The second part of the gaming news:

The latest game from the developer of Moonlighter is a tower defence roguelike about Dracula fighting off waves of vampire hunters
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/the-latest-game-from-the-developer-of-moonlighter-is-a-tower-defence-roguelike-about-dracula-fighting-off-waves-of-vampire-hunters/
Maybe Dracula's gotten a bad rap. Conventional wisdom is that he swans around at night looking for virgins to feed on and sneaking on to boats to England. But according to ReVamp, the latest game from Digital Sun, all he really wants to do is to stay in his castle and be left alone. Relatable, frankly.
You might recognise the developer from previous titles Moonlighter and Cataclismo. It's calling this game a "tower-defensvania", which in practice seems to mean a tower defence game with roguelike elements. Playing as Dracula, you get to build your castle room by room, and place all manner of monstrous guards, before being besieged each day by the forces of humanity.

Arc Raiders studio splits with co-founder over 'unsustainable' situation involving streamer allegations
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/arc-raiders-studio-splits-with-co-founder-over-unsustainable-situation-involving-streamer-allegations/
Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios has "mutually agreed to part ways" with co-founder and chief content officer Rob Runesson, according to an IGN report, following allegations of sexual misconduct with a streamer. Embark said its investigation did not substantiate the claim, but that the decision to part ways was made because the situation had proven "unsustainable."

Marathon nerfs the shotgun everyone is using, reverts sound back to normal, and sets the stage for Cryo Archive
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/marathon-nerfs-the-shotgun-everyone-is-using-reverts-sound-back-to-normal-and-sets-the-stage-for-cryo-archive/
Marathon's fourth map, the Cryo Archive, is close. So close, in fact, that Bungie comes right out and says it's already in the game as of today's update 1.0.5, but we can't yet access it: "Cryo Archive has been added to the game. Good luck getting there."
(...)
Elsewhere in patch 1.0.5 are a bunch of balancing adjustments that make sense on paper. The "Opportunist" mod that fed guns infinite ammo while shields were depleted now has an activation cooldown, so no more infinite WSTR shotgun. Speaking of the double-barrel delight, the one-shot-kill shotty that instantly became the most popular PvP weapon at launch got a significant range nerf. It'll still be a point-blank killer, Bungie says, but beyond that it's a paperweight.
>> The co-creators of Caves of Qud worked as narrative consultants for the game (link).

Hitman's planned crossover with MindsEye is cancelled as the publishing deal with IO Interactive is officially over
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hitmans-planned-crossover-with-mindseye-is-cancelled-as-the-publishing-deal-with-io-interactive-is-officially-over/
MindsEye developer Build a Rocket Boy has announced the end of its publishing deal with IO Interactive under the IOI Partnership program, and says that as a result, the Hitman crossover mission announced in 2025 will not be happening.

Remedy is moving on from FBC: Firebreak, but it's going out with a bang: One final update adds 5 new maps, a lower price, friend's pass, and a promise the game will 'continue to be playable for years to come'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/remedy-is-moving-on-from-fbc-firebreak-but-its-going-out-with-a-bang-one-final-update-adds-5-new-maps-a-lower-price-friends-pass-and-a-promise-the-game-will-continue-to-be-playable-for-years-to-come/
Following a rough launch in June 2025 and poor sales ever since, Remedy Entertainment is ending support for its co-op shooter FBC: Firebreak, and the big "Open House" update that went live today will be its last. Remedy said the game will remain online and playable, and it's also permanently lowered the price and added a cross-platform Friend's Pass so players who own the game can invite anyone on their friends list to jump into a match.

Subnautica 2 set for early access release in May as Krafton signals surrender: 'We look forward to working with Ted Gill to support a smooth transition and work toward a successful launch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2-set-for-early-access-release-in-may-as-krafton-signals-surrender-we-look-forward-to-working-with-ted-gill-to-support-a-smooth-transition-and-work-toward-a-successful-launch/
Just one day after taking a very hard L at the hands of the once and future leadership of Unknown Worlds, Krafton says Subnautica 2 will launch into early access in May. The release target was revealed in a statement shared with IGN that also appears to indicate that Krafton will not challenge the order that former Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill be restored to the role.
>> By the way, Krafton is now an AI defense company (link).

Starfield's Terran Armada story DLC will let you recruit a robot who is 'not evil' but also 'definitely not good'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/starfields-terran-armada-story-dlc-will-let-you-recruit-a-robot-who-is-not-evil-but-also-definitely-not-good/
The big news out of Starfield right now is the Free Lanes update, a patch that will finally let players fly between planets in a system by activating a "cruise mode", as well as adding a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, upgrades, and a pet. But Bethesda also took the opportunity to tease an upcoming story DLC called Terran Armada, which pits us against people who think they're the true inheritors of Earth's legacy, and who have an army of robots to prove it.
Those robots can hop out of pods to attack while you're in the middle of exploring one of the Terran Armada's bases, which makes them seem a bit like Skyrim's draugr. Although one of them can be recruited to join your crew as a companion, and I get a bit of an HK-47 vibe off him. "He's not evil," writing director Emil Pagliarulo says in the deep-dive video above. "But he's definitely not good."

'You would not believe the number of AI games in our inbox' says Tunic's publisher 'I am tired of seeing it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/you-would-not-believe-the-number-of-ai-games-in-our-inbox-says-tunics-publisher-i-am-tired-of-seeing-it/
If you think you're tired of seeing generative AI everywhere, well at least your inbox (probably) isn't full of it (yet), which is more than can be said for indie developer and publisher Finji. CEO Rebekah Saltsman says that the studio's inbox is crammed full of games made with AI, pitches written with AI, and resumes generated by AI too and, honestly, she's tired of it already.

And here’s the third part:

Baby Steps' level design was hugely inspired by a custom map in Mirror's Edge and Japanese skateboarder Gou Miyagi: 'All of a sudden I was actually looking at and seeing the space in a way that I hadn't in a single player level in a long time'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/baby-steps-level-design-was-hugely-inspired-by-a-custom-map-in-mirrors-edge-and-japanese-skateboarder-gou-miyagi-all-of-a-sudden-i-was-actually-looking-at-and-seeing-the-space-in-a-way-that-i-hadnt-in-a-single-player-level-in-a-long-time/

Bethesda weighs in on negative DLSS 5 reaction: 'This will all be under our artists’ control, and totally optional for players'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/bethesda-weighs-in-on-negative-dlss-5-reaction-this-will-all-be-under-our-artists-control-and-totally-optional-for-players/
>> Also from Bethesda, Todd Howard would have preferred not to announce The Elder Scrolls 6 so many years ago (link).

Slay the Spire 2 is one of the year's biggest hits, which is a good time to remember it abandoned Unity because of the dev fee debacle: 'That is how badly you f****d up'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/slay-the-spire-2-is-one-of-the-years-biggest-hits-which-is-a-good-time-to-remember-it-abandoned-unity-because-of-the-dev-fee-debacle-that-is-how-badly-you-f-d-up/

Overwatch players prove that there's still some good left in them as Winston and co triumph over Talon in the seasonal Conquest event
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-players-prove-that-theres-still-some-good-left-in-them-as-winston-and-co-triumph-over-talon-in-the-seasonal-conquest-event/

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 'opened a new avenue' up for Daredevil actor Charlie Cox as he announces taking part in another videogame later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/clair-obscur-expedition-33-opened-a-new-avenue-up-for-daredevil-actor-charlie-cox-as-he-announces-taking-part-in-another-videogame-later-this-year/

'Sims don't plan anything' says former Sims 4 developer, though he always wanted to program them to: 'it's always shot down, rightfully so'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-sims/sims-dont-plan-anything-says-former-sims-4-developer-though-he-always-wanted-to-program-them-to-its-always-shot-down-rightfully-so/

It's true that DLSS5 is still in development, but it's also true that Nvidia is (or at least was) confident enough with the results to host a conference, invite several members of the media and to publish videos about it for everyone to see.

So, in development? Yes. Will the end implementation differ a lot from what was shown? Not likely.

There is certainly a lot of negativity around DLSS 5 but it does feel like it has to do with the way they presented rather than about the technology. Most people takes one look at the faces and calls it Ai Slop which kinda does include me cause man, it is right in the uncanny valley. But the improvements to environmentals and a lot of other stuff is quite nuts. Also seeing the some of the remasters on reddit where they adjust the tone mapping makes the character models look quite impressive.

Assuming they don't back down from this path, I do think DLSS 5 and neural rendering is the next step in graphical advancements. PS6 and Xbox PC aren't including neural rendering hardware compatibility for nothing but it will be interesting to see their implementations of it and how it differs from Nvidia. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes like Raster Ultra > Ray Tracing > Path Tracing > Neural Rendering in terms of graphics options as next gen gets going.