Them coming back, but still wanting to enforce their DRM is kind of telling that they are still that grumpy stroppy kid that knows they fucked up, but still doesn't want to apologise for making a scene.

The fact they want to force Ubi connect on Steam also tells me that they cannot survive on their own, because Ubi connect isn't anywhere as popular nor memorable as Steam is (also huge lacking of mod support and other viable features doesn't help their client at all).

Still, I'm sticking to my 3 strike rule, which Ubisoft broke around 3 yrs ago, so I'm never really going to buy from them ever again, just like I did with gearbox, SE (Tripwire is coming up next with one more exclusivity deal to go before I block them). 

The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG joins the Black Friday craze:

• The Black Friday Sale, with over 4000 titles on sale with up to 90% discounts is live from now until November 30: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2022_black_friday
• There's a Giveaway: Narita Boy is free to get during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/narita_boy
• And there are 8 new Deals of the Day, that will also last 46 hours:
  • Dawn of the Monsters is 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/dawn_of_the_monsters
  • Slipways gets a 37% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/slipways
  • NORCO is 50% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/norco
  • Northgard: The Viking Age Edition gets a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/northgard_the_viking_age_edition
  • The Mummy Demastered features a 66% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_mummy_demastered
  • Stellaris is 78% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/stellaris
  • Project Warlock is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/project_warlock
  • And Legend of Grimrock 2 gets an 82% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_grimrock_2

The Humble Store has a new flash deal: Ghostrunner: Complete Edition gets a 30% discount during 26 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/ghostrunner-complete-edition

Fanatical has a new Star Deal and a bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Total War: WARHAMMER III, 36% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/total-war-warhammer-iii
• And the new bundle is the STAR WARS Collection, with 14 games at a 79% discount during 3 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

New official Unreal Engine 5.1 video showcases its key features
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-official-unreal-engine-5-1-video-showcases-its-key-features/
Last week, Epic Games released the final version of Unreal Engine 5.1 to developers. And today, the company released a new video that highlights its key features.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gets an 8K Texture Pack for ice surfaces
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gets-an-8k-texture-pack-for-ice-surfaces/
Modder ‘Bionic’ has released an 8K Texture Pack for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for ice surfaces. According to the modder, this pack covers caves, glaciers and icicles.
Going into more details, the pack features IMR meshes that are customized to work with the new highly detailed textures. Additionally, it has new experimental meshes featuring no seams and randomized details.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales gets a Batman Arkham-like camera mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/marvels-spider-man-miles-morales-gets-a-batman-arkham-like-camera-mod/
The first mods for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales have started appearing online. And, in our opinion, the most interesting mod right now is the following one which introduces a Batman Arkham-like over-the-shoulder camera viewpoint.
Created by modder ‘Maxie Zeus’, this mod makes Miles Morales feel like a Batman Arkham game. The mod achieves this by getting the camera closer to our main protagonist.
>> Besides and 8 minutes long video of the mod, the article also lists another two mods to unlock suits, skills, etc.

Weird West is now playable in first-person thanks to official mod support
https://www.pcgamer.com/weird-west-is-now-playable-in-first-person-thanks-to-official-mod-support/
We liked the supernatural immersive sim Weird West quite a bit when it arrived earlier this year, and now it's even better thanks to the addition of mod support in the latest patch. A handful of mods are already available for the game, including one that changes it from an isometric perspective to first person.

Skyrim's tiny head mod is a crime against the laws of god and man alike
https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrims-tiny-head-mod-is-a-crime-against-the-laws-of-god-and-man-alike/
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Skyrim were really fucked up? Just like disastrously so?
Now you can experience just such a thing, as the mod "Cursed Skyrim - Hold the Fuck Up" will give to you an experience of outrageously long-lived RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim where everyone's head is real small. It is—to be direct—a crime against the laws of gods and men alike.

GAMING NEWS

Gungrave G.O.R.E supports Ray Tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 2 & AMD FSR 2 on PC, suffers from shader compilation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/gungrave-g-o-r-e-supports-ray-tracing-nvidia-dlss-2-amd-fsr-2-on-pc-suffers-from-shader-compilations-tutters/
Prime Matter has just released Gungrave G.O.R.E on PC. The game uses Unreal Engine 4 and supports Ray Tracing reflections on PC, alongside NVIDIA DLSS 2 and AMD FSR 2.0. However, the game also suffers from shader compilation stutters.

ArcheAge 2 will be using Unreal Engine 5, first in-engine trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/archeage-2-will-be-using-unreal-engine-5-first-in-engine-trailer/
Kakao Games and XLGAMES have shared a first look at their eagerly anticipated MMO sequel, ArcheAge 2. The game will be using Unreal Engine 5, and below you can find its first in-engine trailer.

The news, the sequel:

The legal war over Disco Elysium reaches Disco Elysium levels of complexity
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-legal-war-over-disco-elysium-reaches-disco-elysium-levels-of-complexity/
Something is rotten in the state of Revachol. This year has seen the gradual unfurling of a bitterly ironic real-world tale, one in which the creators of perhaps the best PC game ever appear to have been systemically cut out of the company they co-founded, Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM, and are now fighting for it in the courts.
>> And, if you're interested, here's the initial pitch that started it.

Need for Speed Unbound system requirements and unlock times revealed
https://www.pcgamer.com/need-for-speed-unbound-pc-system-requirements/
Do you feel the need for speed? More importantly, does your PC have the speed to make the new Need for Speed run with the speed you need? Today is the day to find out.
Need for Speed Unbound is set to launch on December 2, and with that date now just over a week away, Electronic Arts has dropped details on when exactly it will launch, what sort of accessibility options it will support, and—as promised above, what exactly you'll need to run it.

Marvel's Avengers designer removed as spokesperson over offensive tweets
https://www.pcgamer.com/marvels-avengers-designer-removed-as-spokesperson-over-offensive-tweets/
Crystal Dynamics says Marvel's Avengers design lead Brian Waggoner "will no longer be a studio spokesperson" or speak publicly about its projects after offensive tweets he'd previously posted were brought to light by the community.

Darktide's 1.0.7 patch makes progress on crashes, lets you fix your ugly face
https://www.pcgamer.com/darktides-107-patch-makes-progress-on-crashes-lets-you-fix-your-ugly-face/
(...)
The patch notes for version 1.0.7 identify six different types of crashes that have now been purged: matchmaking crashes, cutscene alt-tabbing crashes, falling-out-of-bounds crashes, crashes caused by starting a mission with a specific feat equipped, crashes caused by certain weapon traits, and multiple crashes caused by the Beast of Nurgle. As if we didn't have enough reasons to hate Beasts of Nurgle already.

Total War: Warhammer 3's latest big update focuses on Immortal Empires
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-3s-latest-big-update-focuses-on-immortal-empires/
Creative Assembly just rolled out an update for Total War: Warhammer 3. Mostly focusing on improvements for Immortal Empires, it's also got a slew of balance changes, content updates, and bug fixes. Here's a glance at the highlights.

Men of War 2's latest trailer showcases men, war
https://www.pcgamer.com/men-of-war-2s-latest-trailer-showcases-men-war/
Like a mighty tachanka, Men of War 2's development trundles on implacably regardless of the obstacles before it. The WW2 RTS, which comes from Ukrainian studio Best Way, had its development interrupted by Russia's invasion earlier this year, but the studio has returned with a new trailer showcasing, well, the Second World War, mostly.

Disney Dreamlight Valley is getting a Toy Story update in December
https://www.pcgamer.com/disney-dreamlight-valley-is-getting-a-toy-story-update-in-december/
Disney Dreamlight Valley is gearing up for its next update, taking us to infinity and beyond. As part of Toy Story's 27th anniversary on November 22, Gameloft announced that Woody and Buzz would be the next to join our valleys in an update arriving in December.

Modern Warfare 2's armour piercing rounds no longer pierce armour
https://www.pcgamer.com/modern-warfare-2s-armour-piercing-rounds-no-longer-pierce-armour/
A new patch to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has finally fixed one of the game's long-standing glitches. After remaining unchecked since the game was released, Modern Warfare 2's armour piercing ammo doesn't pierce armour anymore. Wait. What?

Squad adds largest military force in the world: the People's Liberation Army of China
https://www.pcgamer.com/squad-adds-largest-military-force-in-the-world-the-peoples-liberation-army-of-china/
Tactical FPS Squad has an eyebrow raising update coming on December 7. Called 'Red Star Rising', it will add a tenth playable faction to the game in the shape of the People's Liberation Army of China. A press release says this continues developer Offworld Industries' "effort to tap into real-world military history" as Squad evolves over time.

The peoples' choice for the GJA PC game of the year may surprise you
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-peoples-choice-for-the-gja-pc-game-of-the-year-may-surprise-you/
Yesterday saw the 40th annual Golden Joystick Awards and, broadly speaking, Elden Ring had an extremely good night: here's the full list of winners. One of the things that sets the Joysticks apart is that almost all of the categories are decided by public vote, with over three million people casting ballots this year. And when it came to the PC Game of the Year category, democracy triumphed over pizazz.

After selling a $200 game bundle for cents, Microsoft realises it made a mistake
https://www.pcgamer.com/after-selling-a-dollar200-game-bundle-for-cents-microsoft-realises-it-made-a-mistake/
After accidentally selling people a Forza Horizon bundle worth £170/$200 for 61p (about 70 cents), Microsoft has begun to realise that it might have messed up. Players who picked up the games at their historically-low price last week are finding the games missing from their library, but at least they're getting their precious pennies refunded too.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is outselling the RTX 4080 on eBay by a factor of 3.4

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-is-outselling-the-rtx-4080-on-ebay-by-a-factor-of-3-4

Makes sense really, if you have $1200 to spend, you have $1600 to spend. Too bad it costed as much as it did cause it could have been a great upgrade.

nVidia GeForce RTX 4080 Meta Review

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/z2dd94/nvidia_geforce_rtx_4080_meta_review/

He gathered the data from a lot of sites and combined them. There's more card comparisons in the reddit post.

The Witcher 3 Next-Gen update comes with AMD FSR 2 and NVIDIA DLSS support

https://videocardz.com/newz/the-witcher-3-next-gen-update-comes-with-amd-fsr-2-and-nvidia-dlss-support

Along with:

• Ray-traced global illumination
• FSR 2 and DLSS
• Photo mode
• New Ultra+ graphics mode
• Performance mode for consoles (60 FPS)
• Quality mode with RTGI and FSR2 for consoles
• New camera perspectives
• Reworked textures and foliage
• Cross-progression between consoles and PC
• QoL improvements

That's a lot of stuff considering it's a free upgrade

Free upgrade?, holy shit I thought pubs forgot uploading files on PC was a thing, instead of charging extra like everyone else was doing after Skyrim SE/Bioshock 1-2 were given out for free.

planetarian ~the reverie of a little planet~ will be removed from sale on the 1st of December.

Some good deals I saw

Unravel Yarny Bundle at 93%

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered at 90%

I still haven't played The Witcher 3 and, at this point, I'll wait this couple of weeks left until the update launches to even think about playing it.

I wonder what those QoL improvements will consist of.

Well I do know that they brought on Halk Hogan onto their team, so he was working on giving them all the texture improvements he'd made over the years and likely some more work. They'll probably have tweaked some quests here and there/bug fixes, but outside of that I'm not sure what else they could add as QoL (though that auto oil your blades mod was super handy to use, so I'd hope they added that in, since going into inv/applying oils/leaving inventory was a bit annoying to do before every encounter). 

Meanwhile, some remastered are sold almost full price (cough Crysis cough Dead Space)