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

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Monday news, part two:

Halo: Combat Evolved testing could begin in January, 343 Industries says
https://www.pcgamer.com/halo-combat-evolved-testing-could-begin-in-january-343-industries-says/
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"As we close the year out and start to look at what’s ahead of us in 2020, I wanted to give you an update on progress we’re making on the other games heading to MCC on PC. Right now, we have a good-sized army of developers working through different development streams to support our efforts across ongoing Reach updates and quality of life improvements in addition to Halo: CE Anniversary, Halo 2: Anniversary, Halo 3, and Forge & Theater support (Reach first). Halo: ODST (Campaign) and Halo 4 are a little further out but rest assured they’re also coming to MCC on PC in 2020," 343 said.
"If work continues on its current trajectory, we are looking good to start [Halo: Combat Evolved] flights in January."

CD Projekt has a new deal with The Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-has-a-new-deal-with-the-witcher-creator-andrez-sapkowski/
The Witcher has been a pretty big deal in Poland for a long time, but it was virtually unknown to Western audiences prior to 2007, when CD Projekt released the first game in its groundbreaking RPG trilogy. It came to light much later that Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski had licensed the property for an up-front sum instead of a percentage deal, because he thought videogames were stupid and it wasn't going add up to anything anyway.
But it did—it really did—and in 2018, Sapskowski issued a demand for more money, to the tune of 60 million PLN, which works out to $15.6 million. CD Projekt said no, but it also said that it would work toward reaching an "amicable resolution" of the matter. In February 2019 it was reported that "reconciliation" between the two parties was in the works, and now it appears that the goal has been reached: The company announced today that Sapkowski and CD Projekt have "signed an agreement further solidifying their relationship."

Crusader Kings 3 developers show new features in video diary
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-developers-show-new-features-in-video-diary/
A new developer diary for Crusader Kings 3 details some of the game’s new features and changes to important core game mechanics. Key changes to the game focus on shrinking the size of the player’s court, making the characters more relevant, and deepening the plots systems. Your councillors now have greater control of what happens in your realm, but greater impact when sent out on the job. Plots now focus on uncovering secrets about a character—discovered using your spymaster—then using those secrets as a hook to force their behavior via blackmail. There’s also a little more information about wandering characters, outlined in a written developer diary earlier this week. In short, if you don’t give someone a job, they’ll go elsewhere looking for one, as will people from other lands. Finally, a big update to the game: You can now purposefully fabricate claims, changing expansion via conquest from a roulette to a deliberate strategy.

Beautiful visuals abound in cyberpunk action game Evolutis
https://www.pcgamer.com/beautiful-visuals-abound-in-cyberpunk-action-game-evolutis/
Inspired by the visuals of 80s anime like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, peppered with a healthy dose of Blade Runner, Evolutis is a 2D story-driven action game coming in 2020. Made by Portuguese developers Poke Life Studio, the alpha footage and preview visuals are absolutely gorgeous. Evolutis was initially announced as crowd-funded, but now it looks like the publisher PM Studios is going to put it out.

See Half-Life: Alyx tested on several different VR setups
https://www.pcgamer.com/see-half-life-alyx-tested-on-several-different-vr-setups/
The YouTube channel Tested went to Valve recently to play a few hours of an early build of Half-Life: Alyx on a variety of different VR setups, from Valve Index to Windows Mixed Reality and the original HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Though they're focused on the headsets rather than the game—which is clearly still in a very early state—they do seem quite impressed by it.

American Truck Simulator goes to Idaho in new DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/american-truck-simulator-goes-to-idaho-in-new-dlc/
Do you like trucks? Do you like hauling things in trucks? I do, and I am very excited to tell you that American Truck Simulator is going to Idaho very soon. Announced by SCS Software on Twitter, the DLC covers… the entire state of Idaho. Where else did you think that sentence was going? It's a nice upgrade for American Truck Simulator players, who are slowly gaining an ultra-detailed map of the United States to drive about in. It's especially nice because right now heading to the Southwest from the Northwest involves hopping a bit of I-80 in the corner of Nevada, but now you can roll across the Rockies to Boise and beyond.

Insurgent FPS Freeman: Guerilla Warfare now has mod support
https://www.pcgamer.com/insurgent-fps-freeman-guerilla-warfare-now-has-mod-support/
Insurgent shooter Freeman: Guerilla Warfare has rolled out official mod support, say developers KK Game Studio. Along with a functioning Steam Workshop, KK has released a rather bombastic trailer showing off what can be done with the modded game. Naturally that includes both historical scenarios, which makes sense given the game, and Anime Girls, because that is what every game with mods gets eventually. I am sure those mods make lots of people happy, but there are a lot of them and I recognize only about 5% of the characters.

Hellblade 2 confirmed for both PC and Xbox Series X
https://www.pcgamer.com/hellblade-ii-confirmed-for-both-pc-and-xbox-series-x/
A Microsoft representative has confirmed that Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 will be released for both PC and the upcoming Xbox Series X. In a tweet to a fan, GM of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg said that the game is being made "exclusively" for both Microsoft's new console and the PC. While many had suspected that the game would make its way to PC via the Xbox Game Pass service, there wasn't an official public confirmation the game would make it to PC at all. Having Hellblade 2 come to PC fits with Microsoft's current overall strategy of treating both the Xbox Console and PC Gaming as their domain.