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

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Part two of the news:

Final Fantasy 14's battle design lead says it would 'be a dream come true' to do a League of Legends crossover
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14s-battle-design-lead-says-it-would-be-a-dream-come-true-to-do-a-league-of-legends-crossover/
Final Fantasy 14 is no stranger to crossovers. It's gone all multiverse with Dragon Quest, Yo-kai Watch, GARO, Monster Hunter, Fall Guys, and (naturally) other Final Fantasy games. I think my favourite of the lot are the Nier: Automata raids from Shadowbringers, if only because there's a scene where a swarm of androids dive-bomb some dwarves, and it gave me harsh enough mental whiplash to be enjoyable, like a spicy hot wing with some kick.
Well, it turns out there's more crossovers on the wishlist once Dawntrail's done with, according to an interview with lead battle designer Masaki Nakagawa. Speaking to our friends over at GamesRadar, Nakagawa confessed his enduring love for League of Legends, which he's played a whole bunch:

In survival game Rust, Santa Claus doesn't care if you've been good or bad or really, really bad, he still has gifts for you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/in-survival-game-rust-santa-claus-doesnt-care-if-youve-been-good-or-bad-or-really-really-bad-he-still-has-gifts-for-you/
It's almost Christmas, which means Santa is coming to distribute presents to all the good little children—and, somewhat weirdly, put coal in the stockings of kids who have been "bad." Look, Santa is an immortal Elflord, it is not for us to understand his motives.
But there's one place even naughty kids are rewarded by Santa: survival shooter Rust. Rust's Christmas event is now live, and that means festive hats, loads of presents, the return of the "lickable candy cane club," and stockings you can hang in your base. And even if you're a real jerk who kills half-naked unarmed newbies, Santa will still give you presents.

With equal parts confusion and shame, I regret to inform you that Skibidi Toilet is coming to Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/with-equal-parts-confusion-and-shame-i-regret-to-inform-you-that-skibidi-toilet-is-coming-to-fortnite/
I had made it this far in my life without knowing what "Skibidi Toilet" is, and I did my damnedest to keep it that way. But as of today my streak is flushed, because it seems that Epic Games is putting Skibidi Toilet in Fortnite.

Be happy, Black Myth: Wukong fans, because it is literally impossible for Astro Bot to win Game of the Year in the 2024 Steam Game Awards
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/be-happy-black-myth-wukong-fans-because-it-is-literally-impossible-for-astro-bot-to-win-game-of-the-year-in-the-2024-steam-game-awards/
The 2024 Steam Winter Sale starts in just a couple days, meaning it will soon be time to brace your bank accounts against the onslaught of big seasonal deals. The start of the Winter Sale also signals the opening of voting for the Steam Awards, the annual celebration of the most popular games on Steam, and while you can't actually cast your ballots yet, you can at least start thinking about where you want to aim them.
This year's nominees are led by Balatro, Black Myth: Wukong, Stalker 2, and Helldivers 2, each of which are in the running in three categories each. Satisfactory and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 are up for a couple categories each, and yes, Baldur's Gate 3 is in the mix too. We all might as well just get used to that.

The Sims designer Will Wright is making his next life sim more personal by building it with your actual memories: 'No game designer has ever gone wrong by overestimating the narcissism of their players'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/the-sims-designer-will-wright-is-making-his-next-life-sim-more-personal-by-building-it-with-your-actual-memories-no-game-designer-has-ever-gone-wrong-by-overestimating-the-narcissism-of-their-players/
Will Wright, the designer of The Sims and co-founder of Maxis, appeared on Twitch today to talk about his next game, Proxi, which is "an AI life sim built from your memories" according to this teaser trailer released last month. During the stream on BreakthroughT1D's channel, a gaming and streaming initiative that raises money for type 1 diabetes research, Wright revealed more about Proxi as well as discussing the development of The Sims series.
>> The game should let you arrange dinner with Napoleon, or 'a cage match between Cleopatra and my grandma'.

After being honored at The Game Awards for helping laid-off devs, Amir Satvat says he's received 'countless' hateful messages: 'This can happen to you too when you sacrifice over 2,000 hours of your time to help the industry'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/amir-satvat-game-awards-comments/
Amir Satvat, the recipient of the first "Game Changers" award at this year's Game Awards, says he's received "countless hateful messages" as well as "disturbing comments" following his acceptance of the award last week, including antisemetic remarks about his wife.
>> People is the worst.

Fallout's Tim Cain spent 6 years working on defunct MMO WildStar, twice as long as any other game, and thinks that might have something to do with why it failed
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/fallouts-tim-cain-spent-6-years-working-on-defunct-mmo-wildstar-twice-as-long-as-any-other-game-and-thinks-that-might-have-something-to-do-with-why-it-failed/
Of all the MMOs that fell by the wayside, pushed into the dirt by the relentless popularity of World of Warcraft, Carbine's WildStar stings the most. A fast-paced sci-fi romp exploding with colour and character, and a setting brimming with potential, its development team boasted not only WoW vets, but legendary RPG designer Tim Cain.

Diablo 1 and 2 devs secure $4.5 million for a new ARPG: 'We're going back to what made those early Diablo games feel so awesome but taking them in some cool, fresh directions'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/moon-beast-productions-arpg-seed-funding-diablo-cool-fresh/
In the aftermath of Diablo 4, its Vessel of Hatred expansion, and the early access launch of Path of Exile 2, it's an exciting time for ARPGs and any accompanying loot explosions. Moon Beast Productions, a development studio formed in 2021 by ARPG veterans who worked on Diablo 1 and 2, is hoping to add its own entry to the nascent ARPG boom, and it's secured $4.5 million in seed funding to do it.

Civilization 7 will let you hand the keys to the nukes to Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman, and guess what? America's just showed up
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/civilization-7-will-let-you-hand-the-keys-to-the-nukes-to-benjamin-franklin-and-harriet-tubman-and-guess-what-americas-just-showed-up/
Civilization 7 will finally let me fulfil a boyhood dream: deploying nuclear weapons against Benjamin Franklin. Firaxis has unveiled two more leaders you'll be able to play as in its upcoming history sim, guiding their nations across the millennia like some kind of dread, undying volksgeist.

You can now leap across levels as a Rat Ogre in Warhammer: Vermintide 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/you-can-now-leap-across-levels-as-a-rat-ogre-in-warhammer-vermintide-2/
It's kind of amazing how Vermintide 2, Fatshark's medieval-fantasy pest control sim from 2018, continues to be neck-and-neck in popularity with its far more recent 40k successor Darktide. A big part of that is that there just seems to be a lot more scope within its design for super-fun updates. 
Case in point: you can now play as a Rat Ogre in the game.

Call of Duty devs admit Ricochet anticheat 'did not hit the mark for integration' at the start of Season 1, and want to do better
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-devs-admit-ricochet-anticheat-did-not-hit-the-mark-for-integration-at-the-start-of-season-1-and-want-to-do-better/
Call of Duty's Ricochet anticheat has been a bit of a pain for players for longer than just Black Ops 6's release, but after recently coming under fire for not doing enough in the face of cheaters and shadow bans Activision confirms it wants to do better.
"After a series of updates, our systems are in a better place today across all modes," Activision says in a blog post. "However, we did not hit the mark for the integration of Ricochet anticheat at the launch of Season 01—particularly for Ranked Play.
"We understand the promise of glory and notoriety from Ranked Play leaderboards makes Ranked Play an attractive target for cheaters. For this reason, our teams have been especially focused on turning the tide to deliver the competitive arena our players seek."