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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

Baldur's Gate 3 makes a critical save against Starfield and is now launching nearly a month early
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-makes-a-critical-save-against-starfield-and-is-now-launching-nearly-a-month-early/
In a June 29 update on Steam, Larian announced that upcoming mega-RPG Baldur's Gate 3 will be launching nearly a month earlier than initially planned: August 3 instead of its original August 31 date. The post also revealed that the PlayStation 5 version has been delayed a week to September 6.

Baldur's Gate 3 promises level 12 cap, new races, 22 new subclasses, and whopping 174 hours of cinematics in community update
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-promises-level-12-cap-new-races-22-new-subclasses-and-whopping-174-hours-of-cinematics-in-community-update/
Baldur's Gate 3 just keeps getting bigger. Larian Studios dropped a new community update today, revealing a new release date as well as a huge package of features that'll be included with the full release.

'Iran's Call of Duty' is all about destroying the US and NATO, and 'with God's permission will make a lot of money'
https://www.pcgamer.com/irans-call-of-duty-is-all-about-iran-and-russia-destroying-the-us-and-nato-and-with-gods-permission-will-make-a-lot-of-money/
Iranian animation outfit Kosar3D recently announced a new direction: videogames. Specifically, Kosar3D's game Revenge "deals with the military alliance of Iran and Russia against NATO" (but mainly, it seems, the United States and Israel). It is being developed by a team of programmers in Mashhad and directed by Farhad Azima, whose previous works include the film Battle for the Persian Gulf 2 ("an Armed Conflict between Iranian Revolutionary Guard and U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf").

Shuffle a barrel of pirate monkeys in the demo for promising deckbuilding RPG Cross Blitz
https://www.pcgamer.com/shuffle-a-barrel-of-pirate-monkeys-in-the-demo-for-promising-deckbuilding-rpg-cross-blitz/
A promising upcoming deckbuilder surfaced during the Steam Next Fest last week: Cross Blitz is a whimsically cartoonish pixelated deckbuilding RPG that aims to incorporate both a plot-driven story mode and a roguelike mode.

Y'all farmed Elden Ring so hard the list of most-killed enemies is all out of whack
https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-ring-enemies-killed-stats/
Elden Ring publisher Bandai Namco has released some new stats on what people have been getting up to in the year and change since Elden Ring released in February 2022. Having sold now over 20 million copies, Elden Ring is a certified hit—but how much are its owners actually playing it? A lot, it turns out.

It doesn't seem fair that this wonderfully weird visual novel about alien whales is completely free
https://www.pcgamer.com/it-doesnt-seem-fair-that-this-wonderfully-weird-visual-novel-about-alien-whales-is-completely-free/
I was just minding my own business on a quiet evening when I stumbled across Alpha Beta Gamer's coverage of South Scrimshaw: Part One, a free visual novel that presents a nature documentary about alien whales. I couldn't ignore a premise that good, but I still had all my expectations blown out of the water (pun fully intended).

The players hunting for Diablo 4's secret cow level have suffered a major setback, but you'd be a fool to think that's stopping them
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-players-hunting-for-diablo-4s-secret-cow-level-have-suffered-a-major-setback-but-youd-be-a-fool-to-think-thats-stopping-them/
Diablo 4's latest patch has smashed the reset button on the search for the secret cow level.
(...)
And neither has this week's patch 1.0.3, which removed code for a quest that involved a cleansing ritual for "The Oxen Gods". The quest steps were the framework for how the Discord community assumed you'd unlock the secret cow level. It involved collecting a handful of unique relic items to perform a cleansing ritual in Ked Bardu that would reward you with a key to unlock a secret cellar. Inside that cellar, players assumed, would be the portal to the cow level.

Bungie targets the end of August to roll out fixes for endemic Destiny 2 connection errors: 'This is not a process that can happen overnight'
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-targets-the-end-of-august-to-roll-out-fixes-for-endemic-connection-errors-this-is-not-a-process-that-can-happen-overnight/
In its latest This Week in Destiny post, Bungie explained the online architecture issues that have led to a recent uptick in cheeky animal-named connection errors. Bungie also provided a roadmap of what fixes players can expect and when, but the promising-sounding "large set of improvements" won't be coming until the start of Season 22 at the end of August.

Call of Duty gets into psychological warfare as new anti-cheat tech plagues hackers with 'hallucinations'
https://www.pcgamer.com/call-of-duty-gets-into-psychological-warfare-as-new-anti-cheat-tech-plagues-hackers-with-hallucinations/
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hackers are losing it, man. Team Ricochet, the cadre of COD devs with the unenviable task of foiling the game's many cheaters, has put out an update detailing a new bit of anti-cheat tech. It's called Hallucinations and, well, it does exactly what its name suggests.

Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer says he's never read anything that was 'meaningful, important or worthwhile' created by AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/psychonauts-creator-tim-schafer-says-hes-never-read-anything-that-was-meaningful-important-or-worthwhile-created-by-ai/
Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine Productions and the mind behind games such as Psychonauts, Brutal Legend and Grim Fandango, spoke on AI during an interview with Twitch streamer Cressup earlier this week.

Microsoft CEO says he'd 'love to get rid' of console exclusives but it's all Sony's fault, your honor
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-ceo-says-hed-love-to-get-rid-of-exclusives-but-its-all-sonys-fault-your-honor/
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is one of the many suits answering questions in court, as the US Federal Trade Commission attempts to block the software giant's acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $65 billion. Nadella was asked about Microsoft's strategy in cloud gaming, its ambitions within videogames and, at one point, the much-discussed value of exclusive titles.
"If it was up to me I would love to get rid of the entire exclusives on consoles," said Nadella. "But that’s not for me to define, especially as a low share player in the console market. The dominant player there has defined market competition using exclusives, so that’s the world we live in. I have no love for that world."
>> And he said that with a straight face.

And now, the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• GOG enters the last days of its Summer Sale, it ends in 79 hours, with a new GIVEAWAY: Beholder 2 will be free during these last 79 hours: https://www.gog.com/game/beholder_2
• The first of the six new Deals of the Day, that will last until Monday's refresh, is Silver Box Classics, a collection of four D&D games, 33% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/silver_box_classics
• STAR WARS™: The Force Unleashed™ II gets a 65% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_wars_the_force_unleashed_ii
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl will be 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/stalker_shadow_of_chernobyl
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat also gets a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/stalker_call_of_pripyat
• The Incredible Machine Mega Pack is also 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_incredible_machine_mega_pack
• And the last DotD, Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages, gets a 90% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/ring_runner_flight_of_the_sages

+Steam

• ... I mean, we all know what started yesterday, right?

And that's it, until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend. And please, keep your wallets safe.