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

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, part two:

A year after being removed from Steam, Dark and Darker is coming to the Epic Games Store
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-year-after-being-removed-from-steam-dark-and-darker-is-coming-to-the-epic-games-store/
The extraction-dungeon crawler Dark and Darker still isn't available on Steam, but developer Ironmace is getting ready to bring it back into the public eye by way of a different digital storefront: The Epic Games Store.
"With increased confidence in the quality of our game, we have started preparations on introducing Dark and Darker to a wider audience," Ironmace announced on the Dark and Darker Discord. "As a first step, we are happy to announce the launch of the Dark and Darker store page on the Epic Games Store.

Eric Barone drops the biggest Stardew Valley 1.6 update patch note yet: A new Meadowlands farm type with 'chewy blue grass that animals love' and some bonus chickens too
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/eric-barone-drops-the-biggest-stardew-valley-16-update-patch-note-yet-a-new-meadowlands-farm-type-with-chewy-blue-grass-that-animals-love-and-some-bonus-chickens-too/
As PC Gamer's BaroneWatch enters its ninth day, Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone has shared what is expected to be the final individual patch note for the Stardew Valley 1.6 update before it goes live. And folks, this is a big one: The update will include an all-new farm type called Meadowlands Farm.
>> And here’s the list of the over 1000 mods that are compatible with the 1,6 update. Well, not really. But you’ll find a link to the list in that article.

Easy Anti-Cheat washes its hands of the Apex Legends hacking disaster that saw streamer accounts hijacked live: 'There is no RCE vulnerability within EAC'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/easy-anti-cheat-washes-its-hands-of-the-apex-legends-hacking-disaster-that-saw-streamer-accounts-hijacked-live-there-is-no-rce-vulnerability-within-eac/
The day after the North American finals of the Apex Legends Global Series was postponed because of a mid-match hack against two players, Easy Anti-Cheat has issued a statement saying "there is no RCE vulnerability" in its software that was exploited to carry out the attack.

Astarion's actor was deployed to replace the missing mocap of around 150 lines of Baldur's Gate 3 dialogue: 'I just had this dog's breakfast'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/astarions-actor-was-deployed-to-replace-the-missing-mocap-of-around-150-lines-of-baldurs-gate-3-dialogue-i-just-had-this-dogs-breakfast/
Astarion is a stand-out performance in Baldur's Gate 3—with his voice actor, Neil Newbon, earning several awards because of his stellar work. (...)
Turns out, Newbon also wore a lot of other, non-Astarion shaped hats during the production of Baldur's Gate 3—not as a voice actor, but as a mocap artist. That's per a talk given by Greg Lidstone at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2024. 

Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'They can all eat s***, I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/dwarf-fortress-creator-blasts-execs-behind-brutal-industry-layoffs-they-can-all-eat-s-i-think-theyre-horrible-greedy-greedy-people/
You don't have to worry about Tarn Adams' millionaire status turning him corporate any time soon. At this year's GDC, the Dwarf Fortress maker came out swinging against a brutal climate of layoffs, cancellations, and general downsizing across the games industry, declaring that the executives responsible can "all eat shit." Just in case you needed a reason to like Dwarf Fortress even more.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft patch schedule suggests The War Within expansion will launch in August
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzards-world-of-warcraft-patch-schedule-suggests-the-war-within-expansion-will-launch-in-august/
Today marks the launch of World of Warcraft patch 10.2.6 and Plunderstorm, Blizzard's new battle royale PvP experiment. Based on my interviews with Blizzard representatives and WoW's past update cycles, I've figured out when the MMO's next expansion will probably release.
More precisely, it puts the The War Within expansion launch as sometime in August, perhaps around August 20.

World of Warcraft’s battle royale mode won’t force you to PvP so everyone can 'have an awesome pirate party with your friends and collect plunder’
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/world-of-warcrafts-battle-royale-mode-wont-force-you-to-pvp-have-an-awesome-pirate-party-with-your-friends-and-collect-plunder/
World of Warcraft releases a wild battle royale mode today as part of its Plunderstorm 10.2.6 patch, but you won't have to battle other players to fully enjoy it, Blizzard developers said.
"Even if you're not the one to directly attack other players, you can go around killing monsters, opening chests and still collect Plunder along the way," said Orlando Salvatore, a lead software engineer for Warcraft. Of course, you'll still be a viable target for other players to attack. 
The 60-player free-for-all mode, which lives on a separate server than your normal WoW characters, launches today. Plunder is the currency dropped by monsters in the zone, other players, chests, and by winning the match. Plunder adds up to give you levels of Renown, which is similar to the reputation levels in the current Warcraft Dragonflight expansion. Each new level of Renown (there are 40 in all) earns you Plunderstorm's rewards–mounts, pets and transmog items.
>> And here’s a bit more detail on how this PvP mode came to be.

Halo co-creator that joined EA to work on Battlefield 'gut punched' as publisher lays off entire team: 'I don't have anything positive to say about EA'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/halo-co-creator-that-joined-ea-to-work-on-battlefield-gut-punched-as-publisher-lays-off-entire-team-i-dont-have-anything-positive-to-say-about-ea/
Marcus Lehto is the co-creator of the Halo games and, until 2012, was a senior creative on every Halo game made by Bungie. After that he left to set up on his own with the studio V1 Interactive (which made the shooter Disintegration), before joining EA in 2021 and founding Ridgeline Games, a Seattle-based developer that was working on a new Battlefield game with more of a story focus.
I say "was" because unfortunately Ridgeline has become one of the latest victims in a brutal period of game and tech layoffs. At the end of February EA announced that it would be closing the studio, and laying off all of its staff. Around the same time, Lehto announced he would be leaving the publisher. And he's not a happy camper.

The English actors behind FF14's beloved twins acted in silos for 9 whole years before meeting in the real world, but became fast friends: 'it's become easier to bounce off each other'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/the-english-actors-behind-ff14s-beloved-twins-acted-in-silos-for-9-whole-years-before-meeting-in-the-real-world-but-became-fast-friends-its-become-easier-to-bounce-off-each-other/
If you've played Final Fantasy 14, you'll be familiar with the Leveilleur twins: (…)
The two actors recently spoke with Fanbyte's Jessica Scharnagle in an extended interview—in it, they talk about how (despite their character's close bond), neither actor had actually met each other until 2022. That's seven years after they first appeared in Heavensward (there was a change in localisation company), and almost nine years when you take development time into account, according to Walker.