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

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Thursday news, part two:

Haunted Chocolatier teasers are still rolling even while development is paused for Stardew
https://www.pcgamer.com/haunted-chocolatier-teasers-are-still-rolling-even-while-development-is-paused-for-stardew/
We've gotten another bittersweet taste of Haunted Chocolatier. Sweet because, well, it's Haunted Chocolatier, and bitter because I still don't know when this game is coming out. But we do have some new screenshots: in a tweet earlier today, Haunted Chocolatier and Stardew Valley dev Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone shared four tantalising new screenshots of the spooky sweet-making sim.

New World ends its 2-year-long horseless era by adding mounts and leaps up the Steam charts, just below Counter-Strike 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-world-ends-it-2-year-long-horseless-era-by-adding-mounts-and-leaps-up-the-steam-charts-just-below-counter-strike-2/
New World's first expansion arrived yesterday, and along with the addition of flails, the ability to turn into some kind of vengeful nature monster, a transformed zone and another expedition, it also solves one of my big launch bugbears: it's finally added mounts.
Customisable horses, dire wolves and lions can now join you on your adventures, with their arrival accompanied by a new riding skill that will eventually see you netting higher speeds and better buffs. At last.

Five former Ubisoft employees arrested following investigation into sexual misconduct complaints at the company
https://www.pcgamer.com/five-former-ubisoft-employees-arrested-following-investigation-into-sexual-misconduct-complaints-at-the-company/
A Liberation report (Google translated) says five former Ubisoft employees, including former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët and vice president of editorial and creative services Tommy François, have been arrested in France for questioning about allegations of sexual harassment and abuse while at the company.

Well that didn't take long: Diablo 4 is coming to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/well-that-didnt-take-long-diablo-4-is-coming-to-steam/
Boy, that sure didn't take long. Blizzard announced today that Diablo 4, the latest iteration of its demon-clobbering action-RPG, will be coming to Steam on October 17, and is available for wishlisting now.

Laid-off BioWare employees sue over severance pay: 'We are struggling to understand why BioWare is shortchanging us'
https://www.pcgamer.com/laid-off-bioware-employees-sue-over-severance-pay-we-are-struggling-to-understand-why-bioware-is-shortchanging-us/
A group of seven former BioWare employees who were among the 50 laid off in August have filed a lawsuit against the company seeking better severance pay and punitive damages for what they claim is "unreasonably poor treatment by BioWare" following their termination.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer defends Bethesda's work on Starfield: 'They are just doing something different with their time and that's cool'
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-developer-defends-bethesdas-work-on-starfield-they-are-just-doing-something-different-with-their-time-and-thats-cool/
Starfield is a good game, but it's also been the subject of a perhaps-unexpected level of criticism from players, exacerbated by the triumphant Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 comeback. But in response to a player's complaints about Starfield's use of Creation Engine 2—an updated version of the aging Creation Engine that was first used in 2011 for The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim—one Cyberpunk 2077 developer took a minute to defend Bethesda's sci-fi RPG, saying the issue isn't the technology but that Starfield developers "are just doing something different with their time."

Diablo 4's season 2 patch fixes almost every problem I've had with it since launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4s-season-2-patch-fixes-almost-every-problem-ive-had-with-it-since-launch/
There are 51 quality of life changes in the Diablo 4 season 2 patch notes that address some of the action RPG's most glaring issues. Major parts of the game, like leveling speed, mounts, and dungeon layouts have been so dramatically changed that you could almost call this update Diablo 4 2.0—a dramatic overhaul for a game that's just four months old.

Nothing will go wrong with all these new vampire powers in Diablo 4 season 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/nothing-will-go-wrong-with-all-these-vampire-powers-in-diablo-4-season-2/
In Diablo 4's second season, the Season of Blood, you're totally not a vampire, but you sure can use their powers.
Starting on October 17, you can make a new seasonal character (sorry, it's required) and use Vampiric Powers to alter your skills. Like season 1's Malignant Hearts, Vampiric Powers transform how each class usually works. There are powers that make every skill heal you, give you a powerful bat minion, and cause your attacks to deal 80% of your Maximum Life to every enemy around you.
>> It's the Season of Blood, but you could also call it the Season of Horse.

Here's when Forza Motorsport unlocks in your time zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/forza-motorsport-launch-unlock-time-early-access-premium/
Forza Motorsport represents a fresh start for the racing series on PC, and it feels outstanding: while our review criticizes the career mode for playing it safe, it also praises the vehicle handling and "newfound sense of weight to FM's cars."
(...)
On Steam, Forza Motorsport will unlock globally at 12:01 am ET on October 5 for Premium Edition and Premium Add-Ons Bundle owners. It will unlock globally at 12:01 am ET on October 10 for everyone else. Here's how that breaks down across time zones:

The voice of Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion was asked to tone down the horny for his final romance scene: 'ONLY SLIGHTLY, NEIL'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-voice-of-baldurs-gate-3s-astarion-was-asked-to-tone-down-the-horny-for-his-final-romance-scene-only-slightly-neil/
A recent datamine of Baldur's Gate 3's absurdly huge wealth of voice lines continues to deliver. Not just in helping us uncover dark, dark futures regarding Scratch—it's also given us a peek behind the curtain at the game's development.
As spotted by Team_Purple on the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit (thanks Gamesradar), Astarion's final romance scene has a hilarious dev note—presumably from a writer who knows the fabulous stylings of Neil Newbon a little too well.

Diablo 4 rendered unplayable as Blizzard struggles with Battle.net login woes
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-rendered-unplayable-as-blizzard-struggles-with-battlenet-login-woes/
Battle.net, Blizzard's own PC game launcher and storefront, and your only port of call (for now) to play games like Diablo 4, World of Warcraft, and other Blizzard games, is having technical issues. A tweet from the Blizzard CS EU account from earlier this morning says the company is "currently investigating an issue" affecting its authentication servers, which might cause "failed or slow login attempts" for users.

Phantom Liberty has three original Idris Elba tracks as well as a full DJ set
https://www.pcgamer.com/phantom-liberty-has-three-original-idris-elba-tracks-as-well-as-a-full-dj-set/
It may surprise you to know that Idris Elba has musical collaborations with Taylor Swift, Wiley and Paul McCartney under his belt, and now we can add to that his contributions to Phantom Liberty: a 3 track EP (The Phantom Files) and full DJ set. Elba's acting career may overshadow his musical output, but he does have an extensive back catalogue of songs as well as a seriously impressive list of collaborators.