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

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Thursday news, part two:

Report: Don't expect a new Call of Duty reveal at this year's E3
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/report-dont-expect-a-new-call-of-duty-reveal-at-this-years-e3/
Call of Duty's next entry, rumoured to bring the series back to World War 2 under the assumed title "Vanguard", won't be making an appearance at this year's E3 according to VGC.

Battlefield 2042 won't include battle royale, but there are 2 mystery modes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/battlefield-2042-battle-royale-hazard-zone/
Battlefield 2042 has given us a lot to talk about: It's doubling the usual player count (two teams of 64 for a total of 128 players per match) and totally changing the typical Battlefield class system. The near-future setting barely feels important. It's pretty much the opposite of the Battlefield 5 reveal, which focused on that game's WW2 setting, granular details like character animation, and the E3 announcement that a battle royale mode was in development. Case in point: There's definitely no battle royale mode this time.
>> And it will also launch on both Steam and th Epic Store.

Battle.net will now let you make friends from across the globe
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/battlenet-will-now-let-you-make-friends-from-across-the-globe/
Blizzard's Battle.net launcher will now let you add, manage, and chat to friends from across the world—though you'll still only be able to play with those in your current region.

Overwatch is getting crossplay
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/overwatch-crossplay-beta/
In a surprise announcement today, Blizzard said that a crossplay beta test is coming soon to Overwatch that will allow players on all platforms—PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch—to group up and play together. To take part, download the latest Battle.net update (or make an account if you don't already have one), then go into the settings and link your console accounts through it. The update has also merged friends lists from different territories, so you'll be able to play with people in other parts of the world without having to switch regions first. (China is excluded from this, however, and will remain its own separate region.)

I amassed an army of spritelings in The Wild at Heart and might actually cry
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-wild-at-heart-puzzle-adventure/
I've just spent several hours of my life sucking at tiny windmills, smashing up glowing veggies, and crafting curious contraptions in The Deep Woods. All the while gaining power as I gather the ingredients to design an army of sprite minions. Who wouldn't want one of those?

Former Bloodlines 2 writers join The Fermi Paradox
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/former-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-writers-join-the-fermi-paradox/
The Fermi Paradox is a sci-fi strategy game named after—and, in some ways, based on—the real-life Fermi paradox, which ponders the contradiction between the apparent likelihood of alien in the galaxy (there are a lot of stars and planets out there) and the fact that we still haven't seen any evidence of it. The goal is to guide up to ten distinct civilizations through eons of history, from basic survival to (hopefully) first contact with other life forms.
(...)
To help ensure it hits the mark, Anomaly has added four veteran writers to the project: Cara Ellison and Brian Mitsoda, formerly the senior narrative designer and lead writer on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, as well as Jana Sloan van Geest, whose past credits including Horizon: Zero Dawn – The Frozen Wilds and Assassin's Creed: Origins, and Jedidjah Julia Noomen, who has previously worked on Alt-Frequencies and the Fabulous series.

Pre-E3 leaks and rumors: Everything we've heard so far
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/e3-2021-leaks-rumors/
E3 season is a time of big announcements and reveals, and game publishers put a lot of effort into keeping their surprises secret until the big moment arrives. But no matter how hard they try to keep every secret tucked away, leaks always find a way to spring forth in the days and weeks leading up to their grand events.
>> Let the speculation flow!

Red Dead Online's summer update will add robbing homesteads and other "unlawful activities"
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/red-dead-onlines-summer-update-will-add-robbing-homesteads-and-other-unlawful-activities/
The previously announced early summer update for Red Dead Online is supposed to rejuvenate the standalone multiplayer with plenty of new stuff, but Rockstar Games is still keeping it vague.

Roblox has been hit with a $200M lawsuit by music publishers for copyright infringement
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/roblox-has-been-hit-by-dollar200m-lawsuit-by-music-publishers-for-copyright-infringement/
Variety reports that the National Music Publishers' association (NMPA) is seeking a minimum of $200M in damages from the Roblox Company for failing to license any music that users upload to Roblox.

Pirated games helped a malware campaign compromise 3.2 million PCs
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/pirated-games-helped-a-malware-campaign-compromise-32-million-pcs/
A trojan virus that infected millions of PCs and stole 1.2 terabytes of personal information was largely spread through illegal software, including pirated games and a cracked version of Adobe Photoshop, security researchers from NordLocker said. Inside the treasure trove of stolen data were 1.1 million unique email addresses and 26 million login credentials, among other things.
>> But I'm sure none of you is in danger, because you all buy your games... right?

PUBG's terrifying bots have been toned back down
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/pubgs-terrifying-bots-have-been-toned-back-down/
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has released an emergency hotfix to tone down the battle royale's killer robot problem.
Last month, PUBG's 12.1 update arrived with a few changes aimed at making the game's hapless bots a little more formidable. But those upgrades may have worked a little too well, with PUBG's warzones now supposedly plagued by laser-accurate aimbots.