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

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The news, the sequel:

Epic's thrown a giant bag of money at Lady Gaga to do the next Fortnite festival, but the main thing is she no longer spells it 'Fortnight'
https://www.pcgamer.com/epics-thrown-a-giant-bag-of-money-at-lady-gaga-to-do-the-next-fortnite-concert-but-the-main-thing-is-she-no-longer-spells-it-fortnight/
Pop megastar Lady Gaga is the next artist to collaborate with Fortnite, following in the footsteps of the likes of Ariana Grande, Travis Scott, and Eminem. Gaga will be the headliner for Fortnite festival season 2, which runs until April 22 and features a music-themed battle pass to go alongside its iconic figurehead, which features some surprisingly cool rewards including instruments and jam tracks.

The Dark Pictures Anthology developer Supermassive Games confirms layoffs are happening
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-dark-pictures-anthology-developer-supermassive-games-confirms-layoffs-are-happening/
Just a few weeks after the departure of its founders, Supermassive Games, the developer of Until Dawn, The Quarry, and The Dark Pictures Anthology series, has confirmed that it is undergoing a "reorganization," and that layoffs will occur as a result.

Stardew Valley's long-awaited 1.6 update is coming to PC in March
https://www.pcgamer.com/stardew-valley-1-6-pc-release-date/
Back in January, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone promised that the long-awaited 1.6 update will "absolutely" be out sometime in 2024. And he wasn't kidding: Barone revealed today—the eighth anniversary of Stardew Valley's release, by the way—that the update will arrive on PC on March 19.

Elden Ring director says Shadow of the Erdtree will have a Sekiro-like leveling system so you can't just steamroll it
https://www.pcgamer.com/elden-ring-director-says-shadow-of-the-erdtree-will-have-a-sekiro-like-leveling-system-so-you-cant-just-steamroll-it/
Max level Elden Ring characters won't be able to breeze through Shadow of the Erdtree when it arrives in June. The DLC will use a separate leveling system borrowed from Sekiro, according to director Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Narrative game studio Die Gute Fabrik has 'halted production' because it can't find funding for a new project
https://www.pcgamer.com/narrative-game-studio-die-gute-fabrik-has-halted-production-because-it-cant-find-funding-for-a-new-project/
Indie studio Die Gute Fabrik, developer of the award-winning "mutant soap opera" Mutazione and the narrative adventure Saltsea Chronicles, has "halted production" due to an inability to find funding for its next project.

Rainbow Six Siege's next operator brings back a classic Rainbow Six character nobody's heard from in 20 years
https://www.pcgamer.com/rainbow-six-siege-deimos-gerald-morris/
When it comes to covering Rainbow Six Siege on the internet, there are two types of commenters: those with strong opinions about balancing decisions, and those who like to reminisce about classic Rainbow Six.
Despite never playing the original singleplayer Rainbow Six trilogy myself, through osmosis I've learned of the legendary exploits of John Clark, Ding Chavez, and Daniel Bogart—names left to gather dust in the Tom Clancy archives since Rainbow Six went to Vegas and became a 5v5 hero shooter.
Well break out your feather duster and alert your nearest CD-ROM appreciator, because Rainbow Six Siege's next season includes a nod to the original tactical shooter trilogy. Siege's newest attacker, the mysterious Deimos, has been unmasked as ex-Rainbow operative Gerald Morris. In Siege lore, Morris has been presumed dead since 2012. In real life, he hasn't been seen in over 20 years.

The makers of the excellent Half-Life remake Black Mesa are teasing something new
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-makers-of-the-excellent-half-life-remake-black-mesa-are-teasing-something-new/
Crowbar Collective, the team responsible for the really good remake of Half-Life called Black Mesa, appears to be teasing something new in the making. The studio dropped a very brief teaser on YouTube (via GamesRadar) over the weekend called "Incoming Signal" and invited fans to sign up for "future updates and beta tests."

Cities: Skylines 2 boss says lack of mod support is the 'biggest regret we have'
https://www.pcgamer.com/cities-skylines-2-boss-says-lack-of-mod-support-is-the-biggest-regret-we-have/
The biggest name in city builders has a few cracks in its foundation. When it launched late in 2023, it was pretty obvious that Cities: Skylines 2 would have benefited from some more time in development, and thanks to optimization issues and a lack of mod support, the city builder sequel currently has "Mixed" reviews on Steam—with recent reviews dipping into "Mostly Negative" territory. Ouch.
(...)
Today on the Paradox Forums, Colossal Order CEO Mariina Hallikainen reiterated the studio's commitment to addressing community requests for improvements, while simultaneously pointing out fixes and changes can't happen overnight.
"We’d much rather be in a different position than we are in at the moment, but we cannot change the past," Hallikainen wrote. "We’re working very hard to catch up on the missing modding support, missing platforms, the content for the Ultimate Edition, and improving the performance and fixing bugs this year. The team is divided to work on different tasks so that we’re seeing progress on all fronts and while it might not feel that it’s fast enough I can assure you we are all doing the best we can."

According to experts on kernel level anticheat, two things are abundantly clear: 1) It's not perfect and 2) It's not going anywhere
https://www.pcgamer.com/according-to-experts-on-kernel-level-anticheat-two-things-are-abundantly-clear-1-its-not-perfect-and-2-its-not-going-anywhere/
Like Denuvo DRM or shader compilation stutter, "kernel level anticheat" is one of the most high profile issues dogging PC gaming in recent years. The default position of most gamers is that it's a crutch used by "lazy devs", it ruins performance, and could even compromise security. However, after reading games marketing veteran Ryan K. Rigney's Push to Talk report, in which he interviews multiple professional anticheat experts, it's clear that the tech's here to stay regardless.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's final scene gets a script change 2 days before its sequel drops, and it's going down about as well as you'd expect
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-7-remakes-final-scene-gets-a-script-change-2-days-before-its-sequel-drops-and-its-going-down-about-as-well-as-youd-expect/
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn't have a set-in-stone PC port date yet, but it's still coming to the PS5 in a couple of days. In the run-up, the Remake's received a new patch. While the official singular note is just "fixes to several bugs", Square Enix has actually snuck in a change to the english localisation that has fans up-in-arms. Spoilers for the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, in case that wasn't clear.

Sony planning to lay off 900 employees, CEO calls the decision 'inevitable' and says 'several PlayStation Studios are affected'
https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-planning-to-lay-off-900-employees-ceo-calls-the-decision-inevitable-and-says-several-playstation-studios-are-affected/
In what continues to be a very gruesome, tiring, and upsetting trend, Sony has announced that it will be laying off approximately 900 employees, which is around 8% of its workforce, in an attempt to "reduce [its] overall headcount globally". It marks the second-largest layoff in the industry this year.

Skyrim finally truly beaten as fanatical player does 'everything that can be done' in the game, nabbing every item and perk in quest to hit level 1,337
https://www.pcgamer.com/skyrim-finally-truly-beaten-as-fanatical-player-does-everything-that-can-be-done-in-the-game-nabbing-every-item-and-perk-in-quest-to-hit-level-1337/
I don't know whether to describe this as an act of herculean heroism or sisyphean torment, but someone has beaten Skyrim. No, really beaten it. Wrung every last drop of adventure out of it in a trial that left them with every spell, item, and perk in the game at level—wait for it—1,337, entirely without mods or cheats. Why? My friends, why climb the highest mountain? Why fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? Not because they are easy, but because you can brag about it online.