Some other news:

'In 10 years of tracking retail CPU sales, I have never seen such a steep decline,' says one tech channel after staring at the grim figures
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/in-10-years-of-tracking-retail-cpu-sales-i-have-never-seen-such-a-steep-decline-says-one-tech-channel-after-staring-at-the-grim-figures/
Anyone who does a lot of data analysis will know that the longer you collect data for, the easier it becomes to spot trends. Sometimes, though, a pattern is so stark that you don't need to be a data expert to spot it, and in the case of German retailer Mindfactory, its CPU sales figures tell you everything you need to know about PCs right now.

The numbers I'm about to show you come courtesy of YouTube channel TechEpiphany, via its X account, where it routinely collates and posts weekly sales numbers for CPUs, GPUs, and motherboards. The data mostly refers to Mindfactory, but TechEpiphany does similar tracking for Amazon and others.
>> It's about CPU sales, that have fallen off a cliff.

AAA Dominance Is Eroding: 56% of PC Gaming Revenue Now Goes to Games Outside the Top 20
https://wccftech.com/aaa-dominance-eroding-pc-gaming-revenue-top-20/
A new report published today by market analyst firm Newzoo suggests a structural shift in the PC and console gaming market: while the biggest AAA titles still dominate, a growing share of both playtime and revenue is flowing to games ranked outside the Top 20, with the trend most pronounced on the PC platform.

The headline figure is striking. In Western markets (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain), titles ranked 21st and below accounted for 56% of total PC gaming revenue in 2025, up from 48% in 2022. That means the majority of money spent on PC games now goes to titles outside the top tier — a meaningful inversion compared to just three years ago. Console platforms are moving in the same direction, but more slowly: titles outside the Top 20 represented 38% of PlayStation revenue and 35% of Xbox revenue in 2025.

And with that, we have the Steam Best Releases of March 2026:

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/topnewreleases/march_2026

Nice! I played that Zelda clone a few years ago on my iPad when I had a free month of the Apple Arcade subscription.

Could be a good fit for my Steam Deck. 

If you haven't played it already, look up Primordia.

Let’s take a look at the Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Pirate survival Windrose sees 500,000 mateys buy the game as Steam reviews are 'Mostly Positive'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/pirate-survival-windrose-sees-500-000-mateys-buy-the-game-as-steam-reviews-are-mostly-positive/
There are just about a gazillion games about ninjas, but shockingly far fewer about pirates. Swashbucklers deserve more attention if you ask me, and thankfully they seem to be getting it when it comes to the new survival game Windrose.
It's managed to shift half a million copies in the first two days, according to publisher Pocketpair (via GamesRadar), and the initial Steam reviews ain't lookin' half bad, either. It's sitting at an 87% Mostly Positive rating right now, and managing to snag just shy of 100,000 concurrent players within the first 24 hours. That's a number that has a good chance of going even higher over the weekend. And even if it doesn't, that's a mighty respectable number to come swinging out of the gate with.
>> The game only has one problem, that has its own article.

The Epic Store gives away The Stone of Madness: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-stone-of-madness-7b22f3.
Next week, the free game will be DOOMBLADE .

GOG has two new promos/sales:

• Immersive Sims Promo has games up to 90% off during the next 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260415_immersive_sims_promo
• Publisher Goblinz Publishing celebrates its 10th anniversary `puttings its games on sale with up to 80% discounts during 14 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20260416_goblinz_publisher_sale

Steam brings three new deals and four new sales:

• Laundering Simulator - Clean Cash and Laundry has a demo and will be 30% off until the 22nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3432750/Laundering_Simulator__Clean_Cash_and_Laundry/
• Angeline Era also has a demo, but gets a 25% discount that will last until the 29th of April: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2393920/Angeline_Era/
• Martha Is Dead is going to be 75% off until April 29: https://store.steampowered.com/app/515960/Martha_Is_Dead/
• And these are the new sales/events:
  • Developer/Publisher Drinkbox Studios celebrates its 18th anniversary putting its games up to 75% off until the 22nd of April: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6863330/sale/drinkboxanniversarysale2026
  • Mango Party Publisher Sale, with NSFW games, shows its upcoming titles and has its current ones on sale until the 29th. The two deals I can see are 25 and 50% off, but the banner lists up to 70% dicounts: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41075428/sale/SpringPublisherSale2026
  • Publisher Idea Factory International, IFI puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until April 29: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32763017/sale/IFIPublisherSale2026
  • And Publisher G-MODE celebrates its 6th anniversary porting japanese mobile games of years past to keep them alive. The games will be up to 60% off, with the deals ending between the 29th and 30th of April. Sadly, the games are only in Japanese, which may be a problem: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38318087/sale/gmodearchives6thanniversary

Humble Bundle presents the Sharp Shooters Bundle, with up to 7 games to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/sharp-shooters-bundle

Fanatical has the BYO Exodus Bundle (Spring 2026), with 19 games to choose from for your bundles of 2+, 3+ or 4+ games. It will last the usual 34 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-exodus-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 596.21 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-596-21

HIGHLIGHTS
Game Ready for PRAGMATA
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest new games supporting DLSS 4.5 technology including PRAGMATA and NTE (Neverness to Everness) as well as Windrose which supports DLSS 4 features.

FIXED ISSUES
Fixed Gaming Bugs

• Arknights: Endfield: stutter may be observed in some gameplay [5950402]

Valve could be prepping to roll out 30-day Steam price tracking in the US, making it harder for publishers to mess with discounts
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/valve-could-be-prepping-to-roll-out-30-day-steam-price-tracking-in-the-us-making-it-harder-for-publishers-to-mess-with-discounts/
If you've ever seen a Steam game reduced by 90% and wondered if that's the real discount, Valve may have you covered. Recent files in the Steam database imply it might be working on the wider rollout of a tracking system that bases the discount percentage on the lowest price in 30 days.
Found by user @SigaTbh, and posted by LambdaGeneration, a recent analysis of code found on SteamDB shows tags like "30-Day low" and 'this game was previously on discount for x% within the past y days." (via Tom's Hardware)
These are potential templates that could display over games to inform the user of its price history in the last month. Up until now, in the US, if you have spotted a game on sale, it can be quite hard to tell if the deal is actually a deal. Publishers and developers can theoretically put their prices up just before a sales event, then bring them back down again, suggesting the sale is a bigger discount than it actually is.
The downside here is that, with a 30-day price tracking window, one can still use Steam's pricing system to make games seem more discounted than they are; they just need to avoid doing it for a few weeks before major sales events.
Naturally, just because Valve appears to have added this functionality doesn't mean it will make it into the live build of Steam. It could simply be something Valve has been toying with in the back-end.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

First Public Beta Version for Doom Deluxe Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/first-public-beta-version-for-doom-deluxe-released/
After two years of development, modder ‘Dox778’ has released the first public beta version of Doom Deluxe. To celebrate this release, the modder has also shared a new trailer that you can find below.
Doom Deluxe is a UZDoom mod intent on collecting years of Doom history into a single package. It has familiar concepts and common tropes that are bundled together under a universal style guideline. This includes the entire Skulltag arsenal, commonly used realm667 inventory items, weapons, and fire modes from other FPS games, vanilla-inspired graphical overhauls, and a newly improved enemy roster.
In short, this is a cool new mod that will allow you to re-experience Doom. It’s meant for those who have already finished the vanilla versions. So, if you are a die-hard Doom fan, you should definitely check it out.

GAMING NEWS

Crackers have bypassed Pragmata’s Denuvo before release
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crackers-have-bypassed-pragmatas-denuvo-before-release/
In the past couple of months, we’ve seen bypasses for a lot of games that use the Denuvo anti-tamper tech. However, it appears that an unreleased game has been bypassed and can already be played. That game is Pragmata, which officially comes out tomorrow.

Thursday gaming news, part two:

Tiny MMO Book of Travels is ending development after 5 troubled years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/tiny-mmo-book-of-travels-is-ending-development-after-5-troubled-years/
The "serene online RPG" Book of Travels turned some heads before its launch into early access in 2021, but almost immediately ran into trouble: Just a couple months later, developer Might and Delight laid off staff, and while it committed to ongoing development in the future, little was heard from it beyond that aside from occasional small patches and updates.
Now Might and Delight is finally bringing the project to an end, announcing that servers will close on July 31—but it's adding an "offline, singleplayer experience" so fans can continue to play, and opening the door to unlimited modding as well.

'Close enough. Welcome back Thanos': Marvel Rivals' power creep reaches new levels of busted with Black Cat
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/close-enough-welcome-back-thanos-marvel-rivals-power-creep-reaches-new-levels-of-busted-with-black-cat/
One way in which Marvel Rivals never ceases to impress me is when it comes to creative abilities. Sure, a few are copy-pasted from other hero shooters and a couple even take inspiration from other Marvel Rivals heroes, aka: Black Cat's dash is very similar to Black Panther's. But there's still so many unique ideas in this shooter, the latest example being Black Cat micro-economy.
Set to join Marvel Rivals in Season 7.5 which goes live in a couple of days, Black Cat is the newest Duelist to join the ranks. Most of her abilities are pretty cut and dry, like her swift melee Claw Strike or her double jump and wall climb. But things start to get interesting when it comes to her Fortune system.

Krafton still 'supporting the early access launch of Subnautica 2' despite its name being removed from the Steam page
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/krafton-still-supporting-the-early-access-launch-of-subnautica-2-despite-its-name-being-removed-from-the-steam-page/
Krafton is no longer listed as the publisher of Subnautica 2 on its Steam page, with subsidiary Unknown Worlds now appearing as both developer and publisher.
(...)
Krafton's name now being stricken from Subnautica 2's Steam page (as well as its Xbox store listing) has some speculating that the two companies are preparing to split, but that is only speculation. Krafton still owns Unknown Worlds, and the change may purely be cosmetic.

While I go stir-crazy waiting for another FromSoft game, I'm counting on these 4 indie Armored Core-likes to satisfy my mecha cravings when they hit Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/while-i-go-stir-crazy-waiting-for-another-fromsoft-game-im-counting-on-these-4-indie-armored-core-likes-to-satisfy-my-mecha-cravings-when-they-hit-steam/
I have a weakness for mecha games—a vulnerability so dire that I was recently driven to risk my professional credibility by defending the merits of Gundam Battle Operation 2. As you might imagine, the release of Armored Core 6 made 2023 a very good year for me, but it's meant I've spent the following years in twitchy anticipation, hoping for a sign that FromSoft has been back in the mecha kitchen. Given the studio's history, however, it could be busy cooking for a decade.
Luckily, indie devs seem eager to serve. If you browse the Mechs tag on Steam, you'll find a mountain of in-development Armored Core-likes from small teams and solo devs. In a recent post on Bluesky, PC Gamer contributor and curator of overlooked indie gems Dominic Tarason counted at least eight alt-ACs currently in the works.
After surveying the field myself, these are the four upcoming mecha action games I'll be leaning on for an Armored Core fix.

Windrose developers ask players if they 'happen to know someone at a major ISP' who can help diagnose online co-op issues
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/windrose-developers-ask-players-if-they-happen-to-know-someone-at-a-major-isp-who-can-help-diagnose-online-co-op-issues/
Windrose is an entirely PvE focused co-op survival game, so it makes perfect sense that players are eager to party up and run their own Windrose dedicated servers. Overall launch has been pretty smooth for the early access game—on day two on Steam it reached a peak of nearly 100,000 concurrent players, and reviews remain very positive—but online connectivity has been bumpy.
Bumpy enough, even, for developer Kraken Express to put out a call in Windrose's Discord server: Any ISP pros in the house?

The indie metroidvania that started it all just got a huge update on PC, adding co-op and mod support after 22 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-indie-metroidvania-that-started-it-all-just-got-a-huge-update-on-pc-adding-co-op-and-mod-support-after-22-years/
Aside from helping shape what we nowadays consider an indie game, Cave Story revitalised the platformer, and specifically the metroidvania, when it hit PC in 2004. Creator Daisuke Amaya's artistic influence is obvious on the likes of Celeste and VVVVVV, for example, but Cave Story's real impact is how it demonstrated that one person could make a fun game in their spare time, and that it could get huge by word of mouth alone.
The industry has changed a lot in the meantime, and there are more games vying for our attention than ever, but Cave Story endures. Its revamped version, Cave Story+, just received a massive new update on Steam, bringing it up to speed with the Nintendo Switch version. It's been an extremely long time coming: Cave Story+ released on Switch nine years ago, though earlier versions of the game appeared on Wii and DS consoles. PC players have waited that whole time for a substantial update.
The headline feature is two-player local co-op, a prospect that seems a bit nightmarish to me in a precision-oriented platformer. But it's there if you want it, and people seem to like it.

My favorite cosmic horror RPG is still being updated, and thanks to this latest patch 'The rat child's Copy Dad ability no longer copies gun skills for free'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/my-favorite-cosmic-horror-rpg-is-still-being-updated-and-thanks-to-this-latest-patch-the-rat-childs-copy-dad-ability-no-longer-copies-gun-skills-for-free/
(...)
Look Outside is a cross between Yume Nikki, Fear and Hunger, and World of Horror, a cosmic horror RPG with Earthbound-style menu combat, but one that every real CRPG head should try. It's full of surprising interactions and unexpected quest solutions and companions you didn't realize you could recruit until you tried that One Weird Thing. It's a bottomless well of horror and delight.
Though it was shadowdropped out of the blue last year, Look Outside has continued being updated. Version 2.3 is out now with a substantial list of changes, including a huge amount of balance tweaks. The strangeness of Look Outside comes across in some of these, like "The rat child's Copy Dad ability no longer copies gun skills for free" and "Made Col Squeakums' bites not have a chance to remove sleep, confusion or charm effects from the target."

Rejoice, Steam Deck and couch lovers: Gloomwood just got controller support
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/rejoice-steam-deck-and-couch-lovers-gloomwood-just-got-controller-support/
Every time Gloomwood goes on sale I check to see if it's received its long-promised controller support. For years the answer has been "no" or "not yet", and believe me, on most normal days there's a new thread in the Gloomwood Steam forums asking about it. But as of today, the answer is "yes".

It's still too early to lose all hope: Euro Truck Simulator 2 is getting a whole new country soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/its-still-too-early-to-lose-all-hope-euro-truck-simulator-2-is-getting-a-whole-new-country-soon/
Euro Truck Simulator 2 has been going strong for 14 years now, and at this point I don't think I'll be able to cope when SCS Software stops supporting it. Driving around computer Europe in various trucks is one of the best ways to wind down after a long day tolerating existence. You don't even have to care about trucks.
Following two major DLC drops in December, SCS has just announced the first for 2026: Soul of Anatolia, as the name implies, opens up the huge eastern expanse of Türkiye, which used to be rendered Turkey in English before the Turkish foreign minister requested it be changed in 2022.
>> As someone that plays the game, this DLC has 0 chancs of launching this year. That spot is for the Iceand map. It will likely come out in 2028.

Bungie's latest experiment turns Marathon into a battle royale, and it's a hit: 'Free kit queue might be the most fun I've had so far'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bungies-latest-experiment-turns-marathon-into-a-battle-royale-and-its-a-hit-free-kit-queue-might-be-the-most-fun-ive-had-so-far/
Marathon's had a few experimental matchmaking options since launch, namely a duos queue so you and a buddy can scavenger without a tag-along. After the success of this experiment, Bungie's making duos a permanent fixture in Season 2. And with that, testing something else in the labs: 'free kit frenzy', running from now until Wednesday, 29 April.
Bungie's aim with this experiment is to find out more about "the early gear system", since players are forced to enter with a free sponsored kit, using what they find during the match to get by and extract. In other words, it's basically a battle royale mode. Any loot you manage to escape with you can use in the main mode, but you can't bring it back into the next free kit frenzy match. It's a great opportunity to grab gear for the standard mode or complete contracts more peacefully.
What's most interesting is that this test, which was just meant to give Bungie some data on looting and gear, has been remarkably successful so far. "Dire Marsh sponsored [queue] is sick…Everyone seems to be in the same place, and even losing isn't as frustrating", one player said in a Reddit post, which is overflowing with further support for the mode in the comments: "Really do hope they keep this mode in".
>> Could we be witnessing something similar to what happened to Fortnite?

Let’s bring the gaming news to an end with the short third part:

About 30% of Arc Raiders players focus on PvE, and Embark's happy with that: 'We want to instil hope in the player'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/about-30-percent-of-arc-raiders-players-focus-on-pve-and-embarks-happy-with-that-we-want-to-instil-hope-in-the-player/

Silent Hill f's director 'didn't have a good night's sleep' the whole way through the game's production
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/silent-hill-fs-director-didnt-have-a-good-nights-sleep-the-whole-way-through-the-games-production/

Fable's cinematics are getting a helping hand from Blizzard's stellar cinematic team, Xbox boss says
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/fables-cinematics-are-getting-a-helping-hand-from-blizzards-stellar-cinematic-team-xbox-boss-says/

RPCS3 now configures games automatically using Wiki data

https://videocardz.com/pixel/rpcs3-now-configures-games-automatically-using-wiki-data

Actually pretty nuts

Intel launches Wildcat Lake: Core 7 360 gets 6 CPU cores and 2 Xe3 GPU cores

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-launches-wildcat-lake-core-7-360-gets-6-cpu-cores-and-2-xe3-gpu-cores

AMD to bring back Ryzen 7 5800X3D as AM4 10th Anniversary Edition

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-to-bring-back-ryzen-7-5800x3d-as-am4-10th-anniversary-edition

AMD confirms EPYC SOCAMM2 support starts with Verano in 2027

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-epyc-socamm2-support-starts-with-verano-in-2027

Samsung responds to fake 990 Pro SSDs in Europe, tells buyers to use Magician and authorized sellers

https://videocardz.com/newz/samsung-responds-to-fake-990-pro-ssds-in-europe-tells-buyers-to-use-magician-and-authorized-sellers

Insider Says Intel Wants To Rival AMD With Future Sockets In Longevity, Also Planning New Raptor Lake Refresh For LGA 1700

https://wccftech.com/intel-to-rival-amd-with-future-sockets-in-longevity-plans-raptor-lake-refresh-lga-1700/

Should have done it a long time ago. Tick-tock cycle before moving to the next socket has been outdated for quite sometime. 

I had a 4850 x 2, bought it broken off eBay and Sapphire replaced it; good times.

It's a bit surprising given that it's failry recent game. May be the end of the Star Trek license? I don't know.

I can't really be too harsh on them for not putting the game now on sale again, tbh. If there was someone interested in it, they could have bought it during the recent sale, when it hit its biggest dicount ever.

I remember okr also loves adventure/point'n'click games. He may have more suggestions besides the one from HoloDust.

And I remember Oceanhorn, but I have to admit that I didn't know there was a second game until I shared the deal.

I hope it's a big enough production run to be a global re-release that can be bought by everyone who wants it, not a limited one that will end in the hands of scalpers.

It's about time!

Hadrware Unboxed has just done a video of the processots Intel has launched in the last 10 years, and the socket longevity is a main issue, especially the s.1151 and s.1151-2 parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K55FpxzStHg

*** FREE GAMES ***

Steam has three new free games:

• Stickman Killing Zombie will be free until April 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2792610/Stickman_Killing_Zombie/
• Uncanny Tales: Cold Road is free until the 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3534240/Uncanny_Tales_Cold_Road/
• Legend of Keepers: Career of a Dungeon Manager is going to be free until the 23rd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/978520/Legend_of_Keepers_Career_of_a_Dungeon_Manager/