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

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Tuesday news, part two:

Metaphor: ReFantazio's director looked to classic fantasy like Lord of the Rings before deciding doing that 'would lack that originality that defines us'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/metaphor-refantazios-director-looked-to-classic-fantasy-like-lord-of-the-rings-before-deciding-doing-that-would-lack-that-originality-that-defines-us/
Metaphor: ReFantazio director Katsura Hashino said the team decided to "abandon all of the inspirations" gained from researching material like The Lord of the Rings in favour of an "original creative endeavour" with stuff the developers actually liked about the genre.
>> And here’s a trick to make easy money early in the game.

Lunacid's Halloween update brings jack-o-lanterns to Wing's Rest, but most importantly a number of bug fixes and an update on language localization
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/lunacids-halloween-update-brings-jack-o-lanterns-to-wings-rest-but-most-importantly-a-number-of-bug-fixes-and-an-update-on-language-localization/
Dark and dingy fantasy dungeon crawler Lunacid has adorned its halls just in time for Halloween, and as a fantasy-loving Halloween fanatic, this is great news for me. Even though the game is already brimming with ghosts and ghouls, KIRA LLC has cut no corners in bringing even more decor to Wing's Rest to help every player celebrate the season, and anyone who feels the same about pumpkins and thematic lighting will probably be just as excited as I am. 

Don't be fooled by New World's rebranding—Aeternum is not a new game or spiritual successor, it's just an update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dont-be-fooled-by-new-worlds-rebranding-aeternum-is-not-a-new-game-or-spiritual-successor-its-just-an-update/
New World was Amazon's big swing into the world of MMOs, and when it launched in 2021 a lot was riding on it—especially after the embarrassing failure of Crucible. It couldn't have gone better. A perfect storm of Amazon marketing and an audience desperately hungry for a big blockbuster MMO led players to the shores of Aeternum in their droves. 
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That new MMO smell started to grow stale, however, and those numbers dramatically dropped; by spring of 2022 they had plateaued to around 20-30,000. Now, that's hardly a low number. Tens of thousands of players kept coming back and playing together, and New World managed to maintain this level of popularity until this year, where by May it had dwindled to less than 10,000 concurrent players. 
This dip was most likely due to the impending launch of New World: Aeternum, and this is where New World's story gets a bit confusing. See, Amazon immediately started treating New World: Aeternum like the launch of a new game. The initial announcement focused mostly on it launching on consoles, but it also completely omitted the fact that it was an MMO. It was an action-RPG that you could play with your friends, Amazon said. 

Xbox Game Studios' new boss is the Rare boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/xbox-game-studios-new-boss-is-the-rare-boss/
The current head of Xbox Game Studios, Alan Hartman, is to retire at the end of November, with Rare studio boss Craig Duncan taking over (thanks, GI.biz). Hartman's been at Xbox for a long time, with a list of credits across everything from Age of Empires to Forza, though has only been in the head honcho role for a year. 

Terrifier, the indie horror film that managed to make 10x its budget while Joker: Folie à Deux flails in the water, is getting a videogame
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/terrifier-the-indie-horror-film-that-managed-to-make-10x-its-budget-while-joker-folie-a-deux-flails-in-the-water-is-getting-a-videogame/
Terrifier is a horror series that centres around a demonic serial killer clown called Art, who is still causing havoc in Miles County after three films and counting. The third film (which is currently in theatres) was actually a real success as it made 10x its budget with $18 million in its debut weekend. In comparison, while Joker: Folie à Deux did manage to make $37.8 million in its opening weekend, it still hasn't been able to break even. But before we can even think about what a fourth movie may bring to the table, Art is venturing into videogames. 

This upcoming first-person sim puts you in charge of a military base in an alternate future where we're still fighting World War 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/this-upcoming-first-person-sim-puts-you-in-charge-of-a-military-base-in-an-alternate-future-where-were-still-fighting-world-war-2/
Announced last week, War Mechanic is an upcoming sim that puts you in the boots of an enterprising grease monkey who has to build, defend, and make profitable a military base in an alternate future where we're still fighting the big one.

Legendary game designer Jordan Weisman's next project is an open world deck-building pirate romance tactical RPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/legendary-game-designer-jordan-weismans-next-project-is-an-open-world-deck-building-pirate-romance-tactical-rpg/
If you're anything like me, you probably spent long hours of your childhood afternoons playing BattleTech on the kitchen table and listening to the MechWarrior 2 soundtrack on your Discman. No? Just me? Well, if you do happen to be a sicko like me, you probably keep tabs on Jordan Weisman, the designer who brought us not only BattleTech but Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and Crimson Skies. He's got a Kickstarter campaign going until November 14th to fund a new PC game called Sea of Legends, based on an also-crowdfunded tabletop game by Zach Weisman.

Overwatch 2 just made it easier to mute and report annoying players in the upcoming Season 13 patch
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-2-just-made-it-easier-to-mute-and-report-annoying-players-in-the-upcoming-season-13-patch/
Overwatch 2 Season 13 has some exciting stuff in store for players. There's not just a stacked battle pass this season, along with some much-needed balance and map changes, but we're also getting tweaks to the scoreboard interface, making it easier to deal with annoying players. 

The culmination of Helldivers 2's 60-day patch plan canonises John Helldiver—less importantly, there's been major buffs to grenades, sentries, and the long-avoided anti tank mines
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/the-culmination-of-helldivers-2s-60-day-patch-plan-canonises-john-helldiver-less-importantly-theres-been-major-buffs-to-grenades-sentries-and-the-long-avoided-anti-tank-mines/
Helldivers 2 has finally completed its 60-day plan—well, its 63-day plan, but who's keeping score? Me, but that's only because it's my job. In case you've not fought for liberty in a while, here's some context:
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Anyway, you can read the full patch notes yourself, though Arrowhead's also put out a blog post outlining its general philosophy, courtesy of Mikael Eriksson: