Friday news, part two:
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker Error 2002—What it is and what to do about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-14-endwalker-error-2002what-it-is-and-what-to-do-about-it/
Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker is upon us, and the hype is very much real. (...)
The Error 2002 message may pop up for two reasons. The first is simply if the login server is experiencing high levels of traffic, which has a good chance of happening several times over the first few weeks of release.
The second reason is if the Data Center you're on exceeds 17,000 players waiting in the login queue. The cap is there to ensure things don't become too overloaded and buckle under pressure. With NA Data Centers having eight servers each and EU ones having six, that's roughly 2,000-3,000 people trying to log onto each server. I've been in queues close to 2,000 in the past, which makes me think we'll be seeing Data Centers capping out a couple of times over early access weekend.
Noble Fates is a castle management sim inspired by Rimworld
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/noble-fates-is-a-castle-management-sim-inspired-by-rimworld/
I'm a simple PC gamer, really. Just drop terms like kingdom management, simulation and Rimworld into a game blurb, and you have a degree of attention from me that borders on obsession. That's precisely what the PR folks behind upcoming kingdom sim Noble Fates did, and now I can't help but ruminate on how far this game will let me go in acting out my feudal fantasies.
US state treasuries are putting pressure on Activision Blizzard now, too
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/us-state-treasuries-are-putting-pressure-on-activision-blizzard-now-too/
The state treasurers of Nevada, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, and Oregon are calling on Activision Blizzard to take action to address concerns expressed in November by shareholder group SOC Investment Group, and have requested a meeting with the company's board of directors to discuss the matter further.
GamesMaster got some kids to design a game, so now you can play Bouncing Bum Bums
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/gamesmaster-got-some-kids-to-design-a-game-so-now-you-can-play-bouncing-bum-bums/
(...)
Bouncing Bum Bums is not going to be troubling any game of the year lists, but this is what GamesMaster's all about. The kids want bums? A robot with a bum-bum mouth? Yeah screw it, let's go. Let's get a few shots in at E4 while we're at it.
>> You can play the game on your browser and there's a link on the article (arrow keys to move and space bar to grab the cows).
Epic asks leakers to not leak Fortnite Chapter 3, it leaks anyway on TikTok
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/fortnite-leak-chapter-3/
The relationship between Epic and Fortnite's small legion of data miners and leakers has always been a tense one. Perhaps no more so than when a new Fortnite season or chapter is around the corner. With Fortnite Chapter 3 on the horizon, Epic has reportedly been asking the usual leakers to abstain from spoiling anything related to the Fortnite Chapter 3 reveal event "The End."
Here's when Icarus unlocks in your time zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/icarus-release-time-date-steam-unlock/
It's almost time to hunt, build, survive, and gather precious exotic resources on a hostile alien world. Survival game Icarus releases on December 3 after several months of beta weekends. Icarus, from studio RocketWerkz (founded by Dean Hall of DayZ fame) is a session-based survival game and can be played solo or with up to 8 players. It's launching simultaneously across the world, so there's no need to mess with your Steam region settings.
Some kind of game-shaped thing based on The Matrix is coming
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/some-kind-of-game-shaped-thing-based-on-the-matrix-is-coming/
The Matrix is getting very meta. The fourth film in the series, The Matrix Resurrections, is set to debut later this month, resurrecting (get it?) the stylish cyber-dystopian tale of false lives. And based on a leak that appeared today on Reddit, we'll also at some point be getting "an Unreal Engine 5 experience" called The Matrix Awakens.
The Battlefield series is now in the hands of Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-battlefield-series-is-now-in-the-hands-of-respawn-co-founder-vince-zampella/
Battlefield 2042 doesn't include a singleplayer campaign, but something like a new Battlefield campaign is probably in the early stages of development. EA announced today that Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella will oversee the Battlefield series from here on out, and that new Battlefield "experiences" are coming from Ripple Effect, the studio that made Battlefield 2042's Portal mode, as well as a new Seattle-based studio led by Marcus Lehto, the former Bungie art and creative director who designed Master Chief.
After a decade of waiting, one of the most troubled RPGs of all time is getting an expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/after-a-decade-of-waiting-one-of-the-most-troubled-rpgs-of-all-time-is-getting-an-expansion/
The tale of Kingdoms of Amalur is a long and sad one, beginning with celebrity developers and ending in a salty morass of unpaid staff, a collapsed game studio, and charges of tax fraud. It took four years to sort that mess out: When it was all over, 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling agreed to a $2.5 million settlement, leaving Rhode Island taxpayers on the hook for another $28.2 million.
Compounding the sadness of the whole thing is that Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is really quite good. THQ Nordic purchased the license to the game in 2018 but a remaster seemed unlikely, given the complications of intellectual property laws, but a couple years later we got one—and in less than two weeks from today, we're also getting a brand new expansion called Fatesworn.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe will be out early 2022, for real this time
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-stanley-parable-ultra-deluxe-will-be-out-early-2022-for-real-this-time/
During the Game Awards in 2018, an expanded version of entirely serious office-life drama The Stanley Parable was announced with a release date of 2019. (...)
And so, the new trailer begins: "What does it mean to be a videogame developer? It means lying, boldly and brazenly to your audience, promising them release dates that are wildly outside the realm of reality." Then it confidently announces a new release date of "early 2022". However, this time it's "content complete." It even has a Steam page. I think it might actually be for real. (If you're reading this from the future and it's not, please don't laugh.)
Destiny 2's event for Bungie's 30th anniversary brings major armor changes that will enable full loadout swapping
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/destiny-2s-event-for-bungies-30th-anniversary-brings-major-armor-changes-that-will-enable-full-loadout-swapping/
In its customary "This Week at Bungie" update, the developer outlined some substantial quality of life changes coming to Destiny in its 30th anniversary event next week. Alongside some tantalizing images from the official Destiny 2 Twitter account and the Steam page teasing the paid elements of the release, for many players one of the most exciting changes will be to the way armor management works.
Following backlash, EA puts Battlefield 2042 Santa skin back in the sack
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ea-sacks-off-battlefield-2042-santa-skin-following-player-backlash/
It's not been a great week for Battlefield 2042. Amidst plummeting player counts, ongoing technical issues and negative player reviews, a leak yesterday revealed a Santa Claus skin that was planned for the game's next big update. It didn't go down well at all, and now it seems that Santa Claus is no longer coming to town, with EA DICE saying that they 'presently have no plans to utilize all the skins this holiday.'
Teardown's campaign now complete with flamethrowing robots and tornadoes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/teardowns-campaign-now-complete-with-flamethrowing-robots-and-tornadoes/
Teardown is a chaotic, destructive sandbox and a great puzzle game. From launch the game found a sizeable and dedicated player base that loves experimenting with its collapsible environments, a side of the game that the newly released Part 2 update leans into: It basically goes full Garry's mod, with rocket-boosters and wire-propelled catapults.
The Last Night to 'make a comeback' in 2022, says developer
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-last-night-to-make-a-comeback-in-2022-says-developer/
The trajectory of cinematic cyberpunk platformer The Last Night has been a sobering lesson to never fall in love with a 'First Look' trailer. The game's debut at E3 2017 was mesmerising; a hypnotic 120-second stroll through a dystopian city drenched in rain and neon, presented through a tasteful layering of pixel art and 3D graphics.
New World celebrates Christmas by getting players to grind tokens to please a big yeti
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/new-world-celebrates-christmas-by-getting-players-to-grind-tokens-to-please-a-big-yeti/
Amazon Game Studios has announced the latest batch of stuff coming to New World's public test realm, the game's standard way of testing out its latest content before releasing it to the masses. The PTRs pop up as temporary servers that all players are able to access, and provide pre-built characters for players to test out the content at various levels. This one's content, unsurprisingly, has a big winter vibe.
Let's end the news by checking the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:
+GOG
- The Weekly Sale comes with a mix of games up to 80% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211129_weekly_sale
- The Midweek Sale is full of "engaging building games" up to 80% off for another 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211201_midweek_sale
- The first flash deal is Drakensang, 80% off during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/drakensang
- The second flash deal is Singularity, also 80% off for the same 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/singularity
- The Weekend Sale is full of adventure games with up to 90% discounts: https://www.gog.com/promo/20211203_weekend_sale
- Kangura Games has released four new titles on the store and they'll be on sale, from 20 to 50% off, until December 10th. Learn more here: https://www.gog.com/news/4_engaging_titles_from_kagura_games_are_here
- Techland celebrates its 30th anniversary by giving away the game Crime Cities until the 9th of December: https://www.gog.com/game/crime_cities
- Techland also puts some of its classics on sale, up to 80% off until December 16: https://www.gog.com/promo/techland_classics
+Steam
- The first daily deal is The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante, 35% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1272160/The_Life_and_Suffering_of_Sir_Brante/
- The second daily deal is Accident, 40% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/852220/Accident/
- The first Weekend Deal is Teardown, still in Early Access, with a 20% discount until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1167630/Teardown/
- BIOMUTANT is 50% off until the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/597820/BIOMUTANT/
- Pathfinder and Outward are on sale, both alone and bundled, with between 40 and 70% discounts until Monday 6: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/pathfinder_outward
- A Plague Tale: Innocence will be 75% off until December 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/752590/A_Plague_Tale_Innocence/
- The Guildford Games Festival Sale comes with up to 80% discounts until Monday, December 6: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/guildfordgamesfestival2021
- And of course, there's also the (few) weeklong deals.
That's it for the week. Until next Monday, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
