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

[JEMC]

Monday news. part two:

Paradox Interactive snatches up yet another studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/paradox-interactive-snatches-up-yet-another-studio/
Paradox Interactive has acquired its second studio in as many weeks, adding Surviving the Aftermath developer Iceflake Studios to the roster, bumping the number of internal studios up to nine.

Turn-based tactical RPG Fae Tactics launches on July 31
https://www.pcgamer.com/turn-based-tactical-rpg-fae-tactics-launches-on-july-31/
We checked out Fae Tactics in June at the PC Gaming Show, where developer Endlessfluff Games showcased the "menuless" strategy game about a young magic user named Peony who casts spells, summons allies, and makes friends (and probably a few enemies) as she roams a world devastated by a magical calamity. The studio said at the time that the game would be out sometime this summer, and today it nailed the release down to July 31.

EA is scrubbing Washington's team name from Madden NFL 21
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-is-scrubbing-washingtons-team-name-from-madden-nfl-21/
After years of resistance, Washington's National Football League team announced earlier this week that its name will be changed to something that isn't a racial slur. A new name hasn't been settled on, though, which leaves the next iteration of the Madden series in an awkward limbo. EA announced it will make the team "generic" in the upcoming Madden NFL 21, until the new name and logo are decided.

Discord, Valorant briefly go offline following Cloudflare network issue
https://www.pcgamer.com/discord-valorant-offline-as-a-chunk-of-the-internet-goes-down/
On Friday afternoon, reports began appearing on Twitter from people who were unable to connect to chat program Discord or Riot shooter Valorant. At the time, I could not connect to either.
Update (7/18): Cloudflare says the outage was caused by a "configuration error" and lasted 27 minutes. For the curious, the company breaks down what happened in a blog post, and says it has taken steps to prevent the error from reoccurring. It also stresses that the outage "was not caused by an attack or breach of any kind."

This FMV game trailer was so poorly received the publisher took the whole announcement back
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-fmv-game-trailer-was-so-poorly-received-the-publisher-took-the-whole-announcement-back/
Yesterday, publisher Wales Interactive announced a new "FMV thriller" called Gamer Girl that will put players in the role of a moderator of an up-and-coming streamer named Abicake99. You'll moderate comments in her stream, reward good behavior and ban trolls, and work to increase subscriber numbers and earn likes to keep Abicake99 in a good mood and her career on track.

Caves of Qud introduces a sprawling new dungeon: The Tomb of the Eaters
https://www.pcgamer.com/caves-of-qud-introduces-a-sprawling-new-dungeon-the-tomb-of-the-eaters/
Science-fantasy roguelike Caves of Qud has a huge new update with a massive, 12-level dungeon called the Tomb of the Eaters. The Tomb is a pretty big dungeon that adds a lot to Qud's elaborate histories because it deals with The Eaters, a long-lost precursor to Qud's civilization of weird mutants and people and animal hybrids.

Hell Let Loose debuts urban combat and new animations for a free weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/hell-let-loose-debuts-urban-combat-and-new-animations-for-a-free-weekend/
(...) The WW2 shooter's Update 7 - Battle of Carentan introduces a hellish-looking urban combat map the developers showed off last month. It's about as terrifying as you'd expect, and that's a good thing, because it is a fun change of pace from the hedgerows and forests of prior maps.

Visual novel initially banned from Steam now available
https://www.pcgamer.com/visual-novel-initially-banned-from-steam-now-available/
Translation house Fruitbat Factory, responsible for the English versions of games like War of the Human Tanks and 100% Orange Juice, have released the first two episodes of their new game, Jiangshi x Daoshi, for free. After initially being rejected by Steam, it was altered to suit Valve's feedback. You can, however, download a restoration patch from the Fruitbat Factory website or just get an unaltered version from itch.io, where as always anything goes.

Minecraft players may have found the world of the title screen
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecraft-players-may-have-found-the-world-of-the-title-screen/
After a comprehensive month-long search and some clever distributed computing, Minecraft players have discovered what may well be the world seed for the title menu's panorama background. First added to the game in 2011 and only relatively recently replaced in patch 1.13, the background panorama is a pretty iconic bit of gaming history. However, just what world the panorama was from wasn't known until yesterday, when some digital explorers found the world(s) in question and posted it to Reddit.

Organic city-builder Foundation now has minerals to mine and complex craftsmanship
https://www.pcgamer.com/organic-city-builder-foundation-now-has-minerals-to-mine-and-complex-craftsmanship/
Foundation is a medieval city-builder that touts its lack of a grid as a major feature. It's a game where your peoples' feet determine where roads go as much as you do. They'll take the short route between two points and over time that'll become a road. You just tell them where to do stuff, not exactly what to do.
Its been a bit since we checked in with the game, and it looks like the developers have been pretty busy. A new update adds precious minerals and an expanded crafting system to the game. The nodes require your bailiff to go prospecting, hoping to find gold (but probably just finding iron), before being converted into scaffolded open mines.

Physics-based fencing in Hellish Quart is looking real good
https://www.pcgamer.com/physics-based-sword-dueling-in-hellish-quart-is-looking-real-good/
Who likes swordfights? Swashbuckling? Fencing? Fighting games? Here's one for you: Hellish Quart, a physics-driven indie fighting game that promises to emulate the real cut-and-thrust of close combat in the 17th century. That's right: It's the era of musketeers and janissaries and cossacks. Superb. The game uses motion captured moves from actual fencers, and 3D-scanned reproductions of period clothing, to give the feeling of authenticity. The solo indie developer, called Kubold, is an animator and motion capture actor who worked on The Witcher 3.

Necromunda: Underhive Wars details gang warfare in the grim, dark future
https://www.pcgamer.com/necromunda-underhive-wars-details-its-gang-warfare-in-the-grim-dark-future/
After going silent for a bit, Necromunda: Underhive Wars popped back up earlier this year in preparation for a Summer 2020 release. That's still on, and the developers are finally releasing details about how the game will play. Necromunda is a tactical skirmish game set in the Warhammer 40,000 Universe from Games Workshop, and the video game adaptation is the video game companion of the genre, a tactical RPG. In the story, Necromunda is a human "hive-world," where tens of billions of people labor in massive, overbuilt sky-scraping megacities. In Necromunda, you take control of a criminal gang in the depths beneath the hive.

Strange Adventures in Infinite Space is back, free
https://www.pcgamer.com/strange-adventures-in-infinite-space-is-back-free/
Strange Adventures in Infinite Space was a sci-fi roguelike developed by Digital Eel and published by Cheapass Games back in 2002. If you imagine a line extending from the Star Control series to FTL, put your finger on a point roughly halfway between them and that's where you'll find Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.

Dead by Daylight is getting cross-progression in September, full cross-play "really soon"
https://www.pcgamer.com/dead-by-daylight-is-getting-cross-progression-in-september-full-cross-play-really-soon/
Multiplayer slasher horror Dead by Daylight will soon let you play on more than one platform, as developer Behaviour Interactive has announced cross-progression is on its way this September. There is one massive catch to it, though.

Dying Light's Hellraid DLC has been delayed yet again
https://www.pcgamer.com/dying-lights-hellraid-dlc-has-been-delayed-yet-again/
Dying Light's upcoming Hellraid DLC has been delayed at the absolute last possible second, following a recent beta test.
The DLC, which incorporates elements of Techland's cancelled Hellraid as a procedurally-generated dungeon crawler, was due to launch this week on July 23. However, in a tweet from Techland, it's been announced the release has been pushed back to August 13, in order to apply suggestions made by the community after a recent beta test.

One third of developers have had their games delayed due to coronavirus
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-third-of-developers-have-had-their-games-delayed-due-to-covid-19/
One third of developers have had their projects delayed due to the coronavirus.
In a survey by the Game Developers Conference (which itself has had to go digital-only for its conference this year due to the virus), 33% of developers claim the game they have been working on has been delayed, citing reasons such as the transition from working at home as the primary cause of these delays. In the report, it is claimed up to 70% of developers have had to move to working from home since the pandemic began.