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

[JEMC]

Friday news, the second part:

Elite Dangerous is finally getting fleet carriers in June, with beta tests next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/elite-dangerous-is-finally-getting-fleet-carriers-in-june-with-beta-tests-next-month/
The long delay of Elite Dangerous' hulking fleet carriers—ships that can repair, refuel and transport other craft—is finally coming to a close. They will launch in beta next month, Frontier Developments announced today, ahead of a full release in June.

Insurgency: Sandstorm is free to play for the next five days
https://www.pcgamer.com/insurgency-sandstorm-is-free-to-play-for-the-next-five-days/
Tactical multiplayer shooter Insurgency: Sandstorm, one of the hidden gems of 2019, is free to play from now until next Wednesday, April 1. You can grab it from its Steam page—if you're enjoying it, then you can buy it at half price (£12.99/$14.99) for the duration of the free-to-play period.

Nomadic MMO Last Oasis wanders into Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/nomadic-mmo-last-oasis-wanders-into-early-access/
Last Oasis, the MMO that casts you as a nomad with a walking wooden base, is now in Early Access. It costs $24.89/£19.74 on Steam, which includes a 17 percent launch discount.

Valve cut the crowbar from Half-Life: Alyx in part because players kept assuming they were Gordon Freeman
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-cut-the-crowbar-from-half-life-alyx-in-part-because-players-kept-assuming-they-were-gordon-freeman/
Half-Life: Alyx spent roughly four years in development, and for about one-and-a-half of those years Alyx Vance had a crowbar. The iconic Half-Life melee weapon was ultimately cut, though, because testers got it stuck on everything while assuming they were Gordon Freeman, who is not the star of Half-Life: Alyx.

Valorant's support character Sage showcased in a new gameplay teaser
https://www.pcgamer.com/valorants-support-character-sage-showcased-in-a-new-gameplay-teaser/
The latest character teaser for Riot's upcoming competitive FPS Valorant turns the spotlight on Sage, who unlike the previously-revealed fighters—Phoenix, Viper, and Sova —is focused primarily on defense and healing.

Snowrunner overview trailer showcases big trucks, big mud, and endgame content
https://www.pcgamer.com/snowrunner-overview-trailer-showcases-big-trucks-big-mud-and-endgame-content/
Snowrunner, the sequel to Mudrunner, is a driving simulator set in super-harsh off-road environments in the US and Russia, with vehicles ranging from classic pickups and 4x4s to massive commercial and industrial rigs, and even a few military machines. A new trailer released today showcases a number of them in action, and also digs into what exactly it is you're doing out there in the middle of that rugged wilderness, and what you might see as you explore.

Hearthstone's universal dupe protection and Priest class overhaul are live
https://www.pcgamer.com/hearthstones-universal-dupe-protection-and-priest-class-overhaul-are-live/
Last week was a big one for Hearthstone: A new year, a new expansion, a new class—the first one ever!—and, somewhat more granularly, the expansion of duplicate protection across all rarities of cards. With today's rollout of the Ashes of Outland patch, that updated dupe protection, and several other changes including the Hall of Fame rotation and Priest class update, are now live.

Castle Crashers, Pit People and BattleBlock Theater are free-to-play on Steam for a week
https://www.pcgamer.com/castle-crashers-pit-people-and-battleblock-theater-are-free-to-play-on-steam-for-a-week/
The Behemoth has made its (brilliant) back catalogue free-to-play on Steam for the next week. Castle Crashers, Pit People and Battleblock Theater are all available to play until April 1, and if they take your fancy, they're heavily discounted, too.
>> First Cities: Skylines, then Insurgency: Sandstorm and now this. What will I have to put on the Steam deals at the end of this post?!

Microsoft Flight Simulator will use air traffic data to populate the simulation
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-will-use-air-traffic-data-to-populate-the-simulation/
Microsoft Flight Simulator will draw from air traffic data to simulate the skies exactly as they are, in real time. That's according to a new video hosted by Asobo CEO Sebastian Wloch, which provides some details on how multiplayer will work.

Dwarf Fortress shows off more of its new look
https://www.pcgamer.com/dwarf-fortress-shows-off-more-of-its-new-look/
Now that Dwarf Fortress developer Bay 12 Games is focusing on the upcoming Steam release, designer Tarn Adams has shown off some of the new version's visual improvements, which ditch the ASCII look for something a bit more expressive, though still low key.

CD Projekt Red has donated almost $1 million to combat the coronavirus
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-red-has-donated-almost-dollar1-million-to-combat-the-coronavirus/
Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red is collaborating with a Polish NGO by donating 4 million PLN (£770,000/$970,000) to assist in stopping the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in Poland.
>> Good of them.

Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is launching a day early
https://www.pcgamer.com/mount-and-blade-2-bannerlord-is-launching-a-day-early/
More than seven years after it was announced, Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is finally launching on Steam this month, at least in Early Access. Given all the delays lately, I was a little worried we wouldn't see it arrive in March, but turns out that it's actually ahead of schedule, so we'll be getting our hands on it on March 30 instead of March 31.

American Truck Simulator lets you cruise around Colorado in new DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/american-truck-simulator-lets-you-cruise-around-colorado-in-new-dlc/
American Truck Simulator recently teased a 'colourful' new journey DLC but left fans guessing where in the USA we'd get to cruise next. In that news story, Andy guessed that it would be Colorado and he'll be jumping for joy knowing that his guess what spot on. SCS Software has confirmed on its official website that the new destination is the rocky wilderness of Colorado.

Time to check the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• This is the last weekend of GOG's Spring Sale, that will end March 30.
• There's also the Spring Sale Goodies Collection #2 giveaway, that will be available for another 46 hours.

+Steam

• The EGX REZZED Digital... sale? highlights upcoming games and has some already released ones on sale, up to 25% off until the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/rezzeddigital
• Call to Arms is 50% off for the next 3 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/302670/Call_to_Arms/
• Publisher Monolith has put its games up to 75% off for the next 3 days: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/MonolithSale2020
• Shoppe Keep 2 - Online co-op open world first person resource management RPG, take a moment to breathe, is 80% off until the 30th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/684580/Shoppe_Keep_2__Online_coop_open_world_first_person_resource_management_RPG/
• The Endless franchise is on sale, up to 75% off until the end of the week (and Endless Legend is free to try): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/endless_weekend
• Developer Avalanche has its games up to 90% off until March 30, and the game theHunter: Call of the Wild is free to try for another 2 days: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/avalanche
• Kerbal Space Program is free to try for the next 3 days and 75% off until the 31st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/220200/Kerbal_Space_Program/
• Killing Floor 2 67% off until March, 31: https://store.steampowered.com/app/232090/Killing_Floor_2/
• OCTOPATH TRAVELER is 50% off until April 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/app/921570/OCTOPATH_TRAVELER/
• And we can't forget the weeklong deals.

As you can see, there's no reason not to enjoy this weekend closed at home, with so many games free to try plus the discounted ones. Stay home, stay safe and have a happy and gaming weekend.