PC Gamer News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Obviously there should be a city-builder about penguins, so try the demo for this one - pcgamer.com - Antarctica
pcgamer.com
29.12.2023

Obviously there should be a city-builder about penguins, so try the demo for this one

An upcoming city builder asks the hard, important questions we all like to ask sometimes: What if penguins built a city? Wouldn't that be cool? United Penguin Kingdom says that yes, in fact, that would be pretty cool. You can try it for free, today, via a demo version on Steam called United Penguin Kingdom: Huddle Up, which includes about an hour and a half of gameplay covering the first year of a penguin settlement.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #923 for Friday, December 29 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
29.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #923 for Friday, December 29

Kick your daily Wordle game into gear with our handy hints and tips. Take a peek at a fresh clue for the December 29 (923) game if you'd like a little guidance, or if you're short on time, patience, or remaining rows, feel free to scroll or click your way directly to today's answer. 

Curious little turn-based medieval strategy game Rising Lords musters for a January release - pcgamer.com - Usa - county Early
pcgamer.com
29.12.2023

Curious little turn-based medieval strategy game Rising Lords musters for a January release

Turn-based strategy game Rising Lords will release on January 18, 2024 after nearly three years in Early Access. The hybrid of PC turn-based strategy with more traditional board game and card game design focuses around strategically expanding a medieval fiefdom's economy while raising armies to defend yourself against—or conquer—your neighbors.

My new favorite idler is about these little guys who hit their heads against a rock - pcgamer.com - These
pcgamer.com
28.12.2023

My new favorite idler is about these little guys who hit their heads against a rock

It's hard to argue with a game that sprays particles all over your screen, if you are me, and recently-released indie incremental idler The Gnorp Apologue sprays some particles right good. Starring little things called gnorps, it's about how they smash a rock and bits come off the rock, and then they use those bits to make stuff: Houses, buildings, hot air balloons, guns, bigger guns, rockets, helmets to use when they smash their heads against the rock—you get the drift.

Escape From Tarkov adds Ground Zero, a dense urban area - pcgamer.com - Usa
pcgamer.com
28.12.2023

Escape From Tarkov adds Ground Zero, a dense urban area

Extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov dropped a big new update this week, bringing a new urban area, new weapons, a new boss, and a rework of the shoreline area. The big new region is Ground Zero, a major downtown filled with skyscrapers that also includes urban infrastructure like «banks, cafes, restaurants, stores, pharmacies, and so on.»

Wordle today: Hint and answer #922 for Thursday, December 28 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
28.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #922 for Thursday, December 28

Everything you need to clear today's Wordle is right here. Make the most of every guess with our general tips and tricks, or give a tough game an instant boost with a clue written just for today's puzzle. Need something more direct? Then click or scroll your way to the answer to the December 28 (922) game and enjoy your latest victory.

Tiny Rogues feels like someone stuffed Brotato and Binding of Isaac into a fantasy shell - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
27.12.2023

Tiny Rogues feels like someone stuffed Brotato and Binding of Isaac into a fantasy shell

One action roguelike is surging to the top of the Steam charts this holiday week courtesy of an update, with little room-based dungeon crawler Tiny Rogues holding strong player numbers for an indie after the release of its Heaven & Hell update added oodles of new stuff. Released late last year, Tiny Rogues is an action roguelike that punts you from room to room dodging nasty traps and enemy attacks while building up a set of unique equipment and abilities that synergize well enough to get you through 10 dungeon floors and their nasty bosses.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #921 for Wednesday, December 27 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
27.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #921 for Wednesday, December 27

You're now just one click away from winning the December 27 (921) Wordle—the answer's ready and waiting if you need it. You're also in the right place if you're after a tailor-made clue for today's game too, if you'd like a bit of help without being handed the solution on a plate. Whatever Wordle support you need, we've got it.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #920 for Tuesday, December 26 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
26.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #920 for Tuesday, December 26

Make today's Wordle win a sure thing with our tips. On this page you'll find general advice for the daily game as well as a helpful clue for the December 26 (920) puzzle. And, whether you need a last-row save or just want a quick victory, you'll find today's Wordle answer too.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #919 for Monday, December 25 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
25.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #919 for Monday, December 25

Win Wordle your way every single day with our help. There's a whole range of general tips and advice ready to go, as well as a handy clue for the December 25 (919) puzzle, and, as always, today's Wordle answer in easily accessible form just in case you need it.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #918 for Sunday, December 24 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
24.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #918 for Sunday, December 24

Want to give your daily Wordle a boost with our tips and tricks? Or maybe you'd really like someone to tell you exactly what the answer to the December 24 (918) game is without making you work for it. Whichever way you want to play, you'll find all you need and more (even a clue written especially for today's puzzle) right here. 

Wordle today: Hint and answer #917 for Saturday, December 23 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
23.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #917 for Saturday, December 23

Looking for some weekend Wordle help? There's a hint for today's puzzle waiting just below, ready to offer a clear path through the grey letter fog. Need something a little more direct on the weekend? You've got it. The answer to the December 23 (917) Wordle is only a quick click away.

One of our favorite early access shooters is approaching the finish line with the release of its creepiest chapter yet - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

One of our favorite early access shooters is approaching the finish line with the release of its creepiest chapter yet

New Blood shooter Ultrakill has released an exciting holiday update. The high-flying Doom Eternal come character action riff launched the first part of its third and final act: Layer 7, Violence.

TinyBuild closes indie publisher Versus Evil, all staff laid off - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

TinyBuild closes indie publisher Versus Evil, all staff laid off

2023 is very near its end, but the bad news for the videogame industry keeps on coming. Just three days before Christmas, TinyBuild has laid off all staff at indie publisher Versus Evil and shut it down.

The free demo for this awesome poker-based roguelike is closing in January, and I legit don't know how I'll cope - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

The free demo for this awesome poker-based roguelike is closing in January, and I legit don't know how I'll cope

It's a great feeling when you find a new nightly game—something you want to sit down and play for an hour or two every evening after a long day. A couple weeks ago I found my newest obsession: Balatro, a roguelike deckbuilder that uses poker rules (and then utterly shatters those rules). Since I found it, not a night has gone by that I haven't played at least a few hands of Balatro, and when I'm not playing it I'm often watching videos of other people playing it. 

Drive like a maniac for fun and profit in the Epic Store's next free game - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Drive like a maniac for fun and profit in the Epic Store's next free game

After putting the Destiny 2 Legacy Collection up for grabs for a week, the Epic Games Store appears to have drifted back into a daily rhythm of free games. Today's offering is Art of Rally, a stylized top-down racing game from the maker of Absolute Drift.

Disastrous survival shooter The Day Before to be extracted from existence, shutting down its servers just one month after launch - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Disastrous survival shooter The Day Before to be extracted from existence, shutting down its servers just one month after launch

It's startling to think The Day Before was once the most wishlisted game on Steam, given how fast and spectacular its fall from grace has been. Earlier this month, the game launched to scathing reviews from critics and players alike, panning it as a shallow, empty extraction shooter that was nothing like what its developer Fntastic originally promised. Just four days later, Fntastic announced it was shutting its doors, with the developer claiming that it «lack[ed] the funds to continue». A few hours after that, the game was pulled from sale on Steam, though the actual servers remained online.

Witcher actor Doug Cockle says the use of AI voices in games is 'inevitable' but potentially dangerous: 'AI is not the problem. It's the people using AI' - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Witcher actor Doug Cockle says the use of AI voices in games is 'inevitable' but potentially dangerous: 'AI is not the problem. It's the people using AI'

In a new interview with IGN, voice actor Doug Cockle, famed as the voice behind The Witcher trilogy hero Geralt of Rivia, says it's «inevitable» that AI will be increasingly used in the process of game development, and that's not necessarily a bad thing—but it is potentially «dangerous» if voice actors don't take steps to control how their voice is used.

'This experience has been extremely distressing': Insomniac shares a statement in response to catastrophic ransomware attack, including hopes for Wolverine's future - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

'This experience has been extremely distressing': Insomniac shares a statement in response to catastrophic ransomware attack, including hopes for Wolverine's future

Last week, reports began to emerge that Insomniac Games had been the victim of a ransomware attack that had seen details of an upcoming Wolverine game (as well as personal information of several developers) revealed to the public. 

Interpol busts 3,500 alleged cybercriminals and scammers, seizes $300 million of ill-gotten proceeds, and warns about the rise of the NFT 'rug pull' - pcgamer.com - Britain - South Korea - North Korea - Philippines
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Interpol busts 3,500 alleged cybercriminals and scammers, seizes $300 million of ill-gotten proceeds, and warns about the rise of the NFT 'rug pull'

The International Criminal Police Organisation better-known as Interpol has announced the arrest of 3,500 alleged cybercriminals and scammers, alongside the seizure of $300 million in cash and digital assets across 34 nations. The arrests marked the conclusion of what Interpol calls Operation HAECHI IV, a six-month investigation funded by South Korea.

'Every stone will not be turned for years' says Baldur's Gate 3's principal narrative designer, on its many hidden outcomes - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

'Every stone will not be turned for years' says Baldur's Gate 3's principal narrative designer, on its many hidden outcomes

While Baldur's Gate 3 is appreciably big in size—its three acts spanning a lot of square miles —its sheer largeness comes more from the amount of pieces on the board. A tool recently discovered that the thing has around 1,800 characters and over 110,000 lines of text.

South Park: Snow Day will dribble icily down your back in March next year - pcgamer.com - state Colorado
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

South Park: Snow Day will dribble icily down your back in March next year

South Park: Snow Day seems like it would be an ideal Christmas game. A third person cooperative adventure set in Trey Parker and Matt Stone's fictional Colorado town, it sees you battling through its icy streets, banding together with Cartman & co to save your home from an endless winter. That'd be ideal for whiling away the long winter evenings with three of my pals. But forget all that because it's coming out next March.

Shares in Chinese gaming giants tumble as the CCP imposes strict new regulations and spending limits, alongside a ban on login bonuses and 'luck-based draw features' for minors - pcgamer.com - China - Japan - Hong Kong
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Shares in Chinese gaming giants tumble as the CCP imposes strict new regulations and spending limits, alongside a ban on login bonuses and 'luck-based draw features' for minors

Regulators of the Chinese Communist Party have come down hard on several key pieces in the live service model, leading to spiralling shares for major players in the market as investors scramble to assess the damage.

Gloomwood's Christmas update invites you to step into the Mirror Realm - pcgamer.com - city Santa
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Gloomwood's Christmas update invites you to step into the Mirror Realm

Samtsirhc Yrrem! As they say during the festive season in Gloomwood's Mirror Realm. Actually, I imagine they say things like «What was that?» followed by «Argh!» much as they do in regular Gloomwood. What is the Mirror Realm, you ask? Why, it's part of Gloomwood's just arrived Christmas update, which adds bugfixes, new areas, and a whole host of festive doohickies alongside mysterious alternate dimensions.

It's apparently down to AMD whether Nvidia releases its RTX 50-series GPUs in 2024 or not - pcgamer.com - Whether
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

It's apparently down to AMD whether Nvidia releases its RTX 50-series GPUs in 2024 or not

A new video released by notorious rumour channel Moore's Law is Dead is digging into the potential RTX 5090 release date and quotes a source, claiming to be from inside Nvidia, stating that whether it launches its next-gen cards in 2024 will be largely down to how competitive AMD's RDNA 4 GPUs will be.

Five Nights at Freddy's Roblox game debuts by accident because series' creator 'approved a skin'—devs say it was a beta, then nuke its Discord over unholy NSFW content - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Five Nights at Freddy's Roblox game debuts by accident because series' creator 'approved a skin'—devs say it was a beta, then nuke its Discord over unholy NSFW content

Five Nights at Freddy's, a cultural gaming giant big enough to have its own movie (that was apparently Just Okay, according to critics) has come toRoblox—wait, hold on a second, it's gone. Now it's in beta? Oh, but the beta's been «taken down for a few weeks.» Err.

There's just nine days left before Friday the 13th: The Game disappears from sale forever - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

There's just nine days left before Friday the 13th: The Game disappears from sale forever

There's just over a week left before Friday the 13th: The Game, the awkwardly titled yet surprisingly decent multiplayer slasher, sinks back into Camp Crystal Lake forever, as it's to be delisted from sale on December 31st.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #916 for Friday, December 22 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #916 for Friday, December 22

Looking for some help with Wordle today? Scroll down this page and you'll soon find yourself waist-deep in all the help you could ever need. Spend a little time with our tips and tricks if you'd like to maximise every guess, take a cheeky peek at a tailor-made clue for today's game, or go straight for the win with the Wordle answer to the December 22 (916) puzzle.

Four years after it was removed from sale, Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory has returned - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
22.12.2023

Four years after it was removed from sale, Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory has returned

Paranoia: Happiness is Mandatory is a CRPG set in an Orwellian nightmare, a sci-fi society overrun by bureaucracy. At one point while playing it I tried to get a broken door fixed so I could get through, and after bouncing back and forth between various repair departments I eventually learned there was a final form I needed to fill out, and that form happened to be on the other side of the broken door. When Paranoia was mysteriously removed from sale weeks after its release with no explanation I tried to find out why, a quest that was just as frustrating as my attempt to get past that broken door.

Teenage Grand Theft Auto 6 hacker given an indefinite sentence in a secure hospital due to his 'intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible' - pcgamer.com - Britain
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Teenage Grand Theft Auto 6 hacker given an indefinite sentence in a secure hospital due to his 'intent to return to cybercrime as soon as possible'

A BBC report says that the 18-year-old hacker who was found responsible for committing a series of attacks on tech firms that included the theft and leak of Grand Theft Auto 6 footage in 2022 has been sentenced to an indefinite period in a secure hospital.

War Thunder celebrates the holidays with an old-fashioned leak of restricted military info on its forums - pcgamer.com - Usa
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

War Thunder celebrates the holidays with an old-fashioned leak of restricted military info on its forums

As my esteemed colleague Rich Stanton put it, it has now been [0] days since restricted military documents have been leaked in the War Thunder forums. As reported by Task and Purpose, this latest incident relates to the M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, a tracked AIFV that first went into service with the US military in 1981.

'Damn—that’s cool!' FF14's composer gives the nod to Alan Wake 2's surprise musical number—which tracks, given he's also a master of the left field - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

'Damn—that’s cool!' FF14's composer gives the nod to Alan Wake 2's surprise musical number—which tracks, given he's also a master of the left field

Alan Wake 2's captured the imagination of the gaming public for a lot of reasons—it's downright gorgeous, but it also has Remedy's penchant for blending genres, deftly mixing comedy and horror. This habit hits a high-point with Herald of Darkness, an in-game track so popular it was performed live at The Game Awards this year. Spoilers for Alan Wake 2 and Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn follow.

Melvor Idle, the Runescape-inspired idle game with an 'overwhelmingly positive' rating, is free on the Epic Games Store - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Melvor Idle, the Runescape-inspired idle game with an 'overwhelmingly positive' rating, is free on the Epic Games Store

The next free game in the Epic Game Store's Holiday Sale giveaway-a-thon is Melvore Idle, an «idle/incremental game» inspired by Runescape that blends casual click-here gameplay with a surprising level of complexity.

Anthem sold 5 million copies, which sounds good until you compare it to Star Wars: Battlefront - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Anthem sold 5 million copies, which sounds good until you compare it to Star Wars: Battlefront

It's generally understood that Anthem was a failure for developer BioWare. It was a developmental nightmare. It reviewed poorly. It fell short of its sales target of 6 million copies by the end of March 2019. And EA ultimately decided to pull the plug on the live-service game two years after launch. But the specifics of its commercial shortcomings haven't been clear, until now.

The 2023 Steam Winter Sale delivers the first-ever discount on Baldur's Gate 3 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

The 2023 Steam Winter Sale delivers the first-ever discount on Baldur's Gate 3

The big year-ender is here, as the 2023 Steam Winter Sale is now underway. And you know what that means: Deep discounts on thousands of games, free stickers, and the start of voting for the 2023 Steam Awards.

Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix stops character faces "turning into stretched eldritch horrors with pits of flesh in place of eyes" - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix stops character faces "turning into stretched eldritch horrors with pits of flesh in place of eyes"

You can always expect Baldur's Gate 3 to deliver, even when what it's delivering is as mundane as patch notes. Earlier today, Larian launched Hotfix #15 for its world-beating fantasy RPG, and the accompanying Steam announcement is gripping before we even get to the patch notes. «Have you found some characters' faces turning into stretched eldritch horrors with pits of flesh in place of eyes?» it reads. «That should not be a problem anymore.»

Game receives huge free update following 10th anniversary and instantly quintuples its previous player-count high - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Game receives huge free update following 10th anniversary and instantly quintuples its previous player-count high

Geometry Dash is a cheap and cheerful rhythm-based platformer that originally launched on Steam in December 2014. It recently celebrated its 10-year-anniversary (the game released on mobile devices the year before), which would normally see fans and developers reflecting fondly on a well-made game. But turns out developer RobTop Games had far more in store, as it just released a massive new update for the game, almost seven years after the last one.

Steam keys for the unavailable disaster game The Day Before are being resold for up to $400, despite its servers' uncertain future - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Steam keys for the unavailable disaster game The Day Before are being resold for up to $400, despite its servers' uncertain future

The Day Before is 2023's fastest-moving disaster—starting off as a top-wishlisted game on Steam after an alluring trailer, it only took four days after its (eventual) launch before the thing was taken down. Following that, theDiscord server, YouTube, and even CEO's social media channels disappeared or were scrubbed. The developer's response? «Shit happens.»

Check out this gorgeous mosaic of over 20,000 FF14 screenshots assembled for the game's 10th anniversary - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Check out this gorgeous mosaic of over 20,000 FF14 screenshots assembled for the game's 10th anniversary

Final Fantasy 14 had its 10th anniversary back in September—though the official website's been stacking up post after post to celebrate, including some very cute anniversary messages from voice actors, prominent figures, and the father of Final Fantasy himself Hironobu Sakaguchi. 

Wordle today: Hint and answer #915 for Thursday, December 21 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
21.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #915 for Thursday, December 21

There's a clue for today's Wordle ready to go, in case your game's not revealing those helpful green letters as quickly as you hoped it would. You'll also find the answer to the December 21 (915) puzzle on this page too, waiting to save a bad game, or just to make sure you get to the best bit as swiftly as possible.

Oh thank God: I can finally hide all those weird sex games I've got piled up in my Steam library - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Oh thank God: I can finally hide all those weird sex games I've got piled up in my Steam library

We learned in November that Valve was working on a new feature that will enable Steam users to mark individual games in their games as "private," preventing everyone else in the world from knowing it's there. That feature has now gone live in the latest Steam client beta, which also includes changes to the Steam shopping cart that will make purchasing gifts for other people a whole lot easier.

Blizzard just doubled the drop rate of Diablo 4's rarest loot, so now's your chance to grab those Uber Uniques - pcgamer.com - Diablo
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Blizzard just doubled the drop rate of Diablo 4's rarest loot, so now's your chance to grab those Uber Uniques

Diablo 4's newest season has been its most generous yet and Blizzard just dropped a hotfix that makes it even better. The action RPG's hardest endgame boss, Echo of Duriel, will now drop the game's most powerful items, Uber Uniques, at twice the usual rate until the season ends on January 8.

Yikes: Xfinity has suffered a data breach exposing the usernames, hashed passwords and potentially even partial Social Security numbers of 36 million internet subscribers - pcgamer.com - Usa - state Maine
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Yikes: Xfinity has suffered a data breach exposing the usernames, hashed passwords and potentially even partial Social Security numbers of 36 million internet subscribers

On December 18, Comcast notified customers of a «recent data security incident» with one of its software companies that exposed their personal information to an outside party. In October, someone gained «unauthorized access» to customers' usernames and hashed passwords for a period of four days. And it gets worse: Comcast says that «for some customers, other information was also included, such as names, contact information, last four digits of social security numbers, dates of birth and/or secret questions and answers.»

The ESRB has started slapping blockchain games with Adults Only ratings, so Epic has changed its store policy to allow them - pcgamer.com - Usa
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

The ESRB has started slapping blockchain games with Adults Only ratings, so Epic has changed its store policy to allow them

Unlike Steam, the Epic Games Store has a hard-and-fast rule against adult content. Its content guidelines state very clearly that «products with Adults Only ratings cannot be distributed on the Epic Games Store.» But it recently updated those guidelines to allow AO-rated games on the store for one specific reason: If they were given that rating because they involve blockchain trading.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer thanks Bobby Kotick for his 'invaluable contributions' to the games industry as Kotick officially exits Activision Blizzard after 32 years - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Xbox chief Phil Spencer thanks Bobby Kotick for his 'invaluable contributions' to the games industry as Kotick officially exits Activision Blizzard after 32 years

It is now official: In a farewell message to employees, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has confirmed that he will be leaving the company.

Starfield promises 'all new gameplay options' and 'new survival mechanics' in 2024 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Starfield promises 'all new gameplay options' and 'new survival mechanics' in 2024

Today Bethesda posted a recap of the year Starfield has had in the form of a few fun facts: in 2023 players visited a collective 1.9 billion planets, spent 26 million hours building ships, and ate more than 18 million battlemeal multipacks. (Weirdly, no sandwich tally was provided.)

At last, Shrek has come to Minecraft, but only for the next few days - pcgamer.com - state Florida - New York - city Hollywood - county Park
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

At last, Shrek has come to Minecraft, but only for the next few days

I've never been to Universal Studios in Hollywood, but I have been to the Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida. It was so long ago that the Jaws ride was still around, and my main memory from it is the overwhelming stench of petrol from all the very real flames that surrounded the ride.

Overwatch 2's executive producer says controversial winter event is a disaster of framing, anger 'surprised' him: 'What we wanted was for players to have more choice' - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Overwatch 2's executive producer says controversial winter event is a disaster of framing, anger 'surprised' him: 'What we wanted was for players to have more choice'

Overwatch 2 has had some trouble in the past year-and-a-bit since its release—between promised PvE content being absent, an outright admission that the game has been in decline, and a 'colourful' reception on Steam, the game's freemium model has been a point of contention—especially for players who bought Overwatch 1 fully-priced.

Microsoft Flight Simulator adds a bunch of European cities, letting you grab Zagreb and try The Hague - pcgamer.com - Germany - Russia - Ukraine - state Texas - Spain - Netherlands - Slovakia - France - Belgium - Croatia
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Microsoft Flight Simulator adds a bunch of European cities, letting you grab Zagreb and try The Hague

I love how Microsoft Flight Simulator exists in the background now, like the distant roar of an overhead flight path. Not only is it just nice to have a shiny, new version of one of the gaming OGs there to pick up and play at any time, every now and then it drops an absolutely gorgeous new trailer showing off some wild technical wizardry or hyper-detailed new cityscape. That's exactly what's happened now, with Flight Sim's latest update inviting you to pay a flying visit to an eclectic collection of European cities.

Baldur's Gate 3 lead writer says that Minthara doesn't have 'a redemption arc', she's just 'a pragmatic, evil person' with a soft side - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Baldur's Gate 3 lead writer says that Minthara doesn't have 'a redemption arc', she's just 'a pragmatic, evil person' with a soft side

I'm just now getting to know Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3—both on my evil necromancer playthrough and my Honour Mode run, where I intend to pick her up from Moonrise Towers after risking my neck to knock her out. Still, I've cast off the shackles of spoilers after completing my first playthrough—gleefully getting my mitts on whatever details I can about my future drow bestie—which makes this a good point to mention that there'll be spoilers for Minthara's full plot line below. In a recent interview with IGN, Larian CEO Swen Vincke and co-lead writer Adam Smith discussed her character arc and the nature of evil, and they come to a conclusion I find genuinely fascinating: Minthara may grow to adore her compatriots, but she's still evil with a capital E. «She has this very unexpected story where she does soften,» says Smith, «and you see her learning how to deal with being part of a group.» However, Smith's keen to point out that her story «is not a redemption arc.» Minthara's tenderness, Smith implies, is a facet of her character from the get-go that you slowly discover—not something the player creates for her. Another surprising revelation is that Minthara can actually question why you slew the tieflings at the grove if you went full murder with it—even if that was the only way to recruit her until recently. "[Minthara] says, 'Okay, so now I'm not hearing the voice of The Absolute anymore … I killed all those tieflings, it's because I was brainwashed. What is your excuse?'" He goes on to point out that if you just reply 'cause I'm evil', she actually really dislikes that.

At $360 this is the cheapest RTX 4060 Ti we've seen, but a $400 RX 7700 XT is here to make your GPU purchase choice that bit tougher - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

At $360 this is the cheapest RTX 4060 Ti we've seen, but a $400 RX 7700 XT is here to make your GPU purchase choice that bit tougher

MSI Ventus RTX 4060 Ti | 8GB GDDR6 | 4352 shaders | 2,535MHz boost | $399.99$359.99 at Newegg with promo code VGAEXCMSJZ577 and $20 rebate (save $40)The RTX 4060 Ti might have had a bit of a rocky reception with that 8GB of VRAM, but we found it performed very well in our review and it makes a very solid mid-range performer, particularly with the ability to take advantage of DLSS 3 and Frame Generation. This is a small twin-fan model that should still run cool and quiet, and delivers a lot of gaming performance in super-efficient fashion.

Get Larian's brilliant precursor to Baldur's Gate 3 for £9 on GOG - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Get Larian's brilliant precursor to Baldur's Gate 3 for £9 on GOG

Larian Studios might have blown everyone away with Baldur's Gate 3, but the colossal success of its fantasy RPG didn't come out of nowhere. BG3 was built on the shoulders of Larian's previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2, a fantastic RPG in its own right, and one you can currently grab for a fraction of Baldur's Gate 3's price.

A new video encoding/decoding API can replace AMD and Nvidia's encoders on all platforms, truly one API to rule them all - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

A new video encoding/decoding API can replace AMD and Nvidia's encoders on all platforms, truly one API to rule them all

The Khronos Group is a collaboration between nearly 200 companies, working together to produce various APIs for computing. Its most famous software, such as OpenGL, WebGL, and Vulkan, are all about graphics but for the past few years the consortium has been working on doing the same for video. It's just announced that Vulkan Video, a low-level API for handling video streams, now fully supports the hardware acceleration of the H.264 and H.265 standards for decoding and encoding.

The Washington Post tried to buy Wordle before the New York Times did - pcgamer.com - Washington - New York - city New York - city Washington
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

The Washington Post tried to buy Wordle before the New York Times did

Wordle was a lockdown phenomenon: one of those games that, merits aside, simply landed at the right time. I've kicked the habit now but like pretty much everyone else I had a Wordle phase with the family WhatsApp group and, yes, when I'm nearly out of chances I have gone running to my six-letter friend Google. Wordle's enormous popularity was such that, in January 2022, the New York Times purchased the game from creator Josh Wardle for a sum «in the low seven figures.»

Bethesda is far from done with Fallout 76, unsurprising given 17 million people have jumped in since the Wastelanders update - pcgamer.com - Jersey - state Virginia
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Bethesda is far from done with Fallout 76, unsurprising given 17 million people have jumped in since the Wastelanders update

We often discuss the impressive turnaround of games like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk, but Fallout 76 should probably be included in that discussion. While the game launched as an empty wasteland back in 2018, Bethesda has since added a ton of new features to make it feel more like, well, a Fallout game. NPCs, new locations, more fulfilling quests, iconic Fallout factions like the Brotherhood of Steel, and downright weird stuff like alien invasions. It may have suffered a torrid development, but the general consensus is that it's now a Good Videogame.

I hate to admit it, but I would absolutely watch Zack Snyder's Fortnite movie - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

I hate to admit it, but I would absolutely watch Zack Snyder's Fortnite movie

It should come as no surprise that Zack Snyder is up for making a Fortnite movie, if anyone is shopping around for a director. It would be a licence to print money. It could be a complete stinker and it would still probably be the most watched movie of all time. If Epic's interested, I'd also be down for making one. I need the cash. 

Intel CEO laments Nvidia's 'extraordinarily lucky' AI dominance, claims it coulda-woulda-shoulda have been Intel - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Intel CEO laments Nvidia's 'extraordinarily lucky' AI dominance, claims it coulda-woulda-shoulda have been Intel

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has taken a shot at his main rival in high performance computing, dismissing Nvidia's success in providing GPUs for AI modelling as «extraordinarily lucky.» Gelsinger also implied that it would have been Intel, not Nvidia, currently coining it in AI hardware had the company not killed one of his pet projects nearly 15 years ago.

'We would love to explore a new game mode,' says Remnant 2's creative director, which he'd like to 'scratch the same itch' as a wave-based survival gauntlet - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

'We would love to explore a new game mode,' says Remnant 2's creative director, which he'd like to 'scratch the same itch' as a wave-based survival gauntlet

Remnant 2's first DLC dropped a short while ago—and it's a pretty good romp. It adds a whole new area to explore, a new class, and some new gear to grab—it also enhances Losomn as a whole, since having the DLC lets its areas and bosses crop up during your randomised runs of the main campaign.

This bargain 1TB SSD is the perfect blend of size and performance, and is a steal at just $60 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

This bargain 1TB SSD is the perfect blend of size and performance, and is a steal at just $60

Team Group T-Force Cardea A440 | 1TB | M.2 2280 | PCIe 4.0 | 7,000MB/s read | 5,500MB/s write | $99.99$59.99 at Newegg (save $40)If you're looking for great PCIe 4.0 performance but don't want to spend a lot of money, this Team Group drive is the perfect choice. It's more than quick enough for most users' needs and that big heatsink will keep things nice and cool, helping to prevent any thermal throttling.

3 months after Blizzard's president sank WoW players' hopes of a swashbuckling adventure with the words 'No pirates', roadmap suggests: Yes, yes pirates - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

3 months after Blizzard's president sank WoW players' hopes of a swashbuckling adventure with the words 'No pirates', roadmap suggests: Yes, yes pirates

World of Warcraft revealed its roadmaps for both retail and Classic yesterday, and while there's plenty of exciting news—including a confirmed Summer release window for The War Within—one particular stop on the road hit me like a cannon full of grapeshot. A black flag with a skull and crossbones.

Wordle today: Hint and answer #914 for Wednesday, December 20 - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

Wordle today: Hint and answer #914 for Wednesday, December 20

Keep your Wordle win streak safe and sound, however you'd like to go about it. Keep on scrolling and you'll find general tips to help you make the most of every guess, a fresh hint for the December 20 (914) Wordle, and as always, today's answer. Hey, everyone needs a helping hand from time to time.

World of Warcraft and WoW Classic 2024 roadmaps reveal Cataclysm Classic beta test coming soon - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
20.12.2023

World of Warcraft and WoW Classic 2024 roadmaps reveal Cataclysm Classic beta test coming soon

As 2023 rapidly draws to a close, Blizzard has shared its World of Warcaft and WoW Classic plans for 2024, which will include three more content updates before The War Within expansion arrives in late summer (or maybe early fall), and on the Classic side, a not-too-distant beta test for the upcoming Cataclysm Classic.

The Baldur's Gate 3 advent calendar is telling the tale of 'How the Gremishka Stole Christmas' - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

The Baldur's Gate 3 advent calendar is telling the tale of 'How the Gremishka Stole Christmas'

Somehow I missed this until just now, but Larian Studios has put up a Baldur's Gate 3 advent calendar, with prizes and an epic Christmas-themed poem being doled out daily until December 24.

Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe is now 'properly rolling' as Games Workshop finalizes deal with Amazon Studios - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Henry Cavill's Warhammer 40,000 cinematic universe is now 'properly rolling' as Games Workshop finalizes deal with Amazon Studios

2022 did not end particularly well for our favorite hunk of burning PC gamer Henry Cavill. After leaving The Witcher to return to the big screen as DC's top-dog superhero, the Superman project fell apart, his old job was gone, and he was very suddenly looking for something to do. But there was one bright spot: After all of the above had unfolded, Games Workshop confirmed that Cavill was set to head up, and star in, a Warhammer 40,000 «cinematic universe.»

Former Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters says the success of the Legendary Edition helped convince him to leave BioWare: 'I don't want to do any more Mass Effect after this' - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Former Mass Effect lead writer Mac Walters says the success of the Legendary Edition helped convince him to leave BioWare: 'I don't want to do any more Mass Effect after this'

Mac Walters amassed an enviable list of credits during his nearly 20-year career at BioWare on games including Jade Empire, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age, eventually rising to lead writer of Mass Effect 2 and 3 and creative director on Mass Effect: Andromeda. He then stepped into the role of production director on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, before leaving the studio in January 2023. In a new interview with MinnMax, Walters talked about his reasons for leaving, saying he was prompted to do so in part by the success of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition.

Universities are recommending students rollback the latest Windows 11 update after finding it breaks Wi-Fi connectivity for some student and enterprise users - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Universities are recommending students rollback the latest Windows 11 update after finding it breaks Wi-Fi connectivity for some student and enterprise users

Since the release of Microsoft's latest Windows 11 update KB5033375 for December's Patch Tuesday, there's been a deluge of reports from unhappy users with Wi-Fi connectivity issues, according to Bleeping Computer. A quick search of Reddit reveals a large number of users who've installed the latest update complaining about dropped connections or an inability to access Wi-Fi networks, and the picture is much the same on Twitter and the Microsoft Community Forums.

This is your weekly reminder that you can bag an RTX 4080 gaming laptop for less than $1,600 and still get it before Christmas - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

This is your weekly reminder that you can bag an RTX 4080 gaming laptop for less than $1,600 and still get it before Christmas

MSI Vector | RTX 4080 | Intel Core i9 12900HX | 16GB DDR5-4800 | 1TB SSD | 16-inch | 1200p | 144Hz | $2,099$1,599 at Newegg (save $500)This is the most affordable RTX 4080-based gaming laptop I've found, possibly at any time this year. It's not some hobbled GPU implementation either, using a 175W design of the graphics card to give you the full gaming performance. It's certainly not the most beautiful laptop you will see, nor the slimmest (though that helps keep it cool), and I'd rather a higher refresh rate panel and a bit more RAM, but it's a great price for an otherwise high-spec gaming machine.

Sony applies to patent dynamic difficulty settings that respond to your performance, one year after EA did the same thing with controller settings - pcgamer.com - After
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Sony applies to patent dynamic difficulty settings that respond to your performance, one year after EA did the same thing with controller settings

Sony has applied to patent systems that automatically fiddle with «parameters that change the difficulty of the game» based on your performance, a patent on the World Intellectual Property Organization's website reveals. (Actually, the patent reads «difficultly» at the time of writing, so Sony may in fact be referring to the implementation of dynamic cults. But probably not.) As spotted by Eurogamer, Sony's proposed system would allow a game to adjust its difficulty settings—«movement speed, delay or hesitation, character strengths, numbers of competitors» and so on—based on «an expected level of performance.» The idea isn't new, though the implementation may well be.

The reveal and release dates for the new RTX 40-series Super cards have been leaked and January's going to be a busy ol' month - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

The reveal and release dates for the new RTX 40-series Super cards have been leaked and January's going to be a busy ol' month

The rumours of Nvidia's refresh of its RTX 40-series of GPUs have been steadily building for months and although the final specifications have yet to be set in stone, the dates when you can buy them all have been leaked. The RTX 4070 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and RTX 4080 Super will reportedly be announced 8 January 2024 and will reach retailers' shelves by 17, 24, and 31 January respectively. Oh, and the wholly unnecessary RTX 3050 6GB will be available in February, too.

EA rebrands Frostbite with a cuddly new hand as it says its studios are now 'free to develop on any engine they choose' - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

EA rebrands Frostbite with a cuddly new hand as it says its studios are now 'free to develop on any engine they choose'

Publisher Electronic Arts has rebranded its Frostbite engine, with the aim of better reflecting the tech as a «platform for collaborative innovation».

Streets of Rogue 2 promises to mash up Deus Ex and Dwarf Fortress in a chaotic immersive sim 10,000 times bigger than the first game - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Streets of Rogue 2 promises to mash up Deus Ex and Dwarf Fortress in a chaotic immersive sim 10,000 times bigger than the first game

I am unreasonably excited for Streets of Rogue 2, the follow-up to 2019's best immersive sim in which you could play a vampire, hacker, gorilla or bartender, which means I've been eagerly devouring information about it ever since it was announced in October last year. Lucky for me, then, that developer Matt Dabrowski is kicking off a series of devlogs giving a look at the game's features, inspirations, and, naturally, development.

The Finals might be a bit less sweaty now it's cracking down on cheaters - pcgamer.com - China
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

The Finals might be a bit less sweaty now it's cracking down on cheaters

Embark Studios' The Finals is one of the most interesting multiplayers to come along for a while. It's also a brand new game from a new studio, and it unsurprisingly has some issues at launch. Alongside its underwhelming AI-assisted voiceovers, weird bugs, and questionable balance at the start of Season 1, as Morgan has pointed out, it's a sweaty beast, placing major emphasis on multi-way competitive shooting that can overly rely on being the twitchiest trigger finger, and neglecting the tactical potential of its fantastic destruction tech.

WoW shows off four Hero Talent trees from its upcoming expansion The War Within, and it looks like the Augmentation Evoker's meta chaos is spreading to other specs - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

WoW shows off four Hero Talent trees from its upcoming expansion The War Within, and it looks like the Augmentation Evoker's meta chaos is spreading to other specs

Blizzard have released a sneak peek at some of the Hero Talents from World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion: The War Within. Hero Talents are meant to be evergreen dashes of spice to the game's existing talent system—ones which mainly add «class utility [and] defensive bonuses.»

Obsidian pitched doing a Fallout: New Vegas but for The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda said we're good thanks - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Obsidian pitched doing a Fallout: New Vegas but for The Elder Scrolls, Bethesda said we're good thanks

Developer and writer Chris Avellone, formerly of Interplay and Obsidian Entertainment, has recently been musing on Twitter about some of the roads not travelled during his time at the latter studio. One of Avellone's biggest credits is his work on Fallout: New Vegas, regarded by some as the finest 3D Fallout and the closest in spirit to the original isometric games, and—as spotted by GamesRadar+—he says after that Obsidian wanted to do the same: but for The Elder Scrolls.

Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games victim of horrendous leak, as hackers steal a decade's worth of plans for the studio's future - pcgamer.com - Britain - Usa
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games victim of horrendous leak, as hackers steal a decade's worth of plans for the studio's future

Last week, a massive amount of data was stolen from Spider-Man developer Insomniac games. Now the hackers who stole that data have leaked it online, detailing internal plans of the studio that stretch across the next decade.

NASA creates cat meme history with a space laser blasting a clip of Taters over 30 million kilometres - pcgamer.com - Creates
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

NASA creates cat meme history with a space laser blasting a clip of Taters over 30 million kilometres

NASA has demonstrated a successful transmission of a high-definition video from a probe over 30 million kilometres away in space. Instead of using the traditional method of radio waves, the system onboard asteroid-probe Psyche utilises a powerful near-infrared laser beam. Rather than showing us the unnerving splendour of the empty void, engineers chose a 15-second clip of Taters: An orange cat, chasing a red laser dot about a couch.

FF14 and D&D YouTuber JoCat announces 'indefinite break' after receiving harassment—including 'suspicious packages' sent to his family - pcgamer.com - Switzerland - Announces - After
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

FF14 and D&D YouTuber JoCat announces 'indefinite break' after receiving harassment—including 'suspicious packages' sent to his family

JoCat, creator of the 'A Crap Guide to X' series for both D&D and Final Fantasy 14, has announced that he'll be taking an 'indefinite break' in the wake of harassment, as announced on his Twitter yesterday.

Well, that didn't take long: FSR 3 mod released that replaces DLSS 3 frame gen in any game - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Well, that didn't take long: FSR 3 mod released that replaces DLSS 3 frame gen in any game

Less than a week ago, AMD released the full source code for its FSR 3 generation technology, and one of the first mods to utilise it has been released. This one is a bit special, though, as it can be used to replace DLSS 3 Frame Generation in any game that uses Nvidia's system. It's not a perfect conversion but it does allow all GeForce RTX owners, not just those with RTX 40-series GPUs, to enjoy a frame rate boost.

Rocksteady urges fans to 'avoid spoilers' as Suicide Squad leaks become a tsunami - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Rocksteady urges fans to 'avoid spoilers' as Suicide Squad leaks become a tsunami

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League has endured a torrid road to launch. In April, the game was delayed to February next year, after its State-of-Play presentation two months prior saw a tepid response from audiences. The more recent Story and Gameplay deep-dive showed greater promise, but since then the Internet has been flooded with leaks revealing important details about the game. 

Iron Lung dev responds to accusations that he's only doing this for the money: 'Yes ... I make games for a living' - pcgamer.com
pcgamer.com
19.12.2023

Iron Lung dev responds to accusations that he's only doing this for the money: 'Yes ... I make games for a living'

Iron Lung, an indie horror game so popular it's getting a movie adaptation starring Markiplier, has raised its pricing on Steam to $8 (£6.70), a price hike of two whole dollars. For some reason, this has upset people to the point where the game's developer David Szymanski felt the need to respond.

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