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

[JEMC]

The Friday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Fanatical has launched the War Child Charity Bundle, with 9 games to get during the next 4 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/war-child-charity-bundle.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

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GAMING NEWS

'We love making the game you love to play': State of Decay 2 devs prepare the last update after 6 years as attention turns to State of Decay 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/we-love-making-the-game-you-love-to-play-state-of-decay-2-devs-prepare-the-last-update-after-6-years-as-attention-turns-to-state-of-decay-3/
Undead Labs, the developers behind State of Decay 2, have announced that the upcoming update for the zombie survival game will be the last one, as the team moves focus towards  State of Decay 3. 

The Silent Hill 2 devs explain why you won't need to use UI in the remake: Instead, James will just glare at things devilishly
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/the-silent-hill-2-devs-explain-why-you-wont-need-to-use-ui-in-the-remake-instead-james-will-just-glare-at-things-devilishly/
As we approach the release of the Silent Hill 2 remake, the developers, Bloober Team, are disclosing a couple of must-know facts about the horror game as a way to get players excited for its release. 

A Hogwarts Legacy sequel is one of Warner Bros' 'biggest priorities'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/a-hogwarts-legacy-sequel-is-one-of-warner-bros-biggest-priorities/
At the start of 2024, Warner Bros. went on its own little victory lap over the success of Hogwarts Legacy. WB Interactive Entertainment president David Hassad announced in early January the game had sold over 22 million copies in 2023, more than 2 million of those in the festive period, boasting that this made it "the best-selling game of the year in the entire industry worldwide."
(...)
Success on this kind of scale makes a sequel of some sort inevitable, and WB Discovery’s CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels has now come right out and said it: as well as giving a vague timeframe.

Ubisoft's slump continues: Star Wars Outlaws fails to turn things around, XDefiant numbers are sliding, and we still don't know where The Sands of Time is
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/despite-high-hopes-for-star-wars-outlaws-and-xdefiant-ubisofts-share-price-is-now-sitting-at-a-10-year-low/
The launch of Star Wars Outlaws should have been a triumph for Ubisoft—a milestone moment heralding a turnaround in the company's fortunes. But on the financial front at least, it hasn't really worked out that way. Outlaws has been generally well received by critics, but sales don't appear to be meeting initial expectations, and instead of seeing a surge Ubisoft's share price has tumbled following the game's release to its lowest mark since 2014.

Automatons beware: The next major Helldivers 2 patch will overhaul armor penetration later this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/automatons-beware-the-next-major-helldivers-2-patch-will-overhaul-armor-penetration-later-this-month/
I love me some Helldivers 2, but I don't love me some automatons. From day one, it's been a bit of a bummer whenever the current Major Order wasn't targeting terminids, and there's a simple reason for that: It feels bad to shoot at a killer android without achieving anything. Because the automatons have so many armored enemies and the Helldivers have so few tools to reliably punch through them, the loadouts that feel worthwhile to bring along have gradually grown pretty slim. Luckily, Arrowhead's looking to change that later this month.
In a Steam news post published earlier today, Arrowhead detailed its plans for sweeping combat balance changes that are scheduled to go live on September 17, 2024. As part of its 60-day update plan, Arrowhead has kicked off "in-depth reviews and adjustment of various systems, from weapon balancing and enemy behavior to overall game mechanics." The first overhaul on the docket: armor penetration.

Slork
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/slork/
Deadlock players have discovered an in-progress new hero named Slork, who looks like a half-man, half-shark—or possibly just a guy wearing a weird skeletal shark costume.

'What a sad existence': The first cheaters in Deadlock have been spotted, giving players some pretty bad flashbacks to TF2 and CS
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/what-a-sad-existence-the-first-cheaters-in-deadlock-have-been-spotted-giving-players-some-pretty-bad-flashbacks-to-tf2-and-cs/
Deadlock was only officially announced a few weeks ago, but we're already seeing cheaters start to pop up in lobbies. The players are clearly using aim bots (it's painfully obvious), but what others can't quite understand is why anyone would want to cheat in an invite-only alpha test. 

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, as this video shows, feels like a trial run for its inclusion in Hogwarts Legacy 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/harry-potter-quidditch-champions-as-this-video-shows-feels-like-a-trial-run-for-its-inclusion-in-hogwarts-legacy-2/
After playing some of Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, my immediate reaction is that this feels like a trial run for the magical game's inclusion in the likely-upcoming sequel to Hogwarts Legacy. Sure, it probably didn't start out that way, with my money being on Warner Bros. Games separating out the experiences so they could sell two games to Harry Potter fans instead of just one. Because, you know, money. But following Hogwarts Legacy becoming the best selling game of 2023, I'm not sure a sequel can exist without the inclusion of Quidditch. Their union feels inevitable, as Quidditch would be such an obvious upsell for gamers.

Here are the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• The Back to School Sale will end soon. Are you sure you checked everything in it? https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_back_to_school_sale
• Larian Studios puts its games on sale, with up to 90% discounts until Tuesday: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240905_larian_back_to_school

+Steam

• Larian Studios also puts its games on sale at Steam, up to 85% off until September 9: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/LarianStudiosPublisherSale2024
• Dome Keeper will be half its price until the 10th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1637320/Dome_Keeper/
• The Early Access title Synergy gets a 30% discount until the 12th of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1989070/Synergy/
• Rebellion puts its games on sale, up to 90% off until the 12th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/RebellionPublisherSale2024
• Green Hell features a 67% discount until the 13th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/815370/Green_Hell/
• Sea of Thieves is going to be 35% off until September 16: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves_2024_Edition/
• Publisher Focus Entertainment puts its games on sale with up to 87% discounts until the 16th. By the way, Expeditions: A MudRunner Game will be free to try during the weekend: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/focuspublishersale2024
• Roboquest, that has a demo, will be 25% off until September, the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/692890/Roboquest/
• The Let's Build a Zoo franchise is on sale, with up to 61% discounts until the 19th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/LetsBuildAZooFranchiseSale
• And The Falconeer will be 80% off until September 19: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135260/The_Falconeer/

And that's it. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.