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

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The news, part two:

 

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 2.0 update unlocks all hero characters and ships
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-wars-battlefront-2-20-update-unlocks-all-hero-characters-and-ships/
Electronic Arts unveiled its plans for sweeping changes to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 last week, including an overhaul to the progression system that removes Star Cards from crates, a return of the Crystals currency, and limits on what you can buy with them—which is to say, cosmetic items only. The update went live today, revealing that it's also unlocked all hero characters and ships: No more having to grind your face off for credits before you can start chopping people to bits as Darth Vader.

 

Fantasy naval combat game Maelstrom is coming to Early Access in April
https://www.pcgamer.com/fantasy-naval-combat-game-maelstrom-is-coming-to-early-access-in-april/
Maelstrom is a game of "fantasy naval combat" set on an inundated world where land is at a premium and wars are fought constantly to control what little dry territory remains. In case that's not bad enough on its own, what lurks beneath the waves is even worse: Monstrous creatures, larger than the biggest ships, hunt the treacherous "Dead Waters," waiting to destroy any who cross their path.

 

Rainbow Six Siege's new Italian operators have leaked onto Reddit
https://www.pcgamer.com/rainbow-six-siege-italian-operators/
Ubisoft said in December that eight new operators will be added over the course of Rainbow Six Siege Year Three, from Russia, France, Italy, the UK, the US, and Morocco. Courtesy of the data-diving detectives of Reddit, we can now get a look (or at least a sideways glance) at two of them: Alibi and Maestro, members of Italy's special forces.

 

The next card reveals for Hearthstone's The Witchwood will kick off next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-card-reveals-for-hearthstones-the-witchwood-will-kick-off-next-week/
Hearthstone's next expansion, revealed last week as The Witchwood, will feature two new keywords, Echo and Rush, a Dungeon Run-style game mode called Monster Hunt, and 135 new cards. Blizzard announced today that the process of revealing those cards to the world will kick into high gear (since we've already seen a few of them) during a livestream on Twitch set for March 26.

 

The Elder Scrolls Online is going to Summerset
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-elder-scrolls-online-is-going-to-summerset/
Bethesda announced today that the ancestral home of Tamriel's Altmer—the High Elves—will be the setting of the next Elder Scrolls Online expansion, Summerset. The expansion will conclude the story that began in 2015 with the Orsinium DLC, and will add a new zone, the Psijic Order faction and skillset, a new jewelry crafting skill, and new Delves, Bosses, and a 12-player Trial called Cloudrest.

 

Below, Capybara's spooky roguelike, might actually come out this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/below-capybaras-spooky-roguelike-might-actually-come-out-this-year/
Remember Below? It was announced for the Xbox One in 2013, confirmed for the PC in 2014, gave us some hands-on time in 2016, and then smashed face-first into a brick wall a few months later when developer Capybara Games delayed it indefinitely. Capybara said at the time that it wasn't the sort of "indefinite delay" that means the project is dead, however, but simply an acknowledgment that the game needed a lot more work than anyone expected, and it had no idea when it would actually be ready.

 

Yoko Taro explains how a Coca Cola ad inspired Nier: Automata
https://www.pcgamer.com/yoko-taro-explains-how-a-coca-cola-ad-inspired-nier-automata/
At a GDC panel about the creation of Nier: Automata today, director Yoko Taro talked a little bit about his creative process—alcohol helps him loosen up and be a better writer, but also causes him to go to sleep very quickly—and inspirations for his game. The first Nier, released on PS3 and Xbox in 2010, essentially ripped its map design from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. One part of Nier: Automata, one of our favorite games of last year, drew inspiration from a much weirder source: a Coca Cola ad campaign called A Small World.

 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered is reportedly coming this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-remastered-is-reportedly-coming-this-year/
Two separate sources are reporting that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Remastered will release later this year, following similar treatment for the first Modern Warfare in 2016. Unlike that reissue, though, Modern Warfare 2's remaster won't include its multiplayer component.

 

Fortnite Battle Royale was developed in just two months, wasn't originally free-to-play
https://www.pcgamer.com/fortnite-battle-royale-was-developed-in-just-two-months-and-wasnt-originally-going-to-be-free-to-play/
We had just about lost interest in Fortnite, a mildly-popular PvE building game when it launched, by September of last year. And then it blew up, becoming one of the most popular games in the world in under six months. Even the Toronto Maple Leafs are all about it. And apparently, the catalyst for this dramatic turnaround only took two months to build.

>>The game is also getting a replay system and heavy shotguns.

 

PUBG announces 'periodically changing' custom game Event Mode, flare guns for incoming update
https://www.pcgamer.com/pubg-announces-periodically-changing-custom-game-event-mode-flare-guns-for-incoming-update/
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is getting an Event Mode, which developer PUBG Corp describes as "a periodically changing preset Custom Game where we will be trying new things and experimenting with different game parameters." It sounds a bit like Fortnite's themed, limited-time offerings.

 

Night in the Woods tops IGF Awards, student game Baba Is You wins big
https://www.pcgamer.com/night-in-the-woods-tops-igf-awards-student-game-baba-is-you-wins-big/
Stories like this are why I like GDC. As are ones like this. And the fact it's where the Independent Games Festival Awards are held—whose 20th annual ceremony took place in San Francisco yesterday.
There, Infinite Fall's gorgeous and heartfelt Night in the Woods won the $30,000-worth Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game, and also netted Excellence in Narrative.