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

[JEMC]

Part two of Thursday news:

The Talon Baptiste legendary skin is a good look from the bad old days
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-talon-baptiste-legendary-skin-is-a-good-look-from-the-bad-old-days/
Before the new(ish) Overwatch hero Baptiste was a good guy, he was a bad guy—joining the ranks of the terrorist group Talon in the aftermath of the devastating Omnic War. And with the launch of the upcoming Overwatch Archives: Storm Rising event, you'll be able to deck him out in his red-and-dreads look from the bad old days.

Rocket League will get a new Rocket Pass with challenges next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/rocket-league-will-get-a-new-rocket-pass-with-challenges-next-week/
Rocket League's next Rocket Pass launches on April 17, and like the past two it allows players to unlock cosmetics and loot box keys by earning Rocket Pass tiers.
These passes are a problem for me. The premium upgrade costs 10 Keys, or $10, and in theory that should cap my spending for a few months. Oh, but late on a Saturday night, while waiting for a teammate to get back from a fridge run, of course I'm going to buy a few more keys to peek inside all the crates cluttering my inventory. I can't help that I want more dumb wheels.

PvEvP shooter The Cycle begins weekly open alpha playtests on Friday
https://www.pcgamer.com/pvevp-shooter-the-cycle-begins-weekly-open-alpha-playtests-on-friday/
The Cycle is a squad-based PvEvP "competitive quest game" in development at Yager in which players work together and against one another to collect resources from a planet in the dangerous outer reaches of the galaxy and then get away before some form of horrific interstellar death comes a-callin'. It bears a resemblance to battle royale, but there's more to it than that, and in fact we said in our March preview that it's Yager's attempt at predicting, and capitalizing on, whatever Big Gaming Thing comes after battle royale has faded.

Activision Blizzard pays employees to track their pregnancies
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-pays-employees-to-track-their-pregnancies/
Activision Blizzard pays employees $1 per day in gift cards if they track their reproductive health via an app called Ovia—and the publisher can see some of its employees' data in an anonymized, statistical format.
"Employers who pay the apps’ developer, Ovia Health, can offer their workers a special version of the apps that relays their health data—in a 'de-identified,' aggregated form—to an internal employer website accessible by human resources personnel," reads a Washington Post report on the practice, which highlights Activision Blizzard as a proponent of employee health tracking.
>> That's kind of scary.

Defying god and science, Apex Legends players are finding ways to make Gibraltar useful
https://www.pcgamer.com/gibraltar-combo-apex-legends/
Two months into the game's lifespan, Gibraltar is not considered one of the best Apex Legends. His wide frame is easier to hit than most legends, even after some adjustments in the last Apex patch. His bubble shield and artillery strike are decent situational abilities.

Troy Baker isn't in Borderlands 3, but Randy Pitchford says he was asked
https://www.pcgamer.com/troy-baker-isnt-in-borderlands-3-but-gearbox-says-he-was-asked/
Perennial games voice actor Troy Baker won’t be appearing in Borderlands 3, despite the fact that his Borderlands character will feature in the upcoming game. The actor said he’s willing to reprise his Borderlands role, but the game was made without his involvement.

Borderlands 3 secret message hints at the return of the Destroyer
https://www.pcgamer.com/borderlands-3-secret-message-hints-at-the-return-of-the-destroyer/
A hidden message has been discovered in the offline screen of the Borderlands Twitch channel that teases some potentially big revelations that might be coming in Borderlands 3. Discovered by YouTuber Joltzdude139, the messages—in Morse code—ask two questions drawn from Borderlands lore that could be very pertinent to long-time lore hunters.

Here's how Borderlands 3's XP and loot drop boost mods actually work
https://www.pcgamer.com/borderlands-3-loot-xp-boosts-explained/
When Borderlands 3 was properly unveiled last week, some players noticed its pricier Deluxe Edition (as well as its Super Deluxe and Collector's Editions) contains a downloadable bonus called 'Equippable XP & Loot Drop Boost Mods'. I read some speculation about what these boost mods would entail, and I also noticed one player asked Gearbox's Randy Pitchford about it on Twitter, fearing the game's progression system might be built around them, which he firmly refuted.

The Rocket League-like Axiom Soccer is free and out today on Steam Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-rocket-league-like-axiom-soccer-is-free-and-out-today-on-steam-early-access/
Competitive vehicle sports game Axiom Soccer is out today on Steam Early Access, and it's free to download and play. While superficially it looks a lot like Rocket League, it's more an effort to turn futuristic sports into its own sub-genre—instead of bouncing around the arena and pulling off impossible stunts to bamboozle useless players like myself, it's more about guiding a drone and shooting the ball with a variety of projectiles to poke it into the other player's net.

Thanos seems set to return to Fortnite, just in time for Avengers: Endgame
https://www.pcgamer.com/thanos-seems-set-to-return-to-fortnite-just-in-time-for-avengers-endgame/
Fortnite’s Thanos limited time mode from last year seems to be making a comeback, coinciding with the debut of Avengers: Endgame later this month. The mode drops the all-powerful Infinity Gauntlet onto the map, and the player who picks it up becomes the surly purple bad guy of Marvel fame.

The Division 2 is getting a public test server
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-division-2-is-getting-a-public-test-server/
Public test servers are exactly what they sound like: Game servers, open to the public, that developers use to test new stuff before it goes into full release. Players like them too, because it's a way to get eyes and hands on new content before everyone else, and they've become relatively common for big online games. Soon The Division 2 will be one of those games, as live content manager Yannick Banchereau revealed during today's "State of the Game" livestream that public test servers will be opened later this month, ahead of the release of title update 3.

The Division 2’s low-level mods are better than than endgame loot
https://www.pcgamer.com/division-2-low-level-mods/
A big part of what makes the Division 2 fun is the push to get better loot. But some players have discovered that certain early-game gear is actually a lot more effective than the endgame versions. Specifically, mods that drop while your character is level 16-18 seem to have much more useful stat bonuses, and it’s possible to farm these just by rolling a fresh agent.

The Destiny 2 Revelry event adds a new gun and new gear next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-destiny-2-revelry-event-adds-a-new-gun-and-new-gear-next-week/
Destiny 2's spring Revelry event is due to start on April 16 and run through to May 6. As well as giving the Tower a luminous makeover, there will be a new activity and new gear and guns to win.

Hot damn, Hitman 2's 2019 roadmap promises a new level set in a bank
https://www.pcgamer.com/hitman-2-dlc-roadmap/
Bank levels are always a good idea. Just ask GTA 4, 5 or Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Today, as IO Interactive revealed the roadmap for its Hitman 2 content coming later this year, it revealed the two new locations coming to the game as part of the more expensive Silver and Gold editions of the game: The Bank and The Resort. Nothing more is said about them, but a bank level has to have an option to stage a heist, right?