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

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Monday news, part two:

Serene, 'tiny' MMO Book of Travels goes live in October
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/serene-tiny-mmo-book-of-travels-goes-live-in-october/
Book of Travels sounded really intriguing when we got our first proper look at it in late 2020. It's a "tiny" MMO, without conventional quests and plotlines: Instead, it promises a "collaborative and friendly roleplaying experience" in a serene world where players are living their lives. There will be conflict and combat, but it will be rare and impactful rather than simply a repetitive mechanic driving character advancement.
It was expected to launch into Steam Early Access in August 2021, but at the last minute developer Might and Delight hit the pause button, saying they realized during closed beta testing that they needed more time before the public rollout. Now the studio has settled on a new launch date, revealed today as October 11.

Ubisoft issues takedown request of 'speculative' Nvidia database leak
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ubisoft-issues-takedown-request-of-speculative-nvidia-database-leak/
Nvidia set gamer hopes alight earlier this month when a leaked GeForce Now database "revealed" games including Titanfall 3, a Half-Life 2 remaster, and a PC version of God of War. Nvidia quickly shot it all down, though, saying that the titles in question were speculative, for "internal tracking and testing." (...)
But now the interest is picking up again thanks to Ubisoft, which issued a DMCA takedown notice to SteamDB operator Pavel Djundik, who had a copy of the list on Github. Djundik removed the list as requested, but of course multiple copies of the list were posted elsewhere on the site, with links quickly shared following Djundik's deletion.

Blizzard is working on 'character lockouts' bug in Diablo 2: Resurrected
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/blizzard-is-working-on-character-lockouts-bug-in-diablo-2-resurrected/
Yesterday's launch of Diablo 2: Resurrected was not the smoothest rollout ever. Shortly after it went live, reports of disappearing characters began rolling in. Blizzard took the game offline for a spot of "unscheduled maintenance," and a couple hours later it appeared that everything was sorted.

Amazing Halo Infinite bugs are already rolling in
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amazing-halo-infinite-bugs-are-already-rolling-in/
(...) Magical bugs have already started rolling in from the latest Halo Infinite technical test running this weekend. Behold, the self-duplicating wet floor sign (as shared by natdog805 on Reddit)

This new Dwarf Fortress video has me more excited than ever for the graphical update
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/this-new-dwarf-fortress-video-has-me-more-excited-than-ever-for-the-graphical-update/
I've been patient since March 2019, when Dwarf Fortress creator Tarn Adams announced that the game would be coming to Steam alongside a brand new graphical interface. Adams has released a steady stream of update videos and screenshots since then, showing the work in progress, but this latest one has finally pushed me into making grabby motions with my hands and mouthing "give it to me now" at my monitor. This massive overhaul of Dwarf Fortress is looking—and just as importantly, sounding—fantastic.

GOG users aren't happy about Hitman's online requirements
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/gog-users-arent-happy-about-hitmans-online-requirements/
While the earlier Hitman games have been available on GOG for a while, IO Interactive's recent entries making up the World of Assassination trilogy were not. The first of them, Hitman – Game of the Year Edition, arrived on GOG this week and currently has a 70% discount, but was not received quite as well as Agent 47's other outings.
With an overall rating of 1.4 stars out of 5, it's the lowest-rated Hitman on GOG by a fair margin, with even Hitman: Absolution scoring a flat 4 stars out of 5. Most of the user reviews are critical of the newer Hitman for the same reason: "This game is not DRM free in any meaningful sense", as Sheershaw puts it in a one-star review.

In Overwatch 2 Bastion loses self-repair and tank mode, gains a hat
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/in-overwatch-2-bastion-loses-self-repair-and-tank-mode-gains-a-hat/
As part of the 2021 Overwatch League Grand Finals, Blizzard went into some detail on the changes coming to Bastion in Overwatch 2. For starters there's the visual redesign, which character art director Arnold Tsang said was about remaking the omnic with "sleeker, more modern materials" as well as, yes, adding a hat. Bastion's abilities and ultimate have also been reworked.

Four years in, Foxhole now has Foxholes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/four-years-in-foxhole-now-has-foxholes/
After four years of early access development, MMO shooter Foxhole has added Foxholes. The latest update, Entrenched, overhauled mechanics surrounding digging in and building bunkers in Foxhole. Already quite extensive, players can now makes new shapes of defenses, add searchlights to bunkers, large radar facilities, and much more customizable lines of sandbags, barbed wire, and tank traps.

Grind the herbs yourself in alchemy simulator Potion Craft
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/grind-the-herbs-yourself-in-alchemy-simulator-potion-craft/
Who's in the mood for a little slice-of-life game about being an alchemist in a fantasy world? I'm sure one of you is, and I am, so here's Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator. It's a game where you do all the work of being a magical alchemist, including physically interacting with the tools. Those leaves don't just express their own oils, you'll have to get the mortar and pestle out to mash them up yourself.

Co-op RTS DwarfHeim tunnels out of Early Access this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/co-op-rts-dwarfheim-tunnels-out-of-early-access-this-month/
Class-based, cooperative RTS DwarfHeim comes out on September 27, ending a little under a year in Early Access for the unique game. It'll launch with a big 1.0 patch featuring a pretty hefty slew of new stuff: Tunneling for miners, new UI for survival mode, more colorful trolls, and a bit more. You can find the release announcement on Steam.

Dagon is a free, immersive cosmic horror adventure
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dagon-is-a-free-immersive-cosmic-horror-adventure/
The apparently very generous and talented people over at Bit Golem have let loose a free horror adventure on Steam, an adaptation of the short story Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft. It's a game that takes place somewhere inside the morphine-addled mind of a former ship's officer, and in that way it's very much the "100% faithful adaptation of the original story" that it claims to be. Dagon takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Plug and program to match waveforms in this puzzler inspired by synthesizers
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/plug-and-program-to-match-waveforms-in-this-puzzler-inspired-by-synthesizers/
Here's a thematic looking puzzler for those of you who love the technical: The Signal State, a logic game that uses the methods inspired by modular synthesizers. In it, you're a machine tech repairing parts in order to rebuild farm equipment to produce necessary food.

Wizards of the Coast is making a big-budget G.I. Joe game
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/wizards-of-the-coast-is-making-a-big-budget-gi-joe-game/
Mega-toy brand Hasbro has, through its games division Wizards of the Coast, opened a videogame studio that is "led by industry veterans from WB Games and other AAA studios". That's according to the job description attached to several listings for new roles. The studio, just referred to as "New Raleigh-Durham Studio", will be making a G.I. Joe game as its first project.

Netflix film Kate is getting a game next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/netflix-film-kate-is-getting-a-game-next-month/
Kate is a Netflix Original about an assassin with 24 hours to live. It traces Kate (because that's the protagonist's name) as she tries to find a cure for a poison she's copped, working to evade the Tokyo criminal underworld along the way. I don't know if it's good or not, but I do know that it's getting a game adaptation in the form of Kate: Collateral Damage.

Here's when New World unlocks in your time zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-world-release-time-date-steam-unlock/
If you're needing to fill an MMO void in your life then you won't have much longer to wait to play New World. It finally comes to PC via Steam on September 28 after lengthy delays and is Amazon's first major game release—besides Crucible, but the less said about that the better Both beta sessions were received mostly positively, so we have high hopes for its success.