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

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Wednesday news, the second part:

Crypto thieves rob adorable digital animal game for more than $617M
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/crypto-thieves-rob-adorable-digital-animal-game-for-more-than-dollar617m/
Axie Infinity looks like a cross between a Tamagotchi and Pokémon, a "digital pet universe where players battle, raise, and trade fantasy creatures called Axies," creatures that happen to be NFTs. A February 2022 writeup by Decrypt.co described it as "the play-to-earn NFT game taking crypto by storm," but in a shocking development the game has now been taken by hackers, to the tune of more than $600 million—making it one of the biggest crypto heists of all time.

Oops, Elden Ring accidentally made a dog stronger than 11 Radahns
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/oops-elden-ring-accidentally-made-a-dog-stronger-than-11-radahns/
Poison swamps and terrible dogs have one thing in common: FromSoftware absolutely cannot resist putting them in all of its games. Elden Ring is full of dogs that might have a better chance of becoming Elden Lord than you do, considering how often they launch into nearly unstoppable barrages of fangs that always seem to stagger you. And that's just Elden Ring's normal breed of terrible dog. The bleed-inflicting dog variant in Elden Ring is so, so much worse. These bleed dogs are currently bugged, causing them to deal over 11,000 points of damage in one attack animation.

Two weeks after workplace abuse allegations, Funomena is reportedly closing
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/two-weeks-after-workplace-abuse-allegations-funomena-is-reportedly-closing/
Less than two weeks after it was named in an investigation into possible workplace abuses at acclaimed indie studios, Wattam developer Funomena is reportedly closing its doors.
Update 03/30/2022: A tweet from Funomena now all-but-confirms the studio's imminent closure.

Every time a player pulls this sword from the stone, it gets heavier
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/every-time-a-player-pulls-this-sword-from-the-stone-it-gets-heavier/
Here's a simple yet intriguing concept for a game. There's a sword in a stone. Pull the sword out of the stone and you are crowned king. The sword is then returned to the stone, and the next player to pull it out is crowned king. Easy.
But there's a cruel twist in this free game on Steam, which is called in full: "The one who pulls out the sword will be crowned king." Each time a player pulls the sword out and is crowned king, it becomes slightly more difficult for the next player to pull the sword out. With each successful pull, the sword gets longer and heavier. The game launched yesterday, and this morning I tried to pull the sword out (you click and drag… and drag, and drag, and drag). After a full minute of pulling, I'd managed to raise the sword only about a centimeter.

Game developers in Ukraine hope Steam will be able to pay them soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/steam-ukraine-russia-payments/
Many game developers in Ukraine and Russia won't receive Steam revenue they were owed in March until sometime in April, or possibly later. Valve says that its bank added new rules after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, and as a result, it currently cannot wire money to accounts in either country. Steam publishers with Ukrainian or Russian bank accounts either have to wait for Valve to comply with the new rules—the company says it's working on a way to collect and transmit new information required by its bank—or use a foreign bank account for the time being.

Loop Hero studio encourages users affected by sanctions to pirate the game
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/loop-hero-studio-encourages-users-affected-by-sanctions-to-pirate-the-game/
Prospective buyers of Loop Hero based in areas affected by economic sanctions should pirate the game, studio Four Quarters has announced. Due to sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, some customers in Russia may be unable to use regular payment methods to purchase games on Steam.

Scott Bennie, writer on Interplay's Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, Fallout, and others, has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/scott-bennie-writer-on-interplays-lord-of-the-rings-star-trek-fallout-and-others-has-died/
Scott Bennie, writer, producer, and designer of multiple videogames and tabletop roleplaying games, has died at the age 61 due to pneumonia complications, as confirmed on his Facebook page.

Activision Blizzard settles one sexual harassment lawsuit for $18M
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/activision-blizzard-settles-one-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-for-dollar18m/
A US judge has approved Activision Blizzard's $18 million settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), wrapping up one of the many discrimination lawsuits brought against the company. The lawsuit had outlined details of sexual harassment, sex discrimination relating to its handling of pregnancy and retaliation against its female employees.