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

[JEMC]

Wednesday news, part two:

Warzone 2 is getting absolutely slated by Steam reviewers: 'Crash of Duty'
https://www.pcgamer.com/warzone-2-is-getting-absolutely-slated-by-steam-reviewers-crash-of-duty/
Today I visited the Steam page for Call of Duty: Warzone 2, and two big orange words jumped out at me: 'Mostly negative'. Any player can leave a review on Steam and the platform summarises the overall mood, and it's not unusual to see high-profile games that launch with issues bombarded with negative reviews at launch before returning to some equilibrium when everything calms down. And Warzone 2 has issues for sure but I've had great fun with it. What's everyone moaning about?

Charlie Chaplin videogames are coming, with an unfortunate twist
https://www.pcgamer.com/charlie-chaplin-videogames-are-coming-with-an-unfortunate-twist/
A Canadian development outfit has acquired the exclusive rights to make videogames based on the works and likeness of Charlie Chaplin. The filmmaker and actor wrote, directed and starred in dozens of films and his character The Tramp remains one of the most globally recognised icons of comedy. (...)
The news comes via a CBS report on the Quebec-based company B Df'Rent Games which, with Chaplin expert Yves Durand, successfully pitched the idea to the Chaplin family. The conditions that the family wished for were "No violence. No sexism. No racism. Genuine storytelling." Which does sound like they thought they were being pitched this thing in the mid-1990s, but we'll let it slide.
Updated 12/06/2022: Co-founder of Indie Asylum Christopher Chancey contacted PC Gamer after publication. "Can confirm that the game will NEVER have NFTs and that it would've been a deal-breaker for us at [Indie Asylum] to work on a game that would have NFTs" said Chancey. "It would go against everything we stand for and what the Chaplin IP stands for.

Vampire Survivors' first full DLC is coming next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-first-full-dlc-is-coming-next-week/
Vampire Survivors developer poncle has unveiled the game's first full-on DLC, a trip to an alternate dimension inspired by feudal Japan entitled Legacy of the Moonspell. Set to come out later this month, the expansion will add a brand new stage, new characters, new monsters, and more than a dozen new weapons to go ham on them with.

CD Projekt warns of layoffs as The Witcher: Monster Slayer is being closed in 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-warns-of-layoffs-as-the-witcher-monster-slayer-is-being-closed-in-2023/
CD Projekt has announced that The Witcher: Monster Slayer, the Pokémon Go-like game of monster hunting that debuted last year, is being shut down. Anyone still playing has got some time yet to walk the Path before the end comes, though, as the closure won't actually happen until June 30, 2023.

Sonic Frontiers fans and Genshin Impact fans go to war over Game Awards vote (Updated)
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-awards-2022-players-voice-sonic-frontiers/
Yesterday, it looked like Sonic Frontiers would easily win the 100% fan-voted Players' Voice award at this year's Game Awards. Its lead vanished overnight, however, and what seemed like a nice story about an enthusiastic fanbase has taken a turn. As I write, lifelong internet enemies are being made.
The current Player's Voice award voting results are no longer available on the Game Awards site, but at last check, Genshin Impact had leapt into a tie with Sonic Frontiers. Unless the voting data starts displaying again (the site might just be overwhelmed), we won't know whether Sonic fans or Genshin fans will triumph until The Game Awards air on Thursday. Geoff Keighley, you clever bastard: You knew this would happen, didn't you?!

GTA Online players stole $4 trillion in one week, so they're all getting a free car
https://www.pcgamer.com/gta-online-players-stole-dollar4-trillion-in-one-week-so-theyre-all-getting-a-free-car/
Rockstar Games held a "Heists Challenge" event in Grand Theft Auto Online in 2020 that included rewards for the entire community if players could collectively steal at least $100 million—in GTA dollars, of course—in a single week. The community responded by stealing 10 times as much—$1 trillion—before the event was over. So for 2022, Rockstar upped the ante to $2 trillion—and once again, players proved more than up to the task.
Rockstar revealed today that players made off with an "absolutely staggering" $4 trillion, doubling Rockstar's target, which was itself double what players managed to take home in the 2020 event. Because of that most impressive accomplishment (which will no doubt come back to haunt players in the next Heist Challenge, but that's a problem for later), the Declasse Tahoma Coupe, an extremely sexy retro-styled machine, will be free for everyone for a limited time in an update coming later in December.

Blizzard disables Standard Hearthstone packs because they were dishing out new Signature cards like candy
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-disables-standard-hearthstone-packs-because-they-were-dishing-out-new-signature-cards-like-candy/
Blizzard has temporarily disabled the opening of Hearthstone Standard and class packs while it investigates a "potential issue" with them. The nature of the issue hasn't been specified, but from the looks of social media it seems very much like the new, and supposedly ultra-rare Signature cards that went live today could be at the root of the problem.

Tons of game developers praise Dwarf Fortress in celebration of its Steam launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/tons-of-game-developers-are-praising-dwarf-fortress-today-in-celebration-of-its-steam-launch/
Dwarf Fortress is the top selling game on Steam.
I don't know how long that will be true, but it's a wonderful moment: one of the most influential and unique games on PC, in development for some 20 years, is finally, I hope, getting the mainstream recognition it deserves. It's definitely getting recognition from other game developers, who've flocked to the launch announcement to celebrate Dwarf Fortress's success, and its impact on their own games.

Microsoft makes 10-year COD commitment to Steam and Nintendo in a deal that's really about Sony
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-makes-10-year-cod-commitment-to-steam-and-nintendo-in-a-deal-thats-really-about-sony/
They finally did it, folks. After a prolonged will-they-won't-they, filled with all sorts of subtle hints and loaded implications, Microsoft has gone and tied the knot. In the event its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard goes through, the company has agreed to a 10-year deal to keep Call of Duty releasing on Steam and… Nintendo?
Update: In a statement provided to Kotaku, Valve's Gabe Newell said that, while "Microsoft offered and even sent [Valve] a draft agreement" to keep COD on Steam long-term, Valve decided it wasn't necessary.
>> I wonder how Sony will spin this, but the winner here is clearly Nintendo. Anyway, curl-6 has made a thread about this.

Sonic co-creator arrested a second time for even more insider trading shenanigans
https://www.pcgamer.com/sonic-co-creator-arrested-a-second-time-for-even-more-insider-trading-shenanigans/
Sonic co-creator and Balan Wonderworld director Yuji Naka has been arrested a second time for alleged insider trading, mere weeks after his initial apprehension.
>> Now it's for Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier.