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

[JEMC]

Thursday news, the second part:

New Call of Duty teaser site does everything but come out and say 'here's the next Black Ops'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/new-call-of-duty-teaser-site-does-everything-but-come-out-and-say-heres-the-next-black-ops/
The hype for the next Call of Duty is beginning to spin up in earnest thanks to a new teaser site at thetruthlies.com carrying some shakycam-style video clips and an ominous message: "Open your eyes. The truth lies."

Destiny 2 is finally nerfing its most broken ult, but as a Warlock main I fear my teammates will still want to crutch on it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-2-is-finally-nerfing-its-most-broken-ult-but-as-a-warlock-main-i-fear-my-teammates-will-still-want-to-crutch-on-it/
Have you ever had your teammates bully you into running a particular loadout for their benefit? Everyone who plays Warlock in Destiny 2 knows the feeling. Back in 2018, the Forsaken expansion added a new Solar super called Well of Radiance, and in team-based activities we've been forced to run it ever since. When you pop this ult, the Warlock slams a flaming sword into the ground which forms a glowing pool around it for 20 seconds. 
Currently, standing in that well grants all players a 25% damage buff and, more significantly, a whopping 50% reduction to incoming damage. As you can imagine, that's incredibly useful in enemy-dense activities, particularly at higher-end difficulty where damage is substantially amped up. 
(...)
Bungie has long been aware of the problem with Well, and to a lesser degree Titan's Ward of Dawn which also offers a combo of protection and damage buff but is clunkier to use. Last November, the studio warned that the safety offered by Well "is not something we believe the sandbox can or should continue to support." The delay to The Final Shape meant Well has enjoyed an extra couple of months in the sun, but today the nerfs have been announced, and it's fair to say the hammer is falling hard. 

As Helldivers 2 boss Johan Pilestedt hangs up his CEO hat to focus on the creative side, he has one big change in mind: 'My working theory is that time-to-kill is too high'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/as-helldivers-2-boss-johan-pilestedt-hangs-up-his-ceo-hat-to-focus-on-the-creative-side-he-has-one-big-change-in-mind-my-working-theory-is-that-time-to-kill-is-too-high/
Johan Pilestedt is no longer CEO of the studio he founded. He's handed that job to Paradox veteran Shams Jorjani, and given himself the new title of Chief Creative Officer at Arrowhead. His goal in the new role is to be more hands-on with Helldivers 2 going forward and, in his own words, "spend MORE time with the team and 100% of my focus on the games and community."
(...)
With time freed up to focus on the future of Helldivers 2, Pilestedt even opened up about a few topics on his mind: interpreting player feedback, devs playing their own game, and time-to-kill.

Helldivers 2 boss wants to make Arrowhead 'the next FromSoftware or Blizzard'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-boss-wants-to-make-arrowhead-the-next-fromsoftware-or-blizzard/
Helldivers 2 is a massive success, and while that's come at a cost—former Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, who's now moved into a mainly creative role, told GamesIndustry that they received "horrifying" threats from some players—it's also helped inspire some major ambitions for the future of Arrowhead. Pilestedt isn't looking to take the studio public, though, but he does have hopes that it could one day become "the next FromSoftware or Blizzard."

After only 4 months, Blizzard will axe one of Overwatch 2's last PvE modes because it 'hasn't resonated with players in the ways that we hoped'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/after-only-4-months-blizzard-has-axed-one-of-overwatch-2s-last-pve-modes-because-it-hasnt-resonated-with-players-in-the-ways-that-we-hoped/
One of the few Overwatch 2 co-op PvE modes, Hero Mastery Gauntlet, will be removed in the next season due to a lack of interest, Blizzard announced via a forum post.
"Hero Mastery Gauntlet was intended to bring the high score-chasing excitement of Hero Mastery missions into a multiplayer format," community manager Kaedi wrote. "Unfortunately, it hasn’t resonated with players in the ways that we hoped."

Survival base-builder Nightingale's offline mode has arrived—along with celebrities like Joan of Arc and Edgar Allan Poe
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/survival-base-builder-nightingales-offline-mode-has-arrivedalong-with-celebrities-like-joan-of-arc-and-edgar-allen-poe/
Survival game Nightingale just delivered a feature players have been asking for since the game debuted in early access in February: offline mode. As of today, solo survival fans will no longer be at the whims of servers in order to jump into the fae realms of the gaslamp fantasy base-builder.

Animal Well developer Billy Basso hints at a new game that will 'be in the same universe but may not be a direct sequel'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/animal-well-developer-billy-basso-hints-at-a-new-game-that-will-be-in-the-same-universe-but-may-not-be-a-direct-sequel/
Animal Well has achieved incredible success over the last few weeks since its release and is shaping up to be one of the most acclaimed Metroidvanias since Hollow Knight. At the tail end of this success, developer Billy Basso has hinted at the possibility of an upcoming game that dives back into its secret-laden world. 
In a Q&A on r/NintendoSwitch, developer Billy Basso and business/marketing manager Dan Adelman answered a few questions from fans, including what would come next. "I'm currently planning to make a game that will be in the same universe but may not be a direct sequel," Basso says. This wouldn't be the first time an indie developer has taken this approach, with Undertale's dev Toby Fox choosing to release Deltarune in the same fashion.  

MultiVersus has scrubbed the Justin Roiland voice lines snagged from Rick & Morty, replacing them with game-specific recordings by their new voice actors
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/multiversus-has-scrubbed-the-justin-roiland-voice-lines-snagged-from-the-show-replacing-them-with-game-specific-recordings-by-their-new-voice-actors/
MultiVersus has scrubbed any existence of Justin Roiland's voice work for Adult Swim characters Rick and Morty from the game, replacing them with fresh bespoke voice lines, courtesy of their new actors.
I took a peep at the game's credits during a preview build I got my hands on earlier this month and sure enough, Roiland is notably absent from the English voice talent roster. Instead, Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden—the new voice actors for Rick and Morty respectively—are present.

The follow-up to cozy detective game Strange Horticulture is called Strange Antiquities, and this time you'll run an occult artifact shop
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/the-follow-up-to-cozy-detective-game-strange-horticulture-is-called-strange-antiquities-and-this-time-youll-run-an-occult-artifact-shop/
2022 was a fantastic year for detective games: we got both sprawling murder mystery The Case of the Golden Idol and cozy plant shop puzzle game Strange Horticulture. 2024 is shaping up pretty mysteriously, too: a new Golden Idol game is due out this year, and in even more exciting news, a follow-up to Strange Horticulture has been announced today.
Trade in your flowerpots and watering can for a monkey's paw and a skull talisman, because in Strange Antiquities you're running a cozy little curio shop. Check out the all-too-brief teaser above.

New gacha hotness Wuthering Waves is suffering from some catastrophic launch issues, despite making a big splash on Twitch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/new-gacha-hotness-wuthering-waves-is-suffering-from-some-catastrophic-launch-issues-despite-making-a-big-splash-on-twitch/
Wuthering Waves just crashed into the cliff that is the gaming public, and reactions are, well, a little mixed. In case you're unfamiliar, the game's a Genshin Impact-styled gacha from developer Kuro Games, set in a post-apocalyptic world where you follow the journey of amnesiac pretty boy/girl Rover. 
It's been generating quite a bit of buzz: At the time of writing, Wuthering Waves currently has a whopping 91,000 viewers on Twitch—but from a player perspective? Things aren't going so great.