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

[JEMC]

Monday news, part two:

Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I'm totally not fuming because PC players aren't invited to the party, or anything
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/elden-ring-nightreign-is-getting-a-closed-network-test-and-im-totally-not-fuming-because-pc-arent-invited-to-the-party-or-anything/
You might've heard it said—probably on this website—that PC gaming won the console war, that we've got it so good that other bricks are obsolete. And while I still believe those things are true, being a writer here and having the requisite amount of pride, I'm not afraid to admit that this recent blow stings. FromSoftware's co-op roguelike spinoff Elden Ring: Nightreign is having a network test, and PC players aren't invited.

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with 'the absolute best hat you can get' going for around $40K
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/team-fortress-2s-just-had-the-single-biggest-trade-in-its-history-with-the-absolute-best-hat-you-can-get-in-the-game-going-for-around-usd40k-in-value/
A mere year after Team Fortress 2 players set a new record for a single hat trade, with an absurdly rare Crone's Dome going for approximately $18,000 worth of keys, those crazy cats are at it again. "Good start to 2025" says Team Fortress 2 player and hat aficionado Vytal."Biggest trade in TF2 history."
Vytal is the buyer, and tells PC Gamer that the trade in question was for a total of around 24,000 keys' worth of items plus an "undisclosed lump of cash." TF2 keys currently go for $2.18 on Steam so hang on to your hats: That's $52,320 worth of keys. To be fair, however, we should probably price it to the value of keys on somewhere like marketplace.tf, which are typically around $1.80: So a mere $43,200. Plus cash.
>> Insane.

Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/sorry-everyone-minecraft-2-is-cancelled-and-it-might-be-our-fault/
Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson caused a bit of a stir over the weekend when he "basically announced Minecraft 2," after the vast majority of respondents to a poll on X said that's what they want him to make. Not literally Minecraft 2, of course—he's not allowed to do that—but a "spiritual successor," similar to the original. He sounded completely serious about it at the time, but apparently he's now changed his mind.
"Talked to the fellas at the office," Persson tweeted earlier this week (via GamesRadar). "Looks like we're making Levers and Chests! Tipping point was PC Gamer saying it seemed interesting, lol. Yeah I still love PC Gamer."

Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans 'performed below projections'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/piranha-games-will-lay-off-employees-after-mechwarrior-5-clans-performed-below-projections/
Enad Global 7 has announced that 38 employees at its Piranha Games studio will be laid off after the most recent game in its Mechwarrior series, Mechwarrior 5: Clans, "performed below expectations." Separately, the company also announced that Toadman, whose most recent release is the 2024 shooter EvilVEvil, is being closed entirely.

Palestinian developer raises more than $200,000 to make Dreams on a Pillow, a game about the horrors of the 1948 Nakba
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/palestinian-developer-raises-more-than-usd200-000-to-make-dreams-on-a-pillow-a-game-about-the-horrors-of-the-1948-nakba/
Rasheed Abueideh, a Palestinian game developer whose previous release Liyla and The Shadows of War followed a young girl trying to survive amidst the horrors of the 2014 Gaza War, has raised more than $200,000 to support a new project called Dreams on a Pillow, "a pseudo-3D stealth adventure" based on a Palestinian folk tale that takes place during the 1948 Nakba.

The Sims begins its 25th anniversary celebration next week with a Behind The Sims episode of news and announcements
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/the-sims-begins-its-25th-anniversary-celebration-next-week-with-a-behind-the-sims-episode-of-news-and-announcements/
The Sims series is turning 25 in February, but Maxis is kicking the party off early with a Behind The Sims episode next Tuesday, January 14. The video premiere on YouTube is scheduled for 9am Pacific / 5 pm GMT.

Square Enix launches new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from abusive fans
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/square-enix-launches-new-anti-harassment-policy-to-protect-its-employees-and-partners-from-abusive-fans/
Square Enix has announced a new "group customer harassment policy" aimed at protecting its employees and partners from harmful behavior and actions taken by its followers and fans.
>> We live in a sad world when things like this are needed.

Lords of the Fallen publisher embraces fear of the DEI boogeyman, says it will not include 'any social or political agendas' in its games
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/lords-of-the-fallen-studio-embraces-the-dei-bugbear-says-it-will-not-include-any-social-or-political-agendas-in-its-games/
Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games says it will not integrate "any social or political agendas" into its games because doing so, it claims, incurs a "high risk" of commercial failure.
The statement was made during a recent investors chat (via Strefa Inwestorów), during which CI Games was asked about its "stance on DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] in gaming." In response, global marketing director Ryan Hill said the company prioritizes "excellent user experience with compelling thematics and characters created specifically for core and adjacent audiences," and then rolled into what I would call a pretty ill-informed take on the current state of the game industry.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows takes a run at improving parkour, as Ubisoft strives to make the system less 'like a gas pedal'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/assassins-creed-shadows-takes-a-run-at-improving-parkour-as-ubisoft-strives-to-make-the-system-less-like-a-gas-pedal/
Parkour has always been a distinguishing feature of Assassin’s Creed. Hooded figures leaping between rooftops and flinging themselves into conveniently placed haystacks is one of the series' most consistent visual motifs. But as the games have evolved from historical action-adventures to quasi-RPGs, on-foot traversal has become increasingly sidelined in favour of more elaborate stealth and combat systems, as well as other travel mechanics like riding horses and sailing boats. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is intent on changing this, however, with Ubisoft making numerous additions to the hallmark free-running system that had me gradually sitting up in my chair as I read about each one.

The Junji Ito collection brings eight new outfits to Dead by Daylight, letting you dress up its killers as cannibalistic supermodels and nail-toothed children
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/the-junji-ito-collection-brings-eight-new-outfits-to-dead-by-daylight-letting-you-dress-up-its-killers-as-cannibalistic-supermodels-and-nail-toothed-children/
Multiplayer slasher and insatiable licensing vortex Dead by Daylight has absorbed yet more horror icons into its all-consuming spiral, this time the creations of legendary manga artist Junji Ito. Earlier this week, developer Behaviour Interactive announced the launch of the Junji Ito Collection, which lets players dress as characters from several of Ito’s most notable works.

My Summer Car, the absurdly detailed Finnish life sim about vehicle maintenance and drinking in your underpants, smashes into 1.0 after nearly a decade in Steam early access
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/my-summer-car-the-absurdly-detailed-finnish-life-sim-about-vehicle-maintenance-and-drinking-in-your-underpants-smashes-into-1-0-after-nearly-a-decade-in-steam-early-access/
Oddball Finnish life-sim My Summer Car has officially launched out of early access, after nine years spent tinkering with its engine and getting drunk on the sofa.
As noticed by RPS, My Summer Car surprise launched its 1.0 version earlier this week.  Originally lurching onto Steam early access in 2016, My Summer Car defined itself with two key features, namely its preposterous difficulty, and its unrelenting weirdness. It challenged players with building not just a car from scratch, but the engine as well, all while being so dirt poor you’re likely to starve to death before you figure out how to put one of the car’s doors on.

23-year-old D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights just got a new update thanks to the 'unpaid software engineers' of its unkillable community
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/23-year-old-d-and-d-rpg-neverwinter-nights-just-got-a-new-update-thanks-to-the-unpaid-software-engineers-of-its-unkillable-community/
I am an absolute freak for BioWare's 2002 D&D RPG Neverwinter Nights, and somehow this unkillable game just keeps chugging along: Beamdog just put out a new, official update for its 2018 enhanced edition re-release that was assembled by members of Neverwinter Nights' still-active mod scene⁠—if that sounds familiar to you, this isn't the first community update that's been officially christened by Beamdog.

Civilization 7 has been Steam Deck Verified ahead of its launch next month
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/civilization-7-has-been-steam-deck-verified-ahead-of-its-launch-next-month/
Firaxis has announced that Civilization 7 has been verified for Steam Deck ahead of its launch on February 11. This will be the first entry in the series to get the full green checkmark seal of approval on Valve's popular Linux-based handheld.

Here's a game about being a depressed, lonely maintenance robot on a long-haul space colony ship
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/heres-a-game-about-being-a-depressed-lonely-maintenance-robot-on-a-long-haul-space-colony-ship/
Need something real depressing to go with your seasonal affective disorder, northern hemisphere friends? Well, have I got a game for you!
Endless Dark is "an existential horror game in which you are tasked with keeping a sleeper colony ship intact. No enemies or NPCs share the ship with you - only creaking metal echoes and endless dark."

Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you've played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/activision-will-send-you-alarmingly-detailed-data-for-every-single-call-of-duty-match-youve-played-in-the-last-4-years-if-you-ask-and-players-are-using-it-to-figure-out-their-mysterious-sbmm-rankings/
As reported by IGN, Call of Duty YouTuber TheXclusiveAce has outlined a process to access all the match-by-match data Activision has collected on you dating back to 2021's Call of Duty Vanguard. This data includes a score used for CoD's skill-based matchmaking or SBMM, the behind-the-scenes system by which players are paired with others of a similar skill level.