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

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The news, all in one post:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store gives away A Plague Tale: Innocence: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/a-plague-tale-innocence.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Krein, a large-scale story-driven DLC-sized mod, comes to Skyrim Special Edition
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/krein-story-driven-dlc-mod-skyrim-special-edition/
In November 2023, we informed you about a cool Skyrim mod called Krein. Krein is like a big, story-filled expansion for the game. And guess what? Now it’s also available for download on the Special Edition.
Krein is a fully-fledged new adventure across various landscapes and worlds. It’s as big as the official Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim. The cool part is, it feels like it’s part of the game world already. Yeap, the modding team has seamlessly integrated it into the game’s world.
According to the team, it includes over two dozen quests. It also comes with dozens of original puzzles and boss battles. Players can also expect various new worlds to explore. Plus, the mod has lots of collectible weapons and armor, and it comes with an original soundtrack.
>> The article has an over 15 minutes long video.

GAMING NEWS

Popular Slay the Spire mod hacked to deliver malware on Christmas Day
https://www.pcgamer.com/popular-slay-the-spire-mod-hacked-to-deliver-malware-on-christmas-day/
A popular Slay the Spire mod called Downfall was compromised over the holidays, and used to push malware to users via a Steam update. The malware in question is called Epsilon and is used to steal information from infected hardware, and was present in the standalone version of the mod on Steam for around an hour on Christmas Day.
The attackers compromised one of the mod's developers' Steam and Discord accounts, allowing access to the mod's Steam account. The Epsilon malware is frequently used on Discord, often packaged with a game executable, and once installed runs in the background harvesting the hardware's cookies, and any saved passwords or credit card information on the device or stored by browsers (everything from Google Chrome to Vivaldi).

'If [money] is an issue, pirate it and buy a copy later': the devs of our favourite surprise horror hit want you to play it spoiler free—by any means necessary
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-money-is-an-issue-pirate-it-and-buy-a-copy-later-the-devs-of-our-favourite-surprise-horror-hit-want-you-to-play-it-spoiler-freeby-any-means-necessary/
Slay the Princess is one of our favourite unexpected hits from this year. It's a choose-your-own adventure style narrative game about a dutiful mission to (you guessed it) slay a princess.
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The devs go on to write: "you can only play for the first time once, and the experience won't be the same if you're looking through the lens of someone else's choices." What's more, they even recommended piracy as an option in case your wallet's too thin. "If $ is an issue, pirate it and buy a copy later when you have money if you liked it!"

The Sinking City legal battle ends with victory for Frogwares, new version of the game 'coming soon'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sinking-city-legal-battle-ends-with-victory-for-frogwares-new-version-of-the-game-coming-soon/
Following a drawn-out legal dispute with original publisher Nacon, Ukrainian studio Frogwares has announced that it is now the one true publisher of the Lovecraft-inspired detective adventure The Sinking City, and that a new version of the game "with all the latest bug fixes and optimizations" is coming soon.

Mickey Mouse has been in the public domain for under 48 hours and there's already a horror game and 2 horror movies on the way
https://www.pcgamer.com/mickey-mouse-horror-game-public-domain/
After multiple changes to US law that kept it copyrighted for nearly 100 years, 1928 Disney cartoon Steamboat Willie—which contains the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse—is now in the public domain.
And what do we do when a beloved children's character becomes available to use in new creative works? We make them into monsters. Three Mickey-themed horror projects have already been announced, one game and two movies.

Disney says Star Wars Outlaws coming 'late this year,' then quickly takes it back
https://www.pcgamer.com/disney-says-star-wars-outlaws-coming-late-this-year-then-quickly-takes-it-back/
For a brief period of time earlier today, it looked very much like Ubisoft's open-world heist game Star Wars Outlaws would be out sometime near the end of 2024. The word came by way of a Disney Parks blog post, and while it's not quite a specific date, it's definitely more precise than what we previously knew—that it's expected out sometime in 2024.

Baldur's Gate 3 completes its Game of the Year sweep with top honor in the 2023 Steam Awards
https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-completes-its-game-of-the-year-sweep-with-top-honor-in-the-2023-steam-awards/
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Baldur's Gate 3 has claimed the Game of the Year award in the 2023 Steam Awards, along with the crown for Outstanding Story-Rich Game. It probably would have won even more, but the Steam Awards rules limit games to nominations in a maximum of two categories, presumably to avoid any across-the-board ass-kickings.

'We begged for more information, more details … all flatly declined': former Blizzard community development manager tears into Bobby Kotick over Overwatch 2's Steam launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-begged-for-more-information-more-details-all-flatly-declined-former-blizzard-community-development-manager-tears-into-bobby-kotick-over-overwatch-2s-steam-launch/
Activision-Blizzard's transfer over to the growing empire of Microsoft has been a bit of a drama, to say the least—but it's all over now, its curtains called with the departure of the company's former CEO Bobby Kotick, exiting stage right.
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Andy Belford (a former senior manager in community development at Blizzard) took to Twitter a few days ago to break his silence on the man himself, particularly regarding Overwatch 2's disastrous Steam launch. The game's Valve debut came at a time of seething community sentiment, sinking its overall review rating to "Overwhelmingly Negative". A black mark that still hasn't been washed away.

A TikToker is trying to deliberately make the worst videogame of all time—and now they're trapped in a hell of their own making
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-tiktoker-is-trying-to-deliberately-make-the-worst-videogame-of-all-timeand-now-theyre-trapped-in-a-hell-of-their-own-making/
I haven't played Monster Sniper Season 3—no one has yet, except its creator—but I can already tell you it's the worst game ever made. That's not a value judgement; it's the stated goal of the project.
Starting in November last year, TikTok creator Everywhere Nowhere has set out to deliberately make the worst videogame they possibly can, combining their own pet peeves with suggestions from commenters. Each video in the series shows the developer adding new dreadful features to the game that make it even worse each time.

A fresh easter egg in WoW teases The War Within, double-confirms that yes: the big sword stuck in the planet is still important
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-fresh-easter-egg-in-wow-teases-the-war-within-double-confirms-that-yes-the-big-sword-stuck-in-the-planet-is-still-important/
The War Within arrives this year—promising to finally address Battle for Azeroth's biggest dangling plot thread: the giant bloody sword that's sticking out of the planet. We know this because of some subtle hints from the expansion's cinematic trailer, like when the camera pans to the giant bloody sword. The one that's sticking out of the planet.

The CCP softens its stance on live service games after plummeting stocks, reportedly removes official responsible for the panic
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-ccp-softens-its-stance-on-live-service-games-after-plummeting-stocks-reportedly-removes-official-responsible-for-the-panic/
The Chinese Communist Party—who had taken aim at free-to-play monetisation schemes just before the holidays—softened its stance. This was after "nearly $80 billion in market value" bled from Tencent (League of Legends) and NetEase (Diablo: Immortal).
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Despite analyst's insistence that the draft rules wouldn't be changed, adjustments were announced later in the month, according to a report from Reuters: "China's video game regulator—the National Press and Publication Administration—has struck a more conciliatory tone, saying it would improve the rules by 'earnestly studying' public views."