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

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The second part of the news:

Ubisoft's grudging return to Steam continues as Assassin's Creed Valhalla finally gets achievements 2 years after launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/ubisofts-grudging-return-to-steam-continues-as-assassins-creed-valhalla-finally-gets-achievements-2-years-after-launch/
Is it just me, or does Ubisoft's ongoing crawl back to Steam sometimes feel a little grudging? Sure, the company is returning to day-one Steam releases with February 14's Assassin's Creed Shadows, but you're still going to have to launch Ubisoft Connect using Steam in a horrifying ouroboros of perpetual initialisation, aren't you?
Almost as if Ubi would rather you just bought the game directly on its own platform and cut out the middleman. Perhaps that reticence about fully embracing Steam also explains why it's taken two years for Assassin's Creed Valhalla to get Steam Achievements.
>> O.o It didn’t have achievements? Lame (and that comes from someone that doesn’t care a lot about them).

Here's another headache for Ubisoft: Lawsuit alleges it illegally shared Ubisoft Store customer data with Meta
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/heres-another-headache-for-ubisoft-lawsuit-alleges-it-illegally-shared-ubisoft-store-customer-data-with-meta/
As if it doesn't have enough to worry about, Ubisoft is now facing a potential class action lawsuit alleging it illegally shared personally identifiable information about Ubisoft Store users with Meta.
>> Uff! I hope for their own sake it’s not true. Otherwise, the fine they’ll get won’t be small.

Oof: Years before Steam, a Blizzard engineer wanted to turn Battle.net into a third-party game store, but was reportedly turned down
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/oof-years-before-steam-a-blizzard-engineer-wanted-to-turn-battle-net-into-a-third-party-game-store-but-was-reportedly-turned-down/
The world of today is the result of every decision and accident that led to it, which is a disconcerting thought given how many things it's possible to almost do in a lifetime. Case in point, according to a new book on the history of Blizzard, the Warcraft studio rejected a proposal to turn Battle.net into a third-party game store years before Steam launched.
>> Dear God. Can you imagine Steam in the hands of Activision and Bobby Kotick? **shudders**

Sci-fi author sues Bungie, says it nicked ideas from his Wordpress blog for Destiny 2's blowout first campaign
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/sci-fi-author-sues-bungie-says-it-nicked-ideas-from-his-wordpress-blog-for-destiny-2s-blowout-first-campaign/
Bungie's off to court, but it might not have much to worry about. The studio is being sued (via The Game Post) in a copyright infringement lawsuit for—so alleges plaintiff Kelsey Martineau—copying parts of Destiny 2's storyline from Martineau's work. He's after damages and injunctive relief—which, given you can't actually play the offending campaign anymore, might be a moot point.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard will offer 5 'curated' difficulty levels, including a Nightmare mode that you're stuck with once you start
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragon-age-the-veilguard-will-offer-5-curated-difficulty-levels-including-a-nightmare-mode-that-youre-stuck-with-once-you-start/
With Dragon Age: The Veilguard now locked in for its Halloween release, Electronic Arts is getting deeper into the specifics of the game, including most recently a rundown of the game's difficulty settings and accessibility options.
"Regardless of skill level or ability, we want everyone to be able to enjoy the full experience and story of our game," EA said in today's update, and to that end it's whipped up five "curated" difficulty levels aimed at covering all the bases.

'I can assure you that Spectre isn’t going anywhere': Spectre Divide chief says the game isn't dying, so please stop saying it is
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/i-can-assure-you-that-spectre-isnt-going-anywhere-spectre-divide-chief-says-the-game-isnt-dying-so-please-stop-saying-it-is/
The free-to-play shooter Spectre Divide is not dying: So says Mountaintop Studios co-founder and CEO Nate Mitchell in a new update addressing concerns that low concurrent player counts means the game is not long for this world.

After botching the Cree nation in Civ 6, Firaxis established a partnership with the Shawnee to ensure 'authentic, sincere' representation in Civilization 7
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/after-botching-the-cree-nation-in-civ-6-firaxis-established-a-partnership-with-the-shawnee-to-ensure-authentic-sincere-representation-in-civilization-7/
In 2018, Firaxis announced that the Cree Nation was being added to Civilization 6, a move that did not sit well with the leader of the real-world Poundmaker Cree Nation, who said the game's portrayal of Indigenous people is "very harmful." To help avoid that kind of misstep in the next game, the studio established a partnership with the Shawnee Nation to ensure a proper and accurate portrayal of its famous leader Tecumseh.

The FPS/mecha hybrid from the creator of Cruelty Squad, which was an immersive sim designed to make you feel sick, will be out next year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-fps-mecha-hybrid-from-the-creator-of-cruelty-squad-which-was-an-immersive-sim-designed-to-make-you-feel-sick-will-be-out-next-year/
Remember Cruelty Squad? The dystopian assassin game whose visuals and especially sounds gave you an instant headache and made you want to throw up? Well, if you're a glutton for that kind of punishment, Cruelty Squad's creator Consumer Softproducts will have more of it for you in 2025.

Blizzard canceled a roguelike version of Diablo 4 with permadeath and Batman: Arkham-style brawls
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/blizzard-canceled-a-roguelike-version-of-diablo-4-with-permadeath-and-batman-arkham-style-brawls/
If things had gone differently at Blizzard 10 years ago, we might've been playing a version of Diablo 4 with melee brawls akin to the Batman: Arkham series. I'm not even sure that idea sounds good on paper, but it didn't seem to work out in practice either because Blizzard eventually rebooted the project into the demon-slaying action RPG we have today.