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

[JEMC]

The second part of the Thursday news:

The DHS is spending $700,000 on researching counterterrorism in games
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-dhs-is-spending-dollar700000-on-researching-counterterrorism-in-games/
The United States' Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is devoting almost $700,000 of funding to a research project aimed at countering terrorist recruitment via games like Roblox, Ars Technica reports.
The grant totals an incredibly specific $699,763, and will go to research aimed at the "development of a set of best practices and centralized resources for monitoring and evaluation of extremist activities".

Holy cow, Dark Souls 3 PC servers are offline again
https://www.pcgamer.com/holy-cow-dark-souls-3-pc-servers-are-offline-again/
After seven months of silence, Darks Souls 3 PvP servers on PC finally roared back to life at the end of August. It was fun while it lasted, but it didn't last long, because a month later they're offline again.

Saints Row's disappointing launch won't derail the future of the series
https://www.pcgamer.com/saints-rows-disappointing-launch-wont-change-plans-for-the-future-of-the-series/
The head of Deep Silver parent company Embracer Group admitted today that the recent Saints Row reboot didn't meet his expectations, but said that his long-term view of the series remains unchanged.

Project Cars 2 is gone from Steam forever
https://www.pcgamer.com/project-cars-2-is-gone-from-steam-forever/
Slightly Mad Studios announced a month ago that Project Cars 2, one of the best racing sims ever, was being removed from Steam on September 21. I hope you were able to grab it if you wanted it, because today is the day and sure enough, it's gone.

Dark fantasy strategy game Gord looks like a Diablo town manager
https://www.pcgamer.com/gord-first-gameplay-video/
Remember the crappy little starting town in Diablo 2? It's an encampment, technically: A few tents and wagons with a wall to keep out skeletons. Now imagine that instead of a hero passing through on their way to fight the devil, you're the mayor of that awful place. That's the scenario in upcoming strategy game Gord, more or less.

Star Citizen now has over half a billion dollars in crowdfunding
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-now-has-over-half-a-billion-dollars-in-crowdfunding/
Despite almost a decade of development with no full release, Star Citizen continues to rake in money from people putting faith in the controversial space sim. As of September 20, the game has managed to accrue over half a billion dollars in crowdfunding, solidifying itself as the most expensive game to date.

Spelunky 2 just achieved its last 'major goal' for online, so now you can pratfall with friends across platforms
https://www.pcgamer.com/spelunky-2-just-achieved-its-last-major-goal-for-online-so-now-you-can-pratfall-with-friends-across-platforms/
Almost exactly two years after it first released, Spelunky 2 has been updated with crossplay between players on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, so you can now die ingloriously in front of your console-bound friends in the game's Arena and Adventure modes.

Overwatch 2 will make hero swapping a bigger deal despite locking them behind battle pass
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-will-make-hero-swapping-a-bigger-deal-despite-locking-them-behind-battle-pass/
Many Overwatch players were frustrated that heroes in the sequel won't be free for everyone like they are in the first game, limiting your ability to swap heroes mid-match. Blizzard's reasoning for the change was that most people don't swap and that the game is designed so that you don't have to as often. Despite this, a new ability that encourages you to change heroes suggests that it will remain an important part of the game.
>> Oh, and they've bumped the frame cap limit to 600fps.

PUBG permabans Steam chargeback fraudsters
https://www.pcgamer.com/pubg-permabans-steam-chargeback-fraudsters/
Player Unknown's Battlegrounds is at the moment enjoying a second wind. Following a nonsensical name change last year (to PUBG: Battlegrounds) it followed-up by going free-to-play in January, a belated recognition that the genre it popularised risked leaving the game behind. It worked too, with the game picking up more than 80,000 users per day since the switch, and owner Krafton reporting a 20% bump in revenue.
There's still a lot of money in PUBG, in other words, and so it's a target for all kinds of fraud attacks. It seems that one has met with temporary success before being noticed, and Krafton's now stamped down on it.

YouTuber Dunkey now has an indie publishing label
https://www.pcgamer.com/youtuber-dunkey-now-has-an-indie-publishing-label/
After 11 years of making YouTube videos, Dunkey (aka videogamedunkey) is breaking into the indie publishing world, setting up BigMode with his wife Leah.
He announced his new label in the five-minute video "My Indie Game Publishing Company," in which he claims he's "sick of waiting on the sidelines waiting for great games to appear," instead wanting to get involved in making them happen.
>> TallSilhouette has made a thread about it.