The news, the sequel:

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 is a sandbox that Creative Assembly will keep adding to rather than making sequels: 'The true experience is the sandbox'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-40-000-is-a-sandbox-that-creative-assembly-will-keep-adding-to-rather-than-making-sequels-the-true-experience-is-the-sandbox/
With Total War: Warhammer, Creative Assembly designed a trio of games, each with their own bespoke campaigns, but the core of the series quickly became the mode now known as Immortal Empires—every single faction and lord in one massive sandbox. And that's been a big inspiration for Total War: Warhammer 40,000.

No Rest for the Wicked, which was slated to hit 1.0 a month before Grand Theft Auto 6, is delayed into 2027
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/no-rest-for-the-wicked-which-was-slated-to-hit-1-0-a-month-before-grand-theft-auto-6-is-delayed-into-2027/
Moon Studios announced today that its upcoming action RPG No Rest for the Wicked will not go into 1.0 release in October as planned, but will instead launch in March 2027, following an open beta test currently slated for December.

Sick: Ace Combat 8 has online airbase lobbies where you can bum around as your own bespoke pilotsona
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/sick-ace-combat-8-has-online-airbase-lobbies-where-you-can-bum-around-as-your-own-bespoke-pilotsona/
If Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve isn't one of your most anticipated releases in this fall's overstuffed launch calendar, I'm just going to say it: It should be. You might be wondering, 'But isn't Ace Combat just, like, planes?' And it is. But it's some of videogames' most ridiculously indulgent anime-ass melodrama, mediated through high-g fighter jet maneuvers and the constant refrain of a missile lock alert. It's like if all of Metal Gear was dogfighting, and in our hands-on AC8 preview, it continued to leave a very strong impression.
As of today, I've got even more reasons to be excited for October's next entry—and a few causes for concern. This morning, Bandai Namco published an "Online 101" video providing a primer on AC8's multiplayer offerings, all of which I'm pleased to report are accessed through online lobbies where you can mingle with other players as your very own Ace Combat pilotsona.

Good reviews are a 'great relief,' says Blood of Dawnwalker director, as former CD Projekt coworkers line up to offer congratulations
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/good-reviews-are-a-great-relief-says-blood-of-dawnwalker-director-as-former-cd-projekt-coworkers-line-up-to-offer-congratulations/
The Blood of Dawnwalker isn't out until tomorrow—September 2—but the reviews are up now, and generally speaking they're pretty good. We gave it an 83% score in our review, calling it "a resolutely miserable horror RPG with some great ideas," and that lines up spot-on with its enviable 83/100 aggregate rating on Metacritic. And that very positive response comes, quite literally, as a great relief to creative director Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, who's apparently been a little uptight about the whole thing.

And these are the short format article, because why not?

Dwarf Fortress creator says we have a natural lean towards human-made stories, 'but we're all going to be very sorely tested in the coming years' by AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/dwarf-fortress-creator-says-we-have-a-natural-lean-towards-human-made-stories-but-but-were-all-going-to-be-very-sorely-tested-in-the-coming-years-by-ai/
>> It’s Tarn Adams, and he has also said other things (link)

Despite horrendous layoffs, obscene hardware prices, and everything else, Saber Interactive exec says 'this is a great time to be in the industry'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/despite-horrendous-layoffs-obscene-hardware-prices-and-everything-else-saber-interactive-exec-says-this-is-a-great-time-to-be-in-the-industry/
>> Maybe for him.

Former id Software producer says the team faced the 'worst crunch' in the series' history on Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations: 'There were days where I didn't see my son'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-id-software-producer-says-the-team-faced-the-worst-crunch-in-the-series-history-on-doom-the-dark-ages-revelations-there-were-days-where-i-didnt-see-my-son/

30,000 games are either Steam Deck verified or at least 'playable' on Valve's handheld
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/handheld-gaming-pcs/30-000-games-are-either-steam-deck-verified-or-at-least-playable-on-valves-handheld/

Resident Evil 2's director believes Capcom has become 'completely numb to how scary' recent games have been and wants a 'non-horror mode'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/resident-evil/resident-evil-2s-director-believes-capcom-has-become-completely-numb-to-how-scary-recent-games-have-been-and-wants-a-non-horror-mode/

While I have no interest in DLSS 5, because I think it's another step in Jensen's all AI plan that I despise (if you don't know what it is, read this article), I get that some of you may be interested in giving it a try like -Adonis-, and Videocardz has an article about a tool to use it by yourselves:

DLSS 5 Swapper adds one-click Neural Rendering for PC games and emulators
https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-confirms-no-dlss-5-override-in-its-app-so-modders-already-built-their-own-tool

PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH

I finally got my TV to accept 4K at 120fps from my PC after running the signal through a Sync Box! It was really not liking that Box for a while, but it looks like the Machine Spirit finally made peace with it.

I don't think I'm in a hurry to try DLSS 5. I'll wait until it's officially supported or whatever.

Time for the Thursday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away Alone With You : https://store.epicgames.com/p/alone-with-you-028a15.
Next week, the free games will be Astral Ascent and Luftrausers .

Steam has new deals and sales/events:

• Sumerian Six will be 67% off until the 9th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1429850/Sumerian_Six/
• The Sinking City Remastered will have an 85% discount until September 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/750130/The_Sinking_City_Remastered/
• Choo-Choo Charles is going ot be 90% off until the same 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1766740/ChooChoo_Charles/
• These are the sales/events:
  • Publisher Marvelous/XSEED shows two of its upcoming titles and puts its games on sale with up to 88% discounts until the 14th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/marvelous2026
  • To celebrate the launch of its latest entry, the Falconeer Franchise Sale puts its games up to 50% off until the 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/FalconeerFranchiseSale
  • Publisher/Developer Draknek and Friends celebrates its 13th annivesrary putting its games up to 70% off until the 16th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33018631/sale/publishersale

Humble Bundle has two new entries:

• CRPG Pack: Isometric Immersion has up to 11 games to get during the next 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/crpg-pack-isometric-immersion
• Mega Man Recharged Collection features up to 9 games to grab during the next 27 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/mega-man-recharged-collection

Fanatical has several new deals:

• The new Star Deal is POSTAL 4: No Regerts , with an 80% discount during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/postal-4-no-regerts
• Daedalic Entertainment puts its games up to 90% off until the 11th of September: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/daedalic-entertainment
• Publisher Akupara celebrates its 10th anniversary putting its games on sale with up to 92% discounts. No idea when it will end: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/akupara-games
• The Platinum Collection - Build your own Bundle (September 2026) features 19 titles for your 3+, 5+ or 7+ game bundles. It will last 27 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.8992 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-8992

HIGHLIGHTS
Intel Game On Driver support on Intel Arc B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel Core Ultra with built-in Intel Arc GPUs for:

• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• The Blood of Dawnwalker

FIXED ISSUES
Intel Core Ultra Series 3 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs & Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

• Marathon (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruption on certain objects during gameplay when using Anisotropic Filtering.
• Assassin’s Creed Revelations (DX9) may exhibit flickering corruption.
• 007 First Light (DX12) may exhibit full screen corruption during chapter 8 gameplay.

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• Marathon (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruption on certain objects during gameplay when using Anisotropic Filtering.

Intel Core Ultra Series 1 & Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Marathon (DX12) may exhibit intermittent corruption on certain objects during gameplay when using Anisotropic Filtering.
• 007 First Light (DX12) may exhibit full screen corruption during chapter 8 gameplay.

>> It’s a Beta driver.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Skyrim Gets a New Fan Expansion With The Garden of Venus
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/skyrim-gets-a-new-fan-made-expansion-with-the-garden-of-venus/
NexusMods’ ‘EnemyPK’ has released a new fan expansion location for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. This fan expansion adds a massive, magical palace to the game. So, let’s take a closer look at it.
The Garden of Venus adds a forgotten Elven magic palace for players to explore. The palace features new custom assets, Hearthfire Adoption support, interactive light sources, an animated bath, custom crafting stations, and much more.
As said, the palace features a custom marble bathing pool with animated water. Players can turn the brass valves to fill and drain the pool. Bathing grants the Cure Disease effect, so you can stay healthy without visiting a temple shrine. You can also sit with your family at the grand dining table and interact with the large feast. A custom menu lets you eat a hearty meal. It fully restores your Health, Magicka, and Stamina. It also gives you a +150 Restore buff to all three for one hour.
The ancient magic of the palace can also boost your skills. The Master’s Touch gives you a 30% boost to Smithing for one hour. The Master’s Elixir gives you a 30% boost to Alchemy and Enchanting for one hour.
The Garden of Venus also features an immersive dynamic lighting system. Players can interact with lanterns, candles, and the Grand Hearths. Lanterns and candles require 1 Troll Fat to light. On the other hand, the Grand Hearths require 3 Firewood to ignite.
All in all, this is a cool new location that players can explore. So, if you’re currently playing Skyrim, you should definitely check it out. You can download it from this link (Nexus Mods).
>> The article doesn’t have any media.

GTA Vice City Gets a Major Graphics Overhaul With This DX11 Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/gta-vice-city-gets-a-major-graphics-overhaul-with-this-dx11-mod/
ReeveMods has released a new graphics overhaul mod for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, called ImmersiveVC. This mod rebuilds the sky, the lighting, the shadows, the reflections, the water and the weather, and runs the whole game on a modern DX11 renderer instead of the DX8 it shipped with in 2002.
ImmersiveVC adds a procedural sky, volumetric clouds, and sun rays to the game. It also adds cascaded shadow maps and headlight shadow maps for night scenes. The mod also adds per-pixel lights from street lamps, vehicles, and police bars. It features world-anchored rain, reflective wet roads, and refractive lens drops. Finally, it adds live water surfaces for both the sea and swimming pools.
From the looks of it, this is a must-have mod for GTA Vice City. The only downside is that the early version is locked behind a Patreon wall. So, you’ll have to pay to play it. My guess is that the full version will be released for free once it’s complete.
At the end of the article, you can find the latest trailer for ImmersiveVC. This trailer will give you a pretty good idea of its visual enhancements. So, make sure to watch it.

GAMING NEWS

The Blood of Dawnwalker Suffers From Major Stutters and a 30FPS Cinematic Cap
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-suffers-from-major-stutters-and-a-30fps-cinematic-cap/
Bandai Namco has just released The Blood of Dawnwalker, which uses Unreal Engine 5. However, it appears that the game suffers from major stuttering issues right now. Not only that, but there is an awful 30FPS cap for its cinematic cutscenes.
>> UE5 = stutters.

Metro 2039 Is Coming to PC on February 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/metro-2039-is-coming-to-pc-on-february-4/
Deep Silver has announced that Metro 2039 will launch on February 4, 2027. The game was originally planned for a 2026 release. However, in June 2026, the publisher announced that the game would be delayed until February 2027. Now, we finally have a fixed release date.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Is Coming to PC on April 8
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/final-fantasy-7-revelation-is-coming-to-pc-on-april-8/
Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be released on April 8, 2027. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared two new trailers that you can find below.

Thursday gaming news, part two:

Award-winning presenter Frankie Ward is hosting the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, showing off over 35 games and a bunch of world premieres
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/award-winning-presenter-frankie-ward-is-hosting-the-pc-gaming-show-tokyo-direct-showing-off-over-35-games-and-a-bunch-of-world-premieres/
The PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct is back September 20, and PC Gamer is happy to announce the fantastic Frankie Ward will be hosting, making it her second PC Gaming Show of the year.

Total War: Warhammer 40,000's Space Marines will have to keep the Imperium happy and avoid looking too heretical
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/total-war-warhammer-40-000s-space-marines-will-have-to-keep-the-imperium-happy-and-avoid-looking-too-heretical/
One of the significant differences between most historical Total Wars and the Warhammer games is that the factions aren't comparable with nations. In Total War: Warhammer 40,000, the Space Marines and Astra Militarum, for instance, are effectively two branches of the same military.
So when I was playing Total War 40k at Gamescom as the Ultramarines, I noticed that my settlement garrison was full of just ordinary soldiers—members of the Planetary Defense Force. These units only served to defend the settlement, like a normal Total War garrison, but they weren't the same units that I could recruit as a Space Marine faction.
"The way that the Imperium works together is going to be very important," Dave Petry, battle product owner, told me. "And working as a Space Marine with local planetary forces and governors to be able to get the support that you need in order to be able to be that tip of the spear, we want that to be the case."

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance's new combat gimmick is putting some Devil May Cry stink on hitting dinosaurs with hammers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/monster-hunter-wilds-ascendances-new-combat-gimmick-is-putting-some-devil-may-cry-stink-on-hitting-dinosaurs-with-hammers/
Back in June, Capcom revealed Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, a "massive," Iceborne-style expansion promising new and returning monsters, new regions to hunt in, and—of course—new combat options. In the announcement trailer, Capcom offered a brief glimpse at the Boost Bracer, an enigmatic new mechanic that seemed to augment hunter fighting styles with additional jolts of combustion-fueled power.
Three months later, we're now getting our first real insight into how the Boost Bracer works and how we can expect it to alter the flow of hunting in Wilds. Earlier today, Capcom uploaded both a video overview of Boost Bracer mechanics and a great sword-focused boost action breakdown, with similar videos expected for each other weapon type.

Double Fine's famous game jam returns with 26 new ideas and a promise to make Brutal Legend 2, if its Kickstarter stretch goal is met
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/double-fines-famous-game-jam-returns-with-26-new-ideas-and-a-promise-to-make-brutal-legend-2-if-its-kickstarter-stretch-goal-is-met/
One happy upside to Double Fine's newly-regained independence is the return of Amnesia Fortnight, the semi-regular in-house game jam in which everyone stops what they're doing and spends two weeks pitching and developing prototypes for new games. The 2026 edition of the event—seemingly the first since Microsoft acquired Double Fine in 2019—launched a Kickstarter campaign on August 31, and its $400,000 goal has already been surpassed.
The Amnesia Fortnight crowdfunding campaign serves two purposes. It raises money for Double Fine, which is good, but it also grants power: Just like in a real democracy, people who are willing to spend money will get to sway the process in voting for which of the 26 game pitches actually get made, and the more you spend the more influence you have. At the $15 tier, for instance, your vote only counts for half, but at $30 you get a full vote—and if you go up to $60, your vote is doubled—a single vote cast counts for two! What a great system.

30,000 people line up 24 hours early to play the final Wardogs closed beta, developer responds: 'YOU PEOPLE ARE CRAZY'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/30-000-people-line-up-24-hours-early-to-play-the-final-wardogs-closed-beta-developer-responds-you-people-are-crazy/
The hottest FPS in town, Wardogs, is holding one last beta before it hits early access from September 3 to 6. Buzz for the 100-player milsim has far eclipsed the expectations of developer Bulkhead, who says Wardogs has surpassed a million wishlists on Steam.

'Can I cry?': Stalker 2 devs say its 2.0 update's engine overhaul was a nightmare—but worth the effort
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/can-i-cry-stalker-2-devs-say-its-2-0-updates-engine-overhaul-was-a-nightmare-but-worth-the-effort/
Earlier this month, Stalker 2 received a massive version 2.0 update to accompany the launch of its Cost of Hope expansion. Our Joshua Wolens says that—for those of us who've been patiently holding off while Stalker 2 finds a steady footing—it's the update that we've been waiting for, thanks in large part to developer GSC Game World's Herculean undertaking of updating its engine from Unreal 5.1 to Unreal 5.5.4.
That effort, it seems, was well spent. But while they're proud of the results, GSC told PC Gamer in an interview at this year's Gamescom that the process of overhauling the game's engine after launch was a bit of a nightmare.

CD Projekt says it never considered charging Witcher 3 owners for the remastered edition: 'It was never a question we asked ourselves'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-witcher/cd-projekt-says-it-never-considered-charging-witcher-3-owners-for-the-remastered-edition-it-was-never-a-question-we-asked-ourselves/
These are big days for The Witcher 3: It's not only getting a full-on story expansion in 2027, a remaster of the base game is also coming later this month. Even better, anyone who owns the original Witcher 3 will get the remaster for free. That's pretty generous as these things go, but in an interview with The Game Business, CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski said there was never any thought of doing it differently.
>> There are other news from CD Projekt from its investor’s call: the mystery games they’re working on are still happening (link) and they don’t’ plan to rely on AI to make complete games (link)

New Final Fantasy 14 site update stabs the final pin into my conspiracy board, leaving me 99.9% sure I know what the new physical ranged job is
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/new-final-fantasy-14-site-update-stabs-the-final-pin-into-my-conspiracy-board-leaving-me-99-9-percent-sure-i-know-what-the-new-physical-ranged-job-is/
Picture this: I am emerging from a pile of paper, red string, and thumbtacks, hair (I have hair in this scenario) dishevelled, breathless, yelling like I've well and truly lost it: I knew it! I knew we were getting a crossbow in Final Fantasy 14! I am then carted away by people in white coats and dispensed in an abandoned warehouse, where Naoki Yoshida emerges with a loaded pistol. I know too much.
Alright, I'm probably not that conspiratorially out of lockstep with the FF14 community about the new job, especially given this latest piece of evidence, but I do feel vindicated. Back during the latest fanfest, some more details emerged about the as-yet-unannounced physical ranged job. Namely, a couple of soundbytes and some trailer snippets.
You can read my full conspiracy board I just linked, which also includes trying to analyse the shape of a catgirl's wand to prove that it was, in fact, a crossbow bolt. And here I am, completely vindicated, because the patch 7.5 site's just been updated with a new image.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword has a hard mode, but it isn't unlocked from the start
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/onimusha-hard-mode-new-game-plus-unlock/
Some players came away from Onimusha's demo worried that the game would be too easy, a concern I've addressed in-depth based on my own time with the game. The good news is that I think the challenge level is well-judged for most people, and Onimusha does have a hard mode.
For those who hoped to jump right into the hardest possible difficulty from the main menu, though, I've got some bad news: you're going to have to beat the game first.

And here's the third part of the gaming news: 

SteamDB changes hands to Nexus Mods, which means it 'needs to make money' now—but there won't be ads or paywalls
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steamdb-changes-hands-to-nexus-mods-which-means-it-needs-to-make-money-now-but-there-wont-be-ads-or-paywalls/
>> We’ll see if things change and how.

Doug Cockle believes Dandelion is Geralt's real soulmate in The Witcher 3, but 'in a very platonic way'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-witcher/doug-cockle-believes-dandelion-is-geralts-real-soulmate-in-the-witcher-3-but-in-a-very-platonic-way/
>> He’s Geralt’s voice actor in the Witcher games.

Dwarf Fortress co-creator says his life as a millionaire is 'basically like reattaining what my parents could do with regular jobs'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/dwarf-fortress-co-creator-says-his-life-as-a-millionaire-is-basically-like-reattaining-what-my-parents-could-do-with-regular-jobs/

Now Hardware Unboxed themselves got hit by the melting 12-pin cables:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofcdHlKJ9W0

Those cables are truly a total shitshow...

Congratulations for taming the gremlins inside your TV. Now relax and enjoy it.

When it comes to that connector and its cables, it sadly feels more like a matter of "when" more than "if".

The funny thing is that the Intel is the responsible of the ATX standards and protocols, and as part of the ATX 3.0 standard they designed this massive POS of a connector. But it's Nvidia the one that jumped straight into it and forbid AIB partners of using the traditional 6x and 8x connectors with its high-end products, so the blame goes to them instead.

Also, Linus trying to assemble a PC with ChatGPT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6MAZW-joCo

Not only did it make tons of errors, some of which due to stubbornly persisting that it was right while it was wrong (and then thrice even trying to gaslight Linus into thinking that they were right when they were totally wrong), it tried to upsell itself to a higher tier. Twice!

He did this first 4 years ago, and while ChatGPT offered some solid advice at some points now that it didn't before, all in all it didn't do that much better than back then 4 years ago.