rust will have to keep their powder dry a while longer, because the naval update has been delayed.

Tom Morello worked on a song for Final Fantasy 14's latest raid tier after finding out the game's composer was a huge Rage Against the Machine fan
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/tom-morello-worked-on-a-song-for-final-fantasy-14s-latest-raid-tier-after-finding-out-the-games-composer-was-a-huge-rage-against-the-machine-fan/
What do critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy 14 and the renegades of funk, Rage Against the Machine, have in common? Probably not much before this week, but now they both contain a shared ingredient: legendary guitarist Tom Morello. Morello was featured on the game's official X account, where he announced a collaboration between him, the game's composers, and metalcore band Beartooth.

Arc Raiders finally lifts the curtain on its Expedition rewards, showing us what players can expect to get for retiring and prestiging their Raiders later this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-finally-lifts-the-curtain-on-its-expedition-rewards-showing-us-what-players-can-expect-to-get-for-retiring-and-prestiging-their-raiders-later-this-month/
In a new blog post, Embark Studios has outlined what players can expect from the Expedition, a feature that will let you wipe your progress and start a new character with special rewards and new bonuses based on your previous character's stash value. You can choose whether or not to opt in to the Expedition in a window that will be open from December 17-22.

Players are piling in to the Guild Wars remaster, and it's giving the servers trouble: 'Demand for Guild Wars Reforged blew past our projections'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/players-are-piling-in-to-the-guild-wars-remaster-and-its-giving-the-servers-trouble-demand-for-guild-wars-reforged-blew-past-our-projections/
There's still nothing quite like the original Guild Wars. It came out before World of Warcraft had crystallized the face of the modern MMORPG, and was as inspired by Magic: The Gathering as it was by Everquest or Ultima. It turned out as more of a co-op ARPG with shared town hubs, dual-class deckbuilding, and a cutscene-driven narrative—and that unique confluence of inspirations may be why it's still popular today. So popular, in fact, that it's even a surprise to developer ArenaNet.

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

Viking RTS Northgard is now Northgard: Definitive Edition, thanks to an update that folds in its major DLC and adds a bunch of new stuff free to existing players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/viking-rts-northgard-is-now-northgard-definitive-edition-thanks-to-an-update-that-folds-in-its-major-dlc-and-adds-a-bunch-of-new-stuff-free-to-existing-players/
The recent history of real-time strategy has been more dark age than golden era, but there have been a few bright spots over the last decade. One of those is Northgard, a Viking-themed RTS that was released in 2018. Built on traditional strategy foundations, Northgard added novel ideas like game-altering weather systems and a region-based expansion system.
The result is one of the best strategy games of the last decade. "While the inspiration is clear, it would be a disservice to imply that it's mainly trading in nostalgia," Fraser Brown wrote in his Northgard review, awarding it a score of 84%. "This Viking saga builds on the history-themed RTS romps of the '90s, but it's not beholden to them."
Northgard went on to sell over 5 million copies and receive a bunch of expansions and DLC. Now, developer Shiro Games has bundled several of these additional adventures with the base game to form Northgard: Definitive Edition, which throws in a few new features for good measure.

World War 1 survival horror Conscript gets a 'huge' update that adds a hardcore mode, redesigned levels, new items and gear, and much more
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/world-war-1-survival-horror-conscript-gets-a-huge-update-that-adds-a-hardcore-mode-redesigned-levels-new-items-and-gear-and-much-more/
World War 1 survival horror Conscript was one of the bigger surprises of last year, with its unvarnished depiction of a French soldier's journey through the battle of Verdun thoroughly impressing reviewer Alexander Chatziioannou. "Every aspect of the game feels meticulously crafted to convey the absurdity and depravity of war," he wrote in his Conscript review. "For sheer, despair-inducing darkness, no game in recent memory captures the torment humanity can inflict upon itself quite like Conscript."
Alexander awarded Conscript a highly respectable score of 83, but it seems developer Jordan Mochi wasn't satisfied with the version that launched last July. Since then, Mochi has been working on a massive update to Conscript, one that extensively reworks many aspects of the experience—including the name, as it's now called Conscript: Director's Cut.

Descenders Next gets a big multiplayer update as its developer apologises for taking so long with it: 'We're slowly working on getting the feel and flow of Descenders back into Descenders Next'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/descenders-next-gets-a-big-multiplayer-update-as-its-developer-apologises-for-taking-so-long-with-it-were-slowly-working-on-getting-the-feel-and-flow-of-descenders-back-into-descenders-next/
Extreme sports sim Descenders Next looked primed to be an impressive follow-up to Ragesquid's 2019 hit, taking the fundamentals which made Descenders' downhill biking such a thrill and applying them to snowboarding and mountain-boarding. PC Gamer's Shaun Prescott took it for a spin last year and came away delighted, stating the sequel" adopts all of the best qualities of its predecessor while adding something that was arguably missing before: atmosphere".
Yet it seems supporting the sequel has, ironically, represented an uphill struggle for Ragesquid, with scant updates to Next since its early access release in July. That changed this week, however, as Ragesquid implemented a substantial multiplayer-focussed patch, while also explaining what's been going on behind the scenes.

Wreckreation developer puts its entire staff on notice as publisher THQ Nordic abandons it: 'We simply cannot sustain the studio in its current form'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/wreckreation-developer-puts-its-entire-staff-on-notice-as-publisher-thq-nordic-abandons-it-we-simply-cannot-sustain-the-studio-in-its-current-form/
Three Fields Entertainment, developers of Dangerous Golf, Danger Zone, and most recently the Burnout-meets-Trackmania mashup Wreckreation, has announced that it has put its entire staff on notice of redundancy, as the studio explained it "will not see revenue from game sales for the foreseeable future."
In a statement posted to X, Three Fields' CEO Fiona Sperry explained that the studio has "had to self-fund most of this year and all of the post launch content" after Wreckreation's publisher, the Embracer Group-owned THQ Nordic, apparently lost interest in the title. "Without the enthusiasm or financial support from our publisher to continue development, we simply cannot sustain the studio in its current form."

The creator of popular animated short The Backwater Gospel is making an FPS inspired by 'Half-Life and the golden age of narrative first person shooters'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-creator-of-popular-animated-short-the-backwater-gospel-is-making-an-fps-inspired-by-half-life-and-the-golden-age-of-narrative-first-person-shooters/
Animator Bo Mathorne, creator of the 2011 animated short, Backwater Gospel, has revealed a new game project alongside developer Thomas Mygind: Skarven, a crunchy, lo-fi (but not too lo-fi) FPS inspired by narrative-heavy late '90s/early aughts shooters like Half-Life.

Gaming collectible purveyor iam8bit is suing publisher Skybound over alleged fraud related to cat sim Stray
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/gaming-collectible-purveyor-iam8bit-is-suing-publisher-skybound-over-alleged-fraud-related-to-cat-sim-stray/
As reported by Engadget, videogame merch and physical edition company iam8bit is suing Skybound Game Studios over alleged fraud and breach of contract in their multi-year partnership, particularly relating to their joint work on distributing Stray, the 2022 3D platformer where you play as a cat exploring a cyberpunk city.

Statistics prove everyone is T-posing for dominance in Elden Ring Nightreign, the feared Bell Bearing Hunter is only the fourth-deadliest field boss, and nobody plays Guardian
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/statistics-prove-everyone-is-t-posing-for-dominance-in-elden-ring-nightreign-the-feared-bell-bearing-hunter-is-only-the-fourth-deadliest-field-boss-and-nobody-plays-guardian/
On December 1, Bandai Namco released an assortment of Elden Ring Nightreign player statistics to celebrate the release of The Forsaken Hollows DLC. There are some interesting omissions, like the popularity of each nightfarer (but we can extrapolate from the data we do have), as well as some surprising reveals.

Tekken boss announces retirement after 30 years in the most Harada way imaginable: a lengthy social media post and hour-long mixtape
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/tekken-boss-announces-retirement-after-30-years-in-the-most-harada-way-imaginable-a-lengthy-social-media-post-and-hour-long-mixtape/
Katsuhrio Harada—one of the driving forces behind Tekken and the series head honcho for the last 20 years—is hanging up his fighting gloves at the end of this year.
He announced his retirement in a lengthy X post, saying that 2025 would be his final year at Bandai Namco and as the project leader on Tekken. "With the Tekken series reaching its 30th anniversary—an important milestone for a project I've devoted much of my life to—I felt this was the most fitting moment to bring one chapter to a close," he wrote.

It's a miracle that TV/monitors are still following the old habit of getting cheaper over time.

Soon-ish, OLEDs will reach price points for everybody. Or I hope so.

Isn't it a bit too late? I want more competition, but launching the B770 right now, when Celestial is around the corner and VRAM prices will cause all sort of problems, makes little sense.

Check this out:

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/BulletHeaven3

Consider it as a warm up for the Winter Sale from next week.

*Edit* It turns out that there's another one!

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

Intel’s Revenue Share Drops Below 5% For The First Time At Mindfactory

https://wccftech.com/intels-revenue-share-drops-below-5-for-the-first-time-on-mindfactory/

NVIDIA “Finally” Gets Approval to Sell Hopper H200 AI Chips to China, But Jensen Has Already Said Beijing Won’t Be Interested

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-gets-approval-to-sell-h200-ai-chips-to-china-but-jensen-has-already-said-beijing-wont-be-interested/

Intel Core Ultra X9 388H Flagship Panther Lake CPU Benchmarks Leak: Trades Blows With Ryzen AI Max+ 395 In Single-Core & 21% Faster Vs Core Ultra 9 285H

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-x9-388h-benchmarked-on-geekbench/

Framework criticizes Dell over $550 32 GB RAM upgrade pricing

https://videocardz.com/newz/framework-criticizes-dell-over-550-32-gb-ram-upgrade-pricing

ASUS says there is no RTX 5090 ROG MATRIX recall, cards return to retailers

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-says-there-is-no-rtx-5090-rog-matrix-recall-cards-return-to-retailers

Biwin’s CL100 Mini SSDs enter consumer market with 512GB, 1TB and 2TB options

https://videocardz.com/newz/biwins-cl100-mini-ssds-enter-consumer-market-with-512gb-1tb-and-2tb-options

The Tuesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Elden Ring Nightreign's first major DLC has sold over 2 million copies in under a week, as it manages to reignite that soul-crushing spark I had the first time I played
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-nightreigns-first-major-dlc-has-sold-over-2-million-copies-in-under-a-week-as-it-manages-to-reignite-that-soul-crushing-spark-i-had-the-first-time-i-played/
You know a FromSoftware game is going to be good when your first reaction to it is anger, frustration, and utter despair. I've had an adverse reaction to the start of every Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Demon Souls, proclaiming to anyone who'd listen that I'd never touch any of these games again, only to then put hundreds of hours into them. I'm nothing if not consistent.
Elden Ring Nightreign was no different in this respect. Dropped into the chaos that is Limveld, I had no idea what was going on or why I had just spawned next to one of the Godskin duo at an evergaol. It was a rough entry into the game, and I hated it, but then I played another round and started to join the dots together. Snap to 200 hours later, and I had beaten all the Nightlords and their Everdark variants, but games were strangely easy.
Well, FromSoft must've heard all my bragging because the latest DLC, Forsaken Hollows, launched last week, and it's rough. I've been repeatedly stomped on by the two new nightlords, the Balancers and Dreglord, whether I'm playing one of the new nightfarers or not. I can't even get past the second night boss sometimes—why is that Demon Prince so angry, and who thought it was a good idea to let Curseblade and Divine Beast Warrior team up?
But the difficulty of the latest DLC hasn't stopped a shedload of dedicated nightfarers from diving in and putting themselves through the wringer. "2 million nightfarers in search of the Forsaken Hollows," an official blog post says. "For every nightfarer who joined the hunt against the Dreglord, we offer our immense gratitude."

Steam has one new deals and eight new sales:

• The deal is The Medium , 70% off until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1293160/The_Medium/
• These are the sales/events:
  • Taskbar Treasure Week has “the coziest indie games of the year”, as well as demos, upcoming releases and games with up to 80% discounts. The deals will end between the 14th and the 18th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45193622/sale/TaskbarTreasureWeek
  • Avalanche Studios Winter Sale has games up to 89% off. The deals will end between the 15th and the 17th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/1080307/sale/AvalancheWinterSale2025
  • Four is a Party Sale, with multiplayer games, has up to 90% off deals. Those deals will end between the 15th and the 18th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/fourisaparty2025
  • Choose Wisely Festival, about games where your decisions matter, has demos, upcoming titles and games with up to 90% discounts. The Sale will end on the 15th, but some deals will last until the 18t. And then there’s one with a deal that will end on the 22nd. Can you find it?: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/choosewiselyfestival25
  • Alaloth: Champions of The Four Kingdoms celebrates its 1st Anniversary (tho it launched on the 21st of November…) with a 40% discount on the game and up to 50% discounts on DLCs. It will last until the 18th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33330069/sale/alalothfirstanniversary
  • Metro Franchise Sale features up to 90% discounts until the 18th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/MetroSale2025
  • 11 bit Studios Publisher Sale will have games up to 90% off until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/11BitPublisherSaleDec2025
  • Fying Light Franchise Sale has games and DLCs up to 80% off. While the games say that the deals will end on the 18th, the page of the sale says that it will run until the 5th of January. You now know what to expect during the Winter Sale: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33025758/sale/DyingLightWinterFranchiseSale
• And there are, of course, new weeklong deals.

And Fanatical has these:

• The new Star Deal is Moonstone Island, with a 66% discount during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/moonstone-island
• The Star Wars Collection makes a comeback. This time it will be 80% off during 3 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
• The Mystery Box Bundle - Holiday Edition has 25 unknown games to get in packs of 5. It doesn’t say when it will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-box-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Unreal Engine 5.6 Fan Remaster Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/the-elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-unreal-engine-5-6-fan-remaster-released/
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind fans, here is something special for you today. Greg Coulthard has released a new version of his fan remaster of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind in Unreal Engine 5.6. This remaster of Morrowind is free, and you can download it right now.
For those unaware, Coulthard has ported the entire map of Morrowind to UE5. All the assets used here are from the original game. As Coulthard has noted, his goal wasn’t to upgrade the game’s graphics. Instead, he wanted to see whether or not it was possible to port Morrowind’s map to UE5 and how it would look in it.
>> There is a roughly 6 minutes video in the article.

GAMING NEWS

The Alters – December 8th Update Adds New Free Content
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-alters-december-8th-update-adds-new-free-content/
11 bit studios has released the December 8th Title Update for The Alters, which adds new free content to the game. This is something that all owners of the game will appreciate. So, let’s take a closer look at it.

STALKER 2 Patch 1.7.1 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/stalker-2-patch-1-7-1-released-fully-detailed/
GSC GameWorld has released Title Update 1.7.1 for STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new update brings to the table.

The one and only part two of the Tuesday gaming news:

World of Warcraft players are already discovering new tech with its player housing—turns out, you can sit anywhere as long as you're able to fit a chair inside
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcraft-players-are-already-discovering-new-tech-with-its-player-housing-turns-out-you-can-sit-anywhere-as-long-as-youre-able-to-fit-a-chair-inside/
World of Warcraft's player housing has hit the live servers—as long as you've purchased Midnight—and players are already having a blast making all kinds of nonsense. Also, they've found out secret, illicit (not really) wizard tech for being able to sit anywhere.

Hideo Kojima says Death Stranding was 'too unique', OD's going to be 'completely different', but Physint's an espionage game so 'you can make it in your sleep'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/hideo-kojima-says-death-stranding-was-too-unique-ods-going-to-be-completely-different-but-physints-an-espionage-game-so-you-can-make-it-in-your-sleep/
It's been a busy old year for Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions, with the release of Death Stranding 2 earlier this year (the inevitable PC version is yet to be given a release date), two film adaptations of the series—one live action, one animated—in the works, as well as an anime being cooked up at Disney+. Oh yeah, there's also the three other games the company has in development: horror title OD, espionage game PhysInt, and an untitled collaboration with Niantic (of Pokemon GO fame).
Kojima's been doing a round of interviews to see out the year, and the latest with the Japanese outlet Ananweb sees him reflecting on all of these game projects. As ever, Kojima says he doesn't think of Death Stranding 2 as "finished" because "I actually wanted to continue until around September."

The effort to canonize a Steam tag for the world's 'survivorslikes' and 'bullet heavens' intensifies with a public poll and celebratory sale aiming to finally settle on a name for the misfit genre
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/the-effort-to-canonize-a-steam-tag-for-the-worlds-survivorslikes-and-bullet-heavens-intensifies-with-a-public-poll-and-celebratory-sale-aiming-to-finally-settle-on-a-name-for-the-misfit-genre/
Of all the ideological struggles pervading our world today, none is more crucial than the effort to decide what we should actually call all the games like Vampire Survivors. This week, more than 450 developers are joining forces to solve that frustrating quandary of categorical nomenclature with a public survey aiming to finally settle on a Steam tag for the genre that's been variously referred to as bullet heaven games, survivorslikes, and—apologies—"auto-attacking wave-based survival games." Hopefully it's not the last one.

'We're not doing a good enough job [with Portal] right now': Battlefield 6 dev says players are making 'fantastic' creations that nobody is seeing because of a 'technical issue'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/were-not-doing-a-good-enough-job-with-portal-right-now-battlefield-6-dev-says-players-are-making-fantastic-creations-that-nobody-is-seeing-because-of-a-technical-issue/
When I sat down to chat with Ripple Effect studio design director Justin Wiebe last week, we'd planned to talk RedSec. Wiebe helped lead the charge on Battlefield 6's battle royale mode developed primarily at the Los Angeles-based Ripple Effect, but on the day, we ended up chatting more about Portal—its expansive feature set, boundless potential, and why Battlefield Studios isn't currently doing enough to elevate community creations.

Path of Exile 2 director is on a 'quest to make the perfect action RPG' and isn't afraid to borrow from Path of Exile 1 to pull it off
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/path-of-exile-2-director-is-on-a-quest-to-make-the-perfect-action-rpg-and-isnt-afraid-to-borrow-from-path-of-exile-1-to-pull-it-off/
Jonathan Rogers, one of the co-founders of the studio behind Path of Exile, isn't afraid to call his own game too old to be the perfect action RPG. The first PoE had its moment and now it lives comfortably on updates made to please its most dedicated fans. It's not going anywhere, but it's also not going to be the next big thing.
Path of Exile 2, however, could be the game at the end of Rogers' "quest to make the perfect ARPG," he told PC Gamer in a recent interview. Despite its differences to PoE 1, some of which have gone away over the last year in early access, "it was never really about making it feel distinct," he says.

The Game Awards reveals fan-voted Players' Voice nominees, and I'm sorry to say that Megabonk is once again out of the show
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-game-awards-reveals-fan-voted-players-voice-nominees-and-im-sorry-to-say-that-megabonk-is-once-again-out-of-the-show/
The final nominees for the Players' Voice category at The Game Awards 2025 have been announced, and I'm sorry to say that indie darling Megabonk is—again—out of the running. And this time, there's no coming back.

Shenmue studio threatens legal action over an apparently faked Shenmue 4 trailer, which it says 'has absolutely no connection to Ys Net'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/shenmue-studio-threatens-legal-action-over-an-apparently-faked-shenmue-4-trailer-which-it-says-has-absolutely-no-connection-to-ys-net/
Our rundown of what to expect from this year's edition of The Game Awards includes a brief note about a supposed leak of a trailer for Shenmue 4, shared by a YouTube account with eight (now 12) subscribers. Is it really a leak, or just an elaborate fake? It's looking like the latter, as Ys Net has posted a message on X saying the video "has absolutely no connection" to the studio.

Microsoft killed the promising Perfect Dark reboot, but Take-Two has snapped up its leads for a new 2K studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/microsoft-killed-the-promising-perfect-dark-reboot-but-take-two-has-snapped-up-its-leads-for-a-new-2k-studio/
When Microsoft laid off an astonishing 9,000 people in July, the long-awaited Perfect Dark reboot was among the casualties. The main studio working on it—The Initiative—was shuttered, but co-developers Crystal Dynamics tried to salvage the project by cutting a publishing deal with Take-Two. The deal never eventuated because Take-Two and Microsoft couldn't agree on who would retain ownership of the Perfect Dark franchise.
Nevertheless, it looks like Take-Two did get something out of those discussions: former The Initiative boss Darrell Gallagher and Perfect Dark director Brian Horton will found a new 2K Games studio. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier announced as much today, before Gallagher confirmed on LinkedIn.
>> Microsoft’s loss is 2K’s gain.

Square Enix hit with a brutal 100-slide presentation from one of its shareholders about alleged mismanagement, other shareholders asked to pitch in with 'frank views'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/square-enix-hit-with-a-brutal-100-slide-presentation-from-one-of-its-shareholders-about-alleged-mismanagement-other-shareholders-asked-to-pitch-in-with-frank-views/
Square Enix has had a rough couple of years—combining $140 million in losses from abandoned projects, the shine slowly fading from Final Fantasy 14 (even if it does look like things are on the up, again), and sluggish Final Fantasy sales across the board. Its newer IPs haven't done great, either. Remember Babylon's Fall? You'd better, 'cause it'll only exist in your memories forever.
It's almost enough to make me feel sad for a large company (almost—you shouldn't do that) to see it now hit with a 100-slide presentation on its alleged mismanagement from one of its major shareholders. 3D Investment, which holds a 14.36% stake in the company, is now looking to get other shareholders onside.
>> Looks like some heads will roll at S-E. Figuratively speaking, of course.

NVIDIA Might End the ‘CUDA Moat’ With Its Latest Update, Says Chip Architect Jim Keller, Who Claims It Will Now Be Easier to Port Kernels
https://wccftech.com/nvidia-might-end-the-cuda-moat-with-its-latest-update-says-jim-keller/
(...)

"It would not be incorrect to say that, so far, with the 'AI frenzy', CUDA has managed to hold everything for NVIDIA when it comes to providing developers with specific libraries and frameworks for creating AI-infused workflows. To the best of our knowledge, no other company has successfully replicated such a software stack. Building upon this, NVIDIA has introduced a major update to CUDA, called CUDA Tile, which is a shift from the traditional SIMT to a tile-based approach. We'll discuss the update in-depth later on, but the chip architect Jim Keller believes that it might mark the end of the CUDA moat.

Now, before this update, CUDA gave the leverage to programmers when it comes to fine-tuning parameters like tile sizes, data to load in shared memory, and the compute resources required for execution on the GPU, but with CUDA Tile, the dynamics completely change. NVIDIA has introduced a tile-based programming model and a new low-level VM called Tile IR, which views the GPU as a tile processor. This allows programmers to focus more on core logic, rather than GPU complexities."

(...)

"One of the reasons why Jim Keller believes that CUDA Tile will make porting the code onto other GPUs, such as those from AMD, much easier is that the tiling approach has been widely common in the industry, being used by frameworks such as Triton, so it ultimately raises the possibility that porting CUDA code to Triton, then to AMD's AI chips, will become a lot more easier. Secondly, when you raise the abstraction level, developers wouldn't need to worry about writing architecture-specific CUDA code anymore, so it is supposed that code porting would become a lot easier.

However, building on this argument, CUDA Tile actually strengthens NVIDIA's moat, in my opinion, mainly because the proprietary technology behind it, such as Tile IR, is optimized for NVIDIA hardware semantics. Hence, while porting might become easier, implementation would remain complex. Ultimately, by making CUDA programming easier, NVIDIA is actually consolidating its control over the CUDA stack, which is one of the reasons why the newest update is being touted as a 'revolution' in the realm of GPU programming."

On one hand, I trust Keller's knowledge on the matter more than a journalist from a site that happily posts all kinds of rumors. But on the other hand, Keller's own company, Tenstorrent, is going after Nvidia's AI pie, so he has an ulterior motive to say that.