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

[JEMC]

The news, the very long sequel:

Civ 6 streamer figures out how to win without founding any cities in 'extremely impressive' video
https://www.pcgamer.com/civ-6-streamer-figures-out-how-to-win-without-founding-any-cities-in-extremely-impressive-video/
If you ask me, we're ramshackle contraptions designed to hunt, gather, and perish early from preventable disease, and this society stuff all started going downhill the second we got into agriculture. When we were young, hale, and nomadic, roaming the steppes and plains? Those were our glory days. At least we can relive them via a recent video from a streamer called boesthius, who undertook the Civilisation 6 "no settle: domination challenge" to win a match of Civ without founding any cities of his own.

Marvel Snap gets long-awaited battle mode and live balance changes
https://www.pcgamer.com/marvel-snap-gets-long-awaited-battle-mode-and-live-balance-changes/
Marvel Snap, the eminently snackable and streamlined card game that is what some of Hearthstone's creators did next, today receives probably its most-requested feature: a battle mode that lets you play against friends and choose opponents. Until now, Snap has paired players up based on ranking and skill, and there was no way to play with buddies, which does rather stop you from showing off your shiniest variants to buddies.

Invisible players run rampant in Escape from Tarkov—'What an absolute circus'
https://www.pcgamer.com/invisible-players-run-rampant-in-escape-from-tarkovwhat-an-absolute-circus/
Battlestate Games' Escape from Tarkov has re-introduced a persistent bug with its latest update, one that players can use to appear invisible to others. In a game that, let's be honest, comes down to hiding out and shooting people when they don't see you, the consequences of this are pretty drastic.

In 3 months this Konami game is disappearing forever
https://www.pcgamer.com/in-3-months-this-konami-game-is-disappearing-forever/
Konami has announced its intention to "terminate the service" of the detective PvP game Crimesight, less than a year after it launched in April 2022. The publisher put this down to "various circumstances", has already ended sales of bundles with sales of the game to end on 27 February, and said Crimesight will go offline on May 1 2023 at 00:00 PDT.

Overwatch 2 will finally let players earn skins for free again
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-will-finally-let-players-earn-skins-for-free-again/
(...)
After months of negative feedback about Overwatch 2's underwhelming battle passes and prohibitively expensive microtransactions, Blizzard is budging again. Overwatch Credits (previously retitled to Legacy Credits) are making a return in season 3 as a free reward on the battle pass. Players on the free track can earn up to 1,500 credits by completing the pass, while those on the premium track earn an additional 500.
To coincide with the change, "nearly all" legendary skins will be available to unlock via the Hero Gallery with Overwatch Credits, with a standard legendary costing 1,500 credits. That means that a completely free Overwatch 2 player can earn enough credits to buy one legendary skin of their choosing every few months.

Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo give E3 the brush off
https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-microsoft-and-nintendo-give-e3-the-brush-off/
The Entertainment Software Association made a big hullabaloo of announcing the return of E3 back in September, with PAX organizer ReedPop taking over the show. E3 2023 is set to be the first in-person version of the event since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. A planned split between business days and public days seemed like a real "have your cake and eat it too" situation, aiming to please the press and developers while still making money off public ticket sales.
But that plan seemingly was not enough to lure back the biggest companies in gaming: according to a report from IGN, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are all skipping this year's show.
>> Hiku made a thread about this, yesterday.

Threadlings? Tangles? Lashes? New Destiny 2: Lightfall trailer focuses on exotic gear and Strand effects
https://www.pcgamer.com/threadlings-tangles-lashes-new-destiny-2-lightfall-trailer-focuses-on-exotic-gear-and-strand-effects/
There's less than a month to go until the launch of Lightfall, and my girlfriend is already furious that we're having to plan our apartment move around its release date. (I also moved a surgical appointment last year to avoid clashing with Shadowkeep.) Maybe this new trailer, which showcases some of the exotic gear coming in Destiny 2's next big expansion, will help lift her mood*.
(...)
*Narrator: It did not.

Terraria devs want 2023 to be 'the year of Terraria crossplay'
https://www.pcgamer.com/terraria-devs-want-2023-to-be-the-year-of-terraria-crossplay/
If there's one feature above all else that Terraria players have wanted for years, it's crossplay between the PC, consoles, and mobile versions of the game. According to a new "state of the game" post on Terraria's Steam page, that dream is creeping ever closer, though developer Re-Logic is still stopping short of guaranteeing it'll happen.

Rumbleverse, the wrestling battle royale, is shutting down only six months after launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/rumbleverse-the-wrestling-battle-royale-is-shutting-down-only-six-months-after-launch/
When Rumbleverse released in August last year, you might have mistaken it for one of the many other live service games that suddenly arrive and are just as quickly forgotten: think Knockout City, Hyperscape (RIP), Rocket Arena. It certainly bears that distinctive Fortnite-aping style, but unlike Fortnite, it has clearly gained no traction at all: after only six months, the game will stop receiving updates on February 28.

Final Fantasy 14 team sets a raid world first, then gets busted for cheating
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-14-team-sets-a-raid-world-first-then-gets-busted-for-cheating/
On Monday, a Japanese Final Fantasy 14 raid team was the first in the world to defeat The Omega Protocol (Ultimate), a grueling endgame boss fight that was recently added to the MMO. A week later, they're the subject of the MMO's biggest controversy, their achievements having been stripped by the game's developer, who called their use of third-party UI mods "extremely disappointing."

Sims 4 is finally turning babies into real Sims on March 14
https://www.pcgamer.com/sims-4-is-finally-turning-babies-into-real-sims-on-march-14/
At long last, The Sims 4's babies will no longer be trapped in crib purgatory. The long-awaited and heavily-teased infants update arrives on March 14 with a lot of new interactions, customization, and interaction with your tiniest human family members.

The next Sims game 'is not an MMO' Maxis clarifies
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-sims-game-is-not-an-mmo-maxis-clarifies/
In another Behind the Sims livestream, which also announced the much-awaited babies update, Maxis got to talking about The Sims 5 (codenamed "Project Rene"). Maxis is still very clear that Project Rene is years away, but did want to set the record straight on multiplayer. The Sims 5 will have multiplayer, as it's teased already, but it's definitely not an MMO. Sorry, Sims Online hopefuls.

Sims 4 players love the game's new trans and disability-inclusive cosmetics update
https://www.pcgamer.com/sims-4-players-love-the-games-new-trans-and-disability-inclusive-cosmetics-update/
The Sims 4 is getting a little more inclusive, thanks to a patch that adds new medical wearables, scars, and shapewear. Released yesterday, the Sims update adds trans-affirming top surgery scars and binders, as well as on-body medical devices like hearing aids and glucose monitors to more accurately and comprehensively reflect the wide, wide world of human experience. It also adds light switches. That's not esoteric slang you don't recognise, the patch just adds literal light switches.

EA's final FIFA game is the best-selling in series history so far
https://www.pcgamer.com/eas-final-fifa-game-is-the-best-selling-in-series-history-so-far/
Electronic Arts has posted its financial results for the third quarter of financial year 2023, which is to say the last three months of 2022, and has said that FIFA 23 is on-track to be the most played and profitable entry in the series to date. The announcement is tinged with the slight irony that this will of course be the last FIFA game ever made by Electronic Arts, which following its bust-up with football's governing body is to re-launch the games this summer under the new EA Sports FC brand.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is ditching QTEs and I couldn't be more upset
https://www.pcgamer.com/resident-evil-4-remake-is-ditching-qtes-and-i-couldnt-be-more-upset/
Details continue to trickle out ahead of Resident Evil 4 Remake's planned March release date, and I've got bad news for your knives. The remake of the 2005 classic is ditching some of the parts that might make the old game feel clunky and archaic in our space-age gaming era, like quick-time events, Ashley's health bar, and Leon's indefatigable, unbreakable knife. But take heart, Capcom is adding brand new sidequests to make up for it.

World of Warcraft's Trading Post is live now and will give you enough free cash to buy most of the stock
https://www.pcgamer.com/world-of-warcrafts-trading-post-is-live-now-and-will-give-you-enough-free-cash-to-buy-most-of-the-stock/
World of Warcraft's Trading Post has flung open its doors today (though not literally, because it's a stall and thus doesn't actually have doors), letting the citizens of Orgrimmar and Stormwind do a bit of shopping. The Trading Post sells cosmetic items, some of which were previously only available for real cash, which will be refreshed monthly.