The Monday news:
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reportedly sold 1.7 million copies at launch
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/assassins-creed-valhalla-reportedly-sold-1-7-million-copies-at-launch/
SuperData has shared its monthly report, stating that Assassin’s Creed Valhalla sold 1.7 million copies at launch. According to SuperData, this is 50% more than Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at launch. However, and despite these sales numbers, in-game revenue was down 62%. This may may explain why Ubisoft added an XP booster into the game.
(...)
In other news, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War sold 5.7 million digital units in November, a 7% increase compared to the previous franchise record-holder Black Ops 4. In addition, the ongoing success of the free-to-play Warzone mode in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare helped drive interest in the latest title. Thanks to Warzone, Modern Warfare had 2.7 times as many players as Cold War in November 2020.
Lastly, Among Us had roughly half a billion monthly active users in November. The PC version accounted for the majority of revenue from August to November (64%) despite having an extremely small share of the total player base (3% in November).
The full list of Epic Games Store free December 2020 games has been leaked
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/full-list-epic-games-store-free-december-2020-games-leaked/
Two days ago, a list for all of Epic Games Store’s free December 2020 games was leaked online. Instead of sharing it with you, I’ve decided to wait a day in order to see whether the next free game would match with the one from that list. And now, I can safely say that this new list is legit.
>> While this one is more realistic than the fake one that appeared a few days ago, I'd still take it with a pinch of salt.
GOG's Winter Sale keeps going on, and now there's something else to grab thanks to the newly released Heretic + Hexen Collection, that includes 4 games and it's 70% off.
Steam has two new deals:
The Humble Store has a new Mount & Blade Sale, with up to 75% discounts during the next 15 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/mount-blade-sale/
And Fanatical has two new deals besides its Winter Sale:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
Steam's 2020 Autumn Sale was its biggest yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/steams-2020-autumn-sale-was-its-biggest-yet/
Valve's latest Steamworks Development blog provides a look at some of the numbers from this year's Autumn Sale. Normally a footnote compared to the Winter Sale, the Autumn Sale actually featured some pretty decent discounts this year and was apparently "the biggest-ever in terms of revenue for developers and publishers". Ongoing COVID-19 quarantines in many countries probably helped the sale, which overlapped with a Black Friday and Cyber Monday that saw online shopping up 22 percent according to Adobe Analytics.
Nvidia releases a hotfix driver to fix a BSOD issue, stuttering in Avengers, and other bugs
https://www.pcgamer.com/nvidia-releases-a-hotfix-driver-to-fix-a-bsod-issue-stuttering-in-avengers-and-other-bugs/
Nvidia has released a hotfix driver (v460.97) that is intended to squash nearly half a dozen bugs, a couple of which are specific to laptops. One of them is a blue screen of death (BSOD) error that some laptops powered by GeForce GPUs are experiencing when waking from sleep while connected to an external monitor by way of a dock or dongle.
It seems this issue crops up from time to time. Looking at Nvidia's support forum, there are threads from two years ago, with users complaining of BSODs when waking from sleep. However, the BSOD fix included in this hotfix is specific to laptops.
>> Available from here.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
Gameplay teaser trailer for the upcoming Portal 2: Desolation Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gameplay-teaser-trailer-for-the-upcoming-portal-2-desolation-mod/
Emberspark Games is currently working on a brand new mod for Portal 2, Portal 2: Desolation. Portal 2 Desolation will feature action-packed puzzle gameplay and a new cybernetic Portal Gun called the ARM, and you can find below its first gameplay teaser trailer.
Portal 2: Desolation is a standalone fan-made Portal campaign. According to the team, the game will have a fully original story with all-new characters and original locations.
Half Life 2: Raising the Bar Redux Division 1.2 available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/half-life-2-raising-the-bar-redux-division-1-2-available-for-download/
The Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Redux Team has released a brand new version of its mod. Half Life 2: Raising the Bar Redux is a standalone HL2 mod, meaning that it only requires Source SDK Base 2013.
In this mod, players will return to City 17, held within the iron grip of the Combine and the Consul. Players will reunite with old friends, and enemies, though there are also some new ones. Moreover, this mod aims to come with a revitalised combat system featuring “old arsenals made new again, with added features to raise the bar in gameplay.”
Version 1.2 is basically a major overhaul of this mod. According to the developers, this new version brings a lot of new models, and new particle effects for both weapons and world props. It also brings an improved set of animations for all weapons.
>> Available from ModDB.
Change your Cyberpunk 2077 hairstyle with this mod
https://www.pcgamer.com/change-your-cyberpunk-2077-hairstyle-with-this-mod/
By far the least shocking of all the things in Cyberpunk 2077's release that are very shocking is the fact that in a world predicated entirely upon modifying your body for aesthetics or profit or whatever, you cannot change your hair. Modders, as they often do, have found a temporary fix for a ridiculous thing in a game.
You can find a package of instructions for changing your character's look over on NexusMods, at the "In-Game Haircuts" mod. Thanks to the modder, woodbricks, for that.
Skylords Reborn brings back unique RTS plus CCG BattleForge
https://www.pcgamer.com/skylords-reborn-brings-back-unique-rts-plus-ccg-battleforge/
After five years in development, Skylords Reborn is finally out. The fan project set out to revive unique RTS BattleForge after it was shut down in 2013, and the developers can now proudly say they've done just that. BattleForge was a very unique game, a hybrid of card game and real-time strategy that had both PvE and PvP modes.
GAMING NEWS
Koch Media will publish the isometric turn-based RPG, Encased, in 2021
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/koch-media-will-publish-the-isometric-turn-based-rpg-encased-in-2021/
Koch Media and Dark Crystal Games have announced their future cooperation for the upcoming sci-fi RPG Encased. The Koch Media Group will support the global launch of the game on PC within one of its publishing labels. Future details on the publishing and release date will follow at a later point, however, the game will fully release in 2021.
No More Heroes 1 & 2 rated by the ESRB for the PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/no-more-heroes-1-2-rated-by-the-esrb-for-the-pc/
It appears that both No More Heroes and No More Heroes 2 are coming to the PC, according to recent ESRB rates. After all, Marvelous Inc, publisher of these two games, has registered the game for Windows PC on ESRB.
Cyberpunk 2077 Update 1.05 releases soon on PC, full patch notes revealed [UPDATE]
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cyberpunk-2077-update-1-05-releases-soon-on-pc-full-patch-notes-revealed/
CD Projekt RED has announced that Update 1.05 for Cyberpunk 2077 will come out soon on the PC, and revealed its complete changelog.
According to the release notes, Patch 1.05 will fix numerous quests and bugs/glitches. Additionally, it will come with some PC-specific tweaks and improvements.
Here is the opening video for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-is-the-opening-video-for-phantasy-star-online-2-new-genesis/
SEGA has released the new opening video for Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis is a free to play standalone expansion for Phantasy Star Online 2 that will release in 2021.
Rare prototype clips for the cancelled Mirror’s Edge 2 surface online
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/rare-prototype-clips-for-the-cancelled-mirrors-edge-2-surface-online/
After the release of Mirror’s Edge, and prior to the announcement of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, DICE was working on a sequel to its parkour first-person game. However, that initial version of Mirror’s Edge 2 was cancelled in 2011. And today, after 9 years, some clips from its prototype version have surfaced online.
New footage revealed for the cancelled COD-like version of Doom 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-footage-revealed-for-the-cancelled-cod-like-version-of-doom-4/
Back in 2015, we shared some screenshots from the cancelled version of Doom 4. And a couple of days ago, some new in-game footage from its prototype versions surfaced online.
Project CARS 4 will be using Madness 2.0 Engine, aims to be the most realistic simulation ever
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/project-cars-4-will-be-using-madness-2-0-engine-aims-to-be-the-most-realistic-simulation-ever/
In a series of tweets (that have now been deleted) Ian Bell, CEO of Slightly Mad Studios, revealed the first details about Project CARS 4. According to Ian, Project CARS 4 will be using the Madness 2.0 Engine, and promises to be the most realistic simulation ever.
>> That is, of course, if EA doesn't decide to cancel it for something else.