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

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Monday news, part two:

Valheim patch adds more surtling cores for all you Viking smelters
https://www.pcgamer.com/valheim-february-4-patch-notes/
If you've been playing co-op Viking survival game Valheim, you're probably keen to graduate from crafting weapons and clothing out of basic wood and leather. Metal is where it's at, and to start melting down tin, copper, and iron ore for crafting, you're going to need a smelter and a kiln to create coal to power it.
(...)
The new Valheim 0.142.5 patch thankfully addresses that issue, adding more surtling cores to burial chambers, meaning you hopefully won't battle your way through the inky, skelly-filled tombs and come away with nothing but a handful of bones.
>> And one player has reached the edge of the map.

Randy Pitchford says Gearbox acquisition will allow it to 'take a risk' on new things
https://www.pcgamer.com/randy-pitchford-says-gearbox-acquisition-will-allow-it-to-take-a-risk-on-new-things/
The first, and quite possibly only, game that comes to mind when you think about Gearbox Software is almost certainly Borderlands. There have been others, of course, but we haven't seen a Brothers in Arms game in well over a decade, and neither Duke Nukem Forever nor Aliens: Colonial Marines left a positive impression. In an interview with VentureBeat, though, Gearbox co-founder Randy Pitchford said the studio actually has a lot of other ideas it would like to pursue, and its recent acquisition by Embracer Group will finally enable it to do so.
>> Unless they really, really suck at managing money or making publishing deals, I don't think money was the issue that stopped them from making other games in recent years.

The indie Chinese RPG that suddenly became one of Steam's most popular games may get an English translation
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-indie-chinese-rpg-that-suddenly-became-one-of-steams-most-popular-games-may-get-an-english-translation/
Tale of Immortal is one of Steam's most popular games right now. After launching just last week, the Chinese indie RPG rocketed to the top of Steam's global top sellers list and most popular games by concurrent viewers. Around 176,000 players are playing during peak gaming hours in China—making Tale of Immortal more popular than familiar mainstays like Grand Theft Auto 5, Team Fortress 2, and even Apex Legends.
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Judging by the 20,000 positive user reviews on Steam, players like it a lot, and those of us who don't read Chinese may eventually get a chance to see why: An English translation is in the plans according to a forum response from one of the developers back in December.

There are more Epic Store exclusives coming over the next 2 years than have released so far
https://www.pcgamer.com/there-are-more-epic-store-exclusives-coming-over-the-next-2-years-than-have-released-so-far/
There haven't been many Epic Store exclusivity announcements recently, which got me wondering if Epic might be winding down that part of its strategy. Nope. According to Epic, the opposite is the case.

Hitman 3's location import function will be live by the end of February
https://www.pcgamer.com/hitman-3s-location-import-function-will-be-live-by-the-end-of-february/
Hitman 3 is a spectacular finish to the World of Assassination trilogy (...)
The only thing marring the game, in fact, is IO Interactive's promise that Hitman 3 players would be able to import their Hitman 2 ownership, unlocking those maps at no extra charge.
(...)
It's been out for more than two weeks now and there's still no sign of that functionality, but a new update to the "Known Issues" list on the Hitman forums says that it will be released by the end of this month.

Final Fantasy 14's next expansion is Endwalker, coming fall 2021
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasys-next-expansion-is-endwalker-coming-fall-2021/
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker was announced during a special Square Enix livestream, and it's coming fall 2021. We don't know much, other than the story is a direct continuation of the events of Shadowbringers, with the players waging war against the Garlean Empire which recently crowned a new emperor, the infamous Zenos Yae Galvus.
>> But before that, the FF14 5.5 update will launch, in April 13.

Final Fantasy 14's next expansion will end its 10-year-story and start a whole new one
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14s-next-expansion-will-end-its-10-year-story-and-start-a-whole-new-one/
The next Final Fantasy 14 expansion Endwalker is due this fall, but this one's going to hit a little different. During the FF14 announcement showcase, game director Naoki Yoshida and translation director Michael Christopher Koji Fox made it clear that Endwalker represents a major milestone for the long-running story of Final Fantasy 14, wrapping up the current arc spanning from A Realm Reborn (2013) through Shadowbringers and its post-launch patches (present).

Meet the Sage, a rad new healer coming with Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker
https://www.pcgamer.com/meet-the-sage-a-rad-new-healer-coming-with-final-fantasy-14-endwalker/
Final Fantasy 14's latest expansion Endwalkers is coming in Fall 2021, confirmed during today's showcase. New jobs were rolled into the announcement, two of which are arriving with Endwalkers, but we only got a close look a the new healer class, the Sage.

Pretty soon Final Fantasy 14 will let you visit friends on different data centers
https://www.pcgamer.com/pretty-soon-final-fantasy-14-will-let-you-visit-friends-on-different-data-centers/
During a Final Fantasy 14 expansion reveal livestream, director Naoki Yoshida revealed that the development team is working on a system that will let players visit their friends on entirely different data centers. This effectively means that players will be able to play with friends regardless of what server they are on, even if they're in a different region.

Final Fantasy 14 5.5 update detailed: will pave the way for Endwalker's story
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-55-update-detailed-will-pave-the-way-for-endwalkers-story/
The latest patch for Final Fantasy 14 is due to arrive on April 13, wrapping up the story in preparation for Endwalker. The patch was previously announced at the Final Fantasy 14 showcase, where CEO Yosuke Matsuda 'accidentally' let slip the patch's release date, but with no additional details.
Patch 5.5, dubbed Death Unto Dawn, will be split into two parts, with the second half arriving in May. Across the two parts, patch 5.5 will release new Main Scenario Quests tying up the Shadowbringers storyline and paving the way for Endbringer's release sometime this autumn. The first half also brings the third chapter of the Nier crossover alliance raid, YorHa: Dark Apocalypse.

Apex Legends' bunker pass is once again a deathtrap, thanks to Fuse
https://www.pcgamer.com/apex-legends-bunker-pass-is-once-again-a-deathtrap-thanks-to-fuse/
That's right, Apex Legends' (most?) infamous room is once again in the spotlight with the release of Season 8 and new character Fuse. The nice cutthrough a mountain has a room with once entrance, which you should definitely know better than to go inside in an FPS. It's infamous for being a trap where character Caustic's gas clouds will kill you. Now it's even deadlier.

Do some tactical mech vs kaiju battles in Mech Armada
https://www.pcgamer.com/do-some-tactical-mech-vs-kaiju-battles-in-mech-armada/
Mech Armada is a turn-based tactical game coming this summer that pits mechs and giant monsters against each other in turn-based battles for the fate of humanity. The game's all about strategic decisions and force composition, incorporating elements of deckbuilding and roguelike games.

An expansion for Factorio is in development
https://www.pcgamer.com/an-expansion-for-factorio-is-in-development/
Absorbing factory-building game Factorio has an expansion in the works, per the folks at Wube Software. With the newest release, 1.1 out in the wild, Wube has decided that 1.1 will be the final release of the base game. (1.1 is quite impressive, with big UI improvements and blueprint flipping.) After weighing the options, Wube has decided that "one big expansion pack" is the best choice to grow Factorio.

Transport management classic OpenTTD is coming to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/transport-management-classic-openttd-is-coming-to-steam/
Management and business simulation game OpenTTD is coming to Steam in April, an expandable and beloved classic of the tycoon genre. In OpenTTD players run a transport business, moving passengers and cargo via water, rail, air, and road from place to place to develop a world and get rich. It first started in 2004 as an open-source remake of the 1995 game Transport Tycoon Deluxe and has been maintained and expanded ever since on account of its open-source nature and simple moddability.

XCOM 2012 was pitched as a real-time game
https://www.pcgamer.com/xcom-2012-was-pitched-as-a-real-time-game/
The fantastic XCOM: Enemy Unknown upended the strategy space when it came out in 2012, taking the well-worn turn based tactics genre and adding more stringent rules and less simulation in favor of a dynamic, manipulatable battlefield and soldiers with special roles and powers, rather than just equipment and numbers. Designer Jake Solomon has tweeted a picture of his very first pitch document for the reboot of the tactics series, from 2005, and it's very different from what was eventually released.

ZA/UM details extra quests and other content in Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
https://www.pcgamer.com/zaum-details-extra-quests-and-other-content-in-disco-elysium-the-final-cut/
Disco Elysium, which topped our list of the best videogames you can play today, is debuting on consoles this year in a Final Cut version that's also coming to PC as a free upgrade. Some of its additions are more significant for console players—controller support, for instance—but there's also plenty for those of us on PC, as Studio ZA/UM writer and narrative designer Justin Keenan explained to Push Square in a recent interview.

Total War: Warhammer 3 preorders remain top of the charts in China
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-3-preorders-remain-top-of-the-charts-in-china/
Total War: Three Kingdoms became the fastest-selling entry in Creative Assembly's strategy game series thanks largely to its popularity in China, selling a million copies in its first week. Based on how the preorders are going, Total War: Warhammer 3 might repeat the trick.