That was a very strange market cap slip because Genie isn't designed to be a game generator or game engine at all, it's a world model representation for AI training. I could see future applications in VR, but definitely not all of gaming (maybe it could be used as a tool in game development too?).

Morrowind is clunky, but arguably so are all Elder Scrolls games. - But I would still prefer to play that over Skyrim.
Skyrim was only successful because of the foundations that Morrowind built and the push to console-optimize it.

Skywind looks and plays fantastically and it shows that Morrowind as a game can be played beautifully in 2026, it's building architecture, sound, music, art is less generic than Oblivion or Skyrim.

Nice, the game's been sitting on my wishlist since forever, now I won't have to pay for them anymore^^

4 H100 and still can only output in 720p with 24fps? I know most of the power is needed to create the scenes from scratch, but still...

Yeah, several publishers and game engines crashed hard on the stock market after it's announcement, especially Unity with dropped almost 30% in one day. Probably those "AI experts" (infestors and anal-lists) thinking that this will replace development for indie developers...

^ Not a bad time to buy the dip, I guess.

Morrowind was scaled down TES, but still TES in essence (Daggerfall being pinnacle of original TES design), and arguably best of Howard's era TES games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim), aimed primarily at RPG audience. Skyrim was heavily water-downed TES aimed primarily at mainstream audience - hence its much bigger commercial success.

True, but if you want to train a world model, that's probably the kind of experiment compute you need (times a hundred thousand or so).

For VR or some other interactive form of entertainment, yeah, that's a decade off still.

The Tuesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Cairn developers 'couldn't be happier' as they celebrate 200,000 copies sold: 'We hope you feel the passion we baked into the mountain'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/cairn-developers-couldnt-be-happier-as-they-celebrate-200-000-copies-sold-we-hope-you-feel-the-passion-we-baked-into-the-mountain/
Cairn released late last week to glowing reviews, with Shaun Prescott calling it "prickly but approachable" in PC Gamer's review. And clearly it's been a big hit with the players as the devs celebrate passing a huge milestone less than a week after launch.
"Is this the revival of Kami's golden age of tourism?" The Game Bakers say in a Bluesky post, "We couldn't be happier to have welcomed 200,000 climbers to the mountain over the weekend."
It's an impressive feat that shows just how well players have taken to this new climbing sim. It even managed to sell 100,000 of those copies in just its first 24 hours on sale: "Thank you for joining the ascent," The Game Bakers says. "We hope you feel the passion we baked into the mountain." Its all-time player peak on Steam is slightly less impressive at just 15,000 players, but it's still fantastic, especially since Cairn isn't some huge live service multiplayer game.

GOG presents the Divinity Franchise Sale, with the games being up to 90% off during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260202_divinity_franchise_sale

Steam has one (at least that I can see) new deal and four sales:

• Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition has a 30% discount until the 9th of February. Worth notign that there’s no sale “per se” but all the Stronghold games are on sale: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3024040/Stronghold_Crusader_Definitive_Edition/
• These are the sales:
  • The Fun, The Dark and The Cozy Sale has lots of upcoming titles and also lots of games on sale with up to 80% discounts. Most deals seem to be ending between the 9th and 10th, but some will end on the 5th while others will last until 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45579964/sale/TheFunTheDarkandTheCozy
  • Larian also puts its Divinity games on sale here, with the games being between 75 and 90% off until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/DivinityFranchiseSale2026
  • Midwinter in Middle-Earth Sale features up to 90% discounts until February 9: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/midwintermiddlearth2026
  • id’s 35th Anniversary Sale will have games up to 75% off until the 15th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33028765/sale/DOOMFranchiseSale2026
• And there are, of course, new weeklong deals

Humble has two new deals:

• Humble Bundle has the Sci-Fi Shooters 2,0 Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/scifi-shooters-bundle-2026
• Humble Store presents the 2K Publisher Sale, with up to 95% discounts during 23 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/2k-publisher-sale-q1-2026/

And Fanatical has the Mystery Star Bundle, with 25 unknown games to get in groups of 5. It will last 57 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-star-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Red Dead Redemption 2 Gets a Stunning 53GB HD Texture Pack – Download Now
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-2-gets-a-stunning-53gb-hd-texture-pack-download-now/
Modder ‘DominatorGt’ has released a massive 52GB HD Texture Pack for Red Dead Redemption 2 that aims to overhaul almost all of thh game’s textures. This pack will make the game look sharper and more detailed. As such, it’s a must-have for everyone who plans to replay it.
As I said, this pack aims to overhaul almost all of the game’s textures. In the past, we’ve shared numerous HD Texture Packs that focused on specific things. But now, with this mod, you can simply use this one. The downside is that it’s enormous. We’re talking about three ZIP files that are, in total, 53GB in size. Still, it’s now easier to get crisper textures for the entire game.
The modder also added new cloud types that Rockstar never included in the game. All the temperature settings were made with help from a real meteorologist. The creator used real climate data from places with similar altitude and weather. Because of this, the game now has weather events that never appear in the original version. Every kind of weather also behaves in a realistic way.
And that’s not all. The weather also changes in a more natural way. It now follows slow changes in the atmosphere, like rising pressure, moisture levels, and storm buildup. Clear skies won’t suddenly turn into a storm. Clouds can slowly fade away or grow stronger depending on the temperature and conditions. This makes the weather feel more realistic, with smoother transitions and fewer sudden, immersion-breaking changes.
>> The article has some screenshots.

Fan Is Recreating the SNES Donkey Kong Country in Unity Engine
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/fan-is-recreating-the-snes-donkey-kong-country-in-unity-engine/
Now here is something truly amazing. YouTube’s ‘Rangelukaz’ is recreating the classic SNES Donkey Kong Country game in the Unity Engine. This remake aims to be as faithful to the SNES game as possible. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
Contrary to the AI remake of DKC we shared a while ago, this fan remake aims to be identical to the SNES version. So, make sure to temper your expectations. This won’t be a graphical overhaul. Instead, it will be more like a port of the SNES game to the Unity Engine.
What’s cool here is that Rangelukaz is working on implementing proper gameplay mechanics. In his first video, he showcased the moving and jumping mechanics. And, to his credit, Rangelukaz was able to nail everything from the SNES version.
The Unity Engine Remake feels exactly like the SNES version of DKC. At 3:00, we have a direct comparison between the SNES and the Unity versions. And, honestly, they look the same. Then, at 9:45, we get to see the WIP Unity Engine version.
(…)
Interestingly enough, Rangelukaz plans to release playable demos so that everyone can try it. Right now, there is no ETA for when these demos will come out. Naturally, though, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

GAMING NEWS

Capcom has removed Denuvo from Resident Evil 4 Remake
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/capcom-has-removed-denuvo-from-resident-evil-4-remake/
Now, here is some great news for all our Resident Evil fans. Capcom has just removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from Resident Evil 4 Remake.
>> Good news, but they’ve probably replaced it with their own cr*p.

Tuesday gaming news, part two:

Skyrim's lead designer thinks Bethesda should stick to its in-house engine: 'The benefits that you get from switching to Unreal Engine are probably not going to materialise until two titles down the road'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/skyrims-lead-designer-thinks-bethesda-should-stick-to-its-in-house-engine-the-benefits-that-you-get-from-switching-to-unreal-engine-are-probably-not-going-to-materialise-until-two-titles-down-the-road/
Through the years of Bethesda games suffering from rocky launches, spectacular bugs, and erratic physics, there's been a common refrain from the fans: ditch the engine. Originally Gamebryo, nowadays the Creation Engine, Bethesda's in-house platform, has been seen as the root of all evils in The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, the supposed cause of everything from instability to floaty combat to lumpy potato faces.
In an interview with PressBoxPR, however, former Bethesda veteran and Skyrim's lead designer Bruce Nesmith has defended the studio's continued use of the engine, pointing to the huge disruption that would be caused by a changeover.
>> He’s the same smart ass from yesterday. Besides being wrong about that, he has also praised Todd Howard for avoiding micromanaging everything and be a ‘bottleneck’ (link) and said that his biggest regret on the TES lore is… the Dragon Break (link), an opinion that the author of the article strongly disagrees with. Talking about disagreeing, but on another note, I’m sure you’ll like to hear that Larian’s publishing chief says an updated Morrowind with a modern combat system 'would sell like f**king hotcakes' (link).

Controversial PS2 survival horror Rule of Rose absolutely deserves a remake or re-release, but Bloober Team isn't doing it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/controversial-ps2-survival-horror-rule-of-rose-absolutely-deserves-a-remake-or-re-release-but-bloober-team-isnt-doing-it/
Last month Bloober Team, the horror studio responsible for the Silent Hill 2 Remake and The Medium, posted a teaser for an unannounced project. The teaser featured an illustration of a rose, leading some brilliant internet sleuths to deduce that it must surely point to a remake of the cult 2006 survival horror Rule of Rose.
Rose in picture, rose in name of game. Who could fault this theory?
Alas, as cool as a remake of Rule of Rose would be, that's not what the teaser is teasing. Bloober Team CEO has confirmed as much on LinkedIn. "Nice guess, but no," Piotr Babieno posted in response to an article by Twisted Voxel. "It definitely doesn't refer to any remake."

To celebrate 5 years in early access, Valheim gets a new hat, better Steam Deck performance, and—wait for it—frosted sweetbread
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/to-celebrate-5-years-in-early-access-valheim-gets-a-new-hat-better-steam-deck-performance-and-wait-for-it-frosted-sweetbread/
It's been five years since Valheim revitalized the survival craft genre. At the time I remember thinking "why would anyone want to play a new game in this style when there's already Minecraft, Ark and Rust?". With the benefit of hindsight I know that two things worked in Valheim's favour. One was its clever finetuning of survival and building systems that still felt really clunky in competing games, and which many have since adopted. The other thing was Vikings. Valheim ruled so much that it was our favourite game of 2021, and that was largely thanks to Vikings.
Five years later Valheim is still in early access, but its updates come thick and fast and its community seems, by and large, pretty happy with how things are going. To celebrate the milestone, Iron Gate has issued a special anniversary update, or "Patch 0.221.10" in more prosaic terms. It features a bunch of nice things, like "a celebratory hat", a new weapon in the form of early axes (they're basically ancient dual-wieldable axes), and frosted sweetbread, which is a new consumable.

After a disastrous year, Tekken 8 says it's going 'back to basics' for Season 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/after-a-disastrous-year-tekken-8-says-its-going-back-to-basics-for-season-3/
Tekken 8's second season has not been the most successful for Bandai Namco. The promise of a stronger emphasis on defensive play somehow manifested itself as even more offense and aggression, and has left a good chunk of players begging since last April for something to change.
Well, now that the 2025 Tekken World Tour has finally wrapped up, it looks like Bamco is ready to put the wheels in motion. During the TWT Finals over the weekend, we were treated to a trailer for Season 3 which seemed desperate to tell us one thing: Tekken 8 is going back to basics, promise.

Events are back in Arc Raiders as Embark fixes an issue that erased them from existence while also upping Bird City's frequency, 'so that all time zones get a chance to play'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/events-are-back-in-arc-raiders-as-embark-fixes-an-issue-that-erased-them-from-existence-while-also-upping-bird-citys-frequency-so-that-all-time-zones-get-a-chance-to-play/
(...)
The Bird City map event adds more birds to Buried City with a higher chance of finding good loot on the rooftops, with new rare rubber ducks being among the items players are able to find here. It seemed like a cool way to spice Buried City up. Raiders only had one complaint: they couldn't play it.
(…)
After a small hiccup last night where all the map events were wiped from existence—"Well, I guess that's one way to solve the scheduling problems"—Embark jumped into action, fixing the bug but also changing the event rota.
"Last night, there was an issue with the map conditions schedule," the community manager at Embark, Ossen, says in the official Discord. "We just pushed an update enabling this week's schedule while also increasing the frequency of Bird City. No download required, but please restart your game to update. We will keep revising and try to find a schedule for all conditions so that all time zones get a chance to play."

Blizzard could add more homes per account to World of Warcraft's player housing in the future, but 'we have to be conservative at the start with these things'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-could-add-more-homes-per-account-to-world-of-warcrafts-player-housing-in-the-future-but-we-have-to-be-conservative-at-the-start-with-these-things/
World of Warcraft's player housing system is pretty much great—it offers an absurd amount of freedom, the decor limits just keep going up as Blizzard explores new ways to increase it, and while it sure has taken it a while, the developer seems to've learned (from two decades of other MMORPGs trying, failing, and flying) where to lean in and where to give over freedom to the players.
One thing that has bothered me, however, is the limit to two houses per account—one per faction. I'm a roleplayer, which means I have a lot of characters with different themes who might want different homes—and aside from building an apartment complex (which, hey, it's possible) I'm left without much in the way of abilities to do that.
I did, however, get to speak to design director Maria Hamilton, and principal artist Jay Hwang recently—and I've been assured that increasing the amount of homes a WoW account can have isn't off the table.

And here are the two that didn't make it to be full articles:

Bethesda keeps the Fallout remaster hopium flowing by showing Aaron Moten inside Fallout 3 and New Vegas
https://www.pcgamer.com/movies-tv/bethesda-keeps-the-fallout-remaster-hopium-flowing-by-putting-aaron-moten-inside-fallout-3-and-new-vegas/

Deadlock's newest hero has the luxury of two kits, multiple knockback attacks, and the ability to turn into a werewolf every 30 seconds
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/deadlocks-newest-hero-has-the-luxury-of-two-kits-multiple-knockback-attacks-and-the-ability-to-turn-into-a-werewolf-every-30-seconds/

Intel Plans to Re-Enter the Memory Business as the Firm Pairs With SoftBank to Introduce a New Solution, Capitalizing on Ongoing Shortages

https://wccftech.com/intel-plans-to-enter-the-memory-business-once-again/

AMD board partners said to plan 5–10% Radeon price rise while prioritizing 8GB models

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-board-partners-said-to-plan-5-10-radeon-price-rise-while-prioritizing-8gb-models

Intel Xeon 600 Workstation CPUs Launched: Up To 86 Cores, 8000 MT/s Memory, 128 Gen5 Lanes, 350W TDP With OC Support, & More Cores/$ Than Threadripper 9000

https://wccftech.com/intel-xeon-600-cpus-launched-up-to-86-cores-better-value-than-threadripper/

DDR5 prices in Germany finally hit pause, only 0.1% increase since mid-January

https://videocardz.com/newz/ddr5-prices-in-germany-finally-hit-pause-only-0-1-increase-since-mid-january

Five Ryzen 9000 CPUs reportedly died on ASRock boards in a single day

https://videocardz.com/newz/five-ryzen-9000-cpus-reportedly-died-on-asrock-boards-in-a-single-day

OCCT adds built-in Intel CPU tuning, starting with Xeon 600 Granite Rapids

https://videocardz.com/newz/occt-adds-built-in-intel-cpu-tuning-starting-with-xeon-600-granite-rapids

Overclocker shares Ryzen 7 9850X3D binning results featuring 13 CPUs

https://videocardz.com/newz/overclocker-shares-ryzen-7-9850x3d-binning-results-featuring-13-cpus

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron team up to block memory hoarding — prices might rise faster, but it could help encourage increased supply long term

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/samsung-sk-hynix-and-micron-team-up-to-block-memory-hoarding-prices-might-rise-faster-but-it-could-help-encourage-increased-supply-long-term

They're probably the same kind of "investors" that claimed Palworld was a dead game after its player count dropped a couple weeks after it launched on Steam to "only" 600k players, without taking into account that it's a single player game AND in Early Access.

What can you expect from pleople like them?