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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

More bad news for Ubisoft: it just cancelled another game
https://www.pcgamer.com/more-bad-news-for-ubisoft-it-just-cancelled-another-game/
Ubisoft has confirmed today that Project Q, the "PvP battle arena game" that was officially revealed in 2022 after numerous leaks, has been cancelled. This continues the wave of tribulations at the publisher that saw it cancel three unannounced projects and delay Skull & Bones for at least six times, news that has seen the studio's share price cut in half over the last six months.

Riot Games lays off 46 employees as it makes 'strategic shifts within a few teams'
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-lays-off-46-employees-as-it-makes-strategic-shifts-within-a-few-teams/
League of Legends studio Riot Games has laid off 46 employees, saying the cuts were made as "strategic shifts within a few teams to sharpen our focus in a number of areas."

Minecraft's most annoying feature is finally turned off in the latest update
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecrafts-most-annoying-feature-is-finally-turned-off-in-the-latest-update/
In my many years of playing Minecraft, one foe has plagued my every step across the cubic landscape. My enemy waits until I am complacent and attacks. I'm usually at my most vulnerable when I've stopped thinking about my nemesis, and then a new update lands. Other players may fear the creeper, lie awake contemplating the enderman, or swear vengeance on the illager, but my sworn adversary is buried in Minecraft’s settings menu:
The dreaded auto-jump.

The studio behind Total War is making an FPS, and you can sign up to play it this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-studio-behind-total-war-is-making-an-fps-and-you-can-sign-up-to-play-it-this-weekend/
Creative Assembly, the folks that make all those Total War games and once upon a time also made our 2014 GOTY Alien: Isolation, is releasing an extraction shooter sometime this year. It's called Hyenas, and despite some members of the press and early playtesters getting a good look at it last year, publisher Sega has not publicly shown off the game since its reveal.

Bungie is finally dealing with one of the most annoying things about Destiny 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-is-finally-dealing-with-one-of-the-most-annoying-things-about-destiny-2/
It's been a gala week for Bungie announcing major quality-of-life improvements coming to Destiny 2. Only yesterday we got a massive breakdown of the overhaul to buildcrafting that is arriving with the Lightfall expansion on February 28, and today we learn that one of the biggest annoyances in the game is being dealt with: Blue Engrams.

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy, Rockstar's most infamously broken game launch, finally comes to Steam at a 50% discount
https://www.pcgamer.com/grand-theft-auto-trilogy-rockstars-most-infamously-broken-game-launch-finally-comes-to-steam-at-a-50-discount/
More than a year after its disastrous original release, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition—which going forward we will refer to as simply the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy—is now available on Steam. And it's on sale, too.
>> They can keep it, thanks.

91% of game developer survey respondents say abuse from players is a problem
https://www.pcgamer.com/91-of-game-developer-survey-respondents-say-abuse-from-players-is-a-problem/
GDC's annual State of the Game Industry survey has found that 91% of developers believe player harassment of game developers is a problem for the industry. Unsurprisingly, women are more likely to experience abuse from players than men, as are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
>> That's a real shame. By the way, they also have less faith in the metaverse.

Former Halo Infinite dev criticizes studio leadership, says layoffs 'shouldn't have happened'
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-halo-infinite-dev-criticizes-studio-leadership-says-layoffs-shouldnt-have-happened/
The same day Microsoft announced it would be laying off 10,000 workers, including employees at game studios Bethesda and 343 Industries, a former senior multiplayer designer on Halo Infinite, Patrick Wren, had harsh words for 343 management's direction for the game.

Obsidian was in talks to make an Avatar game, says studio boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/obsidian-was-in-talks-to-make-an-avatar-game-says-studio-boss/
GamePressure recently published an interview with Feargus Urquhart, RPG standby Obsidian Entertainment's CEO and one of its founders. The sweeping interview touched on Obsidian's key moments and future plans after one of its best years ever, but I was most intrigued by the snippets of CRPG deep lore that were dredged up over the course of the conversation.

This new 'turn-based city builder' challenges you to terraform and colonize Mars
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-new-turn-based-city-builder-challenges-you-to-terraform-and-colonize-mars/
I was born too late to witness the first Moon landing live, and now I'm wondering if I'll die before I get to see humankind set foot on Mars. But while I continue to tread Our Boring Earth at least I can visit Mars in videogames. A real Mars colony might still be decades away, if it ever happens, but there's plenty of games where you can build one today.
And another one has just appeared on Steam. Farlanders is a "retro-inspired turn-based city builder" that's got the gritty look of Factorio and a puzzle-strategy like approach to colonization.

Game that promised no paid DLC ever is getting paid DLC: 'We need a way to continue to fund the development'
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-that-promised-no-paid-dlc-ever-is-getting-paid-dlc-we-need-a-way-to-continue-to-fund-the-development/
Longtime players of the milsim FPS Squad were blindsided yesterday when developer Offworld Industries announced that the game once promised to never sell paid DLC will, in fact, start selling paid DLC in its next update. Offworld is starting small with two packs of paid emotes accompanying one set of free emotes that all players will receive automatically.

NetEase smashes up World of Warcraft statue after its nasty breakup with Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/netease-smashes-up-world-of-warcraft-statue-after-its-nasty-breakup-with-blizzard/
Blizzard's games have been published in China by NetEase for 14 years, a partnership that has been enormously successful for both companies. The Chinese publisher's rapacious growth over the last decade was turbo-charged by the money it made from the games' success and, while NetEase's success can hardly be attributed solely to that, it is now one of the largest internet and videogame companies in the world.
But things have gone sour in a manner that, given the size of the respective companies, can only be called hilariously petty.

Ubisoft CEO apologises for placing his foot so deeply into his mouth
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-ceo-apologises-for-placing-his-foot-so-deeply-into-his-mouth/
Ubisoft is having a bad time at the moment, and the mood in the office can't have been helped when CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot sent staff a tone-deaf email saying that the responsibility for turning it all around was on them. But now, Guillemot has had a change of heart, offering a (semi-)apology at a company-wide Q&A and clarifying that management will have a role to play on the path ahead after all.

Midnight Suns' Deadpool trailer has vampires, wizardly cosmetics, and an imminent release date
https://www.pcgamer.com/midnight-suns-deadpool-trailer-has-vampires-wizardly-cosmetics-and-an-imminent-release-date/
2K has blessed us with more information about Marvel's Midnight Suns' upcoming Deadpool content, in the form of a trailer showing off the new hero, new abilities, new enemies, and endless, endless wisecracks. Midnight Suns' The Good, the Bad, and the Undead DLC will release on January 26, and looks like it'll focus on Deadpool's attempts to deal with a cabal of undead bad guys, while most of the other heroes shake their heads at him disapprovingly.

And now the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• There are 6 new Deals of the Day, that will last the whole weekend:
  • Urbek City Builder will be 22% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/urbek_city_builder
  • The GOG Collection Shooter Pack, with 3 games, gets a 31% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gog_collection_shooter_pack
  • Banners of Ruin is 67% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/banners_of_ruin
  • Vampyr features a 81% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/vampyr
  • The GOG Adventure&Puzzle Bundle, that also has three games, is going to be 87% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/gog_adventurepuzzle_bundle
  • And Lords of the Fallen Game of the Year Edition gets a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/lords_of_the_fallen_game_of_the_year_edition
• Surprise! It comes a bit late, but GOG has launched its New Year Sale! There are over 3200 games on sale with up to 90% discounts until January 30: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_new_year_sale
• And ,as with every big sale, there's a GIVEAWAY: Haven Park will be free during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/haven_park

+Steam

• The first deal is Forgive me Father, 25% off until the 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1590910/Forgive_Me_Father/
• A Plague Tale: Requiem gets a 30% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1182900/A_Plague_Tale_Requiem/
• Kena: Bridge of Spirits will be 50% off until Thursday, 26: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1954200/Kena_Bridge_of_Spirits/
• Amplitude Studios brings its Amplified Sale, featuring up to 75% discounts until January 26: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/36333614/sale/amplified2023
• The RPG Sale brings up to 80% discounts until the 26th of January: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/aspyrrpgsale
• ASTRONEER will be 50% off until the January 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/361420/ASTRONEER/
• And Rockstar puts its games up to 70% off until February, 2nd: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/rockstargames/sale/rockstarsale2023

Nothing else to add. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.