PCGamesN News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Dark and Darker had one of the most surprising releases this year, but it was much to the delight of excited fans. Following the dark fantasy RPG’s launch, Ironmace Games has regularly released hotfix updates to patch the game, add features, and ensure a smooth player experience. The latest update is here, and it includes a variety of fixes, class changes, and new gameplay features. Bard players will also notice that the patch brings even more nerfs to the ranged class.

Lords of the Fallen has just released into the thrilling wild that is the soulslike genre, with many fans chomping at the bit to finally hop in. Now that the highly anticipated Dark Souls-esque game is here though, a lot of players are reporting issues with the game’s performance. This has left many excited fans unable to access much of the game, or even any of it in some cases. With people struggling to get into Lords of the Fallen, Steam reviews are mixed.

League of Legends has drawn countless players to its diverse fanbase over the years. Not all of them are there for its competitive play or even Riot’s flagship game itself, as the Runeterra canon encompasses various forms of media.  Fans can now officially consider Arcane, the League of Legends-inspired animated series on Netflix, a part of that canon too, as a developer from Riot Games has confirmed this to be the case.

The Warhammer Vermintide 2 Necromancer is right about to burst forth her minions from the earth, unleashing the undead hordes against the forces of Chaos and the Skaven. With the new Sienna career set to launch in a Warhammer Vermintide 2 update next week, developer Fatshark gives us some insight into how the skeletons came to be, and the potential created by its new tech developed for the feature.

Counter-Strike 2 has finally arrived after years of fan anticipation, replacing Valve’s previous entry, the ever-beloved Counter-Strike Global Offensive. Since CS2 launched, Valve has worked hard to release steady updates addressing any in-game bugs and issues. While most problems are minor or easily resolved, some can prove more difficult to address and may even result in permanent VAC  bans.

This is a good time for the strategy genre. Cities Skylines 2. Crusader Kings. Total War Pharaoh. Ahead of Civilization 7 – and also newcomers like Ara History Untold and Millennia – one of PC gaming’s greatest genres seemingly keeps getting bigger and better. But we can’t forget the games that made all this possible in the first place, the pioneering, classic strategy sims that helped transform the act of pointing and clicking into some of the greatest experiences we’ve ever had on PC. If you want to celebrate the best the genre has to offer, or have a blast while waiting on the big hits of the near future, one of the best strategy games ever is now available for less than $1.

Starfield is already the best-looking and most bug-free Bethesda RPG to date. From the crowded streets of New Atlantis to the desolate plains of all those undiscovered planets, it’s sharp, smooth, and a worthy visual successor to the likes of Fallout 4 and Skyrim. But now the Settled Systems can look even better, thanks to a huge new Starfield HD overhaul mod which boosts dozens of textures to 8K resolution.

Earlier today, the UK’s CMA approved the Microsoft Activision Blizzard merger. Having previously rejected the company’s bid to purchase the creator of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo, and Overwatch in April 2023, Microsoft has since altered the terms of its proposed acquisition to fit the CMA’s requirements. The Microsoft Activision Blizzard merger is now closed and completed, as Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says that “as one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people.”

The Steam Deck and it’s capabilities of being not just a high-powered PC gaming handheld, but also a capable desktop PC, should never be understated. Whether it’s running some of the best PC games of the year on the go, or being an all-in-one emulation machine, there’s no end to what the device can accomplish. Now, it appears as though the Valve handheld is also capable of controlling real-life droids at Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge at the Disney World theme park.

Take the approachable, action-packed top-down MOBA gameplay of League of Legends and Dota 2, themselves inspired by ARPGs like Diablo and strategy games such as Warcraft 3. Now mix in the tense pacing of PvPvE extraction games such as Escape From Tarkov, Call of Duty DMZ, and Dark and Darker. The result is Seekers of Skyveil, a new ‘extraction RPG’ in a gorgeous fantasy world, one that you could play soon with sign-ups currently live for its first imminent closed alpha gameplay test.

Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty includes the voice of a deceased actor from the base game, replicated using an AI algorithm by developer CD Projekt Red for the DLC campaign. The technology was used to recreate the sound of the late Miłogost Reczek, who voices delightfully named ripperdoc Viktor Vektor in the base game, with the permission from his family.

The next generation of PC gaming controllers, the Scuf Envision andEnvision Pro, have arrived. In a market where everyone thinks they can release a customizable controller and state they did something special, Scuf is trying to back its claims up in a big way, stating that the Envision will offer an “unparalleled level of control”.

Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks issues a strong and emphatic stance regarding Denuvo Anti-Tamper tech and its inclusion in the new soulslike. A grimdark RPG with shades of FromSoftware classics like Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Demon’s Souls, Lords of the Fallen is also a remake and reimagining of the 2014 game of the same name. As a variety of recent games include Denuvo, such as Lies of P and Total War: Pharaoh, Hexworks outlines its perspective on incorporating the download-rights management (DRM) software into Lords of the Fallen.

GTA 6 might be the most anticipated game ever. More than ten years since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5, and with Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online seemingly finished, we’re all waiting for the next Rockstar Games sandbox, which apparently marks a return to Vice City. A new age rating for Grand Theft Auto 6 has just been discovered online, and on the surface it hints that official GTA 6 news could be on the way. After some digging and investigating, though, I’ve discovered that something is seriously amiss.

Total War Pharaoh Steam reviews mean the new Creative Assembly strategy sim is officially rated as ‘mixed,’ while recent player count numbers fail to match other, older games in the series, including Total War Warhammer 3, and Total War Rome 2, which was released in September 2013. Despite its recent launch, fewer than 5,000 people have played Total War Pharaoh during the past 24 hours, as users criticize the game for its interface and for being “bland.”

Counter-Strike 2 built up an unbelievable amount of excitement for itself prior to its recent launch. Fans have waited years for Valve’s new shooter after exhausting hundreds and thousands (maybe even hundreds OF thousands) of hours in CSGO. Now that CS2 is finally here and open to all players, the developer has been releasing steady updates to address bugs, tackle other issues, and implement features. The most recent update fixes what could be one of the funniest bugs ever, much to our dismay.

Modern Warfare 3 is entering its second beta weekend, which means that updates are underway. The latest Call of Duty is pulling in players from all over the globe to test its gameplay and performance prior to its official launch. In addition to raising the level cap to 30, the developer is throwing in some fan-favorite features to the beta as well as brand-new maps and modes. Before we see things like Search and Destroy come to fruition though, a balance update is here to ensure MW3 weekend play goes more smoothly.

It might be rather a far cry from his previous work on the likes of Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and the Call of Duty series, but developer Tony Gowland’s new game Dungeon Golf is a quirky, fun spin on mini-golf with a ton of charm, and it’s getting a big free update to celebrate the Halloween season.

Diablo 4 has been out in the wild for a decent while now, but Blizzard didn’t reveal a Steam release for its latest entry to the iconic series until recently. With the upcoming Season of Blood and Steam launch quickly approaching, many fans are wondering whether or not they’ll officially be able to play the game in a handheld mode via Valve’s portable Steam Deck. We now know that Diablo 4 is already deemed verified for the device thanks to an update from Blizzard.

Civilization 6 is the benchmark for expansive, sprawling, and highly detailed strategy sims. You take its in-depth systems and attention to detail and combine them with the survival-based, often grueling aesthetic and style of Frostpunk, then maybe throw in a bit of Cities Skylines 2 and its focus on developing complex urban centers with a real sense of life. If that sounds like a mix for success – and if you want something else to look forward to, as well as Firaxis’ upcoming Civilization 7 – then Synergy, a new strategy-based city builder coming soon to Steam is precisely the game you’re after.

A global pandemic forced us social gamers online and reminded us just how much fun it is to play silly games together for laughs. One of the most accessible game series’ during that period was the hit Jackbox series, which can be played online or in person, making it the perfect party game for any occasion. We’ve had many a hilarious night with Jackbox games, and one of our favorite minigames gets a reboot in Jackbox Party Pack 10 alongside four new games, and we’re offering you the chance to get them all for free.

If you’re a fan of mind-bending puzzlers like Portal 2, Antichamber, and The Witness, then the QUBE games are a must-play. Setting you on a series of increasingly complex puzzle rooms in the style of Valve’s Portal games, QUBE and QUBE 2 are two of the most satisfying games I’ve played, and something I’ll recommend as a must-play for any Portal fans out there. Fortunately, you can get both as free PC games right now – so don’t hesitate.

Rocket League is one of the best games of all time. That’s a statement I feel pretty strongly about, and have only continued to believe in eight years after it launched. Yet the Rocket League community is in turmoil right now as publisher Epic Games and developer Psyonix announce the removal of player-to-player trading in the car football game, leading to a plummeting Steam reviews rating and a 10,000-strong player petition calling for its return.

The GTA Online weekly update for October 12-19, 2023, is here and the Halloween events are continuing apace in Grand Theft Auto 5’s online mode. With a Witch mask, Vampire mask, and Werewolf mask available as free gifts and several new horror-themed events going live to celebrate the spooky season, there’s plenty of reasons to jump into GTA Online this week – including a Ghostbuster-inspired car and a familiar GTA protagonist somehow returning from beyond the grave.

Lords of the Fallen, the upcoming game from developer Hexworks, is set to launch with AMD FSR 3 and Nvidia DLSS 3 support from day-one. Becoming only the second PC game to release with these two integrated up-scaling technologies, Lords of the Fallen has shown significant frame rate gains when utilizing the AI-powered Frame Generative technologies.

League of Legends may not always be my cup of tea, but its various champions, deep lore, catchy music, and aesthetically pleasing skins most certainly are. From the Sailor Moon-like Star Guardian line to the stunning Spirit Blossom collection, Riot’s lineup of skins is tempting, even to players who generally avoid dabbling with in-game cosmetics. Some of my favorite skins are from LoL’s virtual K-pop group, KDA, and it looks like we may get a boy band line to go alongside the girls’ now.

It’s the perfect time for horror games. As Halloween and the spooky month descend, from Resident Evil to Silent Hill, Five Nights at Freddy’s and Phasmophobia, the absolute best that the genre has to offer are bound to make a return to your Steam playlist. But alongside all the classics, there are loads of fantastic Steam Next Fest demos available now that give you a window into horror games’ future. The sheer amount of upcoming games can get overwhelming, so at PCGamesN, we’ve gathered a flashlight and a dusty old map, and trawled the haunted caves to find you the absolute best horrors available to try now.

If you want something done right, do it yourself. This probably isn’t the mantra that Intel was following when it unintentionally revealed its 14th gen CPU lineup, but if you make a mistake like this, sometimes, you just have to own it.

Overwatch 2 and K-pop seem like an easy match, and it looks like we might be getting some form of collaboration between the two soon. The new Le Sserafim comeback teaser, which heralds the return of one of the biggest K-pop groups in the world right now, features a car bearing the Overwatch logo that resembles the game’s payloads, with members from the group also discussing the game on social media ahead of the Overwatch World Cup.

Counter-Strike 2 bugs and exploits are a regular source of comedy. In CSGO, I watched players deflect bullets by suddenly dropping their gun, so the shot would hit the rifle instead of their head. And I remember fondly some of the best trick kills, like players with one HP getting dinged in the face by a smoke grenade, and ragdolling to the ground. But a new CS2 bug is so extreme it’s prompted a response, of sorts, from Valve itself. As CSGO becomes once again available on Steam, Counter-Strike 2 might have its first legitimate meme.

Between Cities Skylines 2, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, and the upcoming Millennia, Paradox has a lot of reasons to be a happy publisher right now. But it’s not all good news. Lamplighters League, the XCOM-style, turn-based strategy game that recently launched on PC and Game Pass, has made a significant loss, with Paradox’s CEO admitting that response to the game has been “a big disappointment.”

If there’s one thing I’ve been excited about all year long, it’s League of Legends‘ upcoming Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah and Rakan skins. While I was initially over the moon for Senna’s Sailor Moon-style look finally making it into the game, it left me a little out in the cold as I wasn’t a huge fan of the splash art or its animations. Xayah and Rakan were set to redeem (ha ha) the Wild Rift Star Guardian ports for me, but a new find from LoL YouTuber ‘SkinSpotlights’ has dampened my excitement a little.

Sand Land grabbed a hold of my attention unexpectedly after its reveal this summer, and I’ve been waiting for more news on the upcoming RPG since. Developed by ILCA and published by JRPG king Bandai Namco Entertainment, Sand Land is shaping up to be nothing short of exciting. The new game is inspired by Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name. If you don’t know who Toriyama is, he is the creator of Dragon Ball and pretty much a deity among dedicated manga readers.

Terraria is more exciting now than ever with its upcoming 1.4.5 update. Many of us thought that Re-Logic was done adding content to the iconic sandbox experience, but time and time again the developer proves that it’s not finished quite yet. While the hype for the big patch continues to build, Terraria’s spooktacular Halloween event is returning. The contest is the perfect chance to win prizes and express your creativity in-game or in real life with builds, pumpkin carvings, and more.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is finally here, and it’s bringing a new dawn to Ubisoft’s long-standing series. Whether you first picked Assassin’s Creed up as a child to explore as the charismatic Ezio, or are new to the series, Mirage has qualities appealing to both nostalgia-fueled fans and fresh faces within the fandom alike. While the latest entry hasn’t even been out in the wild for a full week yet, its sales are apparently already soaring as Ubisoft reveals some of the game’s impressive statistics.

Dead Island 2 is gruesome, and that’s why we love it. It brings together many of the elements that drew us to the first game and improves upon others. The world is visually stunning, even when decorated by blood and entrails, and the gameplay provides an old-fashioned thrill that lots of new games fail to. The game’s developer, Dambuster Studios, and publisher Deep Silver have just revealed that the hit sequel is getting its first major expansion, Haus, and it’s coming a lot sooner than you may think.

Age of Wonders 4 DLC Empires & Ashes brings a more industrial spin to the fantasy 4X game, along with plenty of additions including a new culture and form, an additional victory condition to chase, and plenty more other goodies too. Arriving in November alongside a free Age of Wonders 4 update, this expansion to the Paradox strategy game will let you fuse industry with magic or use engineering might to shut down the wizard kings altogether.

Red Dead Redemption 2 could have gone on forever. Like GTA 5, which has enjoyed a lifespan of more than ten years thanks to Grand Theft Auto Online, the world of RDR 2 is so rich, so full, that we could have been a hootin’ and a hollerin’ with new material and DLC for years. Sadly, that seems ever more unlikely. With official GTA 6 news still absent, Rockstar is once again selling the Red Dead Redemption 2 Halloween Pass 2, the same one that we got in 2021 and again in 2022. The world of Arthur Morgan and John Marston is truly coming to an end.

Nvidia is continuing their ongoing team up with developer Remedy, to celebrate the upcoming launch of Alan Wake 2, by offering up a free copy of the game with the purchase of some RTX 40 series graphics cards. By purchasing select GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs, you can have the opportunity to play the brand-new horror game just in time for the Halloween season.

Total War Pharaoh is finally here, and as the long-running strategy game series takes us to the shores of Ancient Egypt to step into the shoes of famous leaders from the time such as Ramesses, Seti, and Amenmesse, publisher Sega wants to help you revisit the great wonders of the time with its Total War Ancient Legacies of Egypt exhibition.

Looking back at it, Fallout 4 holds up incredibly well. Bethesda’s most recent take on the post-apocalyptic RPG series came out a whopping eight years ago, but I still find that the broad changes to power armor, that attempt to turn it into a truly hulking mass of metal and power, work well. Now, a new mod revises power armor, and makes it more immersive than it’s ever been.

Cities Skylines 2. Total War: Pharaoh. The upcoming Civilization 7. It’s a great time right now for strategy fans, with even the likes of Ara History Untold and Millennia from Paradox arriving soon to shake up the mix. But the ‘90s were a great time for the genre, too, thanks to Command and Conquer, Theme Hospital, the classic Age of Empires, and of course, Gangsters, one of the greatest and most unique strategy sims ever that you can get right now for less than the price of a Starbucks.

Already hailed as the biggest Diablo 4 patch notes since launch, Blizzard’s Diablo 4 Season 2 update just got even larger. Following the D4 developer update on Tuesday October 10, where the team revealed its extensive patch 1.2.0 notes ahead of the start of the next season, additional gear has now been added. Not only does this give us an even clearer picture of what we’ll be hunting down in Season 2, it also helps to round out the picture of how the new damage calculations in Diablo IV will play out.

There are a lot of things to love about Dredge. You’ve got the relaxing fishing, the absolutely gorgeous art style, and, of course, the creepy, mutated fish that have overtaken the waters surrounding Greater Marrow. Fusing relaxing elements with spine-tingling horror, Dredge is my favorite indie of 2023, and it looks like I’m not alone.

Team Fortress 2 just had its 16th anniversary, with Tuesday, October 10 marking more than a decade and a half since Valve first released the superlative shooter sequel onto Steam in 2007. In that time we’ve seen Portal, Left 4 Dead, Half-Life Alyx, and both CSGO and Counter-Strike 2, but TF2 remains one of the best small-team, class-based FPS games in the world. And now, a whole new mode has been added to the official rotation. Long-time Valve and Source game fans might remember Zombie Panic, the classic Half-Life 2 mod that casts one team as the undead and one side as the survivors. In the latest Team Fortress 2 update for Halloween, better known as Scream Fortress, it feels like Zombie Panic is back. Welcome to Zombie Infection.

Warhammer 40k Darktide is experiencing some notable issues following the deployment of its latest hotfix. The latest set of Warhammer Darktide patch notes arrived on Tuesday, October 10, with some fixes for several bugs causing the game to crash. However, following the arrival of Darktide hotfix 1.2.1, some players have lost their loadouts while others are unable to play at all, with the game crashing to desktop at launch on both Steam and Game Pass.

With Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is already a great-looking game. It brings Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop RPG to life in such a way that Night City feels like a real, potential future metropolis. So, what if the textures of Night City could look even better? Well, one modder did just that earlier this year, and has just updated the game to somehow look even better.

MSI has partnered up with SEGA to celebrate the release of the latest addition to the Total War series, Total War: Pharaoh, by giving away free copies of the highly-anticipated game to those who buy selected hardware. Anyone who purchases the specified MSI products during a limited time will be in with a chance of getting their hands on the brand new Total War game for free.

Go Mecha Ball is by far the coolest Steam Next Fest demo I’ve played so far, and I can’t recommend it enough. A top-down, twin-stick shooter where you can turn into a giant mecha wrecking ball that bounces around the tight playspaces while shooting at enemies, Go Mecha Ball is a fast-paced roguelike that genuinely had me upset when I got to the end of the demo. It’s a little bit Super Monkey Ball and has the bright bouncy play of something like Rocket League, it’s great.

Counter-Strike 2 has enormous boots to fill, and it’s still early days. As the successor to the most popular multiplayer shooter of all time, Valve’s new FPS naturally needs a little time to settle and ease in. CS2 could be better than CSGO, but perhaps, less than a month after launch, we’re not there yet. At the same time, Counter-Strike players have been understandably frustrated about CSGO being – seemingly – removed from the internet forever. But actually, that’s not the case. If you’re not a fan of Counter-Strike 2, or maybe want to give it a bit more time before making the transition, you can still play CSGO on Steam.

Diablo 4 has me unbelievably hyped right now thanks to its upcoming second season, the Season of Blood. Alongside the vampire-themed content, Blizzard is also introducing its major 1.2.0 update with a variety of class changes and new in-game features. While the patch and its accompanying season are thrilling on their own, the developer has looked even further ahead and revealed a couple of big 1.2.1 additions, like a customizable training dummy and a very highly requested respec button.

Diablo 4 is always expanding as Blizzard steadily adds new seasonal content and brings fresh features to the game via patches or updates. With the upcoming Season of Blood looming over the horizon, the developer has prepared some massive changes to classes, gameplay, items, and more. The 1.2.0 update packs the biggest punch of fresh content for Diablo 4 to date, delivering more changes than any previous patch has. Season 2 is certainly nothing to scoff at, whether you consider its balance adjustments or its brand-new features.

Stardew Valley is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite games. If other entries to the farming genre haven’t convinced you, I can almost guarantee that ConcernedApe’s cozy game will convert you. Crafted by the solo developer who acted as Stardew Valley’s artist, composer, developer, and producer, the game packs a lot of depth into its pixel-style world. With the 1.6 update looming on the horizon currently, an ever-expanding fanbase, and a newly revealed global tour, Stardew Valley only gets bigger and better.

There’s a lot going on in League of Legends patch 13.20. Jax has finally got his much-needed visual upgrade, K’Sante is getting a full kit rework, jungle is getting major changes to monster durability and Smite, and, finally, we’re getting some of the best skins to come to LoL in quite some time – including the highly anticipated Redeemed Star Guardian Xayah and Rakan from Wild Rift.

Spooky season is very much upon us, and with that comes an influx of new, exciting horror games. If you, like me, screamed the house down playing F.E.A.R. as a kid, or are awful with Dead Space-style jumpscares, then new Diablo-style roguelite Never Mourn is perfect for you – and you can play the demo right now as part of Steam Next Fest.

Half-Life and Portal. It’s hard to think of another two games that so instantly and consistently spark peoples’ enthusiasm – mention either of Valve’s iconic series to basically anyone with a gaming PC, and chances are they’ll loose a string of superlatives about how Gordon Freeman, GLaDOS, and the Companion Cube et al completely changed their idea of what games can be. Almost 20 years since the last full instalment, we’re still waiting on Half-Life 3. Likewise, Portal 3 remains one of gaming’s mythical beasts. We hear stories, but we’ve never seen anything solid. However, with Steam Next Fest now upon us, we’ve unearthed the next (no pun intended) best thing, a physics-driven puzzler with flashes of Aperture Science, Black Mesa, and some of the best parts of Half-Life and Portal combined. And you can try it now for free.

Just days before the 2023 Minecraft Live, almost 300,000 Minecraft enthusiasts are calling upon Mojang to abandon the controversial Minecraft mob vote and instead incorporate all three mobs into the game. A ‘Stop the Mob Vote’ petition is rapidly gaining traction having already amassed thousands of signatures – and the number is expected to surge further as the opening of ballots draws near.

Razer has become one of the most recognizable and notable brands in PC hardware, having released a multitude of products of every peripheral you can imagine. Over the years, Razer has become known for its fast, and precise gaming mice, and now you have the opportunity to pick up one at discount, in the shape of the DeathAdder V2 Pro, thanks to Amazon Prime Day.

Spiritfarer is on sale, as the cozy life sim about death has high praise. Its DLC is long-completed, so you’ll be getting the full experience that comes highly recommended by the million-plus people who have played it themselves.

Looking for a gaming laptop that can handily play the latest games at high settings? Look no further than this MSI Katana 15. Right now, you can snag $400 off this portable powerhouse as part of Amazon Prime Day, but you’ll need to act fast before stocks or promotion expire.

The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 is one of the most high-powered pixel pushers available today, yet its MSRP can make it a tough sell for those wanting to update their PC gaming setup on a budget. Now, thanks to Amazon Prime Day, you have the opportunity to grab a custom RTX 4080 GPU with a hefty discount, making it the perfect time to try out the next-gen capabilities on offer thanks to this incredible deal.

Struggling for Starfield fps? If you own an Intel graphics card, we could have the answer. The Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4887 GPU driver promises to improve Starfield performance by up to 149% and brings plenty more benefits to the table alongside.

Fallout and Fallout 2, although stone-cold classics of the isometric RPG genre, are, nowadays, a slightly dubious prospect. Before Obsidian and New Vegas, Bethesda and Fallout 4, Black Isle created one of the richest and most vivid PC games in history. By modern standards, however, those original Fallouts are a little obstructive and fussy. You want to experience their humor, their style, their wonderful mix of role playing and choice, but they can be difficult to grasp. On a related note, if you’ve just finished Starfield and you’re eager for a new space-faring RPG game, or if you just miss the isometric classics like Planescape Torment, Baldur’s Gate, and Diablo, there’s good news. Available to try thanks to a free demo, a new Fallout-style RPG is out of Steam Early Access, and it’s already picked up rave reviews and industry awards.

ASUS continues to release some of the most well-thought-out licensed anime hardware, and the ongoing collaboration with Neon Genesis Evangelion has produced some of the coolest products on the market. Now, thanks to Amazon Prime Day, you have the opportunity to show off your love of the 90s anime series with your own PC gaming setup.

Terraria freaks me out sometimes. On the surface, it’s a colorful, serene, innocent-looking game with all the warmth and gentility of a peaceful Minecraft world. Green grass. Blue skies. Just you, the outdoors, and your imagination. But then you dig, and you find yourself fighting gigantic, hideous bosses with names like Wall of Flesh, Brain of Cthulhu, and the Lunatic Cultist. It’s a deceptive, dual-natured world where the pastoral rapidly gives way to the nightmarish. After dozens of hours in Terraria, perhaps it would be nice to play something calmer. Sharing a short insight into his game-making ambitions, Terraria’s creator Andrew ‘Redigit’ Spinks says he might one day like to work on precisely that – a chilled game in the style of Clicker Heroes, Cookie Clicker, and the other idle icons.

Looking for new PC storage this Amazon Prime Day? Upgrading from an HDD to an SSD — or just adding some extra capacity with a second solid-state drive — is one of the simplest and cheapest ways to improve your gaming rig. The Crucial MX500 1TB SSD is available for less than half price, making it a fantastic option if you’re in the market.

Based on recent Counter-Strike 2 Steam reviews, the much-anticipated sequel to CSGO has a lower rating than any other Valve game, including Half-Life, Half-Life 2 and its episodes, Portal, Dota 2, and Left 4 Dead. Counter-Strike 2 players cite issues with missing game modes, CS2 cheaters, and the total removal of Counter-Strike Global Offensive. The drop in Counter-Strike 2’s Steam rating arrives alongside a new CS2 update, which aims to address recurring problems with hitboxes and detection.

North America’s WoW Tokens have hit their highest price to date, with a Monday, October 9 spike seeing the cost of the highly coveted items soar. While thankfully they’ve come down a little over the past few hours, it’s a pretty scary sight.

Amazon Prime Day (or Prime Big Deals Days) takes place across October 10 – 11, and so does the Best Buy 48 Hour Flash Sale. Looks like the two big fish in the retail pond are trying to kill each other, and it’s good news for us, because both of them are offering a plethora of gaming deals.

If you miss Resident Evil’s classic fixed-camera games, the new Echoes of the Living demo that’s part of Steam Next Fest this week is 100% for you. After playing the first demo at the start of this year and revisiting the upcoming survival horror game as a part of Steam’s demo festival, I can safely say that developer Moonglint has made a handful of brilliant improvements, creating a game that is truly worth trying for fans of Capcom’s classic series.

Razer is synonymous with premium gaming laptops, and the prices it sets are a clear indication of the quality you’re getting. This means whenever you have the chance to jump on one of its products for a fraction of the price, it’s a worthwhile investment. This Razer Blade 15 Prime Day deal will save you over $1,300 and give you your ideal gaming laptop for the next five years.

XDefiant is an upcoming free-to-play arena shooter developed and published by Ubisoft that has piqued the interest of FPS fans globally. It features quick online matches, faction-based gameplay, and a multitude of maps and modes to choose from. Following the game’s recent test session open to the public, Ubisoft has shared a post explaining that the soon-to-come planned preseason launch has been indefinitely delayed due to newly discovered issues.

Modern Warfare 3 has long-time Call of Duty fans and newcomers excited alike. Whether the series strikes a nostalgic chord within you or you’re looking forward to jumping in and shooting down enemies with friends for the first time, you may find yourself hankering for the new zombie-related content, maps, and more. Following Activision Blizzard and Microsoft’s acquisition deal, a good few fans have been wondering about the possibility of MW3 launching on Game Pass. Activision has just responded to such queries, but the answer isn’t so straightforward.

Sky Children of the Light is visually stunning without question, but its wholesome premise and cozy gameplay are what truly make it a unique game in a sea of combat-focused online experiences. If you’ve played Journey, Thatgamecompany’s older indie adventure gem, then you know just how special the developer can make exploration-focused games feel. Now that Sky Children of the Light is finally making its way to PC, the dev is giving us all a chance to see how it worked its magic once more in a free demo during the Steam Next Fest.

The Thaumaturge wouldn’t have caught my eye if I hadn’t familiarized myself with isometric games such as Baldur’s Gate 3, but I am so grateful that it did. Developer Fool’s Theory is heading the story-driven RPG. If you’re a long-time fan of isometric games, you may remember the studio’s name from Seven, another unique twist on the underrated genre. Fool’s Theory is also made up of devs who worked on the likes of The Witcher 3, and The Thaumaturge’s publisher, 11 Bit Studios, also worked on other banger games like Frostpunk.

Starfield patch 1.7.36 is here, and with it Bethesda finally addresses one of the most player-requested features that’s been on everyone’s mind since launch. Starfield finally has an FOV slider.

When it comes to supporting upscaling and performance enhancing technologies, like Nvidia DLSS 3, not all games are developed equally. This predicament is leaving the modding community to pick up the slack, providing support when developers won’t, as is the case with Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

It appears that Windows 12 could be on its way to grace our gaming PCs sooner rather than later. While there’s no official word from Microsoft yet, comments by Intel CFO Dave Zinsner point to the imminent arrival of something big for the operating system series.

It’s a battle that was always going to get a little messy, but we didn’t expect to see it peak so soon. Meta is not only gearing up for the release of the Meta Quest 3 headset this week, but it already has one eye on the future as it marks Apple’s Vision Pro as a serious competitor.

Today I learned that the universe of Cyberpunk 2077 has something called ‘Exotics’ in it. Basically, rich people sculpt furred skins, animal-like faces, ears, and other features onto themselves as a hobby out of pure boredom. This wasn’t in CD Projekt Red’s virtual version of the tabletop sci-fi RPG, but now it is. Thanks to the incredible work of one modder you can now be a furry in Night City, and no I’m not joking.