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

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, part two:

EU approves Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/eu-approves-microsofts-dollar687-billion-acquisition-of-activision-blizzard/
EU regulators have approved Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, mere weeks after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked the deal. The European Commission noted various concerns about the takeover but accepted commitments from Microsoft that, it said, adequately addressed areas like cloud gaming.

Amazon is making another Lord of the Rings MMO, despite cancelling the last one
https://www.pcgamer.com/amazon-is-making-another-lord-of-the-rings-mmo-despite-cancelling-the-last-one/
Despite falling out with Tencent during its last attempt to develop a Lord of the Rings MMO, Amazon Games has decided to get back on the horse and try again. It's spawned out of a new deal with Embracer Group, which acquired Middle-earth Enterprises last year, and with it the "intellectual property catalogue and worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions" of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.

This sucks: A month after I discover Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, they're killing it
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-sucks-a-month-after-i-discover-vampire-the-masquerade-bloodhunt-theyre-killing-it/
This was probably inevitable given the less-than-spectacular player numbers but even so it's incredibly disappointing: Sharkmob has announced that there will be no further development of its World of Darkness battle royale Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt.

One of the coolest upcoming city builders now has a free demo on Steam, and you should try it
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-the-coolest-upcoming-city-builders-now-has-a-free-demo-on-steam-and-you-should-try-it/
I've almost lost count of all the interesting-looking city builders coming in 2023: (...)
Then there's Laysara: Summit Kingdom, which is maybe the most interesting of the bunch because it just looks so cool. The city builder has an exceedingly neat twist: you're building your city on the steep cliffs of a mountaintop rising out of the clouds. Along with hazards like avalanches that can bury your town, building on the slopes of a mountain presents a lot of logistical challenges as you'll have to carefully manage your production chains and transport networks over the tricky, nearly vertical landscape.

This Stardew and Sailor Moon-inspired farm sim is totally calling to me
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-stardew-and-sailor-moon-inspired-farm-sim-is-totally-calling-to-me/
My wishlist is already overflowing with "Stardew Valley, but" games, but I've made room for yet another one: the Stardew-but-Sailor-Moon game called Fields of Mistria. This excessively adorable farm and life sim is still in development but I'm already smitten with its '90s anime-inspired character designs.

CD Projekt confirms layoffs at the Witcher spinoff studio it acquired just a year ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-confirms-layoffs-at-the-witcher-spinoff-studio-it-acquired-just-a-year-ago/
I was happy to hear last week that Project Sirius, the Witcher spinoff game in development at CD Projekt's Molasses Flood studio, was back on track after running into some kind of trouble earlier this year. But as a result of changes to the project's new direction, 29 people, most of them employees at The Molasses Flood, have been laid off.

Age of Empires 2's new DLC adds all of the first game's civs today
https://www.pcgamer.com/age-of-empires-2s-new-dlc-adds-all-of-the-first-games-civs-today/
Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition will take a deep dive into its own history when its Return of Rome DLC releases later today. The expansion is bringing over all 16 civilizations from the original Age of Empires into the second game, and even gives three of them their own unique campaigns. In addition to all that, it's adding the new Lac Viet civ to the AOE 1 roster and introducing the D3 competitive mode, which is apparently super popular in Vietnam.

Riot Games announces new CEO as it emerges the company will pay out over $100 million to 1,548 women to settle gender discrimination case
https://www.pcgamer.com/riot-games-announces-new-ceo-as-it-emerges-the-company-will-pay-out-over-dollar100-million-to-1548-women-to-settle-gender-discrimination-case/
Riot Games is to pay out over $100 million to 1,548 women who are or were employed by the gaming giant, as part of a previously announced settlement in a 2018 class action lawsuit about gender discrimination. The new details come from an April filing by Rust Consulting (thanks Axios) which outlines the nature of a late 2021 settlement, agreed to by Riot, under which Riot will make initial payments of between $2,500 and $5,000 to women who worked there, with an additional sum based on role and tenure that could rise up to $156,056. Seven women in the suit chose to opt-out of the settlement.

Call of Duty's 'worst map in all of videogames' is only there by mistake
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-dutys-worst-map-in-all-of-videogames-is-only-there-by-mistake/
Call of Duty's Shipment map is an absurd, churning meat grinder that's been a staple of the series since the early Modern Warfare days. It's a polarising thing, too: PCG's Morgan Park has called it "The worst map in all of videogames," lamenting that "Spawnkills are constant, survival feels random, and a lack of cover gives dominant killstreaks free rein to murder every living thing on the map". Sounds like a laugh to me.
I've got some heartwrenching news for Morgan: Shipment, the bane of his Modern Warfare 2 sessions, is only there because the devs forgot to take it out before they released the first Modern Warfare in 2007.