^There's no winner, only losers, and that's us.

New KOTOR Remake to have action combat like FF15 and NiOh
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/83882/new-kotor-remake-to-have-action-combat-like-ff15-and-nioh/index.html
Apsyr Media's upcoming KOTOR remake will apparently shed itself of the default turn-based dice-roll combat from the original 2003 game. Instead, the developers are eyeing at a more player-friendly mass-market approach to hack-and-slash Jedi combat and will mimic the upgraded combat systems used in action games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Final Fantasy XV, NiOh, God of War, and Devil May Cry.

Edit:

Norton installs an Ethereum crypto miner with its 360 security suite
https://www.pcgamer.com/norton-installs-an-ethereum-crypto-miner-with-its-360-security-suite/
Norton is facing criticism for including a cryptocurrency mining program with its 360 security suite. Though Norton has been upfront about its plan to include the software, the move has generated a lot of backlash. Norton claims the miner is secure and reliable but the move raises concerns about the mechanics and ethics behind it.

Take-Two and Zynga to Combine, Bringing Together Best-in-Class Intellectual Properties and a Market-Leading, Diversified Mobile Publishing Platform, to Enhance Positioning as a Global Leader in Interactive Entertainment
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220110005389/en/Take-Two-and-Zynga-to-Combine-Bringing-Together-Best-in-Class-Intellectual-Properties-and-a-Market-Leading-Diversified-Mobile-Publishing-Platform-to-Enhance-Positioning-as-a-Global-Leader-in-Interactive-Entertainment
Take-Two to acquire all the outstanding shares of Zynga for a total value of $9.861 per share – $3.50 in cash and $6.361 in shares of Take-Two common stock, implying an enterprise value of $12.7 billion

NODDERS. Mind you applies to more than just America. 

Good good. 

Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem announced, first details and screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/serious-sam-siberian-mayhem-announced-first-details-and-screenshots/
As promised, Devolver has announced a brand new Serious Sam game, Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem. Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem is a new stand-alone expansion to the classic FPS series, and below you can find its first details and screenshots.
>>Steam page link

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Rust has now sold over 12 million copies
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/rust-has-now-sold-over-12-million-copies/
Multiplayer survival sandbox Rust, a game of base-building, bashing things with rocks, and using voice chat to convince other players not to kill you, has now been bought over 12 million times. Developers Facepunch Studios announced the milestone as part of a wrap-up of the previous year's development, touching on 12 months' worth of successes and new additions:

Steam sets new record with over 28 million concurrent players
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/steam-sets-new-record-with-over-28-million-concurrent-players/
Steam has just set a new record for its concurrent players. According to SteamData, there were over 28 million concurrent players on January 9th, 2022.
Steam surpassed 27 million concurrent players in November 2021. This basically means that Valve’s digital service was able to surpass its previous record in one and a half months.

GOG starts the week with two new flash deals and a Weekly Sale:

• The first flash deal is Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition, 65% off during the next 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dying_light_the_following_enhanced_edition
• The second flash deal is Operencia: The Stolen Sun, with a 70% discount until Wednesday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/operencia_the_stolen_sun
• The Weekly Sale is full of survival games up to 90% off until next Monday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20220110_weekly_sale

Steam has two new daily deals:

• The first daily deal is the Early Access title The Immortal Mayor, 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1426730/The_Immortal_Mayor/
• The second one is Moonlighter, 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/606150/Moonlighter/

There are several new deals at Humble:

• At Humble Bundle there's the new Dead of Winter Bundle, featuring up to 7 games during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/dead-winter-bundle
• At the Humble Store there are 4 new sales:
  • Publisher Adult Swim Games puts its games 45% off during the next 4 days. There are keys for Steam and GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adult-swim-sale/
  • Publisher CI Games offers up to 85% discounts on its games during the next 4 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/ci-games-publisher-sale/
  • Publisher Degica also puts its games on sale, up to 90% off for up to 4 days. There are keys for Steam and one for GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/degica-publisher-sale/
  • And the last one is the Indie Hits Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts during 4 days. There are Steam and GOG keys: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/indie-hits-sale/

And Fanatical, the new Star Deal is Supraland, 75% off during the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/supraland

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Star Wars: Republic Commando gets an HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/star-wars-republic-commando-gets-a-hd-texture-pack/
The “RC Remaster/Reskin” modding team has released a brand new HD Texture Pack for Star Wars: Republic Commando. This HD Texture Pack aims to improve the game’s textures by using sharpening filters and – most likely – AI techniques.
In the future, the team also plans to improve the game’s lighting and replace some 3D models. As such, this remaster/reskin project will attempt to improve the gameplay experience a bit and make the game look a bit more modern.
>> Available from ModDB.

See Final Fantasy 7 Remake with the original's fixed camera
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/see-final-fantasy-7-remake-with-the-originals-fixed-camera/
Thanks to the Universal Unreal Unlocker mod, it's possible to shift the over-the-shoulder camera of Final Fantasy 7 Remake into the fixed perspectives of the original. YouTuber Final FanTV did just that, in a video that compares the train station and Mako reactor sequences of both games.

GAMING NEWS

Watch Dogs Legion cracked & retail/digital versions perform EXACTLY the same
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/watch-dogs-legion-cracked-retail-digital-versions-perform-exactly-the-same/
As we informed you a couple of days ago, EMPRESS was able to crack Watch Dogs Legion which was using Denuvo V10. Alongside Denuvo, Ubisoft used four additional DRM protections. As such, we were curious whether the pirated version performed better than the retail/digital version. Therefore, we went ahead and benchmarked both of them.

Dark Souls-inspired game, Bleak Faith: Forsaken, gets a new gameplay video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/dark-souls-inspired-game-bleak-faith-forsaken-gets-a-new-gameplay-video/
Archangel Studios has released a brand new gameplay video for its upcoming Dark Souls-inspired game, Bleak Faith: Forsaken. This video showcases some of the gameplay polish and improvements the team has already implemented.

The news, part two:

New World aims to improve its endgame with quests and rewards that change every week
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-world-aims-to-improve-its-endgame-with-quests-and-rewards-that-change-every-week/
Amazon is aiming to improve the endgame experience in its fantasy MMO New World with a new feature called "expedition mutators" that will change the complexity and difficulty of combat encounters and offer better rewards including "new bespoke gear and resources" for players who are up to the challenge.

Lost Ark gameplay video delivers a crash course in the hit Korean ARPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/lost-ark-gameplay-video-delivers-a-crash-course-in-the-hit-korean-arpg/
We first heard about Lost Ark all the way back in 2014, when we described it as "an exceptionally good looking ARPG" that struck us as an absurdly over-the-top (but in a good way) Diablo-like. Lost Ark came out a few years later in 2018, but only in Korea. After that it mostly fell off our radar until mid-2021, when Amazon announced that it was teaming up with developer Smilegate RPG to localize Lost Ark for North America and Europe.

Dying Light 2 will take 500 hours to 'fully complete' says Techland
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dying-light-2-will-take-500-hours-to-fully-complete-says-techland/
Techland's Twitter account says it'll take "at least 500 hours" to "fully complete" Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Everyone else, just playing the story and sidequests, however, should expect to spend "70-80" hours to do it all. I won't lie, it's kind of a vaguely threatening statement.
>> That almost sounds like a challenge.

The developers of The Blackout Club are working on a South Park game
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-developers-of-the-blackout-club-are-working-on-a-south-park-game/
Question, the studio behind co-op horror game The Blackout Club, is hiring a lead level designer for a new game "set in the world of South Park." Though the studio includes team members who worked on previous South Park games The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole (as well as the Bioshock series, Dishonored, and Thief: Deadly Shadows), it sounds like this next South Park game won't be another singleplayer RPG.
>> cycycychris made a thread about this last week.

Here's a big update on Gloomwood, that neo-Victorian stealth horror game
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/heres-a-big-update-on-gloomwood-that-neo-victorian-stealth-horror-game/
The hottest-looking game for people who get anxious at the sound of their own footsteps, Gloomwood, was one of the best games we saw at E3 2021. Now, developer Dillon Rogers has uploaded a quick little overview of some new game features that have made it in the game, as well as announced a hopeful release some time in 2022.

Elden Ring character creation leaks
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-character-creation-leaks/
During the Elden Ring network test, players were only allowed to choose from a set of five pre-designed characters rather than diving into the full character creation system. Life finds a way, however, and YouTube channel ER-SA has given us our first look at that character creator, albeit with most of the text blanked out and many options that are presumably work-in-progress.

The Troop is a promising new small-scale World War 2 wargame
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-troop-is-a-promising-new-small-scale-world-war-2-wargame/
As much as I like the odd mega-scale wargame, I quite like a platoon-scale one too. A game where you're in charge of sixty soldiers, a half-dozen vehicles, and a chunk of battlefield not much larger than a suburban neighborhood.

Norton can go f*ck themselves, preferably with a cactus.

Imagine paying for anti-malware software that's actually malware

Super scummy move. I just use Windows Defender personally. Its free and works fine.

(Rumor) Armored Core 6 pictures leaked via consumer survey. Originally posted on ResetEra  https://www.gematsu.com/2022/01/rumor-armored-core-6-details-and-screenshots-leaked-via-consumer-survey

Yes please! Pics below.