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

[JEMC]

Friday news, part two:

Unknown 9: Awakening studio makes major layoffs just a month after the game's release
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/unknown-9-awakening-studio-makes-major-layoffs-just-a-month-after-the-games-release/
A month after the release of its debut game Unknown 9: Awakening, Bandai Namco-owned Reflector Entertainment has announced that it is laying off 18% of its workforce so it can "efficiently deliver on our most pressing objectives while guaranteeing that every member of our team can meaningfully contribute to our ongoing projects."
Reflector said the layoffs weren't driven by "commercial success or external pressures," but simply the fact that there's currently not enough work to support the studio at its current size.

GOG adds two of the original Stalker games to its preservation program, with huge discounts to boot
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gog-adds-two-of-the-original-stalker-games-to-its-preservation-program-with-huge-discounts-to-boot/
This week's big release is GSC Gameworld's Stalker 2, the long-awaited sequel that PCG's Joshua Wolens found "is still Stalker, down to its bones" (for good and bad, mostly the former). Good Old Games has taken the opportunity to announce that it is adding two of the classic Stalker games (confusingly, Stalker 2 is the fourth game in the series) to its new Preservation Program—Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, and Stalker: Call of Pripyat.
The announcement comes alongside a hefty 75% discount on both titles, and GOG's Preservation Program represents the platform's commitment to maintain the games' compatibility with current and future PCs. GOG tends to apply a light touch, the idea being preservation after all, though it does sometimes apply custom improvements and quality-of-life tweaks. The two Stalker games join a list of over 100 titles in the program, including the likes of Alpha Protocol and the first three Resident Evil games.

Infinity Nikki was developed in secret for over a year, calling in former Breath of the Wild and The Witcher 3 talent to realize its open world
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/infinity-nikki-was-developed-in-secret-for-over-a-year-calling-in-former-breath-of-the-wild-and-the-witcher-3-talent-to-realize-its-open-world/
After years of being a mobile-only series, Infold Games is launching the big new open world adventure Infinity Nikki on PC next month. The developer is celebrating the near fruition of several years of work with a short documentary looking back on Nikki's journey to a bigger new Miraland and way more platforms.

Blizzard just nuked one of the most toxic Hearthstone cards ever designed: "Yeah, our bad…"
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/blizzard-just-nuked-one-of-the-most-toxic-hearthstone-cards-ever-designed-yeah-our-bad/
The theme of Hearthstone's latest card expansion, which is called The Great Dark Beyond, is building and launching increasingly powerful Starships. Unfortunately those sci-fi shenanigans have not been happening nearly enough for Blizzard's liking, largely because a bunch of older cards and decks are so powerful that they've crowded out the new stuff. Which is why Team 5's latest balance patch, which is live now, features a whopping 15 nerfs and 14 buffs aimed at getting the meta moving.

Dragon Age: Inquisition was supposed to see your Origins character return for what would have been the most excruciating choice BioWare ever concocted
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/dragon-age-inquisition-was-supposed-to-see-your-origins-character-return-for-what-would-have-been-the-most-excruciating-choice-bioware-ever-concocted/
As reported by Eurogamer, Dragon Age: Inquisition initially featured the return of the protagonist from 2009's Origins, complete with full visual customization, similar to Dragon Age 2's Hawke appearing in Inquisition, or when the Inquisitor then returned in this year's Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Spoilers for Inquisition ahead.

What have they done to my beautiful boy
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/what-have-they-done-to-my-beautiful-boy/
I can't believe it finally happened.
On a dusty day in May 2016, just a few months into Rainbow Six Siege's redemption campaign following its disastrous launch, a Navy Seal named Blackbeard joined the team. He was only the second attacker added after launch, and with his defending counterpart Valkyrie raised Siege's total roster size to 24. Blackbeard's unique gadget, a rifle-mounted ballistic shield that negated headshots from the front, was immediately controversial. Headshots are king in Rainbow Six Siege—it's one of the only games where they're a guaranteed one-shot-kill—so you can imagine how an operator who gets to ignore that risk with few downsides became everyone's favorite to complain about.
Despite Blackbeard being the target of so many calls for nerfs, bans, or straight-up deletion, he has remained on the roster relatively unchanged eight years and 50(!) operators later. The Blackbeard of 2024 can still block headshots for free and win fights he doesn't deserve to win—but that all ends soon. Ubisoft unveiled its long-awaited Blackbeard rework this past weekend

All Honkai: Star Rail 2.7 livestream codes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/honkai-star-rail-2-7-livestream-codes/
The Honkai: Star Rail 2.7 livestream codes have arrived, giving you a little extra Stellar Jade you can use to grab new or old characters in the upcoming version. If you're new to the game, as with its other titles, miHoYo holds a livestream for Honkai: Star Rail every six weeks, showing off what to expect in the new version in terms of characters, events, and quests.

And here are the weekend deals at Steam, because GOG has no new deals:

+Steam

• Victoria 3 will be free to try during the weekend and 50% off until the 27th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/529340/Victoria_3/
• Oxygen Not Included is also free to try until Monday and 66% off until November 27: https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen_Not_Included/
• Publisher astragon Entertainment puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until the 27th. And, for those interested, Bus Simulator 21 Next Stop is also free to try during the next 5 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/976590/Bus_Simulator_21_Next_Stop/
• Last Epoch has a 20% discount until November, the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/899770/Last_Epoch/
• Across the Obelisk is another game that will be free to try during the weekend, and it’s going to be 50% off until the 5th of December: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1385380/Across_the_Obelisk/
• The last deal is F1 24, free to try until Monday and 60% off until December 5: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2488620/F1_24/

And we've reached the end of the news. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.