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

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, episode II:

Zombie survival game Pandemic Express is now free to play
https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-survival-game-pandemic-express-is-now-free-to-play/
I was quite taken by the idea of Pandemic Express when it was announced last year. It's a multiplayer survival game that has a group of 30 people attempting to escape a zombie apocalypse, the twist being that one of them—unbeknownst to the rest—is already infected, granting them powerful abilities, unlimited respawns, and a burning hunger for brains. (...)
The player numbers haven't been great, though (to put it mildly), and so publisher Tinybuild is taking another run at it by making the game free to play. Under the new system, players will earn "stars" by playing matches that can be spent on costumes, emojis, and in-game music. If you don't want to wait, you can opt to buy them instead.

Black Desert Online's 2020 roadmap includes new classes and playable music
https://www.pcgamer.com/black-desert-onlines-2020-roadmap-includes-new-classes-and-playable-music/
The first half of Black Desert Online's 2020 roadmap was revealed earlier this week, giving players a sneak peek into what developer Pearl Abyss has planned all the way through to summer, including a new feature where players can compose music and play it on instruments—which definitely won't result in towns b

Former Splinter Cell creative director has reportedly returned to Ubisoft
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-splinter-cell-creative-director-has-reportedly-returned-to-ubisoft/
Maxime Béland is a long-time Ubisoft employee who served as creative director on the two most recent Splinter Cell games, Conviction and Blacklist (although they're hardly recent), as well as Far Cry 4, Primal, and 5. He left Ubisoft in early 2019 to take on the role of creative director at Epic Games, but that only lasted about eights months—and according to VGC, he's now back at Ubisoft.

Sega is promising lots of Sonic the Hedgehog news in 2020
https://www.pcgamer.com/sega-is-promising-lots-of-sonic-the-hedgehog-news-in-2020/
While not as unanimously adored as Mario, people still have a lot of time for ye olde Sonic the Hedgehog. New games release frequently, and while the forthcoming live action film has proved... divisive, it demonstrates that Sega is still dedicated to the old blue thing. Today comes more proof of that, with Sega announcing its Sonic 2020 initiative.

Rockstar responds to tax avoidance criticism, says UK tax relief is 'a proven success'
https://www.pcgamer.com/rockstar-responds-to-tax-avoidance-criticism-says-uk-tax-relief-is-a-proven-success/
In response to criticism that it's taking unfair advantage of a game developer tax rebate, Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games has issued a statement saying that the program has directly resulted in the studio creating "well over 1000 highly skilled and long term jobs" throughout the UK.
>> Enter the doubt pic.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is getting a free demo this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/yooka-laylee-and-the-impossible-lair-is-getting-a-free-demo-this-week/
Playtonic's colourful 2.5D platformer Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair will be getting a free demo on Steam this week, which you'll be able to grab on January 23. Playtonic tweeted the announcement on their Twiter, saying it's a great opportunity for players to try before they buy.
>> A demo. It's so rare to see such things nowadays... *sigh*

FTL is finally getting Steam achievements
https://www.pcgamer.com/ftl-is-finally-getting-steam-achievements/
They've been a long time coming, but soon achievement hunters will be able to feed off FTL, which is finally getting Steam achievements after only seven years. You can see them now, but you'll still need to wait to unlock them.

Half-Life might be going free-to-play until the launch of Half-Life: Alyx
https://www.pcgamer.com/half-life-might-be-going-free-to-play-until-the-launch-of-half-life-alyx/
Some Steam users received a notification yesterday that advertised a Half-Life: Alyx event before vanishing. The notification claimed that the Half-Life Collection would be free until the launch of the VR spin-off, except there is no such thing as the Half-Life Collection, and right now all the Half-Life games have prices.
While there are no bundles known as the Half-Life Collection, there's The Orange Box and the Half-Life Complete bundles, but neither of them are free. And despite the notification, which links to an error page, Valve hasn't made any announcements.
>> Take it with a pinch (or a bag) of salt.