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

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The news, round two:

Square Enix plans to oust outsourcers as it reviews the company's development process 'from scratch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/square-enix-plans-to-oust-outsourcers-as-it-reviews-the-companys-development-process-from-scratch/
Square Enix plans to overhaul its approach to making games, as it seeks to improve individual game quality and increase its overall profit margins.
As reported by Bloomberg Japan, the move was announced by Square Enix's president Takashi Kiryu, at a financial results briefing for analysts held yesterday.

Cyberpunk 2077 sequel announces new lead writer, design director, and executive producer: 'It's like renaissance but with laser katanas,' creative director says
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-sequel-announces-new-lead-writer-design-director-and-executive-producer-its-like-renaissance-but-with-laser-katanas-creative-director-says/
CD Projekt officially confirmed in October that the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is in early development, and it seems that process is starting to heat up. The studio announced today that it's added five veteran developers "with years of experience" to the team, including former New World head of production Dan Hernberg and Control pre-production narrative lead Anna Megill.

Atlus was 'extremely careful' about Persona 3 Reload changes: 'Good things do not get old with time, and greatness does not fade away'
https://www.pcgamer.com/atlus-was-extremely-careful-about-persona-3-reload-changes-good-things-do-not-get-old-with-time-and-greatness-does-not-fade-away/
Persona 3 Reload is a faithful remake of the 2006 original—and I loved it—but given that the remastered Persona 3 Portable released on Steam just last year, one might wonder why Atlus chose to return to that source material so soon.

Brainiac himself seemingly leaks a future Suicide Squad playable character
https://www.pcgamer.com/brainiac-himself-seemingly-leaks-a-future-suicide-squad-playable-character/
If you thought the four playable villains of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League were already a lot to juggle, get ready for Task Force X to grow. Rocksteady is planning to release four new characters over the next year of updates, with Joker already announced as the first to arrive in March. Now, thanks to a slip up by Brainiac himself, we have a good idea who the second recruit will be, too.

There's so much cool stuff coming to Crusader Kings 3 this year that I'm not sure what to be most excited for
https://www.pcgamer.com/crusader-kings-3-chapter-3-announcement/
About 10 years ago, I sat down in a San Francisco coffee shop across from Henrik "Doomdark" Fåhraeus, then game director for Crusader Kings 2, and asked him about the possibility of playing landless characters in Paradox's rich medieval sandbox. Normally, you take the role of a count, duke, king, or emperor permanently tied to their estates and collecting taxes, and I've often dreamed about how cool it would be to wander that big map as an adventurer or a mercenary.
Fåhraeus seemed skeptical about the idea at the time, but a decade later, I'm finally getting my wish. Crusader Kings 3: Chapter 3, announced today, is a slate of DLCs coming over the course of 2024 that all feel like pure wish fulfillment for me as a longtime fan of the series.

Game designer Laralyn McWilliams, known for army training-sim-turned-game Full Spectrum Warrior and innovative F2P MMO Free Realms, has died
https://www.pcgamer.com/game-designer-laralyn-mcwilliams-known-for-army-training-sim-turned-game-full-spectrum-warrior-and-innovative-f2p-mmo-free-realms-has-died/
Game designer Laralyn McWilliams, known for her work as lead designer of Full Spectrum Warrior and creative director on the Sony Online Entertainment MMO Free Realms, has died at the age of 58.
McWilliams' career began in the mid '90s as a beta tester on games including Daggerfall, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, and Pirates! She served as lead designer on the real-time tactics game Full Spectrum Warrior, and then as game designer on Over the Hedge and creative director of Free Realms. She also has credits on Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626, Gears of War 4, Archangel, and The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners.

WWE 2K24 will include casket matches, ambulance matches, special guest referees, and apparently Muhammad Ali
https://www.pcgamer.com/wwe-2k24-will-include-casket-matches-ambulance-matches-special-guest-referees-and-apparently-muhammad-ali/
2K released a gameplay trailer for WWE 2K24 and it sure does promise a lot of people will be shut into things. Among the new additions are ambulance matches, which turn the chant "You're going home in an ambulance" literal. "The goal is to wear an opponent down, put them in the back of the ambulance, and battle to close the doors and win the match", they say.

Former Infinity Ward dev says Activision told staff to 'take the money and get over it' after 'cold-blooded' canning of studio heads West and Zampella
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-infinity-ward-dev-says-activision-told-staff-to-take-the-money-and-get-over-it-after-cold-blooded-canning-of-studio-heads-west-and-zampella/
In 2009, Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella were abruptly fired by the company's owner Activision. West and Zampella had directed the original Call of Duty, and brought the series to superstardom through Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Their sacking just before the release of Modern Warfare 2 shocked the industry, and arguably changed the course of both Call of Duty and the FPS forever.
Now a developer who worked at Infinity Ward at the time has recalled the dramatic events of that day. Paul Sandler, who is currently Lead Designer at NetEase games, wrote am article on Linkedin detailing the day's events. (...)

Palworld players stumble on cunning new strat to defeat bosses in one hit: a literal 'stairway to heaven'
https://www.pcgamer.com/palworld-players-stumble-on-cunning-new-strat-to-defeat-bosses-in-one-hit-a-literal-stairway-to-heaven/
Palworld players are working smarter, not harder by letting gravity do the work of killing bosses for them. Specifically, they're constructing enormous stairways into the sky, luring bosses up, then deleting them, leaving poor foes to plummet helplessly to a sticky end on the ground below. It's a bit like the bowl of petunias from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or a metaphor for the role of collateralized debt obligations in the 2008 financial crisis.

RuneScape developer Jagex is on the verge of being acquired again, this time by the backers of the Six Nations rugby tournament in a deal worth $900 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/runescape-developer-jagex-is-on-the-verge-of-being-acquired-again-this-time-by-the-backers-of-the-six-nations-rugby-tournament-in-a-deal-worth-dollar900-million/
A private equity company behind the Six Nations Rugby tournament is on the verge of buying RuneScape developer Jagex for a cool £900 million, according to a report by Sky News.
CVC Capital Partners is a Luxembourg-based "private equity platform" that "manages €118 billion of assets". Its investment portfolio includes the Six Nations Rugby Tournament, the courier service Hermes, and the RAC. It also previously owned Formula 1, which it sold to Liberty Media in 2016.

Celebrate Valentine's Day the traditional way, by grabbing Lies of P's crossover DLC with Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
https://www.pcgamer.com/celebrate-valentines-day-the-traditional-way-by-grabbing-lies-of-ps-crossover-dlc-with-wo-long-fallen-dynasty/
Valentine's Day looms over the temporal horizon, like a giant soulslike boss just desperate to hug you to death. I can't say I've ever thought V-day and soulslikes had that much in common, unless you've got a thing for having the stuffing kicked out of you. But that hasn't stopped Koei Tecmo and Neowiz sensually putting their heads together for a Lies of P/Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty crossover DLC event, which will bring Lies of P players a lovely Wo Long-shaped present on February 14.