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

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Tuesday news, the second part:

Pyrene is a promising roguelike deckbuilder with all the overpowered builds your synergistic heart desires
https://www.pcgamer.com/pyrene-is-a-promising-roguelike-deckbuilder-with-all-the-overpowered-builds-your-synergistic-heart-desires/
I recently had the pleasure of playing a dash of Pyrene—and as someone with an upsetting amount of hours logged in games like Slay the Spire, I had a grand old time. Pyrene is a deckbuilding roguelike from developer team Two Tiny Dice, a studio headed up by Christophe Coyard—the mind behind the similarly-designed Escape the Fold.

Embracer lays off 97 people at Eidos Montreal, reportedly cancels new Deus Ex game
https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-lays-off-97-people-at-eidos-montreal-reportedly-cancels-new-deus-ex-game/
Eidos Montreal, developer of the Adam Jensen-centric Deus Ex reboots as well as 2021's Guardians of the Galaxy, announced today that it has laid off 97 employees "from development teams, administration, and support services." According to a Bloomberg report, the layoffs coincide with the cancellation of an unannounced Deus Ex game the studio was working on.
>> The voice of the recent Deus Ex games wasn't involved in the game.

Neo-Victorian survival game Nightingale is holding a public stress test on Friday, but it's only for 3 hours so don't be late
https://www.pcgamer.com/neo-victorian-survival-game-nightingale-is-holding-a-public-stress-test-on-friday-but-its-only-for-3-hours-so-dont-be-late/
Nightingale, the neo-Victorian survival game being developed by Aaryn Flynn's Inflexion Games, is holding a stress test on Friday, but you'll have to be quick if you want to get in: It's only scheduled to run for three hours.
To get into the Nightingale stress test, head over to the Steam page and click the "request access" button. Inflexion will start granting access at 10 am MT/12 pm ET on February 2, while servers will go live one hour later, at 11 am MT/1 pm ET. The test will come to an end at 2 pm MT/4 pm ET.

Destiny's story structure 'may have become predictable,' admits Bungie as it pivots to Episodes to 'pleasantly surprise' players more often
https://www.pcgamer.com/destinys-story-structure-may-have-become-predictable-admits-bungie-as-it-pivots-to-episodes-to-pleasantly-surprise-players-more-often/
Bungie is still playing it close to the vest with its planned shift from a seasonal model to an "Episodic" one with its upcoming expansion, The Final Shape, but at a recent developer roundtable, members of the team shed some light on the reasons behind the change, as well as how the unique demands of making Destiny affect its storytelling.

Activision's Call of Duty general manager takes over as president of Blizzard
https://www.pcgamer.com/activisions-call-of-duty-general-manager-takes-over-as-president-of-blizzard/
Blizzard Entertainment has announced that its new president is Johanna Faries, who previously spent nearly three years as the general manager of Activision's Call of Duty franchise. Faries will replace Mike Ybarra, who unexpectedly announced his departure when Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from its gaming division last week.

Unprecedented 'inside look' at Call of Duty matchmaking debunks fan theories on SBMM and confirms our assumptions: 'Skill is not the dominant variable'
https://www.pcgamer.com/unprecedented-inside-look-at-call-of-duty-matchmaking-debunks-fan-theories-on-sbmm-and-confirms-our-assumptions-skill-is-not-the-dominant-variable/
Call of Duty's matchmaking is no longer a mystery.
Last year, Activision promised fans that it'd finally open up about how matchmaking works in Call of Duty. Today, it delivered: The unprecedented blog post dives deep into exactly which factors Call of Duty is looking for when grouping you with other players, and where its priorities lie. The post does not cover Warzone matchmaking or ranked modes.

Here are the first details on new Stormgate hero Maloc, a tanky fire-caster voiced by Chris Metzen
https://www.pcgamer.com/stormgate-maloc-exclusive/
The upcoming RTS Stormgate has three factions, two of which have been announced: Vanguard, with the previously-released hero Blockade, and the Infernal Host, which gets its first hero this week in a new beta build (codenamed "Elephant").
That new build will be available to those who purchase the $40 Kickstarter tier or higher. It'll introduce Infernal Host hero Maloc—voiced by Chris Metzen of Blizzard fame—and several new units including the Fire Giant and Burned One. (Coming later as part of the Infernal Host campaign: Warz, a character voiced by Marvel “Shang-Chi” star Simu Liu.) The UI also gets a refresh, which should be sharp, since it was already in pretty good shape.
>> Talking about Kickstarter, the game was already fully funded before the launched theirs.

Blizzard's late-night emergency patch saved Diablo 4's most controversial season yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzards-late-night-emergency-patch-saved-diablo-4s-most-controversial-season-yet/
Last week, Blizzard learned just how little Diablo 4 players want to avoid traps while doing dungeons. Reddit and social media were ablaze with criticisms over season 3's new vaults and the robot companion. It was as if the success of season 2 was an anomaly and Diablo 4 would go back to being the tedious grind it was when it launched.
But late on Friday, Blizzard dropped a patch that targeted the season's worst issues: the traps and the rate at which your companion's skills upgrade. Vaults are considerably easier now and the robot spider takes no time to grow into a powerful companion. The Reddit threads died down and people seem happy. Season 3 is saved.

Indie games showcase Day of the Devs is now officially a non-profit organization
https://www.pcgamer.com/indie-games-showcase-day-of-the-devs-is-now-officially-a-non-profit-organization/
Day of the Devs has come a long way from its debut in 2012 as an indie games showcase hosted by Double Fine Productions and iam8bit. It's now "a fully independent 501c3 non-profit," which organizers say will make its fundraising efforts in support of indie developers "more transparent and public."

Enshrouded doesn't have PvP, but players are still getting robbed and griefed by strangers
https://www.pcgamer.com/enshrouded-doesnt-have-pvp-but-players-are-still-getting-robbed-and-griefed-by-strangers/
There's no PVP in survival game Enshrouded, but that doesn't mean there aren't ways to hurt other players. Despite the 100% co-op nature of player interaction, there have been reports of some dastardly deeds being done in multiplayer sessions. No one's died yet, but friendly co-op vibes have definitely been hacked to death.

2018's best platformer now has an adorable Mario 64-style tribute made by the game's original dev team for its 6th anniversary—and it's completely free
https://www.pcgamer.com/2018s-best-platformer-now-has-an-adorable-mario-64-style-tribute-made-by-the-games-original-dev-team-for-its-6th-anniversaryand-its-completely-free/
Celeste is one of the best platformers in the past decade—it's a game with a heartfelt, deeply affecting narrative that's also just really damn good at what it does: Complex 2D platforming with a skill ceiling so high it's nudging the moon. Now you can play it in 3D, kinda.

Obsidian's design director would love to add the immersive sim elements of Baldur's Gate 3 into a 'Pillars-y' game: 'we have mostly 2D worlds, so that's a lot more difficult'
https://www.pcgamer.com/obsidians-design-director-would-love-to-add-the-immersive-sim-elements-of-baldurs-gate-3-into-a-pillars-y-game-we-have-mostly-2d-worlds-so-thats-a-lot-more-difficult/
Before Baldur's Gate 3 came along and took a great (weapon master) swing at what we thought the CRPG could do, Obsidian was keeping the flame alive with Pillars of Eternity—a series that is by all means absolutely stellar. Granted, Larian's Divinity: Original Sin 2 laid that groundwork, and the immersive sim elements the studio carried over added a whole new dimension to a more tabletop-adjacent CRPG.
Obsidian's design director Josh Sawyer, recently talked about Baldur's Gate 3 in a Q&A on his YouTube channel. A fan asked him whether there was anything from BG3 that he'd like to incorporate into a "Pillars-y" game—something he's said he'd like to do, though he'd want a Larian-sized budget for it.
>> He works for Micosoft now, he could ask for that kind of budget.

Don't think of Avowed as Obsidian's Skyrim but as a Fallout: New Vegas and Outer Worlds-style take on first-person fantasy, says the studio
https://www.pcgamer.com/dont-think-of-avowed-as-obsidians-skyrim-but-as-a-fallout-new-vegas-and-outer-worlds-style-take-on-first-person-fantasy-says-the-studio/
You've gotta feel for Avowed, Obsidian's upcoming first-person fantasy RPG. As soon as the studio started talking about it, people (including, ah, me) began to look for pigeonholes to slot it into. A quick shorthand that would let us call the game "Obsidian's take on X".
The easiest reference point, of course, is Skyrim (Starfield without guns), to which Avowed's fantasy setting, first-person combat, and classless character system have all invited comparison. But the studio doesn't think it's the right comparison, telling PCGamesN that you're better off thinking of Avowed as an Outer Worlds-like, or even—be still my heart—something like Fallout: New Vegas.