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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

Magic Arena gets a crossover set for the first time, and it's Lord of the Rings
https://www.pcgamer.com/magic-arena-gets-a-crossover-set-for-the-first-time-and-its-lord-of-the-rings/
For a few years now, Magic: The Gathering has been doing crossover sets with other worlds under the Universes Beyond and Secret Lair labels. We've recently seen adaptations like Street Fighter and Fortnite, while an upcoming set will explore the various Warhammer properties. None of these crossovers have ever reached past paper Magic and into the digital world of Magic: The Gathering Arena
. Next year, however, that changes. Upcoming set The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will release sometime next summer, or "Q3 2023." Its release will bring the world of LOTR to a booster set that will appear not just on digital, but will be a set in Alchemy, the standard-equivalent ruleset of Arena. Wizards of the Coast previewed the set today during its Wizards Presents event.

An official D&D virtual tabletop system is being developed in Unreal Engine 5
https://www.pcgamer.com/an-official-dandd-virtual-tabletop-system-is-being-developed-in-unreal-engine-5/
An official digital toolset and virtual tabletop for playing Dungeons & Dragons is on the way. During an event today, Wizards of the Coast showed off some in-engine footage from the toolset's pre-alpha phase.
The software, which Wizards refers to as an "early-in-development D&D digital play experience," will work with the existing D&D Beyond digital tools and the updated ruleset on the way (which is basically D&D 5.5 Edition). Wizards says it will "offer players and Dungeon Masters full immersion and rich 3D creation tools."

Diablo 4 will have 'an army of developers' working on years of seasonal updates
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-will-have-an-army-of-developers-working-on-years-of-seasonal-updates/
Diablo 4 will be supported by an "army of developers" working on new seasonal content for years to come, Blizzard said in today's new quarterly update, with updates and new content ranging from polish and quality-of-life features to major new features, quests, enemies, items, live events, and—of course—season passes.

Helldivers 2 is definitely real, and probably announcing soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-is-definitely-real-and-probably-announcing-soon/
Another Nvidia leak bears out: 12 seconds of footage from a Helldivers 2 trailer has leaked on Twitter ahead of an official announcement. As sequels go, Helldivers 2 shouldn't be a big surprise at this point: developer Arrowhead Game Studios (also the makers of Magicka) hasn't released a new game since Helldivers in 2015, and last October Arrowhead tweeted some cryptic binary code that seemed like a tease for an announcement that never materialized. In other words: it's about time.

Starfield is going to Gamescom, but not with new gameplay
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-is-going-to-gamescom-but-not-with-new-gameplay/
Even after its big 15 minute reveal this summer, everyone is begging for more Starfield details. Fans spotted a mention of Starfield gameplay being shown during an on-site Gamescom fan event in Germany next week, but it turns out their hopes were a little too high.

The most influential Quake mod of all time is back
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-most-influential-quake-mod-of-all-time-is-back/
Threewave, the classic capture the flag mod for the original Quake, is back after 26 years. Bethesda announced today that nine levels from the original Threewave CTF mod, along with the grappling hook, special runes, and other enhancements, have been brought back to life and added for free to the Quake remaster on Steam.

It's Only Money is a 'lowlife simulator' that looks like an indie GTA Online with silly mini-games
https://www.pcgamer.com/its-only-money-is-a-lowlife-simulator-that-looks-like-an-indie-gta-online-with-silly-mini-games/
It's Only Money is an upcoming open-world co-op "lowlife simulator" for 1-4 players that begins with an interesting premise: The new mayor of Rockhaven is looking to gentrify the city in a hurry, and to make it happen he's throwing everyone who doesn't fit his vision into a hole—a literal, giant hole.

That tactics game about farting donkey doodles is coming this winter
https://www.pcgamer.com/that-tactics-game-about-farting-donkey-doodles-is-coming-this-winter/
Tactics games are going absolutely medieval this year, and Inkulinati is no exception. Based on the silly manuscript doodles and marginalia of medieval monks, Inkulinati takes those critters and makes them into units in a battle of turn-based strategy.

Embracer report suggests the KOTOR remake isn't delayed after all
https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-report-suggests-the-kotor-remake-isnt-delayed-after-all/
Despite a recent Bloomberg report that the Knights of the Old Republic remake was "delayed indefinitely," the game might still be on its way this year.
According to a financial report from Embracer Group, the IP-hungry parent company of the studios working on the game, "One of the Group's AAA projects has transitioned to another studio within the Group," and that it isn't "expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition." The company said the delay was to "ensure the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title."

Quake Champions has left Steam Early Access
https://www.pcgamer.com/quake-champions-has-left-steam-early-access/
Quake Champions, the free-to-play spin on Quake's landmark multiplayer shooting, has officially left Steam Early Access. The game, which melds the gib-splattering, rocket-jumping FPS fun of the original Quake with more modern "hero"-style characters, each of whom has their own special abilities they can deploy across the course of a match, was originally launched in 2017, co-developed by id Software and Saber interactive.

New Redfall deep-dive details the game's Dishonored DNA, open-world size
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-redfall-deep-dive-details-the-games-dishonored-dna-open-world-size/
Dishonored developer Arkane Studios has released a new deep-dive video detailing its upcoming cooperative shooter Redfall, and watching it is first time I've felt like I have a proper grasp on what exactly Arkane is building.

Before we end, let's check the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• The first Deal of the Day is The Forgotten City, 15% off during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_forgotten_city
• The second, and last, DotD is Shadow Empire, with a 75% discount until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/shadow_empire
• The Weekend Sale features Steampunk games with up to 85% discounts during 3 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20220819_weekend_sale
• And the Made in Ukraine Sale comes with up to 90% discounts until August 24: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20220819_made_in_ukraine

+Steam

• The daily deal is Microsoft Flight Simulator, with all the editions having a 25% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1250410/Microsoft_Flight_Simulator_Game_of_the_Year_Edition/
• The first Weekend Deal is OUTRIDERS, that has a demo and will be 50% off until August 25: https://store.steampowered.com/app/680420/OUTRIDERS/
• Enter the Gungeon is free to try during the weekend and 25% off until Thursday 25: https://store.steampowered.com/app/311690/Enter_the_Gungeon/
• The Games made in New Zealand Sale brings up to 90% discounts until the 25th (tho some may end sooner): https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nzgames
• NARAKA: BLADEPOINT is free to try during the weekend and 50% off until August 29: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203220/NARAKA_BLADEPOINT/
• And the last one is the Quakecon 2022 Sale, with up to 70% discounts until the 30th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/quakecon2022

And that's all. You know, there are far more news than I thought I would find in the middle of August and the Summer Holidays (sucks for you Pemalite). Oh well, we'll see how next week goes but, with Gamescom starting Tuesday, I don't have much hope of it slowing down.

But anyway, until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.