The Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Ubisoft is giving away Rayman Raving Rabbids until January 23. Get it from here.

Fanatical's new Star Deal is ELEX, 80% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/elex.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unreal Engine 5.1 Dune Desert Landscape Demo released, pushes NVIDIA RTX 4090 to its limits
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-1-dune-desert-landscape-demo-released-pushes-nvidia-rtx-4090-to-its-limits/
MAWI United GmbH has released a brand new demo for Unreal Engine 5.1, showcasing a desert landscape. This demo takes advantage of Nanite and Lumen, offers incredible graphics, and can push the mighty NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 to its limits.
YouTube’s Digital Dreams has shared the following video, showcasing this demo running on an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. As we can see, the demo frequently drops below 60fps at 4K on NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU, especially at night.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Sonic Frontiers Mods increase LODs and significantly minimize pop-ins
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/sonic-frontiers-mods-increase-lods-and-significantly-minimize-pop-ins/
As I said in my PC Performance Analysis, one of the biggest issues of Sonic Frontiers was its aggressive LOD. And today, I’m happy to report that PC gamers can finally fix this, increase overall draw distance, and minimize object pop-ins.
Sonic Central has shared the following video, showcasing the game with two must-have mods. By using these mods, you can significantly minimize pop-ins. Seriously, the game looks sooooooo much better now.
>> The links to the mods are in the article and the video is a bit over 9 minutes long.

GAMING NEWS

Age of Wonders 4 releases on May 2nd, PC requirements revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/age-of-wonders-4-releases-on-may-2nd-pc-requirements-revealed/
Paradox Interactive and Triumph Studios have announced that the fourth part in the Age of Wonders series, Age of Wonders 4, will release on May 2nd. Furthermore, the teams revealed the game’s official PC system requirements, and shared its announcement trailer.

Unreal Engine 4-powered open-world sandbox adventure game, Tchia, gets a brand new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/unreal-engine-4-powered-open-world-sandbox-adventure-game-tchia-gets-a-brand-new-gameplay-trailer/
Awaceb and Kepler Interactive have released a new gameplay trailer for their Unreal Engine 4-powered open-world adventure game, Tchia. In this video, we join game director Phil Crifo for a dive into Tchia’s richly realized world in the gameplay series’ first featurette.

Here are the official PC system requirements for EA SPORTS PGA TOUR
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-are-the-official-pc-system-requirements-for-ea-sports-pga-tour/
Electronic Arts has announced that EA SPORTS PGA TOUR will be officially coming to PC, and revealed its PC system requirements. The game will release on March 24th, and below you can also find its official gameplay trailer.

The Callisto Protocol gets a 11GB Update on PC that adds New Game+
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-callisto-protocol-gets-a-11gb-update-on-pc-that-adds-new-game/
Striking Distance Studios has just released a new patch for The Callisto Protocol. This update is 11GB in size on PC, and adds the highly anticipated New Game+ Mode.
Unfortunately, the team has not revealed any changelog for this patch. We also don’t know whether this update brings any performance improvements (especially when enabling its Ray Tracing effects).
UPDATE:
This latest update brings a minor performance increase without Ray Tracing. (...)

NVIDIA DLSS 2.5.1 brings visual improvements to Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2 & God of War
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidia-dlss-2-5-1-brings-visual-improvements-to-cyberpunk-2077-red-dead-redemption-2-god-of-war/
NVIDIA has released a brand new version of its DLSS Super Resolution AI technique, DLSS 2.5.1. This version was initially available in Portal RTX, and from the looks of it, it can improve the visuals of other games using DLSS 2.

Friday news, part two:

More bad news for Ubisoft: it just cancelled another game
https://www.pcgamer.com/more-bad-news-for-ubisoft-it-just-cancelled-another-game/
Ubisoft has confirmed today that Project Q, the "PvP battle arena game" that was officially revealed in 2022 after numerous leaks, has been cancelled. This continues the wave of tribulations at the publisher that saw it cancel three unannounced projects and delay Skull & Bones for at least six times, news that has seen the studio's share price cut in half over the last six months.

Riot Games lays off 46 employees as it makes 'strategic shifts within a few teams'
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-lays-off-46-employees-as-it-makes-strategic-shifts-within-a-few-teams/
League of Legends studio Riot Games has laid off 46 employees, saying the cuts were made as "strategic shifts within a few teams to sharpen our focus in a number of areas."

Minecraft's most annoying feature is finally turned off in the latest update
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecrafts-most-annoying-feature-is-finally-turned-off-in-the-latest-update/
In my many years of playing Minecraft, one foe has plagued my every step across the cubic landscape. My enemy waits until I am complacent and attacks. I'm usually at my most vulnerable when I've stopped thinking about my nemesis, and then a new update lands. Other players may fear the creeper, lie awake contemplating the enderman, or swear vengeance on the illager, but my sworn adversary is buried in Minecraft’s settings menu:
The dreaded auto-jump.

The studio behind Total War is making an FPS, and you can sign up to play it this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-studio-behind-total-war-is-making-an-fps-and-you-can-sign-up-to-play-it-this-weekend/
Creative Assembly, the folks that make all those Total War games and once upon a time also made our 2014 GOTY Alien: Isolation, is releasing an extraction shooter sometime this year. It's called Hyenas, and despite some members of the press and early playtesters getting a good look at it last year, publisher Sega has not publicly shown off the game since its reveal.

Bungie is finally dealing with one of the most annoying things about Destiny 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-is-finally-dealing-with-one-of-the-most-annoying-things-about-destiny-2/
It's been a gala week for Bungie announcing major quality-of-life improvements coming to Destiny 2. Only yesterday we got a massive breakdown of the overhaul to buildcrafting that is arriving with the Lightfall expansion on February 28, and today we learn that one of the biggest annoyances in the game is being dealt with: Blue Engrams.

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy, Rockstar's most infamously broken game launch, finally comes to Steam at a 50% discount
https://www.pcgamer.com/grand-theft-auto-trilogy-rockstars-most-infamously-broken-game-launch-finally-comes-to-steam-at-a-50-discount/
More than a year after its disastrous original release, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition—which going forward we will refer to as simply the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy—is now available on Steam. And it's on sale, too.
>> They can keep it, thanks.

91% of game developer survey respondents say abuse from players is a problem
https://www.pcgamer.com/91-of-game-developer-survey-respondents-say-abuse-from-players-is-a-problem/
GDC's annual State of the Game Industry survey has found that 91% of developers believe player harassment of game developers is a problem for the industry. Unsurprisingly, women are more likely to experience abuse from players than men, as are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
>> That's a real shame. By the way, they also have less faith in the metaverse.

Former Halo Infinite dev criticizes studio leadership, says layoffs 'shouldn't have happened'
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-halo-infinite-dev-criticizes-studio-leadership-says-layoffs-shouldnt-have-happened/
The same day Microsoft announced it would be laying off 10,000 workers, including employees at game studios Bethesda and 343 Industries, a former senior multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite, Patrick Wren, had harsh words for 343 management's direction for the game.

Obsidian was in talks to make an Avatar game, says studio boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/obsidian-was-in-talks-to-make-an-avatar-game-says-studio-boss/
GamePressure recently published an interview with Feargus Urquhart, RPG standby Obsidian Entertainment's CEO and one of its founders. The sweeping interview touched on Obsidian's key moments and future plans after one of its best years ever, but I was most intrigued by the snippets of CRPG deep lore that were dredged up over the course of the conversation.

This new 'turn-based city builder' challenges you to terraform and colonize Mars
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-new-turn-based-city-builder-challenges-you-to-terraform-and-colonize-mars/
I was born too late to witness the first Moon landing live, and now I'm wondering if I'll die before I get to see humankind set foot on Mars. But while I continue to tread Our Boring Earth at least I can visit Mars in videogames. A real Mars colony might still be decades away, if it ever happens, but there's plenty of games where you can build one today.
And another one has just appeared on Steam. Farlanders is a "retro-inspired turn-based city builder" that's got the gritty look of Factorio and a puzzle-strategy like approach to colonization.

Game that promised no paid DLC ever is getting paid DLC: 'We need a way to continue to fund the development'
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-that-promised-no-paid-dlc-ever-is-getting-paid-dlc-we-need-a-way-to-continue-to-fund-the-development/
Longtime players of the milsim FPS Squad were blindsided yesterday when developer Offworld Industries announced that the game once promised to never sell paid DLC will, in fact, start selling paid DLC in its next update. Offworld is starting small with two packs of paid emotes accompanying one set of free emotes that all players will receive automatically.

NetEase smashes up World of Warcraft statue after its nasty breakup with Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/netease-smashes-up-world-of-warcraft-statue-after-its-nasty-breakup-with-blizzard/
Blizzard's games have been published in China by NetEase for 14 years, a partnership that has been enormously successful for both companies. The Chinese publisher's rapacious growth over the last decade was turbo-charged by the money it made from the games' success and, while NetEase's success can hardly be attributed solely to that, it is now one of the largest internet and videogame companies in the world.
But things have gone sour in a manner that, given the size of the respective companies, can only be called hilariously petty.

Ubisoft CEO apologises for placing his foot so deeply into his mouth
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-ceo-apologises-for-placing-his-foot-so-deeply-into-his-mouth/
Ubisoft is having a bad time at the moment, and the mood in the office can't have been helped when CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot sent staff a tone-deaf email saying that the responsibility for turning it all around was on them. But now, Guillemot has had a change of heart, offering a (semi-)apology at a company-wide Q&A and clarifying that management will have a role to play on the path ahead after all.

Midnight Suns' Deadpool trailer has vampires, wizardly cosmetics, and an imminent release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/midnight-suns-deadpool-trailer-has-vampires-wizardly-cosmetics-and-an-imminent-release-date/
2K has blessed us with more information about Marvel's Midnight Suns' upcoming Deadpool content, in the form of a trailer showing off the new hero, new abilities, new enemies, and endless, endless wisecracks. Midnight Suns' The Good, the Bad, and the Undead DLC will release on January 26, and looks like it'll focus on Deadpool's attempts to deal with a cabal of undead bad guys, while most of the other heroes shake their heads at him disapprovingly.

And now the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• There are 6 new Deals of the Day, that will last the whole weekend:
  • Urbek City Builder will be 22% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/urbek_city_builder
  • The GOG Collection Shooter Pack, with 3 games, gets a 31% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gog_collection_shooter_pack
  • Banners of Ruin is 67% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/banners_of_ruin
  • Vampyr features a 81% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/vampyr
  • The GOG Adventure&Puzzle Bundle, that also has three games, is going to be 87% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gog_adventurepuzzle_bundle
  • And Lords of the Fallen Game of the Year Edition gets a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/lords_of_the_fallen_game_of_the_year_edition
• Surprise! It comes a bit late, but GOG has launched its New Year Sale! There are over 3200 games on sale with up to 90% discounts until January 30: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_new_year_sale
• And ,as with every big sale, there's a GIVEAWAY: Haven Park will be free during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/haven_park

+Steam

• The first deal is Forgive me Father, 25% off until the 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1590910/Forgive_Me_Father/
• A Plague Tale: Requiem gets a 30% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1182900/A_Plague_Tale_Requiem/
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be 50% off until Thursday, 26: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1954200/Kena_Bridge_of_Spirits/
• Amplitude Studios brings its Amplified Sale, featuring up to 75% discounts until January 26: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36333614/sale/amplified2023
• The RPG Sale brings up to 80% discounts until the 26th of January: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/aspyrrpgsale
• ASTRONEER will be 50% off until the January 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/361420/ASTRONEER/
• And Rockstar puts its games up to 70% off until February, 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/rockstargames/sale/rockstarsale2023

Nothing else to add. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Radeon GPU cracking not caused by drivers, storing conditions and cryptomining to blame

https://videocardz.com/newz/radeon-gpu-cracking-not-caused-by-drivers-storing-conditions-and-cryptomining-to-blame

Figured it would be something like that

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti expected to offer RTX 3070 performance for less than $500

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-ti-expected-to-offer-rtx-3070-performance-for-less-than-500

Would be lame af unless it's like $300 which I doubt

AMD EPYC CPUs Including Genoa & Bergamo Expected To Push Server Market Share Beyond 30%

https://wccftech.com/amd-epyc-cpus-including-genoa-bergamo-expected-to-push-server-market-share-beyond-30-percent/

The explanation of the drivers wasn't very convincing, there would have been a lot more cases from different countries. At least now we know that the problem isn't in the hardware, but what the original owner did with them.

And with that, situations like this one don't do any good to the used market.

That's awful. There's something like a 15-20% difference between a 3060Ti and a 3070, is that all Nvidia will give us? Really? Sure, the improved efficiency is welcome, but we all know Nvidia could also bring a bigger performance leap if they wanted.

At this rate, the cards below this one won't bring any meaningful improvement over the older cards, other than the TDP.

Let's hope, if not straight up prey, that AMD (and why not, also Intel) bring good improvements with their new mid-range cards. Otherwise we're doomed.

Welp that's certainly not good

That's bad, and it looks like it affects most, if not all, Z790 based mobos.

How does that even pass testing...

Weird as fuck that they have no fix for it, but it's not like I was ever going to go for current gen Intel anyway.

That being said, I still suffer random DC's on my own Z170 board and I've never managed to find a resolve for that issue (even reset my networks settings on the PC completely). 

So i started playing The Witcher 3 nextgen upgrade on the Steamdeck. I have to say its amazing what this thing can do as the game looks stunning on the Steamdeck. I also installed windows onto an external hdd just to try it out for some games that dont play nice with the Steam OS and it works pretty good. So good in fact i plan on buying an SSD to keep windows on it and some volco tape to stick it to the back of the steamdeck for moving around. I tried spiderman with Ray Tracing on and it looked pretty good and playable but it still looks better without ray tracing as more other effects such as textures and res etc can be turned up higher. I also tried The Witcher and well that ran like horse shit with Ray Tracing turned on. But still seeing a handheld do Ray Tracing was pretty cool.

Square Enix is handpicking access to Forspoken review codes. Apparently no PC review codes either

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/square-enix-is-handpicking-access-to-forspoken-review-codes-apparently-no-pc-review-codes-either.1650337/

Gonna be a disaster of epic proportions lol

343 Industries Will No Longer Make Halo Games, But Will Oversee Outside Development - Report

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/343-industries-will-no-longer-make-halo-games-but-will-oversee-outside-development-report/1100-6510721/?utm_source=reddit.com

It's about dang time. 343 took a franchise that revolutionized the fps genre and turned it into a joke. I remember the first time I experienced Halo. I was a kid that liked Nintendo games and pc games and didn't care much for fps games. Then I went to my friends house and his brother got this new system called a Xbox which I didn't hear much about and they were playing a game called Halo. We all took turns playing coop on it and it was the first game that really introduced me to the genre. Being able to play co-op with others beating the aliens that invaded our planet. I did eventually buy it for PC and it was amazing. Seeing the Halo ring for the first time was nothing like I have seen before. Seeing the flood for the first time scared the shat out of me back then. I could go on and on but it's quite the shame where this franchise ended up. It was going downhill even before 343 took the helm but they really took the core aspects out of the game let alone the characters and such.

I really do hope that MS finds a new home for Halo cause the name once was seen as the flagship game of Xbox. But these days, it's just another brick in the wall so to speak.

Intel 13th Gen Non-K CPUs Have “BCLK” Overclocking Completely Locked Out

https://wccftech.com/intel-13th-gen-non-k-cpus-have-bclk-overclocking-completely-locked-out/

Desktop NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 loses 20% performance when used as external GPU

https://videocardz.com/newz/desktop-nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-loses-20-performance-when-used-as-external-gpu