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

[JEMC]

Tuesday news, part two:

Key Blizzard developers apparently tried for years to get a new Starcraft or Warcraft RTS off the ground, but execs had 'no appetite' for them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/key-blizzard-developers-apparently-tried-for-years-to-get-a-new-starcraft-or-warcraft-rts-off-the-ground-but-execs-had-no-appetite-for-them/
Blizzard RTS fans haven't been having it great, since, as a studio, it doesn't seem to have much of an interest in strategy anymore, despite—as our own Fraser Brown put it while lamenting Spencer's t-shirt tease at the Tokyo Game Show, having established "the model for the RTS genre" back in the day.
Well, turns out there could've been a new Blizzard RTS game. There could've been multiple. There could've even been a Warcraft 4—but alas, Blizzard's executives didn't bite.

Death Stranding 2's lavish and slightly leery photo mode is what happens when Kojima has a big budget and no oversight
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/death-stranding-2s-lavish-and-slightly-leery-photo-mode-is-what-happens-when-kojima-has-a-big-budget-and-no-oversight/
Kojima Productions hosted a 90 minute panel at the Tokyo Game Show, during which Hideo Kojima and assorted guest stars introduced around eight minutes of new footage from the bonkers-looking Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Among these was a glimpse at the upcoming game's photo mode, an incredibly lavish take on the idea that initially left me open-mouthed and then with an unmistakeably Hideo Kojima question: Is this genius manifest, or just ever-so-slightly creepy and weird? 

Starfield's Shattered Space patch fixes a modding restriction that could turn your game into a surrealist hellscape
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/starfields-shattered-space-patch-fixes-a-modding-restriction-that-could-turn-your-game-into-a-surrealist-hellscape/
Starfield's first story expansion arrives today: Shattered Space brings a bit of cosmic horror courtesy of those snake-worshipping space cultists we all know and love, and with it comes a fresh batch of fixes in the form of Starfield Update 1.14.70. Our Shattered Space review is on the way, but we've got patch notes to dig through in the meantime—including one particular fix that'll keep your mods from goofing up your game.

Finally, an online game shutting down the right way: Islands of Insight will close servers next month and 'permanently modify the game to be offline-only' so the promising puzzler can live on
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/finally-an-online-game-shutting-down-the-right-way-islands-of-insights-will-close-servers-next-month-and-permanently-modify-the-game-to-be-offline-only-so-the-promising-puzzler-can-live-on/
I liked the shared-world puzzle game Islands of Insight quite a bit when it came out in 2023, and so did some of my PC Gamer compatriots. Alas, it wasn't able to find an audience, and today the Islands of Insight community team announced that, like so many other online games, the servers will be shut down at the end of August. But the good news is that even without remote servers, you'll be able to keep on playing.

'They are tearing each other apart like pulled pork': Minecraft players are shipping two of the creepiest mobs around after Minecraft Live
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/they-are-tearing-each-other-apart-like-pulled-pork-minecraft-players-are-shipping-two-of-the-creepiest-mobs-around-after-minecraft-live/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnX6sPFjXnA&ab_channel=Minecraft">Minecraft Live 2024 has come and gone already, and unfortunately, it wasn't as exciting as previous years. The livestream was short and sweet, leaving out the mob vote and any big announcement of an upcoming major update, but there was a silver lining—a new biome and, with that, a new mob. 
(...)
As soon as I found out about the Creaking, I was horrified. It seems like Mojang is slowly but surely turning the once peaceful, creative survival game into some eldritch nightmare. First the Warden and now this, I may never know rest again. But it seems like I may be the only one who isn't happy to learn of the Creaking's existence. As is usually the case, the internet has taken this new creature and run with it in an oddly sweet yet typically cursed direction. 

Bethesda says it took cues from the best game in its history for Shattered Space, but it's not winning fans over to 'an already catatonic game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/bethesda-says-it-took-cues-from-the-best-game-in-its-history-for-shattered-space-but-its-not-winning-fans-over-to-an-already-catatonic-game/
(...)
The studio just released Starfield's first DLC, Shattered Space, and guess which game studio design director Emil Pagliarulo is namechecking in an interview with GamesRadar? The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. Vindication, baby. This is a big day for irritating nerds everywhere. Kind of.
Shattered Space focuses on the ooky-spooky House Va'Ruun and its capital city of Dazra. Pagliarulo says that designing both meant pulling inspiration from the best game Bethesda's ever made: "Morrowind and its themes and overall vibe were a big inspiration," he told GR.