AI still sucks ass, as far as I've seen. It's really impressive at times, but it keeps making really stupid mistakes. I think it's a fundamental issue where something that's just not actually able to think is stretched to purposes that require thinking. It's really impressive what they've done with the tech despite its limitations, but at the same time, you can't really trust AI for anything important. If it really matters, you must carefully review everything AI says - and I don't mean reviewing it against your intuition, I mean basically fact-checking.

And don't even let me get started on AI in software development, which is where I kind of have to use it in my job... Some aspects are quite useful, while others are absolutely miserable.

IIRC, the default free ChatGPT non-reasoning version is about as smart (dumb) as the Gemini Flash Lite that's used in Google's AI Overview.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-announces-big-changes-to-xbox-cloud-gaming-switches-to-monthly-hour-limits

"Play anywhere... at least for a few minutes on average per day."
"Everything is an Xbox... for 10 - 30 minutes per day on average (depending on subscription tier)".

And I thought, the 99-hour-limit per month of GeForce Now is bad.

But it is good to know, that the future without local hardware (home console, home PC) is still far far away. 

Zarx, that Fortune Summoners demo sounds interesting. I'm always on the lookout for solid action RPGs with good sprite work. I might have to check that out, even if I missed the sale. 25+ hours of content is a pretty good deal for $20.

Let’s go with the Friday gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

The Humble Store has four new sales

• Fall Indie Showcase has games up to 90% off during 3 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/fall-indie-showcase/
• PAX West Showcase has many upcoming titles but only one game on sale with a 20% discount. The showcase will last 3 days but the deal will last 7: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/pax-west-showcase-2026/
• Back to the Grind Sale will have strategy and simulation games up to 90% off during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/back-to-the-grind/
• And Akupara Games celebrates its 10th annivesrary with up to 90% discounts during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/akupara-10th-anniversary-sale/

Fanatical has launched the new War Child Charity Bundle (2026), with 11 games: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/war-child-charity-bundle-2026

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 26.9.1 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-26-9-1

HIGHLIGHTS
New Game Support

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

FIXED ISSUES

• Intermittent game crash may be observed while playing Starfield and Apex Legends™ on Radeon™ RX 9000 series graphics products.

>> For some reason, this new driver is labeled as “optional”.

NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 616.64 driver 
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-616-64

HIGHLIGHTS
Game Ready

• NBA 2K27

NVIDIA Promises DLSS 5 Support for RTX 40-Series GPUs in the Future
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-promises-dlss-5-support-for-rtx-40-series-gpus-in-the-future/
NVIDIA has just lifted the review embargo for DLSS 5. As I mentioned in my DLSS 5 NBA 2K27 article, this tech is currently available only on RTX 50-series GPUs. However, NVIDIA plans to bring DLSS 5 to RTX 40-series GPUs in the near future.
As NVIDIA told us, its current focus is on optimizing performance for the GeForce RTX 50 Series, with model updates expected later this fall. These new models will further improve the performance of DLSS 5. This is something crucial, as DLSS 5 is already quite demanding.
Once RTX 50 Series performance is more fully tuned, NVIDIA plans to work on expanding official support to the GeForce RTX 40 Series.
>> After moddders managed to do it, Nvidia didn’t have other option but to do it. Which is still better than AMD’s approach of refusing to do or say anything until it’s more than embarrassing.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Take a Look at Doom 3 BFG Edition With Path Tracing and DLSS 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/take-a-look-at-doom-3-bfg-edition-with-path-tracing-and-dlss-5/
And here comes a new challenger. In April 2026, we informed you about a project that aimed to add real-time Path Tracing to Doom 3. However, it appears this isn’t the only D3 Path Tracing project in development.
YouTube’s ‘ruisu_enjeru’ has shared a video showcasing Doom 3 BFG Edition with real-time Path Tracing. The YouTuber claims that it has added a completely new rendering engine built from the ground up. Moreover, this project has support for DLSS Ray Reconstruction and DLSS 5.
As the modder explained, much of the original game’s content has been reworked for the new renderer. However, many parts still need to be ported, fixed, or fully implemented.
This is far from the final version. There is still a lot of work to do. Many systems, materials, lighting, characters, effects, and other parts of the game still need to be ported, reworked, or fixed. For now, this demo is simply a look at the current state of the project.
To be honest, I can’t really see the benefits of DLSS 5 in this video. However, I can clearly see the improved lighting, which is most likely thanks to Path Tracing. I also don’t see many noise artifacts. This suggests that DLSS Ray Reconstruction is doing a great job here.
All in all, this is a really cool video that will put a smile on the faces of most Doom 3 fans. For what it’s worth, there is no ETA for when the first public version will come out. Naturally, though, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
>> The video is roughly 8 minutes long.

The Blood of Dawnwalker's mods immediately scrap the time pressure mechanic, which is apparently a dealbreaker for some people
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-blood-of-dawnwalkers-mods-immediately-scrap-the-time-pressure-mechanic-which-is-apparently-a-dealbreaker-for-some-people/
The Blood of Dawnwalker's out now—which means that players are getting introduced to its slightly more experimental take on RPG time. For the uninitiated, protagonist Coen has about 30 days and nights to save his family, the ticking clock of which is tracked in the UI. Completing quests, levelling up, and ticking off side-objectives costs "time segments".
The idea, then, is to make it so that players have to (quite literally) spend their time wisely. In practice, this system doesn't have much in the way of actual teeth, acting more as a means to dissuade you from going all completionist on the map. In my playthrough, I've currently killed two out of three of Brencis' lieutenants and I still have 20 comfortable days and nights to spare.
Which is probably why some folks have decided to opt out entirely. The "Better Story Timer" on Nexus Mods has options to triple the already-generous 30 day limit to 90 days, makes it so that perks and skills don't cost any time to obtain, and increases the number of segments in a day from eight to a whopping 32.
This essentially means Coen can take his sweet time, pun intended, moseying around the Vale Sangora without a care in the world while his family rot in a dungeon somewhere. The mod already has over 13,000 downloads, hinting that a lot of folks don't appreciate the ticking clock in their open world RPG.
On the one hand, I sort of get it. The Blood of Dawnwalker's time pressure is, given the game's current generosity, a bit of a fib that mostly just gets in the way of you exploring the map at your own pace. It does have some interesting implications, mind—and I do enjoy being steered towards day-only activities and night-only questlines to keep things interesting.
On the other hand, if you strip those same time mechanics from The Blood of Dawnwalker entirely, it just becomes… well, a pretty decent open-world RPG, but pretty unremarkable. Regardless of my critiques of the system, the time mechanic is one of the most noteworthy things the game has going for it.
Still, it's a controversial feature, and it's no wonder that the posts section of the mod already has around 300 comments in there, most of which can be summed up by "thank god".
>> The article doesn’t have any media.

GAMING NEWS

State of Play Trailers for Daba: Land of Water Scar, CONQ – Crown Of No Quarter, Maneater 2, WPCA: World Phasebound Control Authority, and More
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/state-of-play-trailers-for-daba-land-of-water-scar-conq-crown-of-no-quarter-maneater-2-wpca-world-phasebound-control-authority-and-more/
Sony has aired a lot of trailers during its two State of Play September 2026 events. As such, I’ve decided to collect and share the trailers for the games that will also come out on PC. So, below you can find the trailers for Daba: Land of Water Scar, CONQ – Crown Of No Quarter, Maneater 2, WPCA: World Phasebound Control Authority, and more. Enjoy!
>> There are 14 videos in the article. Some of them have their own PCGamer article.

Crimson Desert Enhanced Patch 2.01.00 Released & Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crimson-desert-enhanced-patch-2-01-00-released-detailed/
Pearl Abyss has just released Title Update 2.01.00 for Crimson Desert Enhanced and shared its full patch notes. So, let’s see what this new patch brings to the table.

Friday gaming news, part number two and also last:

Crimson Desert's upcoming DLC decides it's The Sims now, I guess
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/crimson-deserts-upcoming-dlc-decides-its-the-sims-now-i-guess/
Crimson Desert is like the videogame version of a 6-in-1 shampoo—it does just about everything, and with its upcoming DLC Charting the Unknown, I guess that also includes The Sims.
Today's State of Play showed off a trailer with what we can expect to see, and there's a lot. Like building a whole-ass castle, for example. It looks like you can go pretty ham on some Sims-style building within those stony walls, too—the trailer shows a tool which you can drag to build walls and rooms inside the castle. Yup, just like The Sims! There's a whole bunch of furniture as well, including a slightly unusual framed portrait of a tiger that Kliff has deigned to display outside his home, for whatever reason.

Guild Wars 3 is a lot smaller scale than Guild Wars 2 because of the new approach to combat and movement: 'You would probably see about 20 players in a large combat scenario'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/guild-wars-3-is-a-lot-smaller-scale-than-guild-wars-2-because-of-the-new-approach-to-combat-and-movement-you-would-probably-see-about-20-players-in-a-large-combat-scenario/
At Gamescom, I got to see a hands-off demo of Guild Wars 3 and chatted to the developers about what they have in store for us when the MMO hits beta next year. You can read about the significant changes to movement and combat in my Guild Wars 3 preview, but we also discussed how different the upcoming MMO's scale will be when compared to its predecessors.
Guild Wars 3 sits between OG Guild Wars, which was very small scale, and Guild Wars 2, where you could fight a boss with a hundred other players. It still has that multiplayer focus, but compared to Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet has significantly reduced how many people you'll be playing with at once.

Arc Raiders' executive producer admits its developers 'couldn't keep pace with the players' and their need for content, but promises Frozen Trail as the answer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arc-raiders-executive-producer-admits-its-developers-couldnt-keep-pace-with-the-players-and-their-need-for-content-but-promises-frozen-trail-as-the-answer/
If there's one thing you should never underestimate, it's a gamer's love for completing little tasks. Whether it's battle passes, meaningless fetch quests, or in Arc Raiders' case, its expeditions. There's just the right amount of dopamine involved for a neuron activation, so you best bet that they'll rip through them at an unthinkable speed.
I'll concede that Embark Studios probably couldn't have foreseen the full extent of this love prior to Arc Raiders release, but still, the outcome is the same: gamers out-growing their once-beloved game because they managed to complete all their tasks way too fast.

These are the short format articles:

Stalker 2 studio is raffling keychains made from a shot-down Russian helicopter to raise funds for mine removal in the real-world Chornobyl Exclusion Zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/stalker-2-studio-is-raffling-keychains-made-from-a-shot-down-russian-helicopter-to-raise-funds-for-mine-removal-in-the-real-world-chornobyl-exclusion-zone/

A multi-month delay for Deus Ex turned into a huge payoff for one of its best characters, says designer Harvey Smith
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/a-multi-month-delay-for-deus-ex-turned-into-a-huge-payoff-for-one-of-its-best-characters-says-designer-harvey-smith/

It's really starting to look like a new StarCraft game will be revealed at BlizzCon
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/its-really-starting-to-look-like-a-new-starcraft-game-will-be-revealed-at-blizzcon/
>> It’s only a rumor/speculation, at least for now.

And now, the weekend deals from GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• Akupara 10th Anniversary Sale has games up to 90% off and will last 13 days: https://www.gog.com/es/promo/20260903_akupara_publisher_sale
• There’s also the ongoing Back To School Sale , that will end next Thursday: https://www.gog.com/es/back-to-school-sale

+Steam

• Alan Wake gets a 90% discount until the 7th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/108710/Alan_Wake/
• Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors has a demo and will be 20% off until the 10th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3265700/Vampire_Crawlers_The_Turbo_Wildcard_from_Vampire_Survivors/
• Paranormal Cleanup will have a 50% discount until September 10: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2197890/Paranormal_Cleanup/
• Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era is still in Early Access and is going to be 25% off until the 15th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3105440/Heroes_of_Might_and_Magic_Olden_Era/
• Timberborn has a 30% discount that will last until September 17: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062090/Timberborn/
• Whiskerwood , still in Early Access, will be 50% off until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2489330/Whiskerwood/
• First Class Trouble will be free to try during the weekend and will have a 70% discount until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/953880/First_Class_Trouble/
• The Painscreek Killings is going to be 75% off until the same 17th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/624270/The_Painscreek_Killings/
• And there are 6 new sales/events:
  • Focus Publisher Sale 2026 shows its upcoming releases, has some demos and puts its games on sale qwith up to 90% discounts until the 14th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/FocusPublisherSale2026
  • KONAMI Press Start 2026 features its upcoming titles and puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until the 15th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/KONAMIPressStart2026
  • Akupara Games 10th Anniversary Sale comes with its upcoming releases and games up to 90% off until September 17: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/AkuparaGames10YearAnniversary
  • The Civilization Franchise celebrates its 35th anniversary making Civ 7 free to try until the 10th of September and puting the games up to 90% off until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Civilization35thAnniversary
  • The 2026 Call of Duty Franchise Sale has the games on sale with up to 75% discounts until the 17th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/2026CODFranchiseSale
  • And The FPS Games Show brings a couple of upcoming titles and has games up to 67% off. Ther length of the deals vary: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TheFPSGamesShow

That’s all for this week. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

There's a mod enabling multi-frame generation in RTX 40 series cards now. It seemingly works as well as the implementation in equivalent 50 series cards, which makes sense if it's all FP8 just like DLSS 5.

https://github.com/dashdogy/RTX40MFG-Unlock

A bit of a bother to enable, though, and it's recommended for single-player only.

Congratulations! 

May I be noisy enough to ask for size and resolution?

The best part is that this kind of anti-comsumer behavior happen once you already have the consumers locked in and they have no other option, not before.

So yeah, that hurts them and the future they want to impose us more and more. 

Videocardz has an article about it, explaining how the modders found the way to enable it, Nvidia blocked that way modders found another workaroundto enable it again. Maybe that's why it's a bit of a chore to use it.

https://videocardz.com/newz/modders-discover-unlock-for-dlss-multi-frame-generation-on-rtx-40-nvidia-blocks-it-modders-immediately-unlock-it-again

Nothing too fancy, it's a 27" QHD screen. Upgrading because my current screen is a bit garbage despite having the same size and resolution.

At the same time having about twice the refresh rate now makes me a bit more interested in MFG, so yeah, I hope Nvidia stops being a bother since they aren't caring to offer official support for the 40 series.

Best size/resolution combination, imho.And being 1440p makes it easier for your GPU than 4K.