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

[JEMC]

The news, part two:

Oh snapper, fishing is coming to Destiny 2 later today
https://www.pcgamer.com/oh-snapper-fishing-is-coming-to-destiny-2-later-today/
A new Destiny 2 season launches in just a few hours, and, as always, there's a season launch trailer to pre-empt it. You know what to expect here: new weapons, story hints and a montage of action that quantises gunfire to the beat of the background music. It's a Destiny 2 launch trailer, y'know?
But forget all of that, because at the end is confirmation that fishing is coming to Destiny 2.

DICE's former 'Mr Battlefield' has a new studio working on a 'next-generation online shooter'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dices-former-mr-battlefield-has-a-new-studio-working-on-a-next-generation-online-shooter/
Lars Gustavsson, the former creative director on DICE's Battlefield games and—much more importantly—the man they used to call "Mr Battlefield," has a new studio. Unveiled this morning, TTK Games is a new, Stockholm-based studio working on a "new, next-generation online shooter".

Japanese YouTuber might be the first in the world arrested for posting gameplay clips
https://www.pcgamer.com/japanese-youtuber-might-be-the-first-in-the-world-arrested-for-posting-gameplay-clips/
A man has been arrested in Japan's Miyagi prefecture on suspicion of violating copyright laws after he posted a video containing gameplay from the popular visual novel STEINS;GATE Hiyoku Renri no Darin (via Automaton). The Content Overseas Distribution Agency (CODA) announced the arrest and said the man had uploaded the video, which included the ending of the game, without permission from the rights holder Nitroplus, on top of which he had monetised the video and received ad revenue.

The gamer lawsuit against the Microsoft-Activision deal suffers another blow
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-gamer-lawsuit-against-microsoft-activision-deal-suffers-another-blow/
In December 2022, a group of angry gamers filed a lawsuit in opposition to Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision-Blizzard, alleging that it was likely Microsoft would use ownership of the company (and particularly the Call of Duty series) as a cudgel against Sony in its ongoing battle for console supremacy. In March 2023, the case was tossed: The judge ruled that it's possible Microsoft could make Activision Blizzard games exclusive to its consoles, but that the plaintiffs had not "alleged facts that make it plausible Microsoft is reasonably likely to do so."
That wasn't the end of it, though. The plaintiffs were given 20 days to refile the action with proper supporting evidence, and they did. They also filed a request for a preliminary injunction blocking the merger until the lawsuit is decided.
The judge in the case has now nixed that request, declaring that the plaintiffs have not shown any likelihood that they will suffer "immediate irreparable harm" if the deal is allowed to proceed.

The global release of Bandai Namco's new MMO has been delayed to 2024, but a beta is still coming later this year
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-global-release-of-bandai-namcos-new-mmo-has-been-delayed-to-2024-but-a-beta-is-still-coming-later-this-year/
Bandai Namco's upcoming action-MMO Blue Protocol, which will be published in the west by Amazon Games, has been delayed. It had been set to come out in the second half of 2023, but Amazon confirmed today that the launch outside of Japan has been pushed to sometime in 2024.

Company of Heroes studio Relic Entertainment lays off over 100 employees
https://www.pcgamer.com/company-of-heroes-studio-relic-entertainment-lays-off-over-100-employees/
Company of Heroes studio Relic Entertainment has laid off 121 employees and says the cuts are part of an effort to restructure the studio and ensure that "maximum effort" goes into its "core franchises."

Activision Blizzard fined 0.00007% of one year's earnings for not disclosing loot boxes to Europe's game ratings board
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-fined-000007-of-one-years-earnings-for-not-disclosing-loot-boxes-to-europes-game-ratings-board/
Europe's Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) board sure is mad with Activision Blizzard and Plaion. The game rating board—whose abbreviation you'll recognise from a million game trailers where a disembodied voice says "PEGI 16" or something like it—has fined the two companies for failing to disclose the presence of loot boxes in their games when submitting them for rating. The amount? An eye-watering, garment-rending, world-historic, uh, €5,000.
>> That will taught those evil companies to do things right! /sarcasm

Left 4 Dead creator says they got it right in the end because 'Gabe dragged it out of me'
https://www.pcgamer.com/left-4-dead-creator-says-they-got-it-right-in-the-end-because-gabe-dragged-it-out-of-me/
Left 4 Dead co-creator Chet Faliszek, who also worked on the Half-Life series and Portal, recently posted a video to TikTok discussing aspects of the development of the premiere co-op zombie shooter. Seriously: How are we in 2023 and no-one has managed to top these games yet?

The meeting to decide Fallout's name had candidates like 'Radstorm' and others that are somehow even worse
https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-was-nearly-called-warriors-of-the-apocalypse-radstorm-moribund-world-and-so-many-other-terrible-names/
Perhaps my favourite thing in the more recent Fallout games is just wandering the wasteland listening to the outstanding selection of old music. The first time "Crawl out through the Fallout" came on, I couldn't believe how funny and perfect it was for the game, encapsulating exactly that kind of nuclear gallows humour that the entire series plays off. In fact it's hard to imagine Fallout being called anything else: But boy, did it dodge several bullets.

Former DC Universe Online chief is heading up the creation of a brand-new Warhammer MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-dc-universe-online-chief-is-heading-up-the-creation-of-a-brand-new-warhammer-mmo/
In May 2022, Chinese tech company Netease launched its first game studio in North America, Jackalope Games, headed by former Daybreak Game Company executive Jack Emmert. Nothing was said about what the studio was making, and I wondered at the time if its debut game would have any connection to the Marvel MMO Emmert was leading prior to joining Netease. As it turns out, it is an MMO, but it's not Marvel—it's Warhammer.

Prison Architect's final update gives the first glimpse of a 3D sequel
https://www.pcgamer.com/prison-architects-final-update-gives-the-first-glimpse-of-a-3d-sequel/
Developers Double Eleven have released the final update for Prison Architect, appropriately enough called the Sunset update, which doesn't so much tease a 3D sequel as show off a bit of it. The update comes with a short trailer thanking all the game's players for the past 11 years (it was released in Alpha by original developer Introversion in 2012), at the end of which one of the prisoner character models pops into 3D as the rest of the crowd gasps.

Stunned Embracer CEO has to deliver financial report right after $2 billion mystery deal falls apart: 'It's been a rough night'
https://www.pcgamer.com/stunned-embracer-ceo-has-to-deliver-financial-report-right-after-dollar2-billion-mystery-deal-falls-apart-its-been-a-rough-night/
It was a bad day for low-key gaming colossus Embracer Group, which announced in its full-year financial report that a "groundbreaking strategic partnership" worth more than $2 billion had fallen through at the last minute.

Become a hotel tycoon in Cities: Skylines' final expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/become-a-hotel-tycoon-in-cities-skylines-final-expansion/
After eight years and dozens of add-ons and DLC packs, Cities: Skylines has released its final expansion.
Hotels & Retreats lets you build various types of vacation getaways, from hostels to cabins to tall, shiny luxury hotel towers in the hopes of boosting the tourism industry in your favorite city. Take a peek in the trailer above.

Finally, a sequel to one of my favorite co-op shooters: Helldivers 2 is coming to PC and PS5 simultaneously
https://www.pcgamer.com/helldivers-2-announced-with-a-new-perspective-and-a-simultaneous-pc-and-ps5-release/
Nobody in my circles seems to remember Helldivers, the excellent top-down shooter that Magicka studio Arrowhead released in 2015. It had giant bugs, four player co-op, hardcore lethality, and a cool supply drop mechanic that required punching in directional codes in the middle of a firefight. It was great, and as Arrowhead developed it with Sony support, it was also technically the first game Sony published on PC.
We finally got our first look at the long-awaited sequel, Helldivers 2, during today's PlayStation showcase, and the top-down shooter I love is looking a bit different.

The next gorgeous adventure from Gris' developers is going to make me cry again
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-gorgeous-adventure-from-gris-developers-is-going-to-make-me-cry-again/
The developers of very lovely Gris have announced their next game: equally lovely-looking Neva, which will launch next year. It's a puzzle platformer about a woman and her wolf friend growing closer as they adventure through a dying world.