Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Monday news, part two:

Every new Steel Division 2 Soviet division revealed
https://www.pcgamer.com/every-new-steel-division-2-soviet-division-revealed/
Steel Division 2 recreates Operation Bagration, the World War 2 Soviet campaign, at an almost bewildering scale, giving prospective commanders tens of thousands of troops and war machines to fight with and against. You'll control countless individual units as well as multiple divisions, split between Axis and Soviet armies. Today we're revealing all of the Soviet divisions you'll be able to command, from the beefy 2nd Guards Tank Corps to the Kuban Cossacks in the 9th Guards Cavalry.

Microsoft talks Crackdown 3 PC's unlocked framerate, ultrawide support and modding potential
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-talks-crackdown-3-pcs-unlocked-framerate-ultrawide-support-and-modding-potential/
I've played Crackdown 3, and wrote that its campaign feels straight out of 2007 in mostly fun ways. I didn't write too much about the PC version, but from what I saw it's almost all good news. The PC version ran well, with no slowdown or other issues in my experience, and out of the box had sensible key bindings—something recent games like Anthem and Fallout 76 have gotten wrong. After my demo, I chatted some with Xbox Studios' head engineer Brian Stone and Crackdown 3 head of production Jorg Neumann, who gave me a few details about the features the PC version supports. Even given the power of the Xbox One X, the PC version is going above and beyond.

Star Citizen is getting American Sign Language emotes
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-is-getting-american-sign-language-emotes/
Star Citizen developers have collaborated with one of their community members to create a series of American Sign Language emotes for deaf and partially deaf players.

A free One Finger Death Punch 2 demo releases Monday, and it's a blast
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-free-one-finger-death-punch-2-demo-releases-monday-and-its-a-blast/
A game of reflexes and determining whether things are on the left or right, One Finger Death Punch is a classic in low-fidelity entertainment: the earlier, more frantic arcade counterpart to Nidhogg's methodical killing blows. Soon, One Finger Death Punch 2 will bring it all back—including the announcer's bad Pat Morita impression, unfortunately—and after playing the demo that releases next week, I'm convinced it won't disappoint friends of the original.

The Stillness of the Wind, a farming sim meditation on life and loss, is now on Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-stillness-of-the-wind-a-farming-sim-meditation-on-life-and-loss-is-now-on-steam/
The Stillness of the Wind is a "minimalist, melancholy farming sim about a goat-herding grandma," as Austin put it last year, that follows on Where the Goats Are, also a minimalist, melancholy farming sim, but about a different goat-herding grandma. It tells the story of Talma, who in her final years tends her small homestead as she always has, living a simple, solitary way of life.

The Aussies are coming to Rainbow Six Siege in Operation Burnt Horizon
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-aussies-are-coming-to-rainbow-six-siege-in-operation-burnt-horizon/
Confirming a rumor that's been kicking around since late last year, Ubisoft announced today that Rainbow Six Siege Year 4 Season 1, Operation Burnt Horizon, will go to the land down under, where women glow and men plunder and a pair of old pals from the SASR will bring their practical Outback knowledge to bear on a standoff at a gas station about a half-mile up Anarchie Road.

God Eater 3's launch trailer is an inspirational J-rock masterpiece
https://www.pcgamer.com/god-eater-3s-launch-trailer-is-an-inspirational-j-rock-masterpiece/
God Eater 3, the game about a squad of inhuman teens who wield massive magical weapons in battles against the god-like creatures known as the Aragami, is out now on Steam. To get things started on the right foot, Bandai Namco has also dropped a God Eater 3 launch trailer, which begins by asking what it feels like to give up our humanity, before launching into a spectacular J-rock music video.

Galactic Civilizations 3: Retribution comes out on February 21
https://www.pcgamer.com/galactic-civilizations-3-retribution-comes-out-on-february-21/
The story-concluding Galactic Civilizations 3 expansion Retribution will go live on Steam on February 21, Stardock announced today, bringing with it powerful new technologies, two new civilizations, and a campaign of annihilation against a foe who picked a fight with the wrong bunch of guys.

Report: Activision will be hit with substantial layoffs next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/report-activision-will-be-hit-with-substantial-layoffs-next-week/
Bloomberg is reporting that Activision Blizzard will announce job cuts on February 12 that could number in the hundreds. The report says that the cuts come as part of a restructuring "aimed at centralizing functions and boosting profit."
>> Bofferbrauer2 has made a thread about this rumor.

PUBG claims Game of the Year in the 2018 Steam Awards
https://www.pcgamer.com/pubg-claims-game-of-the-year-in-the-2018-steam-awards/
The nominees for the 2018 Steam Awards were announced in December, just ahead of the start of the most recent Steam Winter Sale. Now the results are in, and you'll never guess who won!
>> Three of my choices won their respective categories.

Former Telltale devs launch new studio, hint at a Bandersnatch-like project
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-telltale-devs-launch-new-studio-hint-at-bandersnatch-like-project/
Four former senior developers at The Walking Dead studio Telltale Games, including two former creative directors, have formed a new company called Adhoc Games, and will soon reveal an "interactive narrative" project that sounds similar to Black Mirror's Bandersnatch.

The Outer Worlds will take 40 hours or less to complete
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-outer-worlds-will-take-40-hours-or-less-to-complete/
The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's RPG that's due out later this year, will take somewhere between 15 and 40 hours to complete, the developer has confirmed.
In an interview with Game Informer, co-director Leonard Boyarsky said the size of the game was comparable to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2, or "maybe a little bit smaller". It took around 30-40 hours to complete KOTOR 2, and asked whether players could expect to finish The Outer Worlds in between 15 and 40 hours, both Boyarsky and fellow co-director Tim Cain said that would be a reasonable assumption.

FPS Blacklight: Retribution is shutting down its servers for good
https://www.pcgamer.com/fps-blacklight-retribution-is-shutting-down-its-servers-for-good/
Fun, futuristic and free multiplayer FPS Blacklight: Retribution, which came out in 2012, will shut down its servers for good next month.
Developer Zombie Studios closed back in 2015, but publisher Hardsuit Labs has kept the game running. In a Reddit post, it confirmed that servers would shut down on March 11, and that until that time all items in the store will be available for free, so log on if you want a last hurrah.

Frontier Developments' next game, based on a new IP, is coming out this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/frontier-developments-next-game-based-on-a-new-ip-is-coming-out-this-year/
Frontier Developments, the studio behind Elite Dangerous and the RollerCoaster Tycoon series, will launch the first game based on a new "unannounced IP" before the end of the year, it has revealed.

Here's how crime and punishment will work in Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-how-crime-and-punishment-will-work-in-mount-and-blade-2-bannerlord/
TaleWorlds Entertainment has detailed the complex crime and punishment system for its upcoming medieval sandbox RPG Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord—expect to bribe guards, throw your political weight around to get charges dropped and, if you fail, visit the executioner.

IGF finalist puzzler Ethereal gets March release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/igf-finalist-puzzler-ethereal-gets-march-release-date/
Abstract puzzler Ethereal, one of the games nominated for excellence in audio at the 2019 Independent Games Festival, will be out on March 7, developer Nonsense Arts has announced.

Medieval city builder Foundation now in Early Access, already has game-changing mods
https://www.pcgamer.com/medieval-city-builder-foundation-now-in-early-access-already-has-game-changing-mods/
Freeform medieval city builder Foundation entered Early Access earlier this month, and modders are already hard at work creating brand new game modes.
It's a completely grid-less city builder in which you paint zones on the land and watch your citizens fill in the gaps naturally. That can lead to satisfyingly curvy streets and squares popping up at junctions—the idea is that you'll get "organically sprawling cities that grow like actual medieval cities".

This branching game about being a tree has 16 endings
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-branching-game-about-being-a-tree-has-16-endings/
It turns out being a tree is more exciting than just standing on the spot listening to the wind rustling your leaves—at least if How To Be a Tree's arboreal fantasy is to be believed. As a tree, you can become a therapist, sprout a jetpack and blast into space, or conquer humanity, jumping over tanks and toppling skyscrapers.

Fallout 76 player glitches inside sealed Vault 63, begs Bethesda not to ban them
https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-76-player-glitches-inside-sealed-vault-63-begs-bethesda-not-to-ban-them/
Bethesda banned players who snuck into Fallout 76's 'dev room' last month—so it's no wonder one player that accidentally accessed the sealed Vault 63 this weekend was worried about the developer taking action against their account. So far they haven't been punished, and they managed to grab plenty of photos from inside the vault before fast travelling out.

Microsoft Solitaire Collection adds a feature everyone has been waiting for: Leveling up
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-solitaire-collection-adds-a-feature-everyone-has-been-waiting-for-leveling-up/
Somehow we missed this earth-shattering news when it was announced earlier this month. Microsoft Solitaire Collection, the version of Solitaire that comes free with Windows 10, is adding a leveling system. This news has been brought to us via the weirdly good video you can see above, which riffs off the famous "in a world" trailer for Comedian. To quote the video: "Solitaire is going to add a player leveling system with experience points and rewards."
>> WTF?

Beat Saber players were too fast for Steam VR
https://www.pcgamer.com/beat-saber-players-were-too-fast-for-steam-vr/
Valve has been forced to update the Steam VR beta in order to keep up with 'Beat Saber experts.' according to the patch notes, released on Friday.
"Increase limits of what we thought was humanly possible for controller motion based on tracking data from Beat Saber experts," the patch notes stated.
>> Valve underestimated what humans are capable of.

Mortal Kombat 11 director Ed Boon responds to roster leak
https://www.pcgamer.com/mortal-kombat-11-director-ed-boon-responds-to-roster-leak/
It appears that Mortal Kombat 11 has had most of its remaining roster revealed by way of leaked Steam achievements, last week.
The achievement list seems to confirm that Kung Lao, Cassie Cage, Frost, Kotal Kahn, Erron Black, Jacqu, and Jade—as well as a few new characters—will be joining the roster. While NetherRealm Studios has yet to confirm or deny last week's revelation, that hasn't stopped director Ed Boon from jumping on Twitter

The Division 2 open beta was seemingly revealed on a livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-division-2-open-beta-was-seemingly-revealed-on-a-livestream/
An open beta for The Division 2 was all but confirmed by during an official livestream over the weekend.
The Division 2's developers and community team jumped into the private beta and streamed this weekend while chatting with the community and answering questions. In a clip captured by Reddit user TiniestBuckle, one of the devs is heard to say "we're going to fix that for the open beta" when addressing an issue currently in the game.

Total War: Three Kingdoms release date has been delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-three-kingdoms-release-date-has-been-delayed/
Total War: Three Kingdoms has had its release date pushed back and will no longer be out on March 7. Instead, we can expect to see the game released on May 23.