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

[JEMC]

The Thursday news, part two:

As SAG-AFTRA's anti-AI voice actor strike extends to League of Legends, Riot maintains that it's simply been caught in the crossfire
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/as-sag-aftra-s-anti-ai-voice-actor-strike-extends-to-league-of-legends-riot-maintains-that-it-s-been-simply-been-caught-in-the-crossfire/
After threatening to do so back in July, SAG-AFTRA, a union that represents over 160,000 professionals across acting and performance disciplines, went ahead with a strike. The strike in question targets AI-generated voice work which, the union claims, requires "fair, reasonable AI protections" to avert a future of talent exploitation, where voice actors aren't cajoled into signing off on allowing companies to use their voice in perpetuity.
In a statement this Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA added League of Legends to the list of videogames under strike: "SAG-AFTRA members must immediately cease providing covered services to League of Legends and the game will be updated on the union’s search function as a struck game."
The League strike isn't quite targeting Riot Games, but rather Formosa Interactive, a production company that works with multiple studios on different games including Helldivers 2, God of War: Ragnarok, Death Stranding, Apex Legends—the list goes on. SAG-AFTRA alleges that Formosa tried to subvert the strike by attempting to "'cancel' one of its struck videogames shortly after the start of SAG-AFTRA’s videogame strike. When they were told that was not possible, they secretly transferred the game to a shell company and sent out casting notices for 'NON-UNION' talent only."

What it feels like to have your Fallout game declared non-canon by Todd Howard: 'It sucked'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/what-it-feels-like-to-have-your-fallout-game-declared-non-canon-by-todd-howard-it-sucked/
Fallout 3 is not, in fact, the third Fallout game. That would be Fallout Tactics, a squad-based Brotherhood of Steel tactical RPG developed by Micro Forté, which appeared a few years after Fallout 2, in 2001. Despite being pretty well-liked by critics at the time, the way it deviated from its predecessor meant that it caught a lot of flak from the fans. 
Lead designer Ed Orman, who we recently chatted to about his time in the Wasteland, remembers things getting pretty heated. (...)
>> It feels more like a chapter in a history book rather than a news article. I’ll leave it to you to read the rest. There’s even a second article about Tactics and the talk with the lead designer.

Star Wars Outlaws sales were 'softer than expected,' so Ubisoft is slamming the release-it-on-Steam button early
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/star-wars-outlaws-coming-to-steam-in-november-sales-have-been-softer-than-expected/
Ubisoft says that its decision to delay Assassin's Creed Shadows to next year was motivated by "softer than expected" sales of its last big open world game, Star Wars Outlaws.
"While [Assassin's Creed Shadows] is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title," Ubisoft told investors today.
The company also announced that Outlaws will come to Steam on November 21, and indicated that it's no longer going to do timed Epic exclusives on PC, a deal it has maintained with the Fortnite developer since 2019. When Assassin's Creed Shadows releases in February, it'll be on Steam on day one.

Ubisoft comes crawlin' back to Steam
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ubisoft-comes-crawlin-back-to-steam/
Ubisoft's dalliance with the Epic Games Store is over. After several years of releasing its new games on Epic's storefront—and not Valve's—the company says it will resume putting new releases on Steam, beginning with Assassin's Creed Shadows in 2025.
Ubisoft said in today's Assassin's Creed Shadows delay announcement that it will be available on Steam when it arrives on February 14, 2025; further, it added, "The game will mark the return of our new releases on Steam Day 1." Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the same thing in a subsequent trading update call with analysts.
A Ubisoft representative later confirmed with PC Gamer that the company does indeed intend to bring all future new releases to Steam on launch day, simultaneously with other online storefronts.

'Our goal is not to push any specific agenda': Ubisoft CEO tries to mollify gamers who won't stop being mad about a Black samurai in Assassin's Creed Shadows
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/our-goal-is-not-to-push-any-specific-agenda-ubisoft-ceo-tries-to-mollify-gamers-who-wont-stop-being-mad-about-a-black-samurai-in-assassins-creed-shadows/
Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of the most anticipated games of the year, but it's also been controversial among some groups of gamers due to its inclusion of Yasuke, a Black samurai. In today's surprise announcement of an Assassin's Creed Shadows delay, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot addressed those "polarized comments," as he put it, saying Ubisoft's games are not meant to reflect any specific agenda.
"I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda," Guillemot said in today's financial update. "We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy."

Videogame patent lawyer says Nintendo is taking a risk with its Palworld lawsuit: 'They've exposed themselves in a big way'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/videogame-patent-lawyer-says-nintendo-is-taking-a-risk-with-its-palworld-lawsuit-theyve-exposed-themselves-in-a-big-way/
When Nintendo announced its lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair last week, it kicked off immediate conversations about how well Pocketpair could hope to fare in court. Despite Nintendo's last few years on the intellectual property warpath, IP lawyer and videogame patent expert Kirk Sigmon says its success in its Palworld lawsuit is far from guaranteed. In fact, Sigmon says that in suing Pocketpair, Nintendo risks losing its patent entirely.
In an interview with PC Gamer covering videogame patents and the Palworld lawsuit, Sigmon said that drafting a patent filing is a delicate balancing act, especially when it's a patent on a videogame design concept. 
>> I wouldn’t mind if it backfires and explodes in Nintendo’s face. They need a cure of humility.

The developer of new free-to-play shooter Spectre Divide just laid off 13 employees, says it was necessary 'to support Spectre and its community for the long term'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-developer-of-new-free-to-play-shooter-spectre-divide-just-laid-off-13-employees-says-it-was-necessary-to-support-spectre-and-its-community-for-the-long-term/
Spectre Divide developer Mountaintop Studios has confirmed the layoff of 13 employees, saying the move was necessary to ensure the long-term future of the game and its community.

February 2025 is now absurdly stacked with big games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/february-2025-is-now-absurdly-stacked-with-big-games/
To the best of my recollection, February hasn't always been one of the biggest months for game releases, but the industry's habit of delaying games from the holiday season to the start of the next year has turned it into a magnet for big games that needed "extra time for polish." And boy is February 2025 stacked.