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

[JEMC]

Monday news, part two:

Overwatch 2 Season 13 is introducing map changes, which means that one of the worst maps ever may finally be fun to play
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-season-13-is-introducing-map-changes-which-means-that-one-of-the-worst-maps-ever-may-finally-be-fun-to-play/
Overwatch 2 Season 13 is only a few days away, and there is a shed load of new content and changes for players to get their heads around before it begins. Blizzard has already teased a new hero, and gave us a look at some fantastic upcoming shop and battle pass skins, but what I'm really excited about is all the map changes. 

'We are experimenting with a different approach': Valve finally adds ranked play to Deadlock, and the countdown for the first match starts now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/we-are-experimenting-with-a-different-approach-valve-finally-adds-ranked-play-to-deadlock-and-the-countdown-for-the-first-match-starts-now/
Deadlock's been receiving loads of fantastic patches recently, and heroes get buffed and nerfed so quickly that a real meta hasn't even formed yet. However, the latest update is probably the game's biggest so far because we've finally got ranked play. 

This is the Disco Elysium successor to get excited about: Multiple writers from the original announce a manifesto to create an RPG 'with complexity and ambition to rival our wretched and wonderful world'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/a-third-disco-elysium-successor-studio-has-gone-public-today-but-this-is-the-one-to-get-excited-about-multiple-writers-from-the-first-game-and-a-manifesto-to-create-an-rpg-with-complexity-and-ambition-to-rival-our-wretched-and-wonderful-world/
As the inimitable V.I. Lenin once said, "There are decades where nothing happens, and days when way too many Disco Elysium spiritual successors get announced." Well, we've got one more studio of former Disco devs laying their cards on the table, but Summer Eternal is actually telling us who's involved: Heavy hitters from the development of the original game setting up an ambitious, crowd-funded artist's collective. The members announced so far include:

This murder mystery farm sim will let you accidentally romance the killer, but I might just do it on purpose
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/this-murder-mystery-farm-sim-will-let-you-accidentally-romance-the-killer-but-i-might-just-do-it-on-purpose/
In case yesterday's spooky Stardew-like game wasn't enough for you, don't worry, there's another one. Grave Seasons is also a cute farming sim where you start putting down roots in the countryside, dating around, and—wait, hold on—finding out that there's been a streak of murders in town. You know, like small town farmers do every Tuesday.

The sequel to one of the best murder mystery games ever is only a month away, and there's a new demo out now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/the-sequel-to-one-of-the-best-murder-mystery-games-ever-is-only-a-month-away-and-theres-a-new-demo-out-now/
Grisly, innovative, and fascinating, The Case of the Golden Idol is one of my favorite mystery games of all time. The individual murders you have to solve are incredibly satisfying as you pore over all the details, search the crime scenes for clues, and even lift items right from the suspects' pockets, and the overarching story of the mysterious relics that links all these murders together is worthy of its own page-turning novel.

CD Projekt boss pushes back on 'conspiracy theories' against diversity in gaming: 'We live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/cd-projekt-boss-pushes-back-on-conspiracy-theories-against-diversity-in-gaming-we-live-in-times-where-anyone-can-record-complete-nonsense-and-make-a-story-out-of-it/
CD Projekt joint CEO Michał Nowakowski has issued a strongly worded response to accusations that the studio "is in a lot of trouble right now" because of "diversity hires," saying the people peddling such nonsense need to "stop looking for conspiracy theories."

Lead Skyrim designer argues that Bethesda's primeval Creation Engine is 'perfectly tuned' to the studio's needs, so an Unreal switcheroo probably isn't in the cards
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/lead-skyrim-designer-argues-that-bethesdas-primeval-creation-engine-is-perfectly-tuned-to-the-studios-needs-so-an-unreal-swaparoo-probably-isnt-in-the-cards/
In an interview with VideoGamer, ex-Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith defended the studio's continued use of its proprietary Creation Engine and predicted that the RPG giant would likely stick with the tech in the future, even as more big name devs like BioWare, CD Projekt, and Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) trade in their bespoke engines for Epic Games' ubiquitous Unreal.

The developers of the final 2D Fallout game had no idea their publisher was gasping for air: 'We weren't told anything about Interplay's financial problems'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/the-developers-of-the-final-2d-fallout-game-had-no-idea-their-publisher-was-gasping-for-air-we-werent-told-anything-about-interplays-financial-problems/
Similar to beloved classic PC developer Looking Glass Studios, '90s RPG powerhouse Interplay's legacy seems defined almost as much by its persistent financial difficulties as its great games. In an interview with PC Gamer contributor Jeremy Peel for a wider retrospective on Fallout Tactics, the game's lead designer, Ed Orman, recalled how that instability trickled down to the studio he worked at, Micro Forté.

Starship Troopers: Extermination brings its chaotic 16-person bug fights to a 1.0 release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/starship-troopers-extermination-brings-its-chaotic-16-person-bug-fights-to-a-1-0-release/
Cooperative first-person shooter Starship Troopers: Extermination has released out of early access and into 1.0, bringing its 16-person giant space arachnid/beetle/wasp/scorpion/bug shooting action to a state that developer Offworld considers properly done. Though development will continue, the core of the game is now out there complete with persistent corpses, six classes to play as, and a cooperative galactic front mode where players cooperate to win the war and can organize into in-game Companies.

Y2K beat em up Star Wars: Episode 1 - Jedi Power Battles is back for some inexplicable reason
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/y2k-beat-em-up-star-wars-episode-1-jedi-power-battles-is-back-for-some-inexplicable-reason/
Roughly 25 years after its PlayStation release back in April of the year 2000, Star Wars: Episode 1 - Jedi Power Battles will re-release on Steam this coming year: on January 25, 2025. Courtesy of publisher and game port specialists Aspyr, Jedi Power Battles is coming back. I'm not sure who was asking for this specific game to return in 2025, a classic movie tie-in from the era of every single major blockbuster having a game tie-in. Jedi Power Battles is a particularly difficult-at-times arcade-style couch co-op game from 2000—but going purely by comments on the YouTube trailer there are at least some people with copious nostalgia for it.