Wednesday gaming news, part two:

That GOG gloss-up of Thief is an excellent way to play the game until we get the Nightdive remaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/that-gog-gloss-up-of-thief-is-an-excellent-way-to-play-the-game-until-we-get-the-nightdive-remaster/
Two weeks ago I came to you with news that Thief: The Dark Project (and its expanded version, Thief Gold) were getting a sort of pseudo-remaster courtesy of GOG, ahead of its official Nightdive remaster coming this winter. My sentiment at the time could be summed up as: hey, this is cool.
Well, I've now played a chunk of GOG's dolled-up Thief, and my sentiment can now be summed up as: hey, this is cool.

'Only the survival of our studio would make us consider such a painful action': Tim Schafer announces Double Fine layoffs just 3 weeks after Xbox cut it loose
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/only-the-survival-of-our-studio-would-make-us-consider-such-a-painful-action-tim-schafer-announces-double-fine-layoffs-just-3-weeks-after-xbox-cut-it-loose/
Less than one month after Xbox spun off Double Fine Productions as an independent studio, the developer has laid off 23 employees, a move it says was necessary to ensure "the survival of our studio."

As Destiny 2 is laid to rest, Warframe is experiencing 'massive growth,' studio boss says
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/as-destiny-2-is-laid-to-rest-warframe-is-experiencing-massive-growth-studio-boss-says/
With Destiny 2 now fully embalmed, I find myself wondering—as do a great many others—'how did this happen?' A new Game Business interview with Sheldon Carter, president of Warframe developer Digital Extremes, has me pondering that question even harder: It turns out that while Destiny 2 was floundering, its foremost rival was enjoying "a few years of straight massive growth."
Sheldon said that the original Destiny "really hit us" when it launched in 2014, well over a year after Warframe's 2013 release, and his initial instinct was to "aggressively" compete with Bungie. But that changed over the years, and like others at Digital Extremes, Carter doesn't see the end of Destiny 2 development as a welcome development.

Speaking of Matt Damon, there's a new survival game out this week on Steam where you're stranded on Mars and have to grow potatoes to survive
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/speaking-of-matt-damon-theres-a-new-survival-game-out-this-week-on-steam-where-youre-stranded-on-mars-and-have-to-grow-potatoes-to-survive/
Not only is Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey blowing up the box office, but it's also blowing up the career of one of the lesser-known actors in the film… lemme quickly check IMDB for his name… ah, here it is: Matt Damon.
(...)
But forget about Trojan Horses and giant cannibals for a minute: if you want to relive another of Matt Damon's movie roles where all he wants to do is get home, there's a new survival game out this week that looks like it follows the plot of 2015's The Martian to a tee.
It's called Sol One, and if you've seen the movie or read Andy Weir's novel, it all sounds a bit familiar

GTA Online in-game gambling is now blocked in Australia
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/gta-online-in-game-gambling-is-now-blocked-in-australia/
Australian GTA Online players are reporting they've been blocked from in-game gambling features, meaning they can no longer play blackjack, roulette or three card poker in the Diamond Casino, among other mini-games. Users attempting to access these mini-games are now hit with a "this feature is not available for you" notification.
(...)
In other words, as distasteful as it may be to some, GTA Online's in-game gambling is technically legal in Australia. That said, the block on in-game gambling does arrive at a time when the Australian federal government is clamping down on online gambling harms. There's every chance this is a preemptive measure.
There's also another factor: As one user in the GTA Forums notes, GTA Online was re-classified for Xbox on July 22 using the automated IARC rating system. The new consumer advice doesn't include "high impact gambling", which it would need to if the Diamond Casino features were available.

Yoshi-P is looking into ways to make FF14's 5 expansions and hundreds of hours less daunting for new players
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/yoshi-p-is-looking-into-ways-to-make-ff14s-5-expansions-and-hundreds-of-hours-less-daunting-for-new-players/
Final Fantasy 14 may be an MMO, but it's certainly never sacrificed the series' talent for excellent storytelling. It's stuffed with incredible worldbuilding, a cherished cast of characters, and heart-wrenching story beats that'll get players shedding a tear from just hearing a few notes from a song that played during a cutscene.
It is, however, also a story that requires hundreds of hours to experience the full breadth of its narrative—spread across A Realm Reborn and five meaty expansions, with a sixth one on the way. While Square Enix has pruned quests here and there in an attempt to streamline the experience, it's still a helluva lot of game to ask a new player to commit to.
I've had the good fortune to be playing since the beginning, but I can say with absolute certainty that if I was only just starting the game, I'd be damn near paralysed by how daunting the new player experience is—especially if you want to play with friends who are already across the finish line.
It's something that director and producer Naoki Yoshida seems to be thinking about as well, especially as the upcoming expansion Evercold marks the official beginning of the MMO's next arc with the Godless Realms Saga.
>> Yoshi-P also has a new, relaxed view on “keeping Final Fantasy 14's catgirls lore accurate”, whatever that means (link).

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss has been thinking about ways to make a mysterious boss suitable for the upcoming crossover raid with Final Fantasy 14
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-7-revelation-boss-has-been-thinking-about-ways-to-make-a-mysterious-boss-suitable-for-the-upcoming-crossover-raid-with-final-fantasy-14/
I'm surprised it's taken 13 years to happen, but Final Fantasy 14 is finally bringing Final Fantasy 7 to the MMO in a big way. Upcoming expansion Evercold is getting an entire raid series dedicated to the remake trilogy—that's 12 whole fights spread across three tiers which will trickle in over the course of Evercold's two-to-three year lifespan.
(...)
As for what we can expect when the raid series lands? Well, that's all very mysterious right now. Hamaguchi kept tight-lipped on what sort of fights we'll see, though he did hint towards efforts being made to make a Final Fantasy 7 boss more suitable for Final Fantasy 14's raids.

Soulslike game Wuchang is officially getting a sequel developed by its creator's new studio after the original team reportedly disbanded
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/soulslike-game-wuchang-is-officially-getting-a-sequel-developed-by-its-creators-new-studio-after-the-original-team-reportedly-disbanded/
While we weren't too hot on the 2025 soulslike Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, it was a hit for Chinese developer Leenzee and publisher 505 Games, reaching five million players across all platforms. However, a report from the Chinese publication Gamersky earlier this year claimed that the game's director and producer, Xia Siyuan, had been fired from Leenzee. A number of staff were also reportedly let go afterwards.
Although the Wuchang IP was then sold to 505 Games' parent company, Digital Bros, for around $4.6 million back in April, the future of the series was left up in the air.
Turns out, it's back on the table, as Xia Siyuan returns to the helm at his new studio, Indolphinity, working on a sequel with 505 Games, confirmed in a press release and an announcement on the publisher's social media.

FF14's new zone has a creepy backrooms void tucked just underneath it, filled with horrible milky ruins and what I deem to be far too many arms
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/ff14s-new-zone-has-a-creepy-backrooms-void-tucked-just-underneath-it-filled-with-horrible-milky-ruins-and-what-i-deem-to-be-far-too-many-arms/
Final Fantasy 14's latest patch has dropped, and it's introduced the North Horn—the next and final step in this expansion's "exploration zone", which has been a much-needed boon to the feeling of jolly cooperation I'm trying to get out of an MMO. This expansion is an entirely new map, filled with new Phantom Jobs to level up, critical engagements to grind, and carrots to discover.
It's also got a horrifying milk dimension tucked under it. You know. A normal thing that FF14 zones usually have.

It's going to be interesting to see reviewers get the 9050 4GB and see how many games outright won't even work.

Yeah, I fail to see who this card is for. An office PC doesn't need more than the iGPU nowadays unless it has to power several monitors (and there are other options for that), while any gaming PC would be a disaster if it comes with a GPU featuring only 4GB of video RAM.

So yeah, I don't know. Maybe as an HTPC capable of some light gaming, mostly indie games?

Well I finished building the Green Machine and running stress tests and benchmarks on it yesterday in a very toasty 31c ambient room which is basically worst case scenario. It's running a 7500X3D with a 9070 in a Fractal Terra and after lowering the fan speed of the CPU cooler and bottom exhaust to 200rpm below the stock curve it runs close to silent and in real world gaming It topped out at 58c and in benchmarks at 62c whilst in full stress tests it hit a max of 79.4 which is well below the 90c Thermal limit of the chip and on the GPU side I couldn't push it higher than 64c in gaming and benchmarks alike which seems great considering the other 11 months a year should be 10c lower ambient.

The case itself was surprisingly easy to build in everything was real accessibly and easy to work on for a case so small it felt very open with the only real downside of the PSU cables been rather long especially the ATX connector at 300mm  and stiff so it's pressing on the fan grill more than I'd like so I'm going to order a custom one with more flexibility at half the length so I don't need to loop it up and round which would free up room the route all the other cables through instead.

Here's a few images of it.

What a small and cool (pun intended) powerhouse. Congratulations!

The Fractal Terra has really become the go-to case for mini-PCs, and for very good reasons! And shorter cables will help a lot to keep it tidy and maybe even a bit cooler.

Once again, congratulations for your new little beast..

Yeah I never really was set on the Terra from the start I looked at a bunch of stuff but as I started looking at clearances everything just seemed to line up so well and since I got the 2 slot reference card I had room for a 67mm CPU cooler which tbh is way more than the 7500X3D needs and with it's movable spine if i upgrade I could down size to the Thermalright 53mm cooler and it opens up a GPU Height of 60mm which is most cards other than the expensive flagships so it's not a dead end case either.

It's a well thought out case, with a lot of options.

In any case, I'm not sure the Thermalright X53 could be a good option if you need it in the future. Jay, from Jayztwocents jumped in the wagon of making Steam Machine like PCs and build one with a 7600X CPU and the X53 (video here), but temps weren't exactly great and replaced it with another Thermalright cooler that would be a tad too big for your possible future needs (the video changing the cooler here).

Mind you, he used a different case and that also matters, but it's still something to keep in mind.

Also, having a GPU in an actual sensible size is a huge bonus. I have the 9060XT version of your same card and it's surprisingly small, at least compared to my former 1070, and also very quiet... most of the time.

By the way, I alnmost forgot to share this for those of you with Steam Decks:

Linux kernel patch can boost the Steam Deck's 1% low frame rate by as much as 31% in early testing
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/linux-kernel-patch-can-boost-the-steam-decks-1-percent-low-frame-rate-by-as-much-as-31-percent-in-early-testing/
A number of recent Linux driver patches has reportedly resulted in significant performance gains for the Steam Deck. Valve's handheld runs on the Linux-based SteamOS, and these patches can apparently improve the Steam Deck's 1% low frame rates by as much as 31%.

A fresh 'epp_boost' feature for the AMD P-State driver is largely responsible for the performance boost. David Vernet, a Linux kernel hacker at Meta, is the developer behind it. The feature implements per-core Energy Performance Preference (EPP) for AMD CPUs. As far as I know, it's not yet been reviewed by AMD's Linux kernel engineers, though Vernet explains via the Linux kernel mailing list that it was developed with gaming specifically in mind (via Phoronix).

There is a Full Copper version of the cooler that performs a lot better whilst costing a good chunk more also not sure on the cooling of the case he uses but I've seen people using the copper one on 9800X3D's, The 7500X3d is also a lot more efficient and should be easier to cool in his video the 7600x is drawing 50%+ more watts.

I do agree with you on the GPU size though it's nice to see a somewhat normal size card and with a good cooler showing reference designs are fine when we live in a world of massive premium editions.

First 3D PS5 games launch with playable framerate on PC through KytyPS5 emulator

https://videocardz.com/newz/first-3d-ps5-games-launch-with-playable-framerate-on-pc-through-kytyps5-emulator

Best Buy raises high-end GeForce RTX 50 pricing, first RTX 5080 now exceeds RTX 5090 MSRP

https://videocardz.com/newz/best-buy-raises-high-end-geforce-rtx-50-pricing-first-rtx-5080-now-exceeds-rtx-5090-msrp

Intel adds five Core Ultra 300 “Panther Lake” industrial processors with HR and RE suffixes

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-adds-five-core-ultra-300-panther-lake-industrial-processors-with-hr-and-re-suffixes

GPU repair shop offers GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 22GB memory upgrade

https://videocardz.com/newz/gpu-repair-shop-offers-geforce-rtx-2080-ti-22gb-memory-upgrade

ASUS ROG NUC 16 gets ‘cheaper’ RTX 5060 configuration for $2,499

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-rog-nuc-16-gets-cheaper-rtx-5060-configuration-for-2499

Valve is sponsoring an open-source RADV Vulkan driver for Windows, and it already runs Counter-Strike 2

https://videocardz.com/newz/valve-is-sponsoring-an-open-source-radv-vulkan-driver-for-windows-and-it-already-runs-counter-strike-2

Global Smartphone SoC Shipments Fall 15% YoY in H1 2026 Amid Rising Memory Costs

https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-smartphone-soc-shipments-fall-15percent-yoy-in-h12026

Seagate to start qualifying record-setting 50TB HDDs in 2027 — most drives are sold out through 2028

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/seagate-to-start-qualifying-record-setting-50tb-hdds-in-2027-most-drives-are-sold-out-through-2028