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

[JEMC]

Thursday news, part two:

Eric Barone issues emergency Stardew Valley performance PSA: 'Remove all hats from pets'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/eric-barone-issues-emergency-stardew-valley-performance-psa-remove-all-hats-from-pets/
Stardew Valley's major 1.6 update is now live on all platforms and, as so often happens with these things, there are a few problems cropping up. None of them seem too major, which is good news, but there does appear to be some performance issues cropping up for some players. Luckily, there is a workaround, and it may be the purest, most Stardew-like fix of all time.
"PSA: if you are experiencing performance issues in Stardew Valley 1.6, remove all hats from pets," Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone posted on X. "We will address the problem as soon as possible."

Helldivers' creative boss doesn't want to 'dilute' it with crossovers, but his list of dream choices has some real deep cuts
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-creative-boss-doesnt-want-to-dilute-it-with-crossovers-but-his-list-of-dream-choices-has-some-real-deep-cuts/
The creative director of Helldivers 2 doesn't want to do too many crossovers with their wildly successful co-op shooter—it already has enough character and flair for itself and has barely started to retread the cool stuff from the first game. That said, CCO Johan Pilestedt does have a big ol' nerd laundry list of his favorite things he'd be open to doing a crossover with if the vibe was right.
>> One of them is Starship Troopers, obviously.

If you love big trucks, establishing trade routes, and the phrase 'post-apocalyptic survival business simulator' then I've got just the strategy RPG for you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/if-you-love-big-trucks-establishing-trade-routes-and-the-phrase-post-apocalyptic-survival-business-simulator-then-ive-got-just-the-strategy-rpg-for-you/
I have fond memories from childhood of endlessly playing a strategy trading game for the Apple 2 called Taipan! (I'm not shouting at you, the game name included an exclamation point.) Based on the novel by James Clavell of Shōgun fame, I'd spend hours in Taipan! sailing back and forth between ports, buying items like silk and guns and opium as cheaply as possible and then selling them at their most expensive. You can actually play Taipan! in your browser if you want to check it out yourself.
Strategy RPG Dustland Delivery reminds me of Taipan! only instead of being set in China in the 1800s it takes place in a Mad Max-style wasteland of a post-apocalyptic future. You've got a huge truck to upgrade and maintain, trade routes to set up between distant outposts, random encounters to deal with on the road, and best of all, a crew of misfits to manage—which may include irradiated mutants, the undead, and even a clown.

Foxhole, the brilliant MMO that simulates a persistent war, gears up to add airplanes in 2025
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/foxhole-the-brilliant-mmo-that-simulates-a-persistent-war-gears-up-to-add-airplanes-in-2025/
Thousands against thousands war MMO Foxhole has a new major chapter coming in Summer 2025 with the Airborne update. Announced this week, the update will add various warplanes that complete Foxhole's trifecta of player-driven battles on land, sea, and now air with hundreds of players at once fighting over one giant, isometric battlefront.

Take-Two has sold Private Division to an unnamed buyer: 'We are top-ten hit makers around here,' and Private Division wasn't making them
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/take-two-has-sold-private-division-to-an-unnamed-buyer-we-are-top-ten-hit-makers-around-here-and-private-division-wasnt-making-them/
Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that it has sold Private Division, the "high-end indie" publishing label it launched in 2017, to an undisclosed buyer, along with "substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased." The one exception is No Rest for the Wicked, the action RPG that launched into early access earlier this year, which Take-Two will continue to support.
>> He also announced that the Borderlands movie managed to sell more games.

GTA 6's corporate overlord reveals that he's looking forward to 'a more sensible FTC' under the Trump administration because sometimes 'deregulation can be a positive'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/gta-6s-corporate-overlord-reveals-that-hes-looking-forward-to-a-more-sensible-ftc-under-the-trump-administration-because-sometimes-deregulation-can-be-a-positive/
During a recent earnings call, Take-Two's CEO and chairman, Strauss Zelnick, discussed the company's current state of affairs, including selling off Private Division, its high-end indie publishing label, and how he thinks the upcoming Trump presidency will affect business.
(...)
"I think that the President-elect has made it very plain that he believes in reducing regulation. I do believe that the FTC was misguided during President Biden’s term, and I do think that the FTC tried to impede some transactions that were beneficial for both the companies in question and the economy at large, and the FTC lost all those cases since. So I do think that, depending on what the specific topic is, deregulation can be a positive, and I am certainly looking forward to a more sensible FTC.”
>> Just wow. That was fast. I doubt it will be positive, at least for the consumers.

The Sims competitor Inzoi is being delayed until next year because 'it is said that among primates, raising a human child to adulthood takes the longest time'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/the-sims-competitor-inzoi-is-being-delayed-until-next-year-because-it-is-said-that-among-primates-raising-a-human-child-to-adulthood-takes-the-longest-time/
Inzoi, another in a line of seemingly-cursed Sims competitors that are experiencing delays, is—you guessed it—delayed until March 28, 2025. I'm halfway convinced EA has put a hex over anyone who makes The Sims-style games. Including its own developers, if its wobbly house of DLC cards is anything to go by.