These are the Tuesday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Square Enix's 88% profit-bump financial report gives me hope for FF14, suggesting the MMO's finally not having to carry the company for once
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/square-enixs-88-percent-profit-bump-financial-report-gives-me-hope-for-ff14-suggesting-the-mmos-finally-not-having-to-carry-the-company-for-once/
Given the current state of the industry elsewhere—it's, uh, dire—I'm pleased to report that Square Enix, creator of the Final Fantasy series among other games, is doing pretty alright, all things considered. The news comes as a result of a financial results report, shared here by Gamebiz.jp (and translated by Automaton).
In the fiscal year ending 2027, ol' Square saw a major 88.6% operating profit increase year-on-year, mostly thanks to its videogame business—which itself saw its operating profit increase by 91.8% and its revenue by 51.8%. That's mainly due to Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, which is finally meeting some expectations, one would surmise.
What's interesting to me is the footnote that Final Fantasy 14—a game whose popularity had been struggling with the somewhat-stagnant formula of Dawntrail, with an unofficial (but consistent and long-standing) census reporting a significant downturn back in June 2025— experienced an uptick in players in that same census earlier this year.

Grand Theft Auto 5 averages more copies sold per year than most megahits manage in their entire lifetime, with a total of 230 million since 2013
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/grand-theft-auto-5-averages-more-copies-sold-per-year-than-most-megahits-manage-in-their-entire-lifetime-with-a-total-of-230-million-since-2013/
You won't win any prizes for guessing that Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold well since its initial 2013 release, several lifetimes ago, but on a recent Take-Two earnings call, CEO Strauss Zelnick revealed the up-to-date, astronomical figure: 230 million copies.
"The Grand Theft Auto series once again exceeded expectations, and to date, Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 230 million units worldwide," Zelnick told investors on the August 7 call. "Recurrent consumer spending for the series grew 3% and GTA Plus continues to thrive. All led by a series of content offerings, including the addition of the Rockstar Mission Creator, an all-new suite of innovative and in-depth tools, empowering the player community to bring missions to life.”

Big Walk has sold 1 million copies, making it a bigger hit than Untitled Goose Game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/big-walk-has-sold-1-million-copies-making-it-a-bigger-hit-than-untitled-goose-game/
Big Walk has sold 1 million copies since launching a week ago, its publisher has announced. That's a huge figure for Australian studio House House, whose previous breakthrough hit Untitled Goose Game took three months to reach that milestone.
It's also pretty huge when you consider that Big Walk is currently a monthly "free" PlayStation Plus game, meaning a lot of people on that platform won't need to buy a copy. Big Walk is also available on Nintendo Switch 2.
How does Big Walk's success compare to other breakthrough indies of 2026? Meccha Chameleon sold a million copies in four days and is a PC exclusive. Mewgenics sold a million copies in eight days, and is also a PC exclusive. It took 11 days for Mina the Hollower to sell 500,000 copies across all major platforms.
So it's pretty big, but not as big as something as obscenely big as Meccha Chameleon.

Steam has two new deals that I can see, as well as two new sales/events:

• World War Z will be 75% off until August, the 23rd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/699130/World_War_Z/
• The Beginner's Guide gets a 50% discount until the 24th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/303210/The_Beginners_Guide/
• There are two new sales/events:
  • Debut Festival, created to “support the first-ever titles of indie developers”, has lots of upcoming releases, demos and games up to 70% off. The deals will end between the 13th and the 24th of this month: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/46242434/sale/debutfestival2026
  • Way of the Hunter Franchise Sale will have the games and DLCs on sale with up to 80% discounts until August 17: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/WayoftheHunterFranchiseSale2026
• And there’s also a new round of weeklong deals

Fanatical has three new 24h Flash Deals:

• SKALD: Against the Black Priory is 60% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/skald-against-the-black-priory
• Stray has a 62% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/stray
• Metaphor: ReFantazio is 65% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/metaphor-refantazio

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Far Cry 3 Project Medusa Gets a Gameplay Showcase Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/far-cry-3-project-medusa-gets-a-gameplay-showcase-video/
Modder Scar has released a new gameplay showcase video for the upcoming overhaul mod for Far Cry 3, Project Medusa. This video packs 5 minutes of gameplay. So, if you are a Far Cry 3 fan, you should check it out.
Far Cry 3 Project Medusa aims to restore content that was cut from the alpha and beta versions. It will restore the visuals, UI, vegetation, materials, textures, and enemies of the alpha and beta versions. It will also have the old player model for Jason, new weapons, various models that were cut from the final version, as well as scripts and sound effects.
There is still no ETA for when this mod will come out. Naturally, though, I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Take a New Look at the Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Mod, CYBERMP
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-new-look-at-the-cyberpunk-2077-multiplayer-mod-cybermp/
The CyberMP team has released a new development video for its upcoming multiplayer mod for Cyberpunk 2077. The video has recordings from the testers who attended its second semi-open test. So, make sure to watch it if you’ve been looking forward to it.
For those who did not know, CyberMP is a mod that will let you play Cyberpunk 2077 with your friends. You can explore Night City together and even create your own server with cool and special features. This mod aims to give players the best multiplayer experience possible.
While this mod is still in a very early stage, it shows some positive progress. Recently, the modding team held its second semi-open test.
Peak online reached 66 people on a single server, which was a record for the team. Unfortunately, as more players joined, the server became less stable. The good news is that the team identified the issues to fix so that the server can be more stable. In its current state, the server can run stably at 30–40 concurrent players.
There is still no ETA on when this Multiplayer Mod for Cyberpunk 2077 will come out. Nevertheless, this is something that may interest a lot of CP2077 fans. CDPR was planning to add official MP support for CP2077, until it decided to cancel those plans. So, the only way to play Cyberpunk 2077 with your friends will be via this mod.

The Cursed Mansion Brings an Old-School Quest to Fallout 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-cursed-mansion-brings-an-old-school-quest-to-fallout-4/
Modder ‘DimaGuv’ has released The Cursed Mansion for Fallout 4, a mod that adds an old-school quest to the game. The mod has an immersive dark atmosphere, easter eggs, anomalies, and new sounds. So, if you’ve wanted new free content for Fallout 4, this is something that may interest you.
Going into more details, The Cursed Mansion adds an old-school quest with no quest markers or brainless enemy hordes. You will have to think, read, and explore. Objectives range from classic key hunting to solving a labyrinth and venturing into deadly anomalous zones.
The mod adds a new, medium-sized location featuring a mansion, a greenhouse, a sawmill, a hedge maze, a church, and a crypt. It also brings a maniac’s gear set, a leather dress, and a runic ritual dagger.
Players can find plenty of notes to uncover the history of this mystical place, steeped in dark magic, and of a lady who was born with everything in this world, yet yearns to know the world beyond. Lastly, you will encounter a final boss at the end of it.
All in all, this is a cool mod that adds new free content to Fallout 4. As with most quest mods, though, you should temper your expectations. This is a mod. It’s not an official expansion. As such, it may have some rough edges.
>> There is an almost 20 minutes video in the article.

Take a Look at Dark Souls 3 With Real-Time Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-dark-souls-3-with-real-time-path-tracing/
Dark Souls fans, get ready for a treat. Modder ‘Ganaboy’ is working on a brand new version of his DS Lighting Engine Mod that will add real-time Path Tracing to Dark Souls 3. And now, we have two videos that showcase the current state of this Path Tracing mod.
For those who did not know, Ganaboy has already released a version of DS2LightingEngine, which added support for real-time Path Tracing in Dark Souls 2. This is a must-have mod for everyone who wants to replay it. And soon, we will be able to enjoy Dark Souls 3 with Path Tracing.
The videos at the end of the article show off the new Path Tracing lighting. And while the mod is still a WIP, it already looks amazing. That’s mainly because it benefits from all the features that Ganaboy added to DS2LightingEngine.
Sadly, there is no ETA for when the mod will come out. Naturally, though, I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Fans spent 3 years secretly crafting a full Metroid Prime 2D demake, and it rocks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/hopefully-as-many-people-as-possible-get-to-play-it-before-nintendo-flips-out-fans-spent-3-years-secretly-crafting-a-full-metroid-prime-2d-demake-and-it-rocks/
August 6th, 2026 was the 40th anniversary of Metroid, one of the few videogames in history to be so influential it has a whole genre named (at least partially) after it. You'd be forgiven for not realizing last Thursday was such a significant date because Nintendo seemingly forgot itself—and not for the first time.
But the anniversary didn't go completely uncelebrated. Posted to the Metroid subreddit last Thursday, a new fan game called Metroid Prime Origins marked the occasion with a "a fully complete adaptation of Metroid Prime for the GameCube in 2D, complimented by a fake-bit aesthetic." I've played the first hour or so, and it's an extremely polished, great-feeling Metroid game that could pass as the real deal if Nintendo ever actually made throwbacks this cool.
That "fake-bit aesthetic" means Metroid Prime Origins is stylistically reminiscent of the original, 8-bit NES game, but significantly more detailed. It's not holding itself to the harsh color palette or memory constraints of that console, but still deliberately a bit more "retro" than Super Metroid. For a moment I found that disappointing—Super Metroid is still a fantastic looking game—but the more I reflected on it, the more I was glad to see this fan team go for their own distinct look. Considering many fan games either reuse official art assets or craft their own to look nigh identical, Metroid Prime Origins feels like a cut above from the start.
It plays really well, too. Samus can smoothly grapple over ledges, and on a controller free aim is mapped to left bumper and aim lock is mapped to right bumper, making it quite easy to hit enemies without awkwardly repositioning yourself. Metroid Prime's scan visor, used in puzzle solving and to deliver lore about every little thing in the 3D game, is nicely recreated here: you just tap a trigger to scan creatures, which are added to a bestiary, while less frequent lore scan spots fill in a log with more detailed entries.
It's been so long since I played Metroid Prime that I can't say in too much detail how closely Prime Origins hews to its design. The novelty of Metroid Prime way back in 2002 was in how it translated the series' traditionally more limited navigational puzzles and interconnected rooms into more complex 3D, so this process of working backwards does make Prime Origins feel quite traditional and familiar. But considering how few actual 2D Metroid games Nintendo has made in the last 20 years, a good one of those is probably happy news for a lot of people.
It's seemingly not happy news for Nintendo, though, as Prime Origins' trailer was removed from YouTube within hours of launch, and so was an Archive.org download link for the game itself. It's currently still available for download via Google Drive, though for how long it's hard to say.
"This game was made with no generative AI. All sprites and music were created by fans, and all of the in-game lore has been re-written; based on the original NTSC lore," lead developer Lv.4 Games wrote on Reddit. "P.S. I know I am now a target of the Nintendo ninjas, no need to tell me."
>> The article has several screenshots and a close to two hours video of the game.

After 10 years, Terraria's biggest mod shuts down due to an 'irrecoverably tainted reputation' and grooming allegations
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/after-10-years-terrarias-biggest-mod-shuts-down-due-to-an-irrecoverably-tainted-reputation-and-grooming-allegations/
Terraria has a passionate and wide-spread modding community—and the jewel in its crown for many years was Calamity, a mod that was on a scope of an expansion pack, adding new bosses, weapons, and so on to the survival crafter. It's existed for 10 years, but it'll now be shutting down due to some heavy allegations levelled at the mod's currently absentee owner.
In an announcement currently posted to the mod's Discord server, the development team writes: "Hey, everybody. We've been having a lot of internal discussion, and after much debate, we've come to announce a very difficult decision: We will unfortunately be ceasing all development of Calamity."
The announcement goes on to state: "We’re sure most of you are aware of the troubled past of Calamity's development. At this point, many of us have felt personally betrayed time and time again after being promised something better that never ended up coming. We’re just tired at this point, and almost all passion we had for the mod has been soured, with many of us having chosen to leave as a consequence.
"Most of us want to simply move on and would be far happier working on our own projects that aren’t and won’t be tied to something with what we feel is an irrecoverably tainted reputation."
The tainted reputation in question includes allegations that Ozzatron, who was leading development over the mod, was heavily involved with—and permissive of—a NSFW server that knowingly included minors. Ozzatron took over the mod's development after Fabisol, its prior leader, was accused of similar grooming behaviour in 2022.
>> The article has a reddit link with evidencs of that behavior, as well as more reasons to cease the development of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival Gets New 14-Minute Gameplay Video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/clive-barkers-hellraiser-revival-gets-new-14-minute-gameplay-video/
IGN has shared a new video, showcasing 14 minutes of gameplay footage from Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival. In this gameplay video, we get a fresh look at the combat and a boss encounter with a particularly fleshy-looking fella.

Tuesday gaming news, the sequel:

Payday has come to Fortnite, because today's cool gamers are 'discovering legendary IPs in entirely new ways'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/payday-has-come-to-fortnite-because-todays-cool-gamers-are-discovering-legendary-ips-in-entirely-new-ways/
The ongoing effort to come up with a new Payday game that people actually want to play continued today with the announcement of Heist Escape Roguelike: Payday Experience, a UEFN game that's available exclusively in (you guessed it) Fortnite.
Heist Escape Roguelike: Payday Experience "reimagines elements of Payday as a progressive roguelike shooter," with three separate heists—the Jewelry Store, the Bank, and the Harbor—each of them made up of multiple unique rooms "ensuring endless replayability."

Overwatch's old battle passes are finally coming back permanently starting next month, but some of the rewards will be left out
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatchs-old-battle-passes-are-finally-coming-back-permanently-starting-next-month-but-some-of-the-rewards-will-be-left-out/
Overwatch's next season will finally move the hero shooter more in line with the other live service games that don't purely rely on FOMO for their battle passes.
In season 4, Blizzard will "unvault" an old battle pass and make it available again. The details on how exactly the system will work are slim at the moment, but it sounds like a specific old battle pass will become available halfway through every season going forward. It will be on sale for anyone who doesn't own it or simply made available for anyone who paid for it previously, and it will be permanent from that point on.

The vibey offroading game with more than a million Steam wishlists has a release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/the-vibey-offroading-game-with-more-than-a-million-steam-wishlists-has-a-release-date/
Among the heavy hitters and viral sensations that make up Steam's most-wishlisted games, Over the Hill exudes "little engine that could" energy. It's a chill, vibey offroad driving game that puts you in an old school 4x4 and sets you off among some low-poly hills to get lost. You've got a grappling hook and the option to drive in a co-op pack with a few friends, which may be the key ingredient that's seen Over the Hill build up such a strong pre-release following.
It's accrued more than a million wishlists in the couple years since it was announced, and all those folks are about to be very happy. Over the Hill is out in just a couple months, developer Funselektor announced today.
>> 14th of October.

Halloween: The Game is banned in Australia because incentivized drug use is bad but incentivized ultra-violence isn't
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/halloween-the-game-is-banned-in-australia-because-incentivized-drug-use-is-bad-but-incentivized-ultra-violence-isnt/
Halloween: The Game is the next multiplayer horror game from Illfonic, the studio behind Friday the 13th and Predator Hunting Grounds. Like Friday the 13th it's an asymmetrical affair: one player takes the form of psychotic masked serial killer Michael Myers, while everyone else plays the hapless survivors. It's set to release on September 9, but when it does, players based in Australia won't be able to buy it.

And the end of the trilogy of the Tuesday gaming news:

Persona big boss says 'I think we have to do' remakes of the series' most-neglected games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/persona-big-boss-says-i-think-we-have-to-do-remakes-of-the-series-most-neglected-games/
>> And when that happens, I’ll post about it.

There was originally supposed to be a 'much bigger' reveal of Light No Fire: here's why Sean Murray changed his mind
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/there-was-originally-supposed-to-be-a-much-bigger-reveal-of-light-no-fire-heres-why-sean-murray-changed-his-mind/

'Thank you so much for the best weekend ever': The id Software gang got together at QuakeCon, and it sure looks like everyone had a great time
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/thank-you-so-much-for-the-best-weekend-ever-the-id-software-gang-got-together-at-quakecon-and-it-sure-looks-like-everyone-had-a-great-time/

Battlefield 6 player claims to have received Steam refund after 470 hours due to surprise mode removal
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-player-claims-to-have-received-steam-refund-after-470-hours-due-to-surprise-mode-removal/

id Software dev says mass layoffs like Microsoft's are weakening the games industry, because developers 'don't have the incentive to care anymore'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/id-software-dev-says-mass-layoffs-like-microsofts-are-weakening-the-games-industry-because-developers-dont-have-the-incentive-to-care-anymore/

Thief designer says that the immersive sim audience is too small for AAA games: 'There's quite a few of us who think the way to do it is be III or AA'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/thief-designer-says-that-the-immersive-sim-audience-is-too-small-for-aaa-games-theres-quite-a-few-of-us-who-think-the-way-to-do-it-is-be-iii-or-aa/

Given what Cloud and the others wear, I feel like that's not the only mod you have installed ^.^

If the Framework leak was bad, here's another one:

Steam user data 'may have been compromised' by a cyberattack targeting Valve's European shipping partner
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steam-user-data-may-have-been-compromised-by-a-cyberattack-targeting-valves-european-shipping-partner/
Earlier this morning, Valve began contacting customers who have purchased Steam hardware in Europe to notify them that one of its regional shipping partners, CEVA Logistics, was the subject of a recent cyberattack that "likely" exposed their personal information.

Also, bad news for pre-builds:

As if PCs weren't expensive enough already, Microsoft is reportedly now charging OEMs more for Windows licenses
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/windows/as-if-pcs-werent-expensive-enough-already-microsoft-is-reportedly-now-charging-oems-more-for-windows-licenses/
Taiwanese news site United Daily News reports that, according to one source, Microsoft is charging Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) significantly more for Windows licensing fees this year than in previous years (via Wccftech). These are the fees that PC makers, for instance, must pay to Microsoft to package their machines with the operating system.

Huh... I didn't know this site had a dark more built in. Just found out lol

Certainly took your time. I've been using it for years, and it's much better in my opinion. Better late than never, though!

Yes indeed. ^^

I've pretty much been DarkModeEverything for maybe ten years, now. Can't go back. 

I don't really like using dark mode for everything myself, especially if dark mode essentially means black mode. Some sites really benefit from it though, this one among them in my opinion. YouTube is another notable one.

One more curious example is writing code, which I 100% don't want to do in light mode, but code reviews? Light mode, please. I don't understand why, but it just feels good that way. I don't think there's much of a method to my madness.