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

[JEMC]

The news, the sequel:

Call of Duty: Vanguard won't be as storage-hungry as previous entries
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/call-of-duty-vanguard-wont-be-as-storage-hungry-as-previous-entries/
Call of Duty's been a bit storage-hungry in recent years. But if your poor drive was sweating over the prospect of squeezing in another gargantuan shooter, rest easy—Activision claims this year's entry will be significantly easier to fit on your PC.

Persona composer leaves Atlus to develop indie games
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/persona-composer-leaves-atlus-to-develop-indie-games/
Shoji Meguro, the fantastic composer behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, has left Atlus to pursue a career in making indie games.
Meguro, who had been at Atlus since 1995, revealed he left the studio at the end of September (thanks, Gematsu). In a statement, the composer said, "I've been creating role-playing games by myself during my spare time for the past five years now, and I applied for a Round 1 Kodansha Game Creators Lab recruitment and was selected as one of the finalists. Then staff from Kodansha was assigned to work with me. I decided to leave Atlus and focus on my dream of developing indie games."

The Division 2's next big content update is set for February
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-division-2s-next-big-content-update-is-set-for-february/
Ubisoft surprised fans of post-apocalyptic urban combat earlier this year when it announced plans to continue supporting The Division 2 beyond the final-sounding End of Watch update that went live at the end of 2020. Not long after that, though, it warned that the next big content update wouldn't be ready to go until late in 2021 "at the earliest." It turns out that the update will actually be even later than that.

Rust will legit let you build your own Frankenstein's monster for Halloween
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/rust-will-legit-let-you-build-your-own-frankensteins-monster-for-halloween/
Halloween is nearly here and lots of games are giving us treats in the form of spooky seasonal events. Jump into one of the games you play regularly and you're bound to find candy, pumpkins, and ghosts galore, plus plenty of new Halloween skins. Survival game Rust is upping the ante, though.

Chivalry 2 DLSS update promises 4K 60 fps dismemberment action on any Geforce RTX GPU
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/chivalry-2-dlss-update-promises-4k-60fps-dismemberment-action-on-any-geforce-rtx-gpu/
One of my favorite multiplayer games of this year, Chivalry 2, just received DLSS support allowing for an impressive boost in performance. How much of an increase? According to the press release from Nvidia, this new update can jack up performance by 45%. Based on my own testing, Nvidia isn't wrong.

Amazon says New World's economy is just fine, thanks
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amazon-says-new-worlds-economy-is-just-fine-thanks/
Some upvoted player complaints on Reddit and one doomsaying blog combined last week to paint a dire picture of New World's in-game economy. According to a site called PlayerAuctions, a "currency crisis" in the game had led to a runaway spiral of deflation: There's simply not enough money in the game to support stable economic activity, forcing prices for everything down and jacking the value of the currency itself so high that players were resorting to barter in order to acquire items and resources.
(...)
But apparently Amazon doesn't think it needs to anyway. In a post on the New World forums, developer Zin_Ramu said the in-game economy is "performing within acceptable levels," and that despite reports, all servers are actually producing more money than is being removed, "by a good margin." That surplus shrinks as players enter New World's endgame, but it hasn't yet reached a point where direct action is required.

New World vigilantes trap a notorious hemp hogging bot with well-placed tents
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-world-vigilantes-trap-a-notorious-hemp-hogging-bot-with-well-placed-tents/
In setting-appropriate fashion, Amazon's MMO New World has attracted plenty of players looking to stake a claim on its territory and hoover up valuable resources to turn a quick profit. Close to launch, we saw the work of automated bots snatching the best fishing spots, which some players solved by luring in boars to kill them. Points for originality, boar-kiters.
The plagues of automated accounts also have a hemp habit, as low-level players are now finding out. Fear not, because vigilante justice has also found a way to protect New World's weed. Players are now putting a stop to these jerk hemp hoggers by trapping them in campsite cages.

Isle of Bigsnax adds a whole new world to Bugsnax
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/isle-of-bigsnax-adds-a-whole-new-world-to-bugsnax/
Bugsnax is getting its first expansion early next year in the form of Isle of Bigsnax, which adds a new biome and a bunch of new bugsnax to capture and feed to grumpuses. These bugsnax, as the name of the isle implies, are big, nay, "supersized," but don't worry because you'll have a shrinking gun to cut them down to size. Oh, and now you can put hats on your bugsnax.
>> For "early 2022".

Aliens: Fireteam Elite Year 1 promises changes that will 'add more enjoyment' to the struggling shooter
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/aliens-fireteam-elite-year-1-promises-changes-that-will-add-more-enjoyment-to-the-struggling-shooter/
Cold Iron Studios has unveiled the year 1 roadmap for its multiplayer bug-hunting game Aliens: Fireteam Elite. New game modes, weapons, perks, and more are all on the way, but the primary focus will be on "quality of life improvements that will add enjoyment to the game's existing content."

Riot backs new studio founded by former WoW designer who was 'unhappy with the state of the game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/riot-backs-new-studio-founded-by-former-wow-designer-who-was-unhappy-with-the-state-of-the-game/
Chris Kaleiki, a former game designer on World of Warcraft who said he was "unhappy with the state of the game" after quitting Blizzard entertainment last year, has announced the launch of a new venture called Notorious Studios, backed by a few investors, one of which is League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games.

Dr. Dre is making new music for Grand Theft Auto
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dr-dre-is-making-new-music-for-grand-theft-auto/
Snoop Dogg, who it is always a pleasure to cover, especially when he's having big streaming fails or telling off Bill Gates, has told Rolling Stone that Dr. Dre is working on new music for Grand Theft Auto. Snoop will collaborate on some of these tracks, though it's unclear whether the GTA project in question is for GTA 6, a GTA Online expansion, or something to do with the GTA Trilogy releasing next month.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous gets first big patch
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous-gets-first-big-patch/
Hefty big boy of the retro CRPG genre, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has just hit version 1.1 following several smaller patches since its release in September. Highlights of this update include improved mounted combat in turn-based mode, better performance and visuals in several locations, fixes for reactivity to choices "such as some NPCs appearing where they should not be", and better visuals for some NPCs. There are also changes to crusade management, including an option to control armies from the throne room instead of having to walk out of the city every time like a chump.

Final Fantasy 14 is fine with erotic role-playing—just do it in private, please
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-14-is-fine-with-erotic-role-playingjust-do-it-in-private-please/
(...)
Square Enix seem pretty aware of how some emotes can be utilised, calling out things like "using a combination of emotes and motions to mimic grinding against another character" and "using movements that are evocative of sexual activities" as actions that aren't allowed (thanks, PCGamesN).
But ERP is one of the few certainties with MMOs, with guidelines further clarifying that you can get your virtual rocks off as long as you're doing it in private and all parties involved are consenting. Encouraging or pressuring other players to participate won't fly, though.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick takes a significant pay cut amid the publisher's ongoing lawsuits
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/activision-ceo-bobby-kotick-takes-a-significant-pay-cut-amid-the-publishers-ongoing-lawsuits/
In the midst of the company's ongoing lawsuits with multiple government agencies, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has decided that taking home his usual excessive pay wouldn't be a great look. Today, the executive announced he'll be asking the board to cut his salary to the lowest amount legally allowed under California law.

Apex Legends fans are naming Ash's nameless rat sidekick in her stead
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/apex-legends-fans-are-naming-ashs-nameless-rat-sidekick-in-her-stead/
Apex Legends' next hero, Ash, is a cold and calculating killer. A merciless simulacrum with an unfeeling metal heart. But since her reveal, Ash has been frequently shown carrying around a pet rat, feeding it cheese and let it scamper around her metal body. As far as videogame rats go, they're a real cutie.