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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

League of Legends' latest character trailer for Briar makes me far hungrier for more Arcane than the summoner's rift
https://www.pcgamer.com/league-of-legends-latest-character-trailer-for-briar-makes-me-far-hungrier-for-more-arcane-than-the-summoners-rift/
(...)
So the latest trailer for the blood-hungry champion Briar—shown above—doesn't make me hanker for the days of split-pushing lanes, but it sure makes me thirsty for Arcane's second season. Riot's artists are still killing it—and so is Briar, her world breaking into a stylised pink cut-out playground whenever she goes into a blood frenzy.

3500 people had a massive firefight in EVE Online out of 'boredom' (and because they had dreadnoughts)
https://www.pcgamer.com/about-3500-people-had-a-massive-firefight-in-eve-online-out-of-boredom-and-because-they-had-dreadnoughts/
(...)
Around 3,500 people engaged in a massive dust-up this Tuesday evening, which rapidly escalated from a smaller fight, ending up in huge blobs of dreadnoughts barreling into one another with predictable results. Lots and lots (and lots) of space wreckage and killmails. The battle took place in sector 4-ABS8, and as any times are mentioned bear in mind EVE Online deals with these huge battles via time dilation (TiDi).(...)
What caused such a massive fight?
"There were some questions on what escalated to that battle in 4-ABS8," said participant AlphaEmpire in their After Action Report on the EVE subreddit. "I would argue most Fleet Commanders in all blocs agree, the answer is: boredom."

Star Citizen studio denies reports of layoffs as crowdfunding campaign sails past $600M
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-studio-denies-reports-of-layoffs-as-crowdfunding-campaign-sails-past-dollar600m/
As the Star Citizen crowdfunding machine somehow continues to grind ahead—the game has now surpassed a staggering $600 million in funding—developer Cloud Imperium Games says reports of widespread layoffs at the studio are false.

Bungie is determined to bribe me into running Destiny 2's new raid this weekend
https://www.pcgamer.com/bungie-is-determined-to-bribe-me-into-running-destiny-2s-new-raid-this-weekend/
Recently, my Destiny 2 clanmates and I took the healthy and responsible decision not to participate in the next raid race. The way things work in Destiny 2 is that for the first 48 hours of any new or reprised raid a modifier called 'Contest Mode' is active, during which time player power is capped 20 levels under the enemies in each encounter. Result: you deal less damage and take much more. For those who don't have a well-drilled fireteam and meta loadouts, the experience is bracing—particularly as fatigue creeps in, and the tempers of old gamers with decaying thumb skill begin to fray.
But there must be a sweet reward, right? Historically, not really. Unless you're serious about winning the race, the prize for which is a boxing-style championship belt for all six team members, then the reward for beating Contest Mode has been an in-game emblem for bragging rights. However, today the pot got sweetened substantially. In its latest This Week at Bungie post, the developer announced that beating Crota's End under Contest Mode will also enable players to skip what sounds like a substantial quest and instantly earn Necrochasm, the exotic weapon tied to the raid.

Medieval MMO Gloria Victis and its developer are shutting down because of financial pressure and burnout
https://www.pcgamer.com/medieval-mmo-gloria-victis-and-its-developer-are-shutting-down-because-of-financial-pressure-and-burnout/
Black Eye Games, the developer of the medieval MMO Gloria Victis, has announced that it will shut down the game and close its doors at the conclusion of the current season. The studio said the shutdown is "mostly due to financial reasons," but also that the effort of keeping the game running and growing has also left the team exhausted and burned out.
>> This is turning out to be a bad week for game studios.

Todd Howard reflects on Starfield's development, says there were times he thought 'we had certainly bitten off far more than we could chew'
https://www.pcgamer.com/todd-howard-reflects-on-starfields-development-says-there-were-times-when-he-thought-we-had-certainly-bitten-off-far-more-than-we-could-chew/
Going from 'here is an RPG set in Boston and Massachusetts' to 'here is an RPG set in space' is a mind boggling task. Todd Howard, captain of the SS Starfield, definitely felt the weight of his mission during development, as revealed in a letter he sent to reviewers before the game's launch.

Hours before Starfield officially launches, it's already the top game on Twitch with 350K viewers
https://www.pcgamer.com/hours-before-starfield-officially-launches-its-already-the-top-game-on-twitch-with-350k-viewers/
Starfield's pressurized doors are open for Twitch streamers a few hours before its early access release and it's already shot to the top of the concurrent viewer charts on the platform.
>> It's likely that many have already seen Bethesda's tribute to a fan that died earlier this year.

Pete Hines on Starfield: 'We could make a safer, less buggy, less risky game if we wanted to'
https://www.pcgamer.com/pete-hines-on-starfield-we-could-make-a-safer-less-buggy-less-risky-game-if-we-wanted-to/
Never has a Bethesda game been released without at least a few bugs. We all know how it goes… we either cease to play Skyrim because our AI companions won’t stop running into traps, or we embrace the wonderful weirdness and turn it into streaming content. And it’s not just us players who feel the need to cut Bethesda games some slack for their shortcomings.
Likely in reference to all the talk around Starfield bugs, Bethesda’s Head of publishing Pete Hines recently spoke to Games Industry Biz, assuring them that “We embrace chaos" over at Bethesda HQ. If that means leaning into the little bugs that make the game a more freeing experience for players, then so be it.

Crusader Kings 3 celebrates 3 years with stats showing we're 45% more likely to do a murder than fall in love
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-celebrates-3-years-with-stats-showing-were-45-more-likely-to-do-a-murder-than-fall-in-love/
It has, somehow, been three whole years since Crusader Kings 3 came out, and it's done quite well for itself in that time. It's sold three million copies—not including expansions—across its three-year reign, so Paradox has put out a new trailer and a selection of other weird stats to celebrate its longevity and success.

And last, but not least, let's take a look at the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• There's a new GIVEAWAY: King's Bounty: The Legend will be free during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/kings_bounty_the_legend
• The first of the three Deals of the Day, that will all last until Monday's refresh, is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd, 25% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_heroes_trails_in_the_sky_the_3rd_the
• The second DotD is The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, with a 35% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/legend_of_heroes_trails_in_the_sky_sc_the
• And what game could be the last DotD? No, you're wrong, it's American Fugitive, 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/american_fugitive

+Steam

• Hogwarts Legacy will be 30% off until September 7: https://store.steampowered.com/app/990080/Hogwarts_Legacy/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/990080/Hogwarts_Legacy/
• The Tenants gets a 50% discount until the 7th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009560/The_Tenants/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1009560/The_Tenants/
• Curve Games Fantastical Adventures Sale features up to 90% discounts until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/fantasticaladventures https://store.steampowered.com/sale/fantasticaladventures
• Tripware Interactive celebrates a publisher sale and puts its games up to 80% off until the 8th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TripwirePubSale2023 https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TripwirePubSale2023
• There's another publisher sale, featuring Playstation, and with up to 75% discounts until September, the 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PlayStationPublishersale2023 https://store.steampowered.com/sale/PlayStationPublishersale2023
• LEGO® 2K Drive will be free to try during the weekend and 33% off until September, 11th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451810/LEGO_2K_Drive/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1451810/LEGO_2K_Drive/
• Dead by Daylight is also going to be free to try, but during 5 days, and 50% off until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/381210/Dead_by_Daylight/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/381210/Dead_by_Daylight/
• The I Expect You To Die franchise (3 games) is on sale, up to 59% off until the 14th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ieytd https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ieytd
• And the last one, the ONE PIECE Sale, with up to 90% discounts until September, 14th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/one_piece_franchise https://store.steampowered.com/sale/one_piece_franchise

By the way, the game Helium Rain has become free to play on both GOG and Steam, in case you're interested in giving it a go.

And that's all. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.